Go Change Your World // Week 2

Man, what an honor to be here in the World Changer series. And you know what's crazy, is how many of you, don't raise your hand, because this could be awkward, how many of you feel like I am too much of a mess to change the world? How many of you think, Andy, I'm struggling to keep my world afloat, let alone be a world changer. So go ahead and turn to your neighbor and say, are you a mess? Go ahead and ask him, are you a mess? And you know what's cool, if your neighbor answered you, that's pretty phenomenal. But you know what's wild, is that God is in the habit of not taking people that have it all together, but taking messes of people that are available to change the world. And so we're gonna read a story today of a young lady who's like the least likely person to be a world changer. She doesn't come from the right family, she's made a ton of bad choices, she has all of these things against her. So if you feel like this morning, Andy, I'm too new in the faith, Andy, I've made too many bad choices, I'm too busy, I'm too this, who am I gonna lead? Man, you are a great candidate to say yes to being used by Jesus. But I wanna encourage you that Jesus does not bend you out of shape, a lot of people, if you're here, let's say you're over here, and you're not being used

to be a world changer, you feel like you're just checking the box, but you know over here is a lifestyle and a life where you're seeing people come to Jesus, and you're being used in your gifts, and you're serving, you're inviting. And some of us are like, how do I go from here, checking the box, to here, a thriving life as a world changer? I believe God's word is gonna reveal just some really practical stuff for us today. Let's pray, and ask God's blessing. Lord, I just ask and pray that as we read your word, that it would jump off the screens, off the pages, and into our hearts. God, the same truths that you display to this woman today, you display to all of us. God, would you bless the reading of your word? God, may it impact us today, and would you help us to be world changers through your spirit? In Jesus' name, everybody said. Amen. So, in scripture, just as a little foundation of what we're gonna talk about, Jesus says, if you follow me, I'll make you a fisher of men. That's what Jesus says, if you follow me, I'll make you a fisher of men. So, whose job is it to make us into a world changer? Jesus' job. Jesus says, if you follow me, I will take your life, and use it for my kingdom.

Jesus was talking to a group of fishermen. If he was talking to you today, he would say, follow me, and I'll take you being a single mom, and I'll use that to change the neighborhood in the world. Hey, follow me, and I'll use your faithfulness and your steadfastness as being a parent. Hey, follow me, you're a retiree, I'm gonna use your time and your prayer and your wisdom. Hey, follow me, I'm gonna use the mistakes of your past to have open doors for others. We don't fish, but God is in the habit of taking whatever gifting you have and using it for his kingdom. Are you willing to be used in his kingdom? He will do it in his power. So, we're in John chapter four, verse one, and it says, now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining in baptizing more disciples than John. Although, in fact, it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples were the ones baptizing. So, he left Judea in the south and went north to Galilee. Now, this is kind of funny, a lot of scholars would say Jesus avoided baptizing people because he didn't want a hierarchy. Like, could you imagine, I got baptized by Peter, I got baptized by James, and someone's like, well, I got baptized by Jesus. Like, it's almost like a black belt with extra degrees on it, you know, it's this higher up.

But I actually think it's really simple. Jesus was setting up a trend here that spiritual leaders baptized with water to symbolize new birth, but Jesus will baptize with his spirit. Spiritual leaders and men and women baptize in water, but we, we baptize in water, but Jesus baptizes in the spirit. In verse four, it says, now he had to go through Samaria. Now, just so you understand, he didn't have to geographically go through Samaria. Samaria's a really rough place, it's very violent, especially if you're a Jew. Here would be my, like, sort of a similar thing. We're all gonna go to Lancaster, we're gonna go to Sight and Sound, we're all gonna journey there, but on the way, we have to go through Kensington, outside of Philadelphia, and hang out there on the corner. corner. So the disciples are like, Jesus, we know you want to go to Galilee, but we don't have to go through Samaria. Like we don't have to go through that dangerous part. So when it says in scripture, now he had to go through Samaria, it's because Jesus had a divine appointment in Samaria. It wasn't that he geographically needed to walk through it, but he had an appointment that he had to make. Now, I want to encourage you, if you're listening online, um, if you're here in the room, if you're in our overflow room, you are here because Jesus has pursued you. Jesus is pursuing you. A lot of people think, Oh, I found Jesus.

You didn't find Jesus. He was searching for you and you finally realized that the God of heavens and earth cares about you and was pursuing you. You responded to him, right? So the Bible says in John that we didn't choose him, but he chose us before the formation of time, right? Literally. And a lot of times we think we're trying to earn it. So religion says man searches for God. Christianity says God searches for man and he responds. We're not part of a religion. We're part of a response of faith because he loved us first. Jesus had an appointment in Samaria. So he came down to Samaria, a town called Sychar near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. Now, just some facts about Samaria. That's going to be helpful. Why do Jews hate Samaritans? It's actually pretty straightforward. Assyrians took over the Northern kingdom of Israel and when they did, um, the Jews refused to intermarry. However, the Samaritan region intermarried. So they became half Assyrian and half Jewish. That was the first thing. When that happened, the Jews did not allow them to worship in Jerusalem. They made them build their own temple. So Samaritans took Judaism and they kept parts and changed parts because they didn't have a temple. They made their own priesthood. So the Jews viewed the Samaritans as traitors, but it gets worse. There was a few wars and conflicts with the Seleucids, the Maccabean revolt. You may have heard of those in history. The Samaritans joined the war against the Jews in Jerusalem. So the Samaritans are half breeds. The Samaritans have, according to the Jews and the Samaritans have fought against the Jews.

The Jews hate the Samaritans and the Samaritans hate the Jews. There's about a million Samaritans at this point and Samaritans would often just attack Jewish people on site. So when Jesus says he had to go to Samaria, it doesn't make sense. In verse six, it says, Jacob's well was there and Jesus tired as he was from the journey, sat by the well and it was about noon. It was about 12 PM. If Jesus had been at that well at 8am or 7am, he would have seen probably dozens if not hundreds of ladies coming and going with water. It was the communal hangout spot for ladies. They would come, they would share, they would help each other. And so Jesus is there at the hottest part of the day. There's no one else there but Jesus. And it says here, in just a little Bible history for you, this well was dug by Jacob. Now Jacob only dug, as far as we know in scripture, one well, this is it, outside of Shechem. He digs this well. In Genesis 33, we see him arrive at this area and they dig a well. And this is the only one Isaac dug tons of wells. Jacob just did this one. Jacob dug the well just after he wrestled with God, had his name changed to Israel when he matures. And so one of the first thing he does as Israel is dig this well. In verse seven, when a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, will you give me a drink? And it says his disciples had gone into town to buy food. Now when you think about Jesus, do you think Jesus had a sense of humor? What do you think? You think Jesus had jokes? I think Jesus had jokes. I know he did. Cause it says here, his disciples had sent into the town to buy food.

Jesus sent 12 men to go get groceries. He's got jokes. He's got jokes. I communicate with my life more when I go grocery shopping than any other time in our marriage. I'm like shooting her a picture. I know you said cubed, but I don't see cubed, but I see rounds. Is that okay? Hey, I know you said in water, but all I see is an oil. Same thing, right? Hey, I'm just like texting back and forth. My wife says, I don't like it when you grocery shop because it's exhausting. And I'm FaceTiming, I'm FaceTiming, and I'm like, is it this one? And she's like, I told you to buy grape. Yeah, but there's grape and strawberry. She's like, I told the grape. I'm like, all right, all right, we'll buy the grape. And so he sends the 12 out to get groceries. I think if they had had cell phones, Jesus's phone would have been buzzing this entire encounter. Hey Jesus, you said barley, but Peter says barley upsets his stomach. Is it okay if we get, I can totally see this happening. But he sends them out to get groceries. Jesus is here by himself. In verse nine, it says the Samaritan woman said to him, you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan and a woman. How can you ask me for a drink? Now, this Samaritan woman to me is a clear picture of someone in our society that the religious system has failed them. She can't worship in Jerusalem at the temple.

She can't offer a sacrifice for her sins because she's a Samaritan. The Samaritans won't let her worship in Samaria because she's had a rough life and she's done shameful things. So she knows about God, but she thinks her path to God is based on her own works and she has failed too much. And now she's in this in-between period. She knows about God, but thinks she'll never be able to access God. And she's here. Verse 10, Jesus answers her and says, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is sitting here with you now, you would ask him for a drink and he would have given you living water. Now here, she doesn't know the story yet. So she responds with a little sass, a little feistiness. Verse 11, she says, sir, the woman said, you've got nothing to draw water with. This well is deep. Where would you get this living water? Are you greater than our father, Jacob? Now notice this. She's trying to find some common ground. She's saying our father, because Jacob is still the great, great, great grandfather of the Jews and the Samaritans. Are you greater than our father, Jacob,

who gave us the well and drank from it himself and so does his sons and livestock? Now, what's interesting here, this woman did not expect to have a conversation at the well. She's going to the well at the hottest part of the day. She's avoiding all of the women that go early because when she goes, she's viewed and looked down upon, probably even verbally insulted about her shame. We're gonna find out in a second and what her life has been like. So I think she's perturbed in this moment. She's not excited yet because she has no idea what living water is. In verse 13, Jesus answered, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty, but whoever drinks of the water I will give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Now here, I can't tell if she's serious or not here. She will be in a moment. She goes, sir, give me some of that water so I don't have to go back and forth to the well. I can't tell if she's being playful and just wants to get out of the conversation. But here's the thing, this woman thinks she's thirsty physically, and she is, but she's actually hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

All of us in this room, if we could stand in front of a mirror and see our spiritual self, sometimes I think our spiritual self would look anemic, poor, physically maybe we look fine, but spiritually in the mirror we look struggling. Jesus has the amazing ability, the Holy Spirit can look at us and they see past whatever mask we wear. He sees past whatever we're trying to do to look spiritually right. And Jesus looks at this woman and says, you need living water. In verse 16 he tells her, go and call your husband and come back. She says, I have no husband, she replied. Jesus said to her, you are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you've had five husbands and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true. She goes, sir, I see you must be a prophet. You think? He just read her mail. Read her mail right here. And I think this is the turning point for her. She sees that Jesus sees all of the hidden junk, all of the secret sin, all of the shame, all of the guilt. If I could encourage you, if you and I were at the well and it wasn't the woman at the well.

So sometimes, I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand, I'm guessing there's probably nobody in here that has had five husbands and is currently living with someone that's not their husband. It's possible. And if that's you online or here in the building, Jesus is gonna forgive her. He's totally gonna totally forgive you. You're good. But some of us, maybe we have a broken. relationship. Maybe we have shame and guilt over a stupid decision or decisions we made. Maybe, do you ever look back and you think, if I only hadn't done that where would I be? If I had only avoided this, if I had only started saving here, I'm such an idiot. Why did I do this? Why did I do that? Sometimes when we come to Jesus, we come to Jesus but we're carrying this huge bag of what I should have done, what I could have done. I have shame and I have guilt. And if that's you we are just like this young woman. So just for fun, just so we can we can picture it, I'm gonna kind of give you an idea of what some of those conversations could look like. Let's say you and I are at the well. It's just it's just us. We're there and Jesus says, I have a living water. And I'm like, Jesus I would love some of that living water. He's like, awesome. Go bring the pain and bitterness you carry. Go get it, bring it to me and I'll give you living water. And I tell him, I'm over it. And he goes, you think you're over it but the betrayal and mistrust still shapes the way you have relationships and you don't trust me fully. I will never hurt you. These things are keeping you from freedom in me. Here's another one. Jesus says to us, go bring your secret sin to me and I'll give you living water. And you say, Jesus I don't have any big secret sin. I don't have anything major. But Jesus says, you say you have nothing hidden but the little addictions that you keep turning to owns more of your heart than you think. You don't even know what freedom is like until you lay these down at my

feet. Here's another one. Jesus says, go bring me your faith and I'll get you living water. And you say, oh Jesus, sure. I go to church every week. Check out my calendar. And Jesus says, you attend church every week but your heart is far from me. You know about me but you don't know me. You know the words but you don't know my voice. What you said is true. You go to church but I want to set you free. If we're at the well, it's not gonna look like the woman at the well. But do we go to Jesus through what we can offer? Do I go to Jesus through my past? Here's what she says to him. Her response when Jesus reads her mail, she says in verse 20, our ancestors worshipped on this mountain but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. Her response is, Jesus essentially, she doesn't know his name I don't think. Jesus at this point, I'll go make a sacrifice but I can't make a sacrifice. I'm not allowed in Jerusalem. How can I make this right? And Jesus says to her in verse 21, woman, Jesus replied, believe me a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. Verse 22, you Samaritans worship what you do not know but we worship what we do know for salvation is from the Jews. This is a little confusing. It's really simple. What he's saying is, in Samaria, you've made your own religion but you don't even understand it. From the Jews will come the Messiah. Yet a time is coming and now has come when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For there are kinds of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshippers must worship him in spirit and in truth. Now, this seems just poetic but this is so powerful. Just to unpack this one phrase Jesus says, what's the opposite of spirit? Flesh, absolutely. What's the opposite of truth? Lies, deceit. So, do I worship God through my flesh and through hidden deceit and lyeness or do I worship God in a redeemed spirit as I am because Jesus can handle it? Do I think that I can't get as close to God because of my past sins or do I realize that I am born again, redeemed, set free, washed clean by Jesus? There's two different ways to approach Jesus. And Jesus is saying is, when you approach him in the flesh, you think there are certain ways you have to do it. In her case, it was temple worship. I have to go to this temple. I have to do that. But Jesus is

saying is, one day, you're going to be born again. He didn't walk through this with her yet. One day, you're going to be born again and your spirit will be united with God's spirit and you won't need a building to worship him. One day, because Jesus is going to set her free, she does not have to come before God with this giant backpack of shame and guilt and regret. She can come just as she is because when God looks at us, if we're saved, when God looks at us, he doesn't see our sin, he sees his son. Right, so when we worship God, if we're not careful, we worship God like a religion. I come to him and I am worshiping him through a lens of shame and through a lens of guilt. Jesus is setting this woman free. Now, it gets even better here. In verse 25, the woman says, I know that Messiah, called Christ, is coming, and when he comes, he'll explain all of this to us, how this is gonna work. And Jesus says, I, the one who am speaking to you, am he. It's just the two of them at the well. Jesus came from heaven to earth. He went from being God to being a lowly man. He has lived this, he's in his 30s now. He chooses to reveal his lordship for the first time to a woman who's a Samaritan, who's shameful and nasty, alone at a well. Who plans it that way? This is the first time Jesus reveals himself out loud to someone publicly, verbally. It's this right here. Think about this.

From the beginning of time, Jesus knew this woman was gonna make poor choices. But he says, I'm gonna come. I have to go through Samaria. I have to meet her, because I'm gonna lift that burden off of her. I'm gonna lift that burden off. Sometimes we think we can't go to Jesus with all of our hidden junk. That I can't approach the throne because I am not worthy. And Jesus right here is saying, when we worship him in spirit, he gives us a new spirit. When we worship him in truth, it's because I can worship him without any deceit, any lies, because I know I am a nasty sinner who's a mess, but I know that my God sets me free. So he's at the well with her, and he reveals himself as the Messiah. And we don't get to see exactly what happens next, but instantly something changes with the woman at the well. It says in verse 27, the disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman, but no one asked why. They're learning. And no one asked, why are you talking with her? So literally, the disciples walk up, and Jesus is talking to this woman, but no one says anything. How awkward is that? They're just like this.

They just walk up, and they're kind of looking at each other, but as soon as they come up, she leaves her water jars, runs to the town, and says, come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah? As the worship team joins us as we close out, this woman went from the lowest of low in society to a world changer because her sins were forgiven, and the Messiah said, I love you just as you are. When she was set free, her reaction was to go tell everybody about it. Now, people say that the data suggests that when somebody gets saved, that first year that they're saved is the most active they will ever be in sharing their faith. I don't think it has to be that way, but in America, that's generally the reason it is. And I don't think it's because the anointing only lasts for a year. I don't think it's because the gospel changes or gets less filled. I think what happens is, when we get set free, when I taste and see that the Lord is good, and I can give up my burdens, my reaction is to tell people about it. But the longer I follow Jesus, the more I begin to get into some ruts and some rhythms. And if I'm not careful, I will turn a dynamic relationship with Jesus

into a religion where I check the boxes. And a religion is void of power. A religion is void of compassion. A religion does not see a lost person and have an excitement that we can set them free. A religion looks inward, but when we live in a state of being forgiven, we can live in a state of being a world changer. The gospel, the gospel is not like the jumpstart to my Christian life. The gospel's the engine. The gospel doesn't just get me started, the power of the gospel keeps me going. Every morning when you and I wake up, we are set free from the power of sin and death. His grace and his mercy is so sufficient. Some of you haven't been inviting people to church or maybe you've fallen off that wagon because you think, Andy, I have to work on myself. I have to really just work on this and I'm struggling. I'm not picking on you, I promise. I guarantee you the woman at the well would have said the same thing. until she met Jesus. And all of us in this room, we will always have a path ahead of us of discipleship, of becoming more like Christ. But if I believe I am set free, redeemed, washed clean, my only response is to talk about it. The Bible says,

out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. But if I'm not talking about Jesus, that means he's not abounding in my heart. Whatever I'm really excited about, I'm gonna talk about. But let's read these last couple of verses. It says in verse 39, many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony. He told me everything I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged Jesus to stay with him. And then in verse 42, they tell the woman at the well, we no longer believe just because of what you said. We have heard this for ourselves. Now we believe that Jesus is the savior of the world because we've met him personally. This is what I want for every kid and every student to happen at camp. That there's this shift from, I no longer call myself a Christian because my family's a Christian. I'm a Christian because I met Jesus and I am forever changed. And just a few ways that we can respond today as we close. Number one, take joy that Jesus is still pursuing you. Whether you're online, in the overflow, you're gonna have some prayer people come up front. And I would encourage you, maybe you need to rededicate your life to Jesus. Maybe you need to experience that joy

of your salvation again. Maybe you need to give your life to Jesus for the first time. That's amazing and awesome. But I'm gonna ask the Holy Spirit right now as we close to reveal to you how you're worshiping. Are you worshiping through your flesh and still hiding stuff? Or are you worshiping through the spirit just as you are with joy and peace? If you aren't talking about Jesus or inviting people to church, ask the spirit to give you a boldness. And last but not least, invest prayer, time and finances into the God's kingdom and the next generation. And if I could encourage you to do this in your bulletin, and you'll see it on the screen as well, there's a QR code where you can volunteer to join the dream team for Easter. I would encourage you, if you're like, Andy, what's the first step of being a world changer? Join a serve team. Serve on the dream team, just jump right in. I would say, begin to give to world changers and begin to invest and show up and be on the dream team. So I'm gonna pray for you. My prayer is that we could be excited about Jesus as this Samaritan woman. And all of us, man, guys,

I'm a nasty scoundrel without Jesus. I'm a rough dude, except Jesus met me in my darkness. And I remember my first six months of being saved, I was just texting all my friends from high school. I got saved at 19. I just started texting them all. You have to, I just, all this stuff started coming out. It was just an overflow. But the longer I followed Jesus, the more I have to intentionally remain at his feet like the woman at the well. I need Jesus just as much today as that rough 19-year-old kid. I get amen, amen. Let me pray for you. Lord, I just thank you for Calvary Church. God, I thank you for the investment they have in the next generation. But God, make us world changers like the woman at the well. God, give us your heart for lost people. May we see people as you see people. God, may we see this area locally completely and radically changed. Father, I just, I believe that. God, I pray for those 350 salvations at Easter. God, that vision of we wanna see broken people be found. God, I pray that through this congregation, through the power of your spirit, that we'd see it this Easter.

In Jesus' name, everybody said amen.