Lent: Our Souls Were Made For God

So we are in week three of the season of Lent.

So Lent is the 40 days leading up to Good Friday and Easter.

Our story this morning comes from John 4.

It's a well-known story.

Jesus is traveling, he's moving from Jerusalem to Galilee.

He's traveling through the most direct way was through an area called Samaria.

And usually the Jewish people avoided Samaria.

They despised these people.

The Jews hated Samaritans.

This went back centuries where the Jews went into exile, they were leaving their land, some stayed behind, and some of those Jewish people married Canaanites.

Those two people groups mixed in to make a new race and religious group called the Samaritans.

And so the Jews considered these people to be racially inferior, religious heretics.

They despised them.

You know, that's the you come on the aisle of Kroger and you turn right back around as you saw that one person you despise at the other end.

That was this case.

You don't go through Samaria.

So this lady in this story, she's an outcast.

She's beat down and worn out.

The world and religion want nothing to do with her.

And yet, Jesus, um, he just can't wait to talk to her.

And so let's reread the story and break it down for what it might have to say for us.

John 4, let's start in verse 7, read through verse 15.

A woman from Samaria came to draw water.

Jesus said to her, Give me a drink.

For his disciples had gone away to the city to buy food.

The Samaritan woman said to him, How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?

For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Jesus answered her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.

The woman said to him, Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep.

Where do you get that living water?

Are you greater than our father Jacob?

He gave us his well and drank from himself, as his sons and his livestock.

So she's not picking up on everything Jesus is teaching here.

Verse 13, Jesus said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again.

But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.

The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

And the woman said to him, Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty, or have to come here to draw water.

Point number one is this our souls were made for God, and we will only be whole and satisfied in God.

A few weeks ago I watched the Netflix documentary series Full Swing on the PGA golf tour.

And episode two, it's a little bit of a heartbreaker.

It follows Brooks Kepka.

And so here's a picture of Brooks Kepka.

He's a pro golfer.

Brooks has won four majors.

That's a big deal.

If you don't know about golf, big deal.

Four majors.

He was number one in the world.

He was the best golfer in the entire world for almost a year.

This is amazing, right?

I mean, this guy was at the top.

I mean, he and he has all the wealth and the trophies, beachfront home, beautiful wife that supports him.

He has a boat.

I mean, I love I love a boat, and his boat's amazing.

And he's miserable.

He's discontent.

He's unsatisfied.

He said this in the documentary I go back to the first major I ever won.

I'd pay back every dollar I've ever made just to have that feeling again for another hour.

So it seems, I don't want to project on him too much, but it seems he's convinced that only one thing can satisfy his soul.

And he had it.

But it didn't really work, did it?

Because it didn't last.

It was circumstantial.

So we keep drinking from wells that satisfy a little bit in that moment, but they never really deliver anything lasting.

And sadly, I would love to just keep poking at Brooks, but sadly, I'm a lot more like him than I want to admit.

Because I'm pretty sure that I could have forever peace in my heart if I had his boat.

It looked like a it looked like a center console, like maybe triple engine, dual engine.

I don't know, but I'm pretty sure you could get to the Caribbean from there.

I'm pretty sure you could do some good fishing.

So it would be amazing.

Like all my problems would be solved if I had his boat, all his problems would be solved.

He's number one again, right?

Like this is what we do.

We keep doing this to ourselves.

St.

Augustine wrote at this at the end of the fourth century, after his own life of drinking from other wells, thou hast made us for thyself, O God.

And our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.

So Jesus says to this lady in verse 14, But whoever drinks of this water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.

The water that I will give him will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Now that is something we know and we continue to process in and grow in.

Bill Wilson, the founder of AA, he wrote this.

This is a bit of a read, but hang with me.

Most people try to live by self-propulsion.

Each person is like an actor who wants to run the whole show.

He's forever trying to arrange the lights, the ballet, the scenery, and the rest of the players in his own way.

If his arrangements would only stay put, if only people would do as he wished, the show would be great.

Everyone, including himself, would be pleased.

Life would be wonderful.

In trying to make these arrangements, our actor may sometimes be quite virtuous.

He may be kind, considerate, patient, generous, even modest and self-sacrificing.

On the other hand, he may be mean, egotistical, selfish, and dishonest.

But as with most humans, he is more likely to have varied traits.

What usually happens?

The show doesn't come off very well.

He begins to think life doesn't treat him right.

He begins to go, or he becomes on the next occasion still more demanding or gracious, as the case may be.

Our actor is self-centered, egocentric.

We cannot reduce our self-centeredness much by wishing or trying on our own power.

We have to have God's help.

Now, maybe you connect somewhere in that description of what you tend to do and how you tend to control the world and satisfy yourself, right?

We drink from wells that were never meant to satisfy, and that's why we keep on going, being unsatisfied.

Yet Jesus shows up to this woman in her unsatisfaction and her thirst.

That's the amazing thing about this story and about God's love to us and the gospel, is that it comes at us.

But even that, if we don't realize what Bill Wilson is saying, we don't get it.

Because we have to be at the end of our rope first.

We have to realize we're thirsty and that the thing we're drinking of is not satisfying.

In God's grace, we're growing aware of both of our need and also that God is actually enough for us.

The story continues, verse 16.

Jesus said to her, Go call your husband and come here.

The woman answered him and said, I have no husband.

Jesus said to her, You're right in saying, I have no husband.

For you have had five husbands.

And the one you now have is not your husband.

What you have said is true.

Point number two is this Christ Jesus knows all of you and continues to pursue and delight in you.

And that is really good news if you're in touch with like your five husband issues.

I mean, you gotta remember, it's the middle of the day in the Middle East.

It is hot.

It is a hundred something degrees.

Nobody draws water at this time of the day, right?

Only if you want to avoid people or pain.

And so we know this lady is in a tough spot.

And you know what that's like to try to avoid people or pain.

You don't go down that one hallway.

You always leave early.

Right?

You avoid that dinner party because that person will be there.

This lady, that something's going on with her, for her to be here in this situation.

She's not accepted, even by her own people.

She just has nothing left.

She has nowhere to turn.

And yet, in her mess, before she's put together, Jesus is coming toward her in her own sin and in her own woundedness.

Now, the five-husband thing, and then she's with another guy, a sixth guy, maybe probably living with him, is what it sounds like.

I mean, this reveals her sinfulness.

She's not living in God's way and God's delight.

We see that here.

But what we also don't know, which I would love a whole nother chapter on, don't you hit this when you read the Bible?

You're like, I want more about that.

Like, I want to know how did she grow up?

What's her story?

I mean, five husbands is a lot of husbands.

I mean, there's some people maybe in this room that have been married that many times.

I'm just saying, that's a lot.

You've been through a lot.

There's probably some storyline before that.

I would imagine there's a narrative of woundedness and trauma to get there.

So we don't know how this lady grew up.

We don't know what love or abuse she has endured throughout her life, maybe even from these husbands.

But we do know this.

We do know this.

At the end of her rope, Jesus is pursuing her.

That's incredibly relieving.

If you're in touch with your brokenness and your mistakes, and your failure, and your inability, that Jesus holds no condemnation toward her.

And he invites us, he invites you and me to stop running from our own sin and our failures and our woundedness.

Romans 5, 6 through 8.

For while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would even die there even to die.

But God shows us his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Well, what is Paul teaching here?

Well, we are lavishly loved even before we have our acts together.

Which is great news because none of us really have our acts together.

We're all in need of grace, and our maturity or faith walk, our growth, spiritual maturity, is a growth in grace.

Point number three is this a low anthropology, that's your view of your own sin, creates a high Christology, your view of Jesus.

A low anthropology creates a high Christology.

Now, the store anthropology got some of you excited.

Here's the store, you heard the word, your mind, your mind went there, my mind went there.

This this gives me my own anxiety, to be honest.

I have my own storyline with the anthropology.

After years of me just sort of moping around behind my wife, about 18 inches behind, is the right distance to just pressure her.

Are we finished?

Are we finished?

Are we finished?

Are we finished?

Can we go get ice cream?

Can we go get ice cream?

That's what I'm just pressure, pressure, pressure.

I can be a model husband in this store for about two and a half minutes.

That's about the length of time before all my low anthropology comes out.

Like all of my selfishness and impatience and all of that just comes out, right?

So the store anthropology brings out my low anthropology.

That's my point.

And now Christy just makes me stay in the car.

I'm not even I'm not allowed in the store.

I take a nap and she shops and it's marital bliss.

These are just pro tips after years of marriage.

Here's the greater point.

A high anthropology, a high anthropology is to believe that people are inerrantly good and always getting better.

But it means you're constantly centered on yourself and relying on yourself, and then you need to constantly be getting better, which is really problematic because you're not.

Like you're getting better in some ways, praise God, but then there's other things that start popping up.

But that's what a high anthropology is.

Believe that people are inherently good and they're always getting better.

Now, a low anthropology, it doesn't mean that we're all rubbish, we're creating the image of God, but a low anthropology says this people want to be good, we're just not pulling it off.

As we improve in one area and we mature, and then all of a sudden you realize your motive or something else, you're like, oh my god, didn't realize that was there.

Or you disappoint yourself and you didn't see that coming.

You say something, you do something.

It just means we're not pulling it off.

And when you're not pulling it off, you become open to help, which is powerful.

See, inside of our low anthropology, this creates a greater astonishment of God's provision of forgiveness and righteousness in Jesus, our Christology.

And now, when we're in view of that, now the interesting thing is we actually start to become better in the grace of God.

The conversation continues.

Verse 22 You worship what you do not know.

This conversation of worship between Jesus and the lady starts up.

You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

But the hour is coming, and now is here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

For the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

The woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming.

He who is called Christ.

When he comes, he will tell us all the things.

And Jesus said to her, I who speak to you and he.

Point number four is this our worship is empowered by our belovedness in Christ.

Our worship is empowered by our belovedness in Christ.

Author and Pastor John Piper, he writes this about worship.

Worship is basically adoration.

And we adore only what delights in us.

There's no such thing as sad adoration or unhappy praise.

That which you delight in, you adore, that which you adore, you're worshiping.

Now, if we think about that definition, we think about John 4, what we see is out of his delight in us, out of his pursuit of us, when we're not put together, actually, we begin to delight in him.

And we grow to treasure the one who welcomes us and forgives us and makes us righteous by his sacrifice on the cross for us.

Psalm 63, 3.

Because your steadfast love is better than life, because of that, my lips will praise you.

Jesus knew everything about this lady and he poured out grace and acceptance to her.

This woman was drawn to Jesus because he was drawn to her.

Out of his delight in us, we delight in him.

Out of that delight, there's adoration.

Out of that adoration that we are worshiping.

Last month, a horrible earthquake hit Turkey.

Not sure if you're aware of that.

And last week, this firefighter right here, Ali Kakis, he rescued this cat.

Big breaking current event news that I'm sharing here.

This cat rescue.

So he found this cat, he dug it out, and cactus he rescued this from a collapsed building that turned into rubbish.

You're like, leave the cat.

Just let the cat die.

And we have counseling signups.

They're on the table right outside for you and your issues.

But I know that some of you have cat issues.

Just raise your hand if you have cat issues.

You're like, leave the cat there.

Let the cat die.

No problem.

Also notice a divisive issue, cats.

So I have a couple jokes.

Lighten the mood on cats.

Just sermon bonus.

You don't have to take notes.

How did the cat know she was pregnant?

Her test was positive.

It gets worse.

It gets worse, which I love.

I love just how did how bad how how how far can I dig this hole?

Here we go.

What's a cat's favorite TV show?

Claw in order.

It's horrible.

They're not perfect.

That's the best one.

We'll just end there.

Now back to the cat thing.

Now that we are all wherever we're at at this point, I don't know.

This firefighter, Ali Kakas, he goes on to adopt the cat.

I mean, pull your hanky out.

Everybody except the six of you that don't like cats.

The cat won't leave aside.

I mean, isn't this darling?

The cat won't leave aside.

I mean, isn't that lovely?

Even cats, here's my great sermon illustration point.

Even cats are endeared to the one who rescues them and loves them.

Okay, I'm not going to end on a cat illustration.

I'm a wiser preacher than that.

About 200 years ago, a guy named George Matheson was born in Scotland.

He goes on, he becomes a successful Scottish minister.

He has a huge church.

People travel all over Scotland to hear this guy preach.

Now, his origin story of how he grew up, he said he grew up with losing sight.

By the age of 17, he's completely blind.

And then something happens along the way.

Nobody knows because he would never talk about it.

But on the day that his sister was married, the most traumatic event of his entire life happens.

He never says or writes what happened.

He just says it's unspeakable.

But after this event happened, whatever trauma this was, in five minutes, he wrote one of the most famous hymns that we have.

In five minutes.

He never spoke of the trauma, not a word, too much hurt, unspeakable, but he writes what actually holds us.

When we're hurting, when we make the failure, when we're some hurt has come upon us.

What actually holds us?

What rescues us?

And here's the first verse of that hymn.

O love that will not let me go.

I rest my weary soul in thee.

I give thee back the life I owe.

That in thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be.

Let's pray together.

God, we thank you for your grace to us that you find us in our own mess and rubbish.

Helpless.

God, thank you that you are for us and with us.

There are those of us here this morning that feel helpless, that are discontent or disappointed, or hurt in some way.

And thank you that you pursue us even in our mess before we get our acts together.

You want to grow us beyond that.

We are so thankful for that.

And thank you that our story can be more than our sin, and our story can be more than our woundedness, and our story can be more than our discontent.

Because you delight in us, because you pursue us, because you find us, because you engage with us.

We thank you for this great story that finds us in our thirst.

May we know a spring of life inside of our hearts and soul.

May we know a love that does not let us go, and may our souls, may our souls not rest in peace.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.