WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:07.240 A few weeks ago, I was eating lunch with my family, and I started to feel this twinge 00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:11.380 in my side, and at first I thought it was a cramp or something, and so I didn't really 00:00:11.380 --> 00:00:12.540 pay much attention to it. 00:00:12.620 --> 00:00:18.320 And as the afternoon progressed, I didn't want to kind of ruin the day, and so I just 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:21.859 ignored it and pretended like it wasn't there, but it got worse and worse and worse. 00:00:22.359 --> 00:00:28.240 By about 7.30, 8 o'clock that evening, I was in absolutely excruciating pain. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:34.399 And so finally, my wife said, I think that you need to go to the hospital, but where 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:39.239 we were at the time, the nearest hospital was a 45-minute drive away, so we all got in the 00:00:39.239 --> 00:00:47.780 car, and my wife and kids and I, and they drove me 45 minutes to the hospital, and I went into 00:00:47.780 --> 00:00:50.539 the ER, and turns out I had a kidney stone. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:54.140 I don't know how many people have ever had a kidney stone. 00:00:54.140 --> 00:00:59.359 This was my first run-in with this particular condition. 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:06.340 I have never given birth, and that's a different sermon. 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:07.900 I've never given birth. 00:01:10.700 --> 00:01:15.680 I'm told that this is the closest a man can get to experiencing birth pain. 00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:19.599 I don't know if that's true, and I don't know how close it is, and I'm not here to argue 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:26.640 that, but I will say it is hands down the worst pain I've ever experienced. 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:36.560 I would say the outcome is not nearly as joyous, but I never, ever, ever want to experience 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:36.859 again. 00:01:36.859 --> 00:01:41.840 And so I was very interested in what causes this and how to make sure it doesn't happen 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:46.579 again, and it turns out that the most common culprit behind kidney stones is dehydration. 00:01:47.299 --> 00:01:52.760 And not just talking about, you know, being dehydrated for a day or two, more of a lifestyle 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:57.280 of dehydration, where you just sort of live week in and week out, never drinking enough 00:01:57.280 --> 00:01:57.659 water. 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:02.099 And you may not know it, but your body is basically constantly thirsty. 00:02:02.099 --> 00:02:07.719 You're just sort of living in this constant state of thirst, and over time, that can actually 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:11.519 do a lot of bad things to your body, including kidney stones. 00:02:11.740 --> 00:02:15.919 So pro tip, word to the wise, drink enough water. 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:18.740 Keep drinking water. 00:02:20.900 --> 00:02:25.919 I was obviously thinking about that as I was reading that passage that we just read in John 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:32.780 chapter 4, as bad as this condition was for me, and as much as I don't want to ever have 00:02:32.780 --> 00:02:40.039 to experience that again, John chapter 4 reveals to us a condition that is actually far more 00:02:40.039 --> 00:02:42.819 dangerous, far more dangerous. 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:47.279 Not necessarily physical thirst, but spiritual thirst. 00:02:48.379 --> 00:02:53.399 And so as we learn about this woman, we're going to learn about this condition of spiritual 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:56.400 thirst that we live in day in and day out. 00:02:56.480 --> 00:03:01.819 It's going to show us the symptoms of spiritual thirst, how to recognize it in our lives, the 00:03:01.819 --> 00:03:06.099 underlying cause of spiritual thirst, and then the cure for spiritual thirst. 00:03:06.379 --> 00:03:08.800 So let's pray, and then we'll open God's Word together. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:17.159 Lord, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for all of the prayers and songs, Lord, all 00:03:17.159 --> 00:03:21.000 of this language around our thirst and our need for You. 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:27.219 And I pray that as we open Your Word together, You would open our hearts to receive it, that 00:03:27.219 --> 00:03:33.939 we would recognize in ourselves our need for You, and that Your Word would be a way that 00:03:33.939 --> 00:03:34.979 You speak to that need. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:36.939 We pray this in Your Son's holy name. 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:37.659 Amen. 00:03:39.240 --> 00:03:43.060 So first of all, I want to look at the symptoms of spiritual thirst. 00:03:43.620 --> 00:03:49.920 John chapter 4 introduces us to this woman who ends up playing a very significant role in 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:50.780 John's gospel. 00:03:50.979 --> 00:03:54.679 For me and for probably many of us here who are familiar with the story, it's one of my 00:03:54.679 --> 00:03:57.159 favorite characters in the entire New Testament. 00:03:57.699 --> 00:04:00.959 The first thing we learn about this woman is that she's a Samaritan. 00:04:01.739 --> 00:04:07.239 And the Jews considered Samaritans to be racially impure. 00:04:07.239 --> 00:04:14.459 They had, centuries earlier, intermingled with other people groups like the Persians, and so 00:04:14.459 --> 00:04:16.659 they were considered to be half-breeds. 00:04:16.660 --> 00:04:19.500 They also had major religious differences. 00:04:19.760 --> 00:04:23.420 They only believed in the first five books of the Old Testament. 00:04:23.540 --> 00:04:24.740 They rejected everything else. 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:27.800 And they didn't believe that worship should happen in Jerusalem. 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:30.560 They believed that it should happen on Mount Gerizim. 00:04:30.680 --> 00:04:34.480 And so major religious differences, they were considered to be heretics. 00:04:35.280 --> 00:04:41.660 We also learn about this woman that she has been with at least five different men and that 00:04:41.660 --> 00:04:44.840 she's currently living with a man who's not her husband. 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:45.779 We'll come back to that. 00:04:46.679 --> 00:04:52.319 Third thing we learn is that she has come to gather water at the sixth hour, which according 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:55.259 to our clock would be around noon, middle of the day. 00:04:56.199 --> 00:05:02.099 Now, depending on who you are, you're going to key in on different aspects of this story. 00:05:02.539 --> 00:05:08.319 Some people, some people who particularly come out of a traditional, religious, moralistic 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:15.099 society like this first century Jewish society that this is happening in, some people hearing 00:05:15.099 --> 00:05:18.540 this story are going to focus in on this woman's immorality. 00:05:19.540 --> 00:05:22.800 They're going to say, this is a story about a woman who has been immoral. 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:24.939 She has been sexually unfaithful. 00:05:25.039 --> 00:05:26.199 She's been adulterous. 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:29.560 She is maybe even a prostitute of some kind. 00:05:29.719 --> 00:05:33.300 And they're going to key in on the fact that she came to get water at noon. 00:05:33.300 --> 00:05:38.460 They're going to say, well, clearly this is related to her immorality because in this 00:05:38.460 --> 00:05:42.960 culture, women would typically be the ones to gather the water and they would typically 00:05:42.960 --> 00:05:48.400 go either in the early morning or they would go in the late afternoon, early evening when 00:05:48.400 --> 00:05:49.720 it wasn't nearly as hot. 00:05:49.840 --> 00:05:55.220 And they saw this as an opportunity to socialize because women weren't often outside of the 00:05:55.220 --> 00:05:57.639 home, nor did they have many opportunities to socialize. 00:05:57.699 --> 00:06:01.819 And so this would be one of the opportunities for the women to get together and to talk around 00:06:01.819 --> 00:06:02.319 the well. 00:06:02.439 --> 00:06:06.620 And so the fact that this woman comes at noon is an indicator that she lives in social 00:06:06.620 --> 00:06:07.240 isolation. 00:06:08.180 --> 00:06:11.639 She's been identified in the village as a woman of ill repute. 00:06:11.779 --> 00:06:16.980 And so she has come when no one else is around to gather water at the hottest hour of the 00:06:16.980 --> 00:06:17.240 day. 00:06:18.860 --> 00:06:21.980 All right, so some people are going to key in on those details. 00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:29.240 But there's also a social or what we might call structural dimension to this story. 00:06:29.240 --> 00:06:31.259 And other people are going to key in on that. 00:06:31.740 --> 00:06:34.600 In this culture, men controlled divorce. 00:06:34.740 --> 00:06:39.840 By and large, men were the ones who had the right to divorce their wives. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:42.600 Men were the ones who decided whether or not divorce would happen. 00:06:43.139 --> 00:06:47.500 And so it's very likely that this woman's predicament is actually not entirely her fault. 00:06:48.300 --> 00:06:54.960 It could very well be that she has suffered injustice at the hands of one or more of these men. 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:59.879 And so some people would key in on that and say, this woman isn't necessarily immoral. 00:07:00.039 --> 00:07:01.139 She's actually a victim. 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:04.699 She's a victim of a system that has done her an injustice. 00:07:05.799 --> 00:07:11.379 And it might be tempting to read this story and to think in either or terms. 00:07:11.579 --> 00:07:15.359 Either she is a victim or she is immoral. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:22.860 Or she is a victim of a victim or a victim of a victim or a victim or a victim or a victim 00:07:22.860 --> 00:07:24.139 or a victim or a victim or a victim or a victim or a victim or a victim or a victim or 00:07:24.139 --> 00:07:25.900 what is wrong with the world. 00:07:26.460 --> 00:07:26.699 Right? 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:32.680 There are two sort of competing ideologies or perspectives that we use to explain things 00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:40.280 like poverty or homelessness or the breakdown of marriage and family or addiction or mass incarceration. 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:45.000 Some people really focus on issues of immorality. 00:07:45.959 --> 00:07:49.559 And they say, well, if we really want to fix what's wrong in the world and if we really want 00:07:49.559 --> 00:07:52.579 to fix society, we need to focus on moral reform. 00:07:52.799 --> 00:07:54.539 We need to focus on character development. 00:07:55.079 --> 00:07:59.099 We need to focus on getting people to take personal responsibility for their lives. 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:01.179 That's the only way change is going to happen. 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:05.819 The other camp sort of focuses in on society. 00:08:05.819 --> 00:08:10.980 They say, well, we don't really talk much about or, you know, like to focus on things 00:08:10.980 --> 00:08:12.519 like sin and personal responsibility. 00:08:12.819 --> 00:08:14.899 Really, these are systemic and structural issues. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:20.399 And these people are victims of a system that is wired against them. 00:08:20.500 --> 00:08:23.459 And what we need is not necessarily moral reform. 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:24.779 We need social reform. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:26.079 We need political reform. 00:08:27.060 --> 00:08:29.800 And so in our society, that tends to be a bit of a binary. 00:08:30.139 --> 00:08:35.179 But this passage doesn't really give any indication which it might be. 00:08:35.179 --> 00:08:41.319 In fact, I would say this passage seems to allow for both to be true, for both dimensions 00:08:41.319 --> 00:08:43.199 to actually apply. 00:08:43.899 --> 00:08:47.319 And I think that's actually much closer to our own life experience. 00:08:48.439 --> 00:08:51.439 Most people are a little bit of both, right? 00:08:51.500 --> 00:08:56.479 Most people are sinners in active ways. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:08:59.479 We've done things that we know are wrong. 00:08:59.959 --> 00:09:02.259 There are things that we're personally responsible for. 00:09:02.259 --> 00:09:07.740 And yet many people have also been victims of circumstances outside of our control. 00:09:08.620 --> 00:09:13.700 And one of the reasons the Bible doesn't make a distinction, is it one or the other, 00:09:13.819 --> 00:09:19.139 is because the Bible actually says that both of these things are secondary, right? 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:24.879 Our immorality and our systemic brokenness, both of those things are actually symptoms 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:26.840 of something far deeper. 00:09:27.139 --> 00:09:30.960 And the focus of this story is on that deeper truth. 00:09:31.939 --> 00:09:38.460 So if personal immorality and systemic brokenness, if those are both symptoms of something, then 00:09:38.460 --> 00:09:40.399 what are they symptoms of? 00:09:40.460 --> 00:09:43.200 Well, they're symptoms of spiritual thirst. 00:09:43.379 --> 00:09:48.240 And so we now turn our attention to that which is the focus of this passage. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:55.879 What we need to see here is that the way Jesus treats this woman absolutely defies expectations. 00:09:56.919 --> 00:09:58.820 Jesus is a Jewish rabbi. 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:06.240 If you know anything about Jesus' teaching, you know that Jesus not only upheld all of the 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:11.560 Old Testament standards for marriage and sexuality, He actually intensified them. 00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:18.399 Jesus taught that if someone even thinks about another person lustfully, they have committed 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:19.659 adultery. 00:10:20.179 --> 00:10:22.479 So Jesus' standards are very clear. 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:29.039 And normally in this society, a rabbi like Jesus, a respected teacher of the law, would 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:36.119 never be associated with a woman like this, wouldn't even be seen near a woman like this. 00:10:36.439 --> 00:10:40.219 And yet Jesus goes out of His way to find this woman. 00:10:40.220 --> 00:10:44.720 In fact, she is likely the reason that He came to Samaria. 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:49.000 Most Jews traveling this way would not go by way of Samaria. 00:10:49.160 --> 00:10:50.840 They had a different route that they would go. 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:56.259 So the fact that He even goes to Samaria is very odd, and it's very likely that this is 00:10:56.259 --> 00:10:56.779 the reason. 00:10:57.660 --> 00:11:00.700 Moreover, Jews and Samaritans didn't speak to each other. 00:11:02.200 --> 00:11:05.420 Men and women didn't speak to each other for that matter. 00:11:05.419 --> 00:11:10.159 Even husbands and wives rarely really spoke to each other in many contexts. 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:17.919 And yet this is the longest private conversation that we have between Jesus and anyone in the 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:18.899 entire New Testament. 00:11:19.579 --> 00:11:21.979 It's the longest recorded private conversation. 00:11:22.479 --> 00:11:28.159 And all throughout, He treats her with tremendous kindness and tenderness and even respect. 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:31.419 He even asks her for a drink of water, which would have been unheard of. 00:11:31.419 --> 00:11:34.819 So we read all of these details, and they don't make sense. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:36.759 And we say, well, how do we make sense of this? 00:11:36.819 --> 00:11:42.599 And the answer is because Jesus sees the heart of the issue in a way that no one else can. 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:47.679 Jesus sees very clearly the problem with this woman is not just immorality. 00:11:47.860 --> 00:11:50.539 It's not just a broken society. 00:11:51.479 --> 00:11:53.599 The problem is spiritual thirst. 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:56.019 He's keying in on that. 00:11:56.840 --> 00:12:01.060 And we see that after He asks this woman for a drink of water. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:07.180 He says, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink, 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:11.420 you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water. 00:12:12.180 --> 00:12:17.480 And we begin to see that the entire purpose of this encounter is not that Jesus is thirsty, 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:22.279 although He is, it's that this woman is thirsty. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:25.480 She has a much deeper kind of thirst. 00:12:26.519 --> 00:12:27.659 So what does this mean? 00:12:28.940 --> 00:12:32.200 The phrase living water takes us back to the Old Testament, 00:12:32.340 --> 00:12:36.639 and it takes us back to a passage in Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 13, 00:12:37.019 --> 00:12:43.019 where this is a place where God is stating the truth about the human condition. 00:12:43.019 --> 00:12:48.699 God's people at this point in history are crying out, wondering what's happening to our society, 00:12:48.819 --> 00:12:50.199 why is everything breaking down? 00:12:50.519 --> 00:12:57.779 And this is a series of sermons where God preaches through Jeremiah to help people understand what is happening. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:12:59.100 Why are things falling apart? 00:12:59.220 --> 00:13:01.620 So here He states the truth about the human condition. 00:13:01.620 --> 00:13:04.939 For my people have done two evil things. 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:10.039 They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, 00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:16.939 and they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all. 00:13:18.719 --> 00:13:25.059 They're denying God and they're digging broken cracked cisterns in other places. 00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:33.620 So God designed us to draw life directly from Him because He's the source of life. 00:13:33.719 --> 00:13:36.759 We're designed to draw life directly from Him. 00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:41.139 And God is saying that the root of all evil is not just immorality. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:42.939 It's not just systemic brokenness. 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:47.000 The root of all evil is the fact that we deny our need for God 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:51.220 and that we dig our own cracked cisterns, 00:13:51.319 --> 00:13:57.059 meaning we find other ways to try to siphon off spiritual sustenance. 00:13:58.059 --> 00:14:00.819 But this is actually saying that that's impossible 00:14:00.819 --> 00:14:03.939 because think about the difference between a fountain and a cistern. 00:14:03.940 --> 00:14:08.360 A fountain by design taps into an underground water source. 00:14:08.500 --> 00:14:14.400 You have a fountain up here and it taps down into this underground source of water. 00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:17.200 A cistern is essentially a hole in the ground. 00:14:17.920 --> 00:14:20.560 It doesn't tap into any source of water. 00:14:20.680 --> 00:14:22.180 A cistern is just a container. 00:14:22.340 --> 00:14:26.320 All it can do is gather water from the surface like rainwater. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:29.280 But this is not just a cistern. 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:32.460 It's a cracked cistern, which is completely useless 00:14:32.460 --> 00:14:37.020 because a cracked cistern can't even hold the water that it collects. 00:14:39.340 --> 00:14:42.320 So what does this actually look like in our lives? 00:14:42.420 --> 00:14:44.520 Well, just to give a couple of examples, 00:14:45.260 --> 00:14:49.860 one of the places that I think we're very tempted to build broken cisterns 00:14:49.860 --> 00:14:51.540 is in our relationships. 00:14:51.539 --> 00:14:52.539 Right? 00:14:53.459 --> 00:14:54.879 You can do this in a friendship. 00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:56.879 You can do this with your spouse, 00:14:57.459 --> 00:14:59.779 with the person that you're dating. 00:15:00.099 --> 00:15:01.779 You can also do this with your kids. 00:15:03.139 --> 00:15:06.659 You can dig a broken cistern into that relationship. 00:15:06.860 --> 00:15:09.759 What that means is you take this person in your life 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:11.980 and you begin to look to that person 00:15:11.980 --> 00:15:15.779 or to look to that relationship to satisfy you, 00:15:16.179 --> 00:15:18.959 to meet your deepest needs. 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:23.519 And, you know, we can do this with somebody that we're in love with. 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:24.940 You can do this with, you know, 00:15:24.980 --> 00:15:28.340 some of us grew up with parents who looked to us for satisfaction. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:31.620 Some of us are tempted to do this with our kids. 00:15:31.660 --> 00:15:34.040 This is really where I tap that sense of meaning 00:15:34.040 --> 00:15:36.400 and fulfillment in my life. 00:15:37.060 --> 00:15:37.460 Right? 00:15:38.019 --> 00:15:40.800 And the problem is when we begin to do that, 00:15:40.820 --> 00:15:43.060 it actually starts to damage the relationship 00:15:43.059 --> 00:15:48.519 because you can't really love and accept someone as they are 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:51.599 if you're trying to siphon off satisfaction from them. 00:15:53.719 --> 00:15:56.479 What happens is you end up criticizing them. 00:15:57.239 --> 00:16:00.019 You end up demanding perfection from them. 00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:04.139 You end up holding them to expectations they can never meet 00:16:04.139 --> 00:16:09.259 because the relationship is actually based on your need 00:16:09.259 --> 00:16:13.340 to siphon something from them that they can't actually give you. 00:16:14.299 --> 00:16:14.500 Right? 00:16:14.539 --> 00:16:18.399 Some of us have relationships right now where we have done this. 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:22.939 And what we have to realize is that this person can't fill us up. 00:16:23.159 --> 00:16:26.539 We're expecting this person to give us things only God can give us. 00:16:26.539 --> 00:16:28.879 Only when you let them go, 00:16:29.079 --> 00:16:32.159 only when you tear out that cistern 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:34.339 and stop looking there for satisfaction, 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:37.799 only then are you free to love that person 00:16:37.799 --> 00:16:39.759 with all their imperfections. 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:44.779 We can also do this in our work. 00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:46.139 Right? 00:16:46.219 --> 00:16:49.959 We can start to dig broken cisterns into our careers 00:16:49.959 --> 00:16:53.399 and we try to suck self-worth and fulfillment out of our jobs. 00:16:53.599 --> 00:16:55.599 That's why some of us overwork. 00:16:56.899 --> 00:16:58.719 That's why we work all the time. 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:02.000 That's why some of us, no matter what job we're in, 00:17:02.059 --> 00:17:03.419 you're sort of never really settled 00:17:03.419 --> 00:17:06.319 and you're always kind of thinking about making a move 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:08.399 or some change that you might make. 00:17:08.399 --> 00:17:11.420 You've sort of got one eye on the horizon all the time 00:17:11.420 --> 00:17:14.460 because you're not getting the satisfaction 00:17:14.460 --> 00:17:17.879 that you think that you should get out of the work that you're doing. 00:17:18.099 --> 00:17:19.740 And, you know, that's why for many of us, 00:17:19.859 --> 00:17:24.220 our emotional well-being hinges on our performance in our jobs. 00:17:24.299 --> 00:17:26.240 You know, when things are going really well 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:28.420 and we're successful, it puffs us up. 00:17:28.500 --> 00:17:30.839 We immediately, you know, at least for a little while, 00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:32.759 start to feel really good about ourselves. 00:17:32.940 --> 00:17:33.140 Right? 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:35.539 It never lasts because it's a cracked cistern. 00:17:36.099 --> 00:17:38.039 But there's a little hit that we get. 00:17:38.460 --> 00:17:41.279 When we fail or when we lose our jobs, 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:44.599 it's not just hard, but it crushes us. 00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:48.759 It demolishes us because it cuts off our source of self-worth. 00:17:49.859 --> 00:17:50.379 Right? 00:17:50.459 --> 00:17:52.579 If those things are happening, you realize, 00:17:52.779 --> 00:17:57.399 I might have built a cracked cistern in this place in my life. 00:17:57.779 --> 00:18:01.799 Work is meant to be a way to serve God and to serve other people. 00:18:02.719 --> 00:18:05.980 And what you find is that when you're finding satisfaction in God, 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:07.059 instead of your work, 00:18:07.299 --> 00:18:10.319 it actually sets you free to work in a more balanced way 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:16.980 and to remain even keeled and weather the ups and the downs of your career. 00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:20.720 Right? 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:24.179 So some of us have built broken cisterns in places in our lives, 00:18:24.220 --> 00:18:29.480 and that's the thing that sits under all of the havoc that we're experiencing. 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:31.960 I read a guy named Christopher West. 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:34.720 He talked about going back to the relationships for a second. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:38.960 He said the best thing that ever happened in their marriage between him and his wife 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:40.539 is when they were sitting at a table one day, 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:41.200 and they said, 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:43.120 why have things improved so much in our marriage? 00:18:43.259 --> 00:18:44.839 And they had this mutual realization. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.759 It's because I realized that you can't satisfy me. 00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:51.559 And some of us need to look at our spouse and say, 00:18:51.660 --> 00:18:53.140 you can't satisfy me. 00:18:53.740 --> 00:18:55.880 Now, that sounds like you're about to get a divorce. 00:18:56.339 --> 00:18:58.000 That sounds like things are not going well. 00:18:58.100 --> 00:18:58.200 Right? 00:18:58.220 --> 00:18:59.460 A lot of people sitting around you are like, 00:18:59.559 --> 00:19:00.920 wow, they're really having a hard time. 00:19:01.120 --> 00:19:04.120 That could be the most freeing realization you have. 00:19:04.119 --> 00:19:05.939 You might need to look at your job and say, 00:19:06.119 --> 00:19:07.439 you can't satisfy me. 00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:09.839 It'll set you free. 00:19:12.439 --> 00:19:16.919 So real change starts with admitting our need for God. 00:19:17.019 --> 00:19:17.199 Right? 00:19:17.299 --> 00:19:20.599 Whether your focus tends to be on moral reform 00:19:20.599 --> 00:19:23.939 or your focus tends to be on social and political reform, 00:19:24.679 --> 00:19:28.339 the deepest problem of the world is actually spiritual thirst. 00:19:28.339 --> 00:19:33.399 It's the fact that we build cracked cisterns apart from God 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:39.440 and try to siphon meaning and satisfaction in places that were never meant to find it. 00:19:40.360 --> 00:19:44.600 It's interesting to look at what was being written in the late 1800s in the West. 00:19:45.420 --> 00:19:48.160 If you look at kind of people's view of the world and where things were headed, 00:19:48.660 --> 00:19:50.280 there was tremendous optimism. 00:19:51.100 --> 00:19:54.000 Just before the beginning of the 20th century. 00:19:54.140 --> 00:19:54.900 Tremendous optimism. 00:19:54.900 --> 00:19:59.080 People thought society had really moved past the need for God, 00:19:59.540 --> 00:20:02.220 that we had moved past our need for religion. 00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:06.880 With all of our advancements and our technology and our new forms of government, 00:20:07.100 --> 00:20:09.940 we were poised for this utopian 20th century. 00:20:10.060 --> 00:20:11.840 So people were looking to the 20th century saying, 00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:13.880 there's going to be no more war, no more poverty. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:15.320 It's going to be a new age of man. 00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:20.279 And one of those optimists was a woman named Beatrice Webb. 00:20:21.059 --> 00:20:24.700 She's considered to be the architect of Britain's modern welfare state. 00:20:24.879 --> 00:20:28.639 And in her diary, in around 1890, she wrote this sentence. 00:20:28.759 --> 00:20:29.839 She wrote 1890, 00:20:30.539 --> 00:20:34.500 I have staked all on the essential goodness of human nature. 00:20:35.779 --> 00:20:38.859 I've staked all on the essential goodness of human nature. 00:20:38.939 --> 00:20:41.839 That was the belief that undergirded all of this optimism. 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:46.359 Thirty-five years later, well into the 20th century, 00:20:46.939 --> 00:20:50.699 she's writing and she reflects back on that line in her diary. 00:20:50.839 --> 00:20:51.759 And here's what she writes. 00:20:53.019 --> 00:20:58.579 I realize how permanent are the evil impulses and evil instincts in man 00:20:58.579 --> 00:21:01.359 and how little you can count on changing them. 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:04.639 Like the greed for wealth or power. 00:21:05.419 --> 00:21:08.859 No amount of knowledge or science will be of any avail 00:21:08.859 --> 00:21:13.479 unless we can curb the bad impulses of the human heart. 00:21:14.639 --> 00:21:15.939 So what does she realize? 00:21:16.759 --> 00:21:19.199 No matter how advanced we become in our philosophy, 00:21:19.419 --> 00:21:21.699 in our technology, in our politics, in our programs, 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:26.539 as long as people are going after things like wealth or power, 00:21:26.619 --> 00:21:30.559 in other words, as long as people are building cracked cisterns, 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:33.919 brokenness is going to remain. 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:37.420 And so unless you can satisfy that core problem, 00:21:38.380 --> 00:21:39.840 brokenness is going to remain. 00:21:40.440 --> 00:21:43.300 And this is why Jesus came. 00:21:43.820 --> 00:21:45.060 This is why Jesus came. 00:21:46.300 --> 00:21:47.640 Jesus tells this woman, 00:21:49.160 --> 00:21:54.320 the water that I offer becomes a spring of water inside you, 00:21:54.779 --> 00:21:56.640 welling up to eternal life. 00:21:56.700 --> 00:21:57.380 In other words, He's saying, 00:21:57.580 --> 00:21:59.240 no more broken cisterns. 00:21:59.420 --> 00:22:00.740 You won't need them anymore. 00:22:00.740 --> 00:22:04.160 It's not just a hole in the ground. 00:22:04.299 --> 00:22:05.180 It's a fountain. 00:22:05.420 --> 00:22:09.440 It's a fountain of spiritual life inside you 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:13.059 that flows directly from the source, God Himself. 00:22:14.460 --> 00:22:15.359 And it's funny. 00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:18.400 At first, the woman doesn't understand what He's talking about. 00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:20.720 You know, and it's very funny if you read it 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:21.839 and you think about what she says. 00:22:22.140 --> 00:22:23.900 You know, when He first mentions living water, 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:25.519 she says, well, that sounds great, 00:22:25.579 --> 00:22:26.539 but how are you going to draw it up? 00:22:26.539 --> 00:22:27.660 And I would love to have that water 00:22:27.660 --> 00:22:29.460 because then I wouldn't need to come back every day. 00:22:29.460 --> 00:22:31.539 And, you know, and hump it up this hill. 00:22:31.779 --> 00:22:33.019 That would be really nice. 00:22:33.340 --> 00:22:35.279 And she totally misunderstands what He's saying. 00:22:36.819 --> 00:22:38.480 And so then what does Jesus do? 00:22:38.600 --> 00:22:39.920 She's curious about the water. 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:40.960 Her interest is piqued. 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:44.380 And then Jesus brings up the subject of the men in her life. 00:22:46.059 --> 00:22:47.600 Now, why would He do that? 00:22:49.660 --> 00:22:50.920 Is He shaming her? 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:55.860 Now, there's no hint of condemnation in the way that He says it. 00:22:55.859 --> 00:23:02.079 Jesus is gently exposing that truth in her life 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:08.059 the way a skilled surgeon might gently expose a wound 00:23:08.059 --> 00:23:09.539 that has become infected. 00:23:11.139 --> 00:23:14.759 He's gently uncovering this infected wound 00:23:14.759 --> 00:23:18.359 because it very much needs to be cleaned. 00:23:18.359 --> 00:23:24.179 And she begins to realize that He's talking about much more than water. 00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:26.319 It's at that point that she begins to realize 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:28.619 He's talking about spiritual renewal. 00:23:28.839 --> 00:23:32.059 He's talking about a deep kind of healing. 00:23:33.879 --> 00:23:37.419 That's why she asks about one of the biggest differences 00:23:37.419 --> 00:23:39.339 between the Jews and the Samaritans, right? 00:23:39.399 --> 00:23:41.779 She says, oh, you're talking about spiritual healing, 00:23:42.279 --> 00:23:43.019 spiritual renewal. 00:23:43.019 --> 00:23:46.359 Well, then we really need to resolve this. 00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:47.440 Where should we worship? 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:50.759 All right, if you're talking about me reconnecting with God, 00:23:50.940 --> 00:23:52.259 then which is it? 00:23:52.299 --> 00:23:54.000 Is it Jerusalem or is it Mount Gerizim? 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:54.539 Which one? 00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:58.379 And what Jesus says is amazing. 00:23:58.539 --> 00:24:01.019 He says, listen, very, very soon, 00:24:01.559 --> 00:24:02.960 none of that's going to matter anymore. 00:24:04.779 --> 00:24:05.799 None of it's going to matter. 00:24:08.839 --> 00:24:10.460 You're not going to have to go to a temple. 00:24:10.940 --> 00:24:12.400 You're not going to have to go to a mountain. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:15.980 You're not going to have to go to any place to meet God. 00:24:16.519 --> 00:24:19.780 People are going to be able to worship God wherever they are 00:24:19.780 --> 00:24:22.720 because they're going to worship Him in spirit and truth. 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:26.440 He's saying not only are people going to worship 00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:29.019 according to the truth that God has revealed, 00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:33.720 but the day is coming when God's Spirit will be inside them, 00:24:34.340 --> 00:24:35.780 empowering their worship, 00:24:36.140 --> 00:24:39.380 connecting them directly to God wherever they are. 00:24:39.380 --> 00:24:41.000 So wherever you are in the world, 00:24:42.840 --> 00:24:45.200 God's Spirit is in you. 00:24:45.340 --> 00:24:47.500 And so whenever you lift your hands in worship, 00:24:48.540 --> 00:24:51.880 that worship is empowered by God's very presence in you. 00:24:52.920 --> 00:24:58.160 And this really is the answer to the spiritual thirst of the world. 00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:03.580 It is worshiping God in spirit and truth, 00:25:04.279 --> 00:25:06.900 worshiping God according to His truth, 00:25:07.420 --> 00:25:09.900 worshiping God empowered by His presence. 00:25:09.900 --> 00:25:15.700 And she essentially says only the Messiah could offer something like this. 00:25:17.060 --> 00:25:18.280 And Jesus says, 00:25:18.560 --> 00:25:21.180 I who speak to you am He. 00:25:22.780 --> 00:25:23.759 And by the way, 00:25:23.800 --> 00:25:27.180 I said at the beginning that this woman ends up playing a very significant role 00:25:27.180 --> 00:25:30.519 in the life of or in the story of John's gospel. 00:25:30.660 --> 00:25:31.140 This is it. 00:25:31.140 --> 00:25:38.740 This is the first time in John's gospel that Jesus clearly proclaims that He is the Messiah. 00:25:39.740 --> 00:25:44.560 He's been around people like Nicodemus and all of these people who should have recognized Him. 00:25:44.620 --> 00:25:46.500 No, nobody gets what this woman gets. 00:25:46.600 --> 00:25:53.940 This Samaritan woman has the honor of being the first person that Jesus fully discloses His identity 00:25:53.940 --> 00:25:55.620 and His mission to her. 00:25:56.300 --> 00:25:58.620 It's this great honor that He bestows on her. 00:25:58.619 --> 00:26:02.179 And what we're meant to see from this, I believe, 00:26:02.359 --> 00:26:05.299 is that for all of us who desire renewal, 00:26:05.479 --> 00:26:07.619 for all of us who labor for renewal, 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:10.639 whether it's renewal in our own lives, 00:26:10.819 --> 00:26:12.000 renewal in our relationships, 00:26:12.299 --> 00:26:12.859 in our marriages, 00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:13.559 in our friendships, 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:14.379 in our families, 00:26:14.619 --> 00:26:18.459 or renewal on a more social and political level, 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:22.039 people who work for renewal in the city or all around the world, 00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:25.059 whatever kind of renewal you are laboring for, 00:26:25.059 --> 00:26:26.259 whatever you're seeking, 00:26:26.259 --> 00:26:29.879 worship is ground zero for renewal. 00:26:30.879 --> 00:26:33.519 Worship is ground zero for renewal. 00:26:34.779 --> 00:26:39.579 Jesus did not come merely to give a new standard of morality to live by, 00:26:40.339 --> 00:26:45.279 nor did Jesus come merely to overturn unjust social structures. 00:26:46.680 --> 00:26:48.740 Jesus came, as He makes clear here, 00:26:48.819 --> 00:26:51.319 to satisfy spiritual thirst, 00:26:51.319 --> 00:26:54.119 to offer living water. 00:26:54.939 --> 00:26:57.319 And what this shows us is that by faith in Him, 00:26:57.379 --> 00:27:00.859 we can once again tap into that source of spiritual life, 00:27:01.859 --> 00:27:02.639 God Himself. 00:27:03.740 --> 00:27:05.379 No more broken cisterns. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:09.460 And what we find is that every time we gather for worship, 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:13.039 every time we turn our hearts to worship in our homes or where we work, 00:27:13.139 --> 00:27:14.460 every time we do that, 00:27:14.539 --> 00:27:17.639 every time we seek to worship God in spirit and truth, 00:27:17.640 --> 00:27:20.759 we are pulling away from those cracked cisterns, 00:27:21.259 --> 00:27:24.720 where we're licking at the puddles in the dust, 00:27:24.820 --> 00:27:25.360 in the mud, 00:27:25.420 --> 00:27:26.100 on the ground, 00:27:27.259 --> 00:27:28.880 and we're drinking from the fountain. 00:27:29.840 --> 00:27:32.440 And the thing about our hearts is we need to do that again, 00:27:32.940 --> 00:27:33.640 and again, 00:27:33.860 --> 00:27:34.720 and again. 00:27:34.800 --> 00:27:36.060 We need to be reminded again, 00:27:36.259 --> 00:27:37.080 and again, 00:27:37.320 --> 00:27:37.820 and again, 00:27:37.820 --> 00:27:40.640 that there's no life to be found in this cracked hole in the ground, 00:27:41.160 --> 00:27:43.259 that we have to come to the fountain again, 00:27:43.480 --> 00:27:44.220 and again, 00:27:44.220 --> 00:27:45.140 and again. 00:27:45.240 --> 00:27:48.200 But that's the thing that over time begins to set us free. 00:27:48.539 --> 00:27:49.819 And here's what we then see. 00:27:50.299 --> 00:27:53.680 When our worship is fueled by God's very presence, 00:27:54.380 --> 00:27:56.900 His living and active spirit within us, 00:27:57.039 --> 00:28:00.000 and when our worship is anchored by God's truth, 00:28:01.319 --> 00:28:02.279 on the one hand, 00:28:02.339 --> 00:28:04.660 that actually gives us the resources we need 00:28:04.660 --> 00:28:08.819 for personal renewal and change, right? 00:28:08.819 --> 00:28:12.339 It gives us the resources that we need to admit our sin, 00:28:13.059 --> 00:28:17.059 to take responsibility for the things that we need to own in our lives, 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:20.819 to be honest about ways that we are at fault, 00:28:20.939 --> 00:28:22.779 to strive for change in ourselves. 00:28:23.720 --> 00:28:27.119 And it also compels us to go out into the world 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:28.899 to do the work of renewal, 00:28:29.179 --> 00:28:30.599 to do the work of evangelism, 00:28:30.700 --> 00:28:31.200 and mercy, 00:28:31.379 --> 00:28:32.019 and justice, 00:28:32.500 --> 00:28:35.859 because this living water is meant for the healing of the nations. 00:28:35.859 --> 00:28:41.619 We have this beautiful image that was evoked in some of our singing and praying earlier, 00:28:41.859 --> 00:28:44.139 this image that we have in the book of Revelation, 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:46.859 of God's great new creation city, 00:28:46.939 --> 00:28:47.679 the new Jerusalem, 00:28:47.939 --> 00:28:50.740 and this river of living water, 00:28:50.959 --> 00:28:51.179 right, 00:28:51.259 --> 00:28:53.639 flowing in that city, 00:28:53.779 --> 00:28:56.639 this living water of God's spirit. 00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:00.400 And that's what we're meant to see here and now, 00:29:00.560 --> 00:29:01.900 that from the church, 00:29:02.020 --> 00:29:02.820 that out of the church, 00:29:03.040 --> 00:29:04.640 we flow like that river, 00:29:04.940 --> 00:29:07.560 bringing living water to the nations. 00:29:08.660 --> 00:29:11.200 And that's exactly what we see with this woman. 00:29:12.120 --> 00:29:12.840 It's amazing. 00:29:13.000 --> 00:29:16.200 She gets this taste of life that Jesus offers, 00:29:16.420 --> 00:29:18.680 and the first thing she does 00:29:18.680 --> 00:29:20.360 is to go back to her town 00:29:20.360 --> 00:29:23.780 and to tell everybody she knows about Jesus. 00:29:23.779 --> 00:29:26.579 It's the first thing that she does. 00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:28.859 And, you know, 00:29:28.920 --> 00:29:31.839 as we are celebrating the first, 00:29:32.660 --> 00:29:35.799 or the one-year anniversary of the home campaign, 00:29:35.940 --> 00:29:41.839 and so it's been a good opportunity for us to come back to the reasons why this matters to us. 00:29:42.420 --> 00:29:44.319 And I read this story, 00:29:44.420 --> 00:29:44.779 and I think, 00:29:44.879 --> 00:29:50.480 well, this is what I would desire for that space that we are seeking. 00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:52.740 This well, 00:29:52.920 --> 00:29:55.720 this well that Jacob dug 00:29:55.720 --> 00:29:57.279 becomes a place 00:29:57.279 --> 00:30:00.539 where this woman has an opportunity to meet Jesus. 00:30:01.240 --> 00:30:03.440 She comes seeking one thing, 00:30:03.740 --> 00:30:06.680 and she ends up leaving with something much more precious and valuable. 00:30:07.140 --> 00:30:10.539 And that's how I would think about the kind of home we want in the city, 00:30:10.599 --> 00:30:15.079 a place where people can come and meet Jesus, the living water, right? 00:30:15.079 --> 00:30:19.799 A place from which the living water can flow into the neighborhoods and streets of the city 00:30:19.799 --> 00:30:21.099 and through it the world. 00:30:21.159 --> 00:30:27.599 A place where people can have the courage to forego the cracked cisterns in their lives 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:33.199 and to learn what it means to worship God in spirit and in truth. 00:30:35.079 --> 00:30:35.799 Let's pray. 00:30:35.799 --> 00:30:39.839 Lord, we thank you for your word, 00:30:39.940 --> 00:30:44.139 and we thank you for this living water that we all so desperately need. 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:47.379 And I think about myself so many times, 00:30:47.980 --> 00:30:50.220 Lord, on my face, 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:54.279 trying to siphon moisture out of the sand, 00:30:56.059 --> 00:30:56.319 Lord, 00:30:56.579 --> 00:31:00.220 and your fountain is on offer. 00:31:00.220 --> 00:31:02.420 And I pray, Lord, 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:03.600 I pray that we would, 00:31:03.799 --> 00:31:05.059 this morning, 00:31:05.420 --> 00:31:06.759 have eyes to see 00:31:06.759 --> 00:31:10.339 where we have dug cisterns, 00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:13.700 that we would have the courage to let them go, 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:17.279 and that we would turn and embrace and drink deeply 00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:18.860 from the water that you offer. 00:31:19.660 --> 00:31:21.319 We pray this in your Son's holy name. 00:31:21.539 --> 00:31:21.779 Amen.