WITNESS: John 4 - Jayden Zwerner

In this week’s message from our series WITNESS, Jayden walks us through the story of Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well in John 4, inviting us to rediscover what it means to be truly enamored with Jesus. We’re reminded that an encounter with Christ moves us from curiosity to transformation, and ultimately to sharing our story with others. Jesus meets us in our need, sees us fully, and chooses us anyway, and that kind of grace is meant to overflow into the lives of those around us. As we reflect on our own encounter with God, we’re challenged to consider who our “Samaria” is and what it looks like to live as witnesses who can’t help but tell others about the One who changed everything.

Hillside Young Adults is a weekly gathering for intentional community and learning what it means to follow Jesus in everyday life. Join us Mondays at 7:30 p.m. for worship, teaching, and connection. Follow us on social media to stay connected.

Connect with our community online  or Instagram.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, how are we doing? Wow, that was so I feel like sometimes I come up here and I'm like, how are we doing? And one person's like, and then I'm and then I always ask you, like, come on, and then you actually responded well the first time. So I'm glad you're doing well. Um, if I haven't met you, or if you're new around here, and my name is Jaden, I'm the pastor here, and I would love to get to know you. Um, whether you are new, new-ish, or uh new to introducing yourself to someone, um, would love to get to know you and hopefully get you well acquainted to our church. Um, church is a beautiful thing. Church is an opportunity for you to come to know more about God, come to know uh more about the people that he's invited you to walk alongside and hopefully uh allow him to radically transform your life. And so, welcome to church. Um that was nothing of what I was supposed to say. Uh a few years ago, I um not a few years ago, yeah, a few about a year and a half ago. Does anyone know who Sean is? He's our junior high pastor. Those are all the people who serve in student ministries. Um about a year and a half ago, uh, Sean decided he was going to cash in his birthday request um a few months early, which I think should become more of a normal thing. You know, like I want this for my birthday, and it's like my birthday's in October, and you can just cash it in in April. Like, you could use your birthday card whenever you want to use it. But he decided to use his birthday card early because the movie Interstellar was like back in theaters for some sort of anniversary. And something you should know about me is um I watch one genre of movies, it's called rom coms, sometimes roms, sometimes comms, mostly rom-coms. And so I had never seen Interstellar, nowhere close to being on my radar. But um, he used his birthday card, and so it was it was okay, I will, I will be there. And had truly had no idea what to expect, other than I knew it was him who liked it, so I had a feeling it was gonna kind of be crazy and interesting and all the things. And so went to like a 10 p.m. showing at Ontario Mills, because that's all we could get tickets for. Who knew this movie was popular? And um I again, nothing, no idea what to expect. And I sat there and I'm just kind of prepared. Like it's 10 p.m. I'll probably fall asleep at 11. Like, I'll he won't even notice, he'll be so locked in on the movie, we'll be fine. And I tell you, 20 minutes into this movie, if you've seen it, I what? Like it's it's a crazy movie. And I was asking Seni, like, have you seen this? And she was like, Yeah, Jaden, everyone's seen that movie. And so apparently everyone's seen that movie but me. But I mean, this movie, when I tell you it broke my brain, it broke my brain. I remember running into two people from young adults on the way out, and they're like, Jaden! And I was just like, hi, and they're like trying to talk to me, and I was like, I I ended up needing to like come around and apologize like when I saw them next. And I was like, I don't even know what I was saying. My brain was just so confused and like broken from watching this movie. And the next day I like went to lunch with my family and they're talking about things, and I was like, Can I just cut you off right there? I need to process the movie I watched last night. And I like later that night I'm like with a friend and I was like, have you ever seen Interstellar? And I just like could not shut up about it because it legitimately broke my brain. Um and and I was thinking about that this week and and just like how weird it is to be like so absolutely fixated on something for a second and then never think about it again. Like I it's been a year and a half. I couldn't tell you the last time I thought about Interstellar. And then I was thinking about how how interesting that is for like all kinds of things, like good and bad in life. You know, you could be like fixated on a person or love or a breakup or like whatever it is that you can absolutely like capture a season of life and it's all you can think about, it's all you can talk about it, it breaks your brain, and it's everything for a moment, and then you can be like a year or two down the line, you're like, I have not thought about that in forever. And as I was preparing for this month, which I'll tell you about where we're headed in a second, as I was preparing for this month, and I was recalling these stories, or even just this idea and kind of rabbit trailing it down, and man, I was just so taken back by how that can be so true of an encounter that we've had with God. That it can just be this thing, maybe it's the first time you've ever encountered like the presence of Jesus, and it breaks your brain. You can't help yourself. You're like, I gotta talk about it at dinner tomorrow, I gotta talk about it when I'm with my friends. I uh everything, everything has to change. It needs to be in my Instagram bio, it needs to, I need to change my my Facebook status to like in a relationship with Christ. Like, it becomes like your everything immediately when you've had a real encounter with the living God. But like interstellar, it could be about a month, and then all of a sudden you're like, it's been two years, and I don't know the last time I recalled what that season of life felt like, what that what that like burning turmoil and fire inside of my soul felt like anymore. It's just been so long, and not that not that our relationship with God's gone, or not that it even is invalid, it just is kind of there. And it becomes part of the routine. But words like enamored and infatuated and it's breaking my brain are just not words that we necessarily associate with our relationship with Christ anymore. And so as we head into this month, which for the month of March, we are gonna be going through a series and a theme called witness, which is a word equivalent and used throughout scripture to talk about sharing your story, sharing your testimony, evangelism, sharing your faith, sharing the gospel. Like, what does it mean to be a witness to the Lord? That I like to tell of the one that you have found. And as as I really sat with the Lord and I and I wrestled with this concept, I was brought back to, God, how do we live in such a way that every day we've become re-enamored with the one that we have found? How do we live in such a way that I cannot help but tell you about the way the math at the end of the scene of Interstellar that you're like, what is happening? Is there a fourth dimension? You know what I'm talking about? Like, how do we become so infatuated with the gospel that it's not just a task in which we have to tell people? It's an I can't help, but I have to tell you about it. And so we're gonna be journeying through that, both in story and through scripture and in practicality. And so tonight my hope is to kind of set the stage a little bit through one of my favorite stories of evangelism found in John 4. If you have a Bible, a smartphone, um, if you need a Bible, they're back there always. But if you have a Bible, turn to John 4, and as you do, I'd love to pray for us. God, you are here. You're real and you love us. I pray that those three realities are never lost on us, that right now we're not alone right now. There is there is one who sits upon a throne that is sovereign, that right now there's nothing outside of your your grasp, and nothing outside of your sight, and nothing outside of your care. God, I pray that you would uh stoke within us um a fire for who you are, um a flame that uh we don't need to relight or pour gas on, but one that you just continually move in our life in such a way that we cannot help but be on fire for you. God, what a joy it is to follow you. We love you, we thank you, and we look to your word now. Continue we pray. Amen. Alright, John chapter 4. The story starts in verse 4. It says this. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sycar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Joseph's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, Will you give me a drink? His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, You're a Jew, and I'm a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? For Jews did not associate with Samaritans. Okay, context here. Context is so important in scripture, and so what's going on? Why why do Jews not associate with Samaritans? Why is this an why why do we why do we even see the word Samaria three times? Well, here's what you gotta know. Jesus is on a journey, he's going to Galilee from Judea, and there's two ways to get there. You can go straight or you can take the long way. You know what I mean? And so Jews were known for taking the long way because they didn't, they didn't hang out with anyone from Samaria. There is a long-standing rivalry between the two. It goes all the way back to like 700 BC. And there is um there's like genealogical argument, there's political argument, there's even like a religious fighting within them that they they actually have like a like the Jews worship in the temple, and so they worship on this place called Mount Gershim Gur Gerishim. And so there's there's this clear separation of we do not speak with each other. It's actually kind of fascinating. If you if you go like four chapters next, um the Pharisees actually pray. This is so crazy. The Pharisees pray and they ask the Lord, please don't let the Samaritans into heaven. Can you imagine? Like praying for specifically for a certain type of people to not get into heaven? And people, people when they are um like trying to insult Jesus later in in John 8, they call him a Samaritan. Like it's like an insult that they toss at him, like, you Samaritan. Like that's how, that's how actually this how did this get so high? That's actually like how divided they are and how rare it would be for someone who is a Jew to choose to go through Samaria. And that's where we find ourselves. And so, just as much as John, the the writer here wants us to see the interaction that's gonna happen at the well, he tells us that he has to go through Samaria. So he goes through a town in Samaria called this, and Samaritans don't talk to Jews. He's trying to get us to understand this isn't the place that Jesus would choose to go. This isn't the place that, or like Jesus would choose to go, but any of us would would assume Jesus would choose to go. And so just as much as he wants us to see the interaction that's gonna happen, he wants us to see that Christ is going to go towards the people that Jews have never gone toward before. And when when Christ lights the torch of the early church, all the way chapter and chapter and chapter later in Acts 1, risen, risen Jesus, resurrected Jesus is going to give the the apostles a commission, one that we carry the torch of to this day. And attached, attached to his commission, he says this in in Acts 1.8, he says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my, there's our word, you'll be our my witnesses in, and look what he lists, in Jerusalem, like in your inner circle, in Judea, in the like places I assume that you would you would assume I'd want you to go. And then he says, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. He says, You will be, you will be my witnesses in your closest community. You will be the witnesses in the places that you think you should go and you shouldn't go, and to the ends of the earth, Samaria included. And and he's drawing out this picture for us that from the very get-go, before we even talk about what evangelism looks like, we have to zoom out and say, hey, there's just there's just no possible way that there is a person, place, country, or type of person that's off limits from the gospel. And so Samaria and Samaria and Samaritans, and you're gonna go to Samaria, reminds us over and over again that we just cannot disqualify a person or a lifestyle or even a religion from being necessary for the gospel, for being worthy of the gospel, for being the place in which God would delight in us carrying the torch of his name. And he's going to practice right now what he later preaches in Acts. So Jesus, he comes to this, he comes to this well and he sits down, and like naturally, you know, Jesus is fully God, fully man, so he's tired and he needs a drink, and this lady, this lady, we don't even know her name, Samaritan woman, walks up and she's coming to draw water. Now, noon is significant because noon is when like the societal outcasts would come to the well. You, if you are in the middle of a really hot place, the last thing, the last time you're gonna want to go and do like the work outside is in the heat of the day. So anyone coming to draw water would come the like cool of the morning, the cool of the evening, and anyone who'd wanted to make sure they didn't see anyone would come at noon. It's like when um when you're on the way back from the gym and you're like, I have to stop by Target, but I don't want anyone to see how like disgusting I am. And so you like put a hat on, you put sunglasses on, and you like try to hide from the world for a second. Maybe you even like target drive up yourself. Like, this is almost the like target drive-up of I have to, I have to pick up my toothpaste, but I'm just I cannot run into anyone right now. Like that's that's the context of the way in which this lady is just trying to survive. She wants to make sure nobody sees her, nobody finds her, and she doesn't feel the shame of the community that she finds herself in. And so, and as she does, as she's hiding, as she comes, she runs into a Jew at the well who asks her for a drink. And it's such this simple conversation. He's like, hey, I need some water, you have a bucket, could you, could I have some? And he, and Jesus would have known, like, he's a smart guy. He would have known, she's here at noon. The last thing she wants is number one, to talk to you, and number two, to interact with anyone right now. Like, she's hiding from the world. And he doesn't size her up, he doesn't interrogate her, he doesn't be like, hey, why are you here at noon? He doesn't gather the disciples of like, all right, we need to come up with an evangelistic strategy and how we're gonna, you know, take care of the sin in this woman's life, because clearly she's hiding. Like he just he just walks up to her and he's like, hey, I need some water, you're here drawing water. Could I have some? And this woman, if you were, again, why context matters, this woman would have already known about a god. Like the Samaritans were religious people. They worshipped, they worshiped their own god upon a mountain, and and they they weren't like spiritually illiterate. They weren't atheists, they had some sort of religious backbone. And that might be right there where some of you find yourself, someone in your life finds themselves. You maybe inherited a religious system in your life. You might have grown up talking to the sky because someone told you it was important to pray, and so you're like, okay, I'll talk to my ceiling in my room. It might be maybe the place that you just came from. Maybe you were, you grandma took you to church your whole life, and it wasn't until your high school years or your college years that you're like, oh, this is so much more than the system, the religious system in which I grew up in. But more than either of those, studies will tell us it's pretty much where 84% of adults are. Barna, the new like Barna research that just came out, like probably within the last two years, says that 84% of adults are spiritually curious. Isn't that fascinating? And 74% of them are interested in growing in their spirituality. Isn't that kind of fascinating? Like it just doesn't feel like that adds up with either the stereotypes that I've put onto people or the stereotypes that I assume are around me. I don't I don't assume that the people around me actually are curious about anything to do with religion. They feel, they feel, or maybe I I feel it for them, that they're very closed off to this idea of God. But research would show, and even here would show, hey, there is an understanding or a curiosity about something spiritual in their life. And watch what Jesus does. Verse 10. Jesus answers her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. Sir, the woman said, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself? And did and as did also his sons and his livestock? Jesus answered, Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water, so that I won't give thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water. Something shifts here. We go from a really weird interaction of a Jew walking up to a Samaritan and saying, Hey, I need some water, to he begins to kind of stoke a little bit of, he starts to like poke her spiritually curious side. And we see him use language and a and a metaphor of like we're sitting at a well, but I have a I have a different type of water, and you kind of watch her brain go from you're a Jew to, wait, who are you? Go from like, you should not talk to me to maybe I want that water. Like you watch, you watch the the change in her demeanor simply by the language of going, you shouldn't talk to me to, I mean, I don't want to be thirsty again. Like maybe I'll maybe I'll take your your special water. And there's a there's a flip from from uh an like you get away from me to well well maybe. And she kinda like she kind of like leans in to just being curious about the fact that he has something that seems to be a little bit more for the thing that she needs. And this truly is a lot of times where um our witness actually begins to find itself. Not this like radical moment where we see people just instantaneously break out in repentance and and believe in the gospel and their entire life changes and they had they knew nothing five minutes ago, and the and the gospel like radically changed everything that they're thinking in in five minutes. Like that is the story for some. But if I if I think if we were to take a poll in this room of people that you've either you or people that you have seen come to know Christ, it often starts with a season of curiosity. A season of of being like this to like, tell me more. Or, yeah, I I need water, but I actually am really sick and tired of walking to this well at noon all the time. You do you have something that can fix that? And it's not this magical, like one-to-two process, but it is a, like, like this research would show us, it is a a decision to lean into what maybe is underlying in the spiritual curiosity that we just have all around us. And and Christ in this moment just doesn't, he doesn't come in guns-ablazing. He doesn't come in ready with his five-step process and his perfect Romans road. Though those are beautiful things and resources and tools to have as we walk people into um just a knowledge of the gospel and a and a moment with Christ. But he comes in and he does, he does a uh he does something really interesting. Number one, he saw her. He saw her. Like, how many times do you walk up to something in the grocery store, Starbucks, your car? And there are people all around you, and you don't see them. Like, I'm so guilty of this. I have tunnel vision so clearly when something's on my mind. And he saw her. She wasn't like the the hat and the sunglasses and the trying to hide at noon wasn't enough for Christ to not see her in this moment. He saw her and she saw that he saw that she needed water. He listened. He listened to her, he noticed, he he leaned into what was going on and what she clearly needed and why she clearly needed it and what was going on. He he paid attention in such a way that wasn't just like, could you get in my way? I'm trying to reverse out of this parking lot. He cared. He he cared enough to not just say, Yeah, I can, I can, I'm strong, like I'm Jesus, I have eternal strength. Like I can I can put the bucket down in the well for you, like I can get your water for you. Like it wasn't just some sort of um like gentlemenness here. He cared enough to say, I can't just help you get some water, I have to tell you about something better. And so he asks. He says, Hey, can I can I share with you? Can I tell you about a different type of well? He doesn't force it upon her, he doesn't say, you are the worst, and how dare you hide at noon, you need this. He's like, hey, can I can I tell you about a place in which living water can be found? He says, I see that you have this need. You have a uh you have a real need like for today. For today you need water, but you also have a bigger need, and I I want to help you connect those dots. And he moves from her physical need to her spiritual need in such a way that is it's it's smooth. It cares, it leans in, it doesn't pry, it doesn't force, but it's real it's building a relational equity in such a way that when he gets to the point where he's gonna say the crazy thing, which he's gonna say the crazy thing, because no matter what, the gospel will also always be crazy. It will always be crazy, it will always be radically different than anything this world promises or maybe tries to lure you in with. It will always be a radical good news. But I don't think we need to come in so guns-ablazing when it comes to how we share our faith. I think we can be smooth, not in a coercive way, but in a caring way. I think we can build relational equity. We can see people, we can notice them, we can listen, we can care, we can see their actual physical need before we just try to jump in and tell them that they're wrong and they have a bigger need. And he and you see in this moment that she moves, this woman moves from a believing that there is a God to being interested in this God. And the door gets cracked open. And then he comes in with the crazy. He says in verse 16, he told her, Go call your husband and come back. I have no husband, she replied. Jesus said to her, You're right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you've had five husbands. And the man you're with now is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true. So Jesus asks her to go and get her husband, which is such an interesting left turn, right? Like, this story makes tons of sense. And then all of a sudden he's like, Go get your husband. You're like, where did that come from? But he he jumps from the real need, she just needed some water, and he jumps to the basis of where her spiritual need really is coming from. Because underneath the surface, God, in his in in his all-knowing power, knows that there is a pattern in her life. We don't know why she's had five husbands. It could have been because of divorce, it could have been because of death, it could have been her doing, it could have been other people's doing. We don't know where this pattern of five husbands came from, but there's a pattern of need in her life. She's needed to be cared for, she's needed to be loved, she's needed to be known, and she finds herself again with someone who's not even her husband, and he says, Hey, I'm I can see that you really think, and right now, in the heat of the day, you probably need water, but I can see, I can see what you actually need underneath. I can see this pattern that you found yourself in, in husband after husband, climbing towards or racing towards, or trying to find refuge and feeling known and seen and cared for in an earthly relationship, and it's it's just never gonna satisfy. And so go get your husband. And it's not to point her out, it's not to call her out, but it's actually to say, hey, I see that thing. I see that thing. And that right there, the moment, and I hope it's happened for you, the moment where God says, I see that thing. Your sin, your brokenness, the things you've done, the things you're currently doing. It's the moment that Christ, in his kind conviction, shows you that he sees it too, and still chooses you, that his grace couldn't be better. And Jesus in this moment says, I need you to see that I see it and I'm still sitting here. I need you to see that I know the things that you need, I know where you've come from, I know why you're hiding, I know the pattern you find yourself in, and I still chose to talk to you. I still chose to notice you, I still chose to stay, I still chose to tell you about eternal life. And that is the place where grace becomes real. Because it's a great story from afar. A man died so that you could have eternal life. It's a wonderful story to look at afar. But when that man died for you, when that man chose you, when when the God of the universe hung upon a cross for you, it's not just a good story anymore. And my fear is, maybe this is where you're at tonight. My my fear is maybe you've never become enamored because you've never actually felt like God really did see you and choose to stay. And maybe you're like, I've never had an interstellar moment that broke my brain. Can I tell you? Religion's awesome. Spirituality, like falling into a system in which you have a um like a healthy balance and Sabbath and you believe that like good will be in the world. Like none of those things are bad things, but they are all byproducts of the good thing, of the best thing. And so if you find yourself in the middle of trying to be a part of something that you think will make your life better, can I just tell you he sees you. He sees the thing in which you need so desperately, and he might make it come to the surface so that he can show you that he's choosing to stay. So that he can show you that he wants to sit with you and actually make it better. And more than he just wants to make it better, that he actually wants to fully wipe clean and fully redeem the thing in which you think disqualifies yourself from the very gospel. I've been to uh a lot of weddings, and one thing that's pretty consistent at all weddings, whether you, you know, they do traditional vows or um they write their own, like you know, the really cheesy ones, one thing that's never missed from a wedding is um the vows of paradox. You know what I'm talking about? Where they're like, and I promise you, and sometimes they substitute their own words, like I promise you on the mornings that you don't brush your teeth, and you're like, you know, they they they basically just draw out the contrast of, I promise you that on your best and your worst, I will still choose you. Why? Why is that in every wedding? Because it is the best way that we can verbalize what it means to choose someone and to love them completely. It's the best way to demonstrate in front of people and to someone that if I'm actually going to stay in the middle of your worst, that's what love is. And right in this moment, we see Jesus vow to her in this moment, hey, I see your very worst state of yourself, and I'm going to choose to still offer you eternal life. Verse 19, he says, Sir, the woman says, I can see that you're a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. You watch this, watch as it continues. She starts to kind of unravel and try to figure out, okay, how do I make sense of this with all the things that I've ever known? Woman, Jesus replies, believe me, a time's coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you don't know. We worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and is now come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For they're the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the spirit and in truth. He takes the most divisive part about what she would believe about Jews. He says, We worship there, you worship there, and there's going to be a day where neither of those locations matter. We worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. The woman said, I know that the Messiah called Christ is coming. When he comes, he'll explain everything to us. Verse 26, Jesus declared, I, the one speaking to you, I am he. Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, What do you want, or why are you talking with her? Verse 28, then leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, Come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah? As Christ sat there and explained probably one of the most complicated things ever, that he was going to be for the whole world. That there's no longer gonna be a division for her as a Samaritan, and that she was gonna be welcomed, and he just begins to uncrack the John 3.16 for her. In this moment, you see the moment. Like watching Interstellar for the first time, like on Polar Express when they hear the bells, when you're just like, I I don't fully understand everything you just said, but I cannot help but know that I have met with the risen Jesus. And what does she do? I think it's kind of interesting that it includes this. She drops her jar. She forgets that she even needed water in the first place, and she turns around and she runs back to her city. That there is this overwhelming necessity for her to make sure that other people get the opportunity to talk to this guy before he gets to Judea. Mind you, she's running back to the very town that she's trying to hide from at noon in the heat of the day. And she sprints back and she and she declares probably something I would never say. I would never run back to a community that I think probably hates me and say, hey, come meet this guy who told me all of the bad things about me. But she runs back and she says, Hey, you you have to come, you have to come see this guy who told me everything I've ever done. Could he be the Messiah? Something broke her brain. A moment stopped everything in time. And the the lines between her and Jews, the lines between her and the people that have outcasted her, the fact that she needed water, like that was a real thing that she needed, all of those things no longer mattered because she was so infatuated with the fact that this guy could choose her. That she could not help herself but have to run and go tell other people. That her soul burned for other people to know what this felt like, to know what this moment could mean and be for them if they would just come and see too. She started knowing about God, she grew a little curious, she was met with the conviction of the Lord. She watched as he chose to stay and die for and choose her in spite of that, and she could not help herself but run toward the people who have even despised her for the sake of them being able to feel this too. You go a little bit further, verse 39, it says, Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. Again, he told me everything I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words, many more became believers. They said to the woman, We no longer believe just because of what you said. Now we've heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the savior of the world. This woman's story continued to light fires. For some, it happened immediately. For some, it it stoked their curiosity to have to come and meet this guy, but we see it it brought believers then, it brought believers a few days later, and I hope and believe it's still bringing believers to this day. That I re as I read this story, it pours gasoline on the fire of my soul to say, yeah, I wanna be like this woman who is so unashamed of the encounter that she's had with the Lord that I'll run into any sphere, forget the fact that I needed to go get water, and I'll just be like, you you gotta come know this guy who told me every bad thing about me. And so, sure, I'll tell you all the bad things about me because I need you to know what it's like to be with him. And I take us through this story and even into this month, not to um use her story to like build us an evangelistic framework, though those are important, or even to say, you know, like we should follow the steps of Jesus in this moment, though I think we always should follow the steps of Jesus, but like that's not that that's not the point here. I think the point of all of this is to say, number one, have you had an encounter with Christ? One that has made you so gutterly enamored with who he is that it radically changed everything about you. Because if you haven't, I'd love to talk to you. I'd love to open up God's word with you. I'd love to maybe stoke your curiosity of what his word says. And I'm not here to try to tell you like right now, you have to figure it out right now. It may be right now, but it doesn't have to be right now. Have you had an encounter with Christ? And if you have, who knows? Who knows? Was it just the people you interacted with for that one month afterwards? Or are there people who still you you cannot help but tell them about the way in which you've encountered Christ today? We're one month and one day away from Easter weekend. And it's a day, a weekend, like Good Friday, a lot of people get off. Like Sunday, most people gather with their family to celebrate, whether they're religious or not. It's a day that a lot of people in the world are willing to admit there may be a God. And I love that this whole story started with a woman who just had a tiny bit of religious background who would say, Yeah, I think there's a God. And just with one encounter at a well, she didn't just think there was a God, she knew exactly who this God was, and that he was for her and he was with her, and he was going to carry her as she took the worst of her life, held it on display, and said, You've got to know this man. What would it look like for us to be a generation who says, All right, 84% of people are actually religiously curious? Bet. I'll run into the trenches, I'll tell them about Jesus as they pray to crystals. Like, I'll I'll I'll still I'll sit in the curious mess with them. Sure. I'll notice them, I'll see them, I'll I'll invite their whack questions. Like, yes. And and I'll also meet them exactly where they're at, and I'll tell them that this man knew everything about me. I'll tell them the mess that he pulled me out of. I'll tell them how he saved a wreck like me. And so as we head into back into worship, and as we um even head into this next month, maybe just right now with the Lord, you can close your eyes, you can just take a few deep breaths. Just ask God, God, who are you to me? God, do I just know a lot of things about you? Have I fallen into the land of curiosity? Like this woman and her husband's, God, is there something, someone that might be in the way of being enamored with who you are? And especially for those of us who maybe gave our life to Christ years and years ago, would you just ask him, God help it to not be lost on me? God help me see my story as I look myself in the mirror daily as necessary for the way in which I go to work, the way in which I go to school, the way in which I talk to my family, the way in which I exist. And as you do, as you maybe just sit with the Lord and and head into this time of worship, maybe the the best next question would be, God, who's who's in my Samaria? Who's someone I've written off? Where's a location I've written off? Who are the where are the places I just so naturally walk through I've forgotten that I have the invitation to care for them? And let's be people who drop our jars and run toward them. Maybe with the best tools in our pocket and maybe with the world's jankest story, but just trusting that God can use me because God has changed me. Father, I am so grateful. So grateful to know you. Thank you that in the kindest and most gentle way you sat with me in my mess. Thank you that you didn't let me stay there. That you didn't allow it to be my life. God, I I thank you for what Easter even means. That you came and hung upon a cross after living a perfect and sinless life. You died the death I deserve so that there wouldn't be condemnation for me, but there would only be grace and salvation. Father, I pray that as we walk with you, as we journey with you, as we sit at your feet, we would never lose sight of what it means to be enamored with who you are. That it would just be so on the tip of our tongue that it would become annoying. That it would bother people, that we can be okay in the worst times, and steady in the chaos, and certain in the uncertainty, and joyful, that we could actually be willing to share the mess of our life for the sake of someone else coming to know you. God, I pray that we would run toward the curious with the best story in the whole world. That is you. We love you, we thank you, and we worship you now. In your name we pray. Amen.