Sermon Title: Create a Safe Environment
Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’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 are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered 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, 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.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
“I can’t accept that person.” This is something that our attitude towards someone may say without words. Too often it is this same attitude Christians have toward others as they act as if they are better than others. Non-Christians get the message and are deterred from knowing God because of it. The text shows that Christ did not have this attitude towards a woman whom His culture had said was not worthy of speaking to. Instead, Christ demonstrated the ability to see this woman as valuable, someone who He had come to “seek and save” (Luke 19:10).
Dr. Gary Smalley, in his book, “The DNA of Relationships,” speaks to this when he writes the following: “Honor is a way of accurately seeing the immense value of someone made in God’s image. God created each one of us as a one-of-kind person, with unique gifts and personality. He sees us as precious and valuable. When we see others as God sees them, when we recognize and affirm their value, we help create a safe environment that encourages relationships to grow.”
Christ created a safe environment to minister to the woman in the text by first honoring her through speaking to her and demonstrating His compassion for her. This coming Sunday we will talk more about creating a safe environment in our relationships as we continue our sermon series, “The DNA of Relationships.” We will also celebrate Mother’s Day by honoring our mothers in our congregation. Hope to see you then!
