Discipleship - The Well

I. Our Insufficiency, God's Sufficiency 00:00

[Our collect] pointed out, “Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves.” I don’t know if you know this, but this is the reality we live in. We’re here in Lent, where we recognize our deficiencies. But one of the secrets of Christianity is that there is no season in which we cannot declare God’s sufficiency. So Lent is not actually a mournful season. It’s merely a penitential season. And so in these times that we recognize our insufficiency, we remember God’s sufficiency.

And all of us are on this journey, like we mentioned in Exodus, out of the wilderness of Sin. What a beautiful allegory. What a beautiful name for a place. We’re leaving the wilderness of Sin. But unlike those who went into the desert and said there is no water, we now know, by the power of Jesus and with all the other stories that we read today, that leaving the wilderness of Sin is where you find the water. So continue on the journey. Recognize your insufficiency and God’s sufficiency.

And one more point, as introduction. In Romans it says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5.1). It was just really impressed upon my heart this morning, as I was praying, that we need to recognize that you are forgiven, and you have the peace of Christ this morning.

I don’t know if you’ve ever played this game with yourself, where you are anxious, and your solution is to go over all the stupid things that you did the day before, or earlier that day, or what you think you’re probably going to do, and you just beat yourself up by replaying these places where you have fallen or been weak or sinned or been stupid. When you do that, that is agreeing with the devil’s narrative of your life. Because we actually have the Holy Spirit, who is the Advocate, arguing, “No, actually, you are in Christ. You are God’s righteousness.” That’s pretty amazing this morning. If you will recognize that one thing, then you will get closer to unleashing the well of life within you.

Because the enemy’s job is to dissuade you from living in reality. He wants to make sure you live in that fake place where you are a wicked sinner, weak and unloved. That is not reality this morning. In fact, you have the same favor as Jesus Christ: the one who was perfect, who knew no sin, who died and resurrected, the one who is the name above every name (Phil 2.9), over all authority; all power was given to him. That favor is on your life. I don’t think we have any idea what that means. I think that God is raising us into people who can reflect that, but I don’t think we can grasp how amazing this favor that God has for us is.

II. Jacob's Well at the Sixth Hour 02:54

And so when we start from that perspective, then when we talk about the Samaritan woman at the well, it all makes a lot of sense. So we’ve been talking about discipleship all year long, and truly, this is one of the greatest examples of Jesus inviting somebody into discipleship. And so keep that framework as we just tell the story here today. We’ll start in verse 5:

5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. John 4.5–6

There’s so much already in there. There’s the history that’s being referred to, of Jacob giving his son Joseph this field and digging this well. And one of the things that Jesus is doing in this moment (because nothing Jesus did was by accident) is declaring that he is the true inheritor of the well of Jacob and the fields of Joseph.

And so what he’s doing when he chooses this spot (and God ordains all of this) is coming to it wearied, as from a long journey. Think about this: the God who does not sleep is weary. It’s this beautiful image, like we talked about with Jesus’ baptism. He went into the baptism for the repentance of sin, he who knew no sin. Why did he do that? So that when we enter our baptism, we find Jesus there. So why does Jesus show up at the well wearied? So that when we come to the well wearied, we meet Jesus there. This is why it’s not accidental. He became as us that we might become like him, so that when we are weary, we actually approach the well that never runs dry.

So let’s continue the story here. Jacob’s well is there. What is a well? He gets there at the sixth hour. Does anybody know what time that is? Noon. High noon in the wilderness. It’s kind of got the Western feel. It’s dry and dirty. He’s dusting off his chaps. He’s tired, and he’s hanging out by the well waiting for a drink of water. And with the sun right above the well, that is the only time when you can see to the bottom. When the sun is directly overhead, he can see to the bottom of the well. And in a way, he’s approaching the well of our humanity.

III. Eternity in Our Hearts 06:10

So let me jump to Ecclesiastes 3:11. He writes:

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. Eccles 3.11

So what is this well of humanity that he’s approaching? What is the image of the well? It is that eternity in our hearts: no matter how much we pour into the well, we will always be empty, except when it’s filled with Jesus. This is the framework in which we are approaching this. And the well… we think we have in ourselves the power to save ourselves, but we were just told in our collect, “Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves.” That eternity in your heart was meant to be filled with the Holy Spirit, who pours out his love into our hearts, by the Holy Spirit given to us (Rom 5.5).

So this is all the framework. And into this infinite depth, the only thing that will ever satisfy your life is God. So we start here, with this unquenchable thirst for meaning and communion. That’s where all humanity starts. God designed us just that way.

IV. A Strange Woman 07:08

And into the scene, where Jesus is dusty and sweaty and thirsty, sitting at the well, a strange woman approaches:

7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) John 4.7–8

I’m just going to pause there and mention this. Imagine this woman, at high noon, in the desert culture. You know what you’re supposed to do? You’re supposed to stay in your house. You’re supposed to stay in the cool. No, she came out in the heat of the day. And as you’ve probably heard regarding this story, she was carrying a baggage of shame. As she’s walking out there, sweat dripping down her face, she’s playing that game I mentioned earlier. She’s replaying all the stupid things she did in her life, so that she has to go out in the middle of the day to draw water, because she’s not accepted at any other time. She’s carrying the open wound of her shame to the well with her. And a Jew is now asking her for water.

Maybe you’ve approached the world this way, as a walking open wound, and then somebody you encounter, you bite their head off. It has nothing to do with them. It’s because of the emptiness in you. This is the position of the Samaritan woman. And we see it come out as she responds:

9 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.) John 4.9

And helpfully, we’re told, “For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” It’s such a polite way of saying Jews and Samaritans hate each other. And so in that place, in that shame, where she was going to the well precisely because she didn’t want to meet anybody, especially not, in her mind, a judgmental Jew… that’s what she thought she was going to get at the time, because the Jews said, “We worship correctly, and all you Samaritans are just not good enough. You’re not part of the true faith.” And so she’s expecting now to be confronted in her shame by judgment.

V. If You Knew the Gift of God 09:22

But Jesus is better than that.

10 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.” John 4.10

Even in that, it’s not really a condemnation. He’s just saying, “Lady, reframe what you’re thinking about this interaction, because I have something for you.” He’s not rebuking her. He doesn’t expect her to know who he is, but he’s inviting her to consider him: “If you knew who I was, you’d know that I could give you living water.”

And when you look at this point and you hear that “if you knew,” it reminds me of Philippians 3, where Paul writes, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil 3.8). He says, “If you knew who I was, you’d have the living water. If you knew.” And Paul says, “I count everything as loss to know him.”

This is all about this in-Christ life that we’re talking about. This is all about discipleship. What does a disciple do? They study the master. They get to know the master. And by getting to know the master, they become like the master. That’s what discipleship is all about. “If you knew.” We all today know Jesus. But the invitation for you today is: if you don’t feel the living water in your life, go back to knowing Jesus. If you’re feeling empty or tired or like you don’t have the resources, the promise today is that they are right there for you. Jesus is right there for you. Know him, and he will give you the living waters.

VI. Are You Greater than Our Father Jacob? 10:57

So then the woman is not yet convinced, let’s say, and she says to him:

11 “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” John 4.11–12

I just want to point out: we know in hindsight what’s going on here. And how ironic is it that she says, “Where do you get the living water?” She’s literally asking the living water. He is the living water. This is the thing: he’s inviting them in, but nobody has the framework or the understanding to know what he’s doing. He will pour out his life on the cross. Why do you think, when they stabbed him, blood and water poured out (John 19.34)? It’s the stuff of life that he poured out for us, that we might have that well of living water.

“Are you greater than our father Jacob? For he gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Are you greater than our father Jacob? You can hear the religious defensiveness, because the Samaritan woman is saying, “I have just as much of a right to be here as anybody, because my father’s Jacob.” That’s what she’s saying: “Are you somehow better than my inheritance?” Because what has she encountered in the world? She’s encountered judgment. And so she feels the need to justify her identity.

All of us find our identity in Christ. And that’s the identity where we can say we don’t have to justify ourselves. We just are in him. If you ever find yourself defending yourself… let me say this. When I was a kid, I liked to defend myself. I will say I still do, but it was a particular hobby of mine as a child. And my mom told me over and over again… In fact, when I think of my memories, I don’t know if there are very many memories where I remember my mom saying something that wasn’t a Bible verse. She was always trying to help me reframe my life. And so she reminded me, “Jesse, ‘Vengeance is mine, says the Lord’” (Rom 12.19). “The Lord is our sure defender. You can just let God defend you.” “But they’re wrong, Mom.” “Don’t you think God knows? Don’t you think he is sufficient for your defense?” So in this moment, when the woman is defending her identity, what she’s going to find out is that she can just rest in Jesus. She doesn’t have to defend herself.

VII. Broken Cisterns: Money 13:54

Okay. So, “Are you greater?” “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again” (John 4.13). That’s what Jesus replies to this defensiveness. You can keep going to your well of defensiveness. You can keep going to the well that will never satisfy. It brings me back to Jeremiah 2:13, where God says:

13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. Jer 2.13

That’s the situation that we are all in. We want to satisfy ourselves from our own cisterns. We thirst. What are you using today? What are you trusting to satisfy that is not Jesus? There are four classic things that we run to, to try and fill ourselves up instead of going to Jesus.

Number one is money. And maybe you’re sitting here today going, “I have no money. I’m good.” That’s not what I mean. Money is a way to try and provide for yourself. Did you know that your job is actually not your provision? God is. Now, one of the ways he provides is through your job. He has called you to work. Absolutely. At whatever task you’re at, whether you make money or not, God has called you to submit yourself to service, just as he did for the whole world. But this money: you can try to use it to provide for yourself, to protect yourself, to be self-reliant. What a lie. As though we could rely on ourselves instead of the one who maintains all beings. Or maybe you want to gain pleasure or fame or power, these other idols.

But the thing about money is that it’s just never enough. I was just listening to a podcast where a guy was saying that he knew a billionaire, and all the billionaire ever talked about was his friend who had a hundred billion dollars. It’s never enough. It will never satisfy. That’s why we give the tithes and the offerings, especially the tithe. Because what the tithe says (it’s a habit that we get into, to discipline ourselves) is, “Actually, I’m using this money as a steward of God’s provision.” The money doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to the God who created and gave every good thing. You’re just its steward. That’s why we give offerings: because when you give an offering, you say, “I’d rather this thing be used for the building of the kingdom of God than my own kingdom.”

It’s very important to be in the discipline of giving money, because money will capture your heart. That’s why Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6.21). And that doesn’t just mean stockpiling money. If you spend exorbitantly, if you spend money on all the things that you can buy and your bank account is zero at the end, it doesn’t mean you don’t love money. It’s not just the Scrooge McDuck who has the piles of gold that he swims in. That’s a particular type of money obsession, but the one where you have to buy the latest and greatest thing is just as much money obsession.

So don’t fall for the trap. In Orange County, this might be the most subtle trap of them all. In fact, I was at a wedding yesterday, and even the best man had to call out how he bought something and it was $18. It’s like a little drink. And he’s like, “You guys, everything’s expensive,” because everything’s about money. There’s this undercurrent: you have to spend more to be better. That is not true.

Okay, money. Let’s go on to pleasure. There are four, I’ll tell you ahead of time: money, pleasure, fame, and power.

VIII. Pleasure 18:07

So you can do a little mental math and see which one you think you need to work on. Probably all of them, if you’re like me.

Pleasure. This one could be pretty straightforward: lust, or gluttony, where you want too much of the fine foods and drinks, or you want all these things. These can be chasing experiences, like going to concerts or flying around the world. Pleasure can come in those types of forms, where you’re constantly chasing that thing: “I just want to fill up. I want to have an experience of this pleasure, this excitement, this moment.” Adrenaline junkies can be a pleasure-seeking thing. You’re running after something that’s never good. It just gets farther and farther away. In the addiction community, they call it chasing the dragon. You get hooked.

It could be as simple as picking up this glowing rectangle and doomscrolling, and all of a sudden you look up and an hour and a half went by and you have no idea what happened. That can be just as much seeking pleasure: “I just need my fix.” You wake up in the morning, you have to look at your phone right away, because “I need that jolt that it gives me,” whatever that is, or that comfort.

The other side of pleasure is pain avoidance. If you’re the person who just likes to veg out: “My life is so hard. I just have to go home and watch TV,” or, “I’ve got to go home and be on my phone or play video games.” It might not even feel good, but you’re worshiping the god of pleasure. And that’s that fear of pain: “I just have to feel some kind of way,” whether that’s numb, whether that’s excited, whether that’s just totally escaped from my life. That’s worshiping the god of pleasure.

But no, God invites you to take up your cross and follow him: a radical reversal of the pleasure idea. In fact, your job here on this earth, I’m going to tell you, is to suffer and die that you might live. Let me just say that part: so that you can live. But suffering and dying are the ingredients of a meaningful life, when you do it in him. Pain is not good in and of itself, but pain in service of Christ is how we can break through into the resurrection life he invites us into.

In fact, one of our favorite movies says, “Life is pain. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something.” I hated that quote when I first heard it. I was like, “No, it’s not. He’s just jaded.” I love that quote now. It is so true. If you can just accept the fact that life is pain, then you can move on to “life is resurrection.” They’re bound. You cannot have the crown before the cross.

IX. Fame and Power 20:46

Okay? So that’s money, that’s pleasure. If you’re feeling convicted, that’s what the Holy Spirit does. If you’re feeling shame, that’s what the enemy does, and let’s get rid of it. Conviction leads to change. Shame leads to chains. So let’s not beat ourselves up over these things. Let’s be convicted and changed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Okay, fame. Now, somebody here is thinking, “I don’t care about fame.” And I get that. I get that. But let me explain. This can be something like, “I want to get TikTok famous,” or, “I want to be on Instagram,” or, “I want to be an influencer,” or be an actor, or whatever it is. And maybe somebody here is really feeling that. Please let that sit. I’m not going to dismiss that; that’s just as evil as this next part. But I think this next part is far more common. It’s far more insidious as well. It’s about people liking us. We want people to like us. Fame can be substituted with reputation. You’re seeking the reputation, the way people think about you.

There’s this great story Bishop Jones tells about a time when he was late for a house of bishops meeting, and he got called out by the patriarch at the time. And the next day he was late, but he had left early. He did everything he could to get there on time, and the patriarch just laid into him, and it was completely out of his control. He was trying to obey, and it didn’t work. And while the patriarch is lecturing him in front of all his fellow bishops, God just whispers in his ear and says, “Are you willing to be misunderstood?” Oh man, that would just… What was I talking about? You can’t defend yourself. God is your defender.

How much do you want people to know how good you are? That is the god of fame. That is the temptation. That’s what virtue signaling is. How often do people post the latest thing on their story just to make sure everybody knows that they care in just the right way? Or they become a vegetarian just so that everybody knows that they’re super holy or good, or they become this, that, or the other. They serve in the ministry. We cannot be doing things hoping that people like us. You can trust God with your reputation. Lay it all down.

Think about Jesus walking to the cross: people spitting on him, people that he literally was just preaching to and praying for and healing. He’s getting beaten, and everybody thinks, “Look at that wicked sinner.” And yet, like a lamb, he opened not his mouth (Isa 53.7). Lay it all down.

Okay, I had to mention this line, because I was proud of it: how much do you want to be known as cool, or good, or the main character? Did I do it right? I think that’s… yeah, the main character. That’s a thing. Apparently I don’t care about my reputation, because I think I just went down a few points.

The last one is power. And maybe you think, “I don’t care about power. What do you mean, power? That’s for those evil corporate billionaires. They are the ones obsessed with power.” Well, it could be. Maybe that’s what you want. You want to influence and move and shake at a company level, or be really important in whatever field you’re in, as far as influence goes. Or it can just be a simple desire for control. If you’ve ever thought, “If they would just listen to me, if they would just do it my way, if they would just…”, then you’ve fallen into the temptation of power: the idea that if you were in control, everything would go much better. “If everything could go the way I planned, then it would all work out.” That’s the temptation to power.

This could be as simple as wanting to be in charge of your own schedule or activities. How many of us, when we’re interrupted in our planned activities, handle that with grace? I don’t. “I had a plan for today. Why do we have to do this thing? If we could just follow my plan. If I could just do my activities. If I could get my workout in, or my daily routine, or if I’m not getting woken up at four in the morning because my kid needs to blow his nose. If any of this could happen, then everything would be okay.” You’ve got to let that go. You do not have control over your life. You have to give up control. God will lead you where you don’t want to go. That’s that great quote from Moby-Dick where it says, “Sometimes to obey God is to disobey yourself.” You have to disobey yourself. You have to do what God wants you to do. You’ve got to lay it all down. You’ve got to go to the cross.

So if you think about these four, money, pleasure, fame, and power: these are the temptations. These are the wells. These are the broken cisterns with which we try to quench our thirst for meaning and communion.

X. A Spring of Water Welling Up to Eternal Life 25:37

But meaning and communion can only be found in Jesus. That’s what he’s inviting this Samaritan woman into. We won’t take the time to go through the rest of the story, but you know it. He ends up calling her out on her sin. What hole is she trying to fill by marrying five guys and then living with one who’s not her husband? She’s fallen for money, pleasure, power, or fame somewhere. She’s trying to fill up a void in her life. And who knows the wounds and the pain that she’s bringing, the thirst? The eternity inside of her is so empty and vast, and she has so much despair over it. And yet Jesus says, “No, just come to me.” You can hear the echo of that invitation: “Come to me, all you who are burdened and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11.28).

So when you look at this, let’s move on to this final verse that Jesus says. Those wells will never satisfy. You will always be thirsty again.

14 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. John 4.14

It reminds me of Isaiah 58:11, which says:

11 And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Isa 58.11

That’s the promise. Come to him in those scorched places in your heart, those places you’ve tried to satisfy, those places you’ve tried to redeem or recover through your own power and striving. He wants to be the well-watered garden of your soul. Into the eternity of our hearts we could pour and pour forever. But the only water that satisfies is the living presence of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is our spring of water that wells up eternally. We become vessels for the eternal, satisfying life of God. As in: you, sitting in these pews, have the eternal, ever-satisfying well of life.

So when people went on these journeys back in the day to find the fountain of youth, or the chalice, the Holy Grail, when they went on these journeys, what were they looking for? They were looking for the wellspring of eternal life. It’s in you. Which means all those thirsty people out there need you.

In fact, what happens in this story is so beautiful. This ashamed Samaritan woman, who came sweating, and every drop of sweat is another burden on her back, and she’s thinking of all the things she did wrong: after she encountered Jesus, she converted her whole city. She went out and brought all the men: “He knew everything about me. I have found the Messiah. I found the one we’re looking for.” And who knows what her legacy is in heaven? Because when Jesus came to her dry, scorched, infinite depth, the empty well of her soul, she said, “Yes, give me that water, that I may drink.”

So today, the invitation… the sermon is always a movement from the word of God towards the table. And today, when you come and you accept that communion, the bread and the wine, know that you are experiencing sacramentally the eternal life of God. And you take it with you into the world, where people are desperate for it. Be Jesus in the world this week. You are filled with him. If you feel like you don’t have enough resources, if you feel empty, that feeling is lying to you. The reality is that you have this wellspring of life, and we can share it with one another. Come. Everyone in this whole church has that wellspring of life in them. Get with one of them and pray about it, and let him fill you up to overflowing. Amen.