Jim Benfer

Sermo490 For 10-19-08 Sunday Service

Scripture Reading: John 4:4-15

The Samaritan Woman: The Power of a Testimony

Three high school-age gir= ls rang my doorbell yesterday and asked me a question: “Sir, do you attend church?”

I replied that I did and = worked as a pastor of this church. <= /p>

Unabashed by my answer th= ey continued, “If you were to die today where would you go?”

I answered, “I would go to heaven.”

They continued, “Ar= e you 50%, 75% or 100% sure?”

Again, I answered, “I’m 100% sure I’d go to heaven.”

They continued, “An= d what do you base your answer on?” <= /span>

I said, “On the blo= od of Jesus shed for me.” This answer seemed to suit them, but they still handed me a card inviting me to attend what they thought was a more suitable church.

That’s not unlike t= he encounter I had a month ago with two Jehovah’s witnesses in my driveway. They wanted me to carefully read their literature, and they told me that Jehovah, God was establishing his kingdom and should join them.

If that is the kind of te= stimony or witnessing that you think I am going to ask you to do today, let not your hearts be troubled. I believe witnessing goes far beyond fancy tracts, or practiced inquisition trying to= put doubt in someone else’s heart. You see, witnessing is simply sharing the simple story of the good t= hat God has worked in your life, so that others can hear that possibility, and imagine it at work in theirs.

Testimony is an important= part of our witness of God. Unfortuna= tely, most Christians don’t give their testimonies of God as much as they d= o to other areas of their lives. W= hen we think of testimonies the idea of court comes to mind. Here is an exchange actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters who had the torment of staying calm while this exchange was actually taking place:
ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pul= se?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began= the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing l= aw.[1]

In fact, some of us are a= bout as eager to give a testimony about God as we would to give testimony in the co= urt. Bro. Bud has been exploring the st= ories of some of the heroes of the Bible. Today, I want to explore the story of the Samaritan woman. Although the focus of John’s= story often focuses on Jesus’ gift of abundant life, I believe the Samaritan woman is one of the true heroes of our Bibles, because of her testimony.

The story is set as Jesus= and his disciples traveled from Judea to Galilee= . On the way they passed through the territory between which was known as Samaria. If you know a little of the story = of the Samaritans you will recognize that they were once Jews like those in Galile= e, and were part of the Northern Kingdom of Israel that worshiped in their capital, Samaria. They were besieged by Assyria for three years and = then carried off as slaves in 722 B.C. Because their incorporation into Assyrian society was much more complete than that = of the Judean Jews who became captive to Babylon in 586 B.C., and their intermarriage with Assyrians more conspicuous, when all the Jews were freed= to return from the then Persian empire in the 5^th century B.C., the Judean Jews completely rejected the Samaritan claims to Israelite heritage = and their worship of God.

Racial and cultural hatred simmered between these former tribes and the animosity they harbored for one another. It was into this set= ting that Jesus entered when he encountered the woman at the well. And, it was also the reason the wo= man gave Jesus such a hard time at the well.&n= bsp; However, when she recognized the true nature of the one before her, = she did a couple of truly heroic things. First, she put her pride aside to accept the truth presented to her. And secondly, she was wi= lling to forget and forgive the ridicule she had been experiencing from her town = and give them her testimony, hoping for their own good.

If we had been accustomed= to Middle Eastern ways, we would have understood from the story that this woman was n= ot going to the well to draw water at noon because it was pleasant, for this w= as the middle of a hot day. She = had chosen this time to avoid the other women of the town and their scorn when = they drew water in the cool of the morning.&nbs= p; This is why Jesus questions her about her husband. This woman is considered a pariah = by the other women because she is leading an unauthorized life of living with other men outside marriage. If there was anyone in town we might doubt the truth = of their words, it would probably be this woman. So, why did Jesus choose to reveal himself to her? Probably beca= use it is hardest to reach those who are most comfortable about their lives; those= who are self-satisfied in their own ideas about their righteousness; people like us!

I believe that witnessing= to others with our testimony about God enables faith growth in our lives. It should not be repressed because= of fear of embarrassment or out of malformed opinions we hold of others. The Spirit of God motivates us to witness, and it is important that we not quench the Spirit moving within us. Therefore, let’s lo= ok at some practical motivations for sharing our experiences of God.

First, we were created to reflect God’s glory. There are many ways that we sh= ow God’s hand in our lives. We can speak a kind word, we can do caring acts, or we may share out of our abundance. However, one of the greatest ways we can reflect God’s glory is to witness to his power a= nd love in our lives to others.

What makes people hesitate to share their faith? In writing his book, Good News is for Sharing, Leighton Ford says, “Here are s= ome of the fears that have been mentioned to me:

- "I = am afraid I might do more harm than good."

- "I = don't know what to say."

- "I = may not be able to give snappy answers to tricky questions."

- "I = may seem bigoted."

- "I = may invade someone's privacy."

- "I = am afraid I might fail."

- "I = am afraid I might be a hypocrite."

Perhaps th= e most common fear, however, is that of being rejected. A survey was given to those attending training sessions for the Billy Graham crusade in Detroit. One question asked, "What= is your greatest hindrance to witnessing?" Nine percent said they were too busy to remember to do it. Twenty-eight percent felt the lack of real information to share. None said they didn't really care. Twelve perce= nt said their own lives were not speaking as they should. But by far the largest group was the 51 percent whose biggest problem was the fear of how = the other person would react! None of us likes to be rejected, ridiculed,= or regarded as an oddball.” [2]

Folks, Jes= us was rejected, ridiculed, and regarded as an oddball. However, Jesus’ life did ref= lect God’s power and glory. = Are we too good, too comfortable, too complacent to tell others what God is doing = in our lives?

Secondly, our witness changes us. I realize that you might have assumed that talking to you about our Christian witness was all about evangelism and impacting others’ with God’s word. However, our spoken witness is one= of the ways that God’s Spirit works on us. What we say matters, because we ar= e also listening!

On many Su= ndays we stand and recite the Apostle’s Creed or the one we have repeated today. Why do we do that? You may not have given it much tho= ught, but the reason is very important. We need to witness to ourselves about = the truth of what we believe. As we are in the process of speaking, and listening, we affirm the truth of what = we say or we will doubt the faith we have in our own statements.

I was rais= ed in a branch of the Mormon faith, the RLDS church. I was taught the superiority of Th= e Book of Mormon over the Bible by my church and parents. I was also raised in an atmosphere= of distrust and loathing of Protestant denominations that “we” considered illegitimate offerings of the gospel. Therefore, I began to witness to o= ther people as a teen about my faith. Strangely enough, when I heard the words of my mouth, I felt the inn= er witness of God asking, “Do you really believe that the Bible is not my word?” A seed was plant= ed because I witnessed to myself, and the fact was that it didn’t sound = like the truth. You see, God witne= sses to our spirits and the truth will be known if we will listen for it.

That set m= e on a course of seeking the truth. Eventually, I was invited to a Bible study by another farmer. He didn’t use any fancy word= s, he simple stated that the study had really made a difference in his life. I had to go and see for myself. In time, I accepted the truth of t= he Bible and rejected earlier notions, but I had a long way to grow as a Christian.

One of my earliest opportunities to share my Christian witness was at the city jail w= ith a group of men in a bible study. I don’t remember much of what I said that evening, but I do remember th= at I was not very certain of the things I did share—that again set me on a course of study and prayer to resolve my inner dispute with the words I had spoken.

A couple of years later, now as a Gideon, sharing with a group of prisoners at the coun= ty jail in Morehead, Mississippi, I had an even more interesting encounter wit= h my own words. A friend of mine h= ad taken about a dozen men and me a dozen men into circles where we began shar= ing the importance of God’s word. All but two of the men were black.&= nbsp; Then a strange thing occurred. I overheard my friend share with his circle that Jesus loved then and that he did too. It sounded r= ight and in a few minutes I used it verbatim, “Jesus loves you and so do I.”

I never th= ought that a prejudiced thought lived with me until that moment. I heard that inner voice again, an= d this time shouting, “Liar!” <= /span>I can tell you that the Spirit of God doesn’t tolerate liars, and it wa= s as if an enormous load of shame dumped itself upon me at that very moment. I hadn’t thought of myself a= s a liar, but God revealed that I was fooling myself. I needed Jesus’ love and forgiveness just as much as those men I had come to witness to. Folks, I have learned time and aga= in, one of the most important reasons for giving our witness is that we need God’s continuing redemptive work as much as those who have not heard = of it.

My last point is that despite of our opinions to the contrary, we s= till need to see others as important to God.&nb= sp; This is perhaps the most heroic thing the Samaritan woman did. Resentment and bitterness have a w= ay of creeping into our relationships with others when we feel that we have been wrongly judged or discriminated against.&n= bsp; Needless to say, that the outright mockery and humiliation this woman was subject to had poisoned her opinion of others. However, when she recognized her o= wn sin, she didn’t just stop and thankfully accept God’s gift like= a selfish child, she recognized her need to forgive others their evil gossip = and slander. We know that she did= this because she went back to those who had hurt her, put her differences with t= hem aside and shared the glad witness God had put in her heart.
Our scripture says, “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 Christ?” They came out of the town and made= their way toward him.” [3]

And reading down further,= “Many of the Samaritans from tha= t town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “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 sai= d; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Sa= vior of the world.” [4]

What did she do? She didn’t quote scripture.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> She didn’t have any catchy p= hrases or handy tracts printed to hand out. She didn’t know the Bible way of salvation. All she simply did was tell the si= mple truth of what her experience with God was.= You see, it really wasn’t up to her, nor is it up to us to be = all wise, convincing, or evangelistic. We simply have to be willing to tell our story.

George Swe= eting, in his book The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing, tells of a man by the name of John Currier who in 1949 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was transferred and paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee.

In 1968, Currier's sentence was terminated, and a letter bearing the good news was s= ent to him. But John never saw the letter, nor was he told anything about it. L= ife on that farm was hard and without promise for the future. Yet John kept doi= ng what he was told even after the farmer for whom he worked had died.

Ten years = went by. Then a state parole officer learned about Currier's plight, found him, = and told him that his sentence had been terminated. He was a free man.

Sweeting concluded that story by asking, "Would it matter to you if someone sent you an important message -- the most important in your life -- and year aft= er year the urgent message was never delivered?"

We who have heard the good news and experienced freedom through Christ are responsible = to proclaim it to others still enslaved by sin. Are we doing all we can to make sure that people get the message? [5]

The Samari= tan woman could have been content to let the strangers pass on by, and treasure= the good news of Christ in her heart alone, but she didn’t. And neither should we. Let us make up our minds today tha= t we are just as valuable to God as that woman, and that all God’s children need the good news of our encounter with God. Once upon a time God used a man to invite me to a Bible study—and it made all the difference in my life. And, once upon a time G= od used someone else to touch you. Isn’t it about time someone heard our story? In the name of the Father, and the= Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!