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AN IMPROBABLE TESTIMONY

AN IMPROBABLE TESTIMONY

Ted Schroder,

Jesus met a Samaritan woman at the village well. He asked her for a drink of water. His request initiated a remarkable conversation that resulted in her returning to the town with a testimony: "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (John 4:29)

She was a woman with a somewhat checkered social history - Jesus let her know that he was aware that she had had five husbands, and was living with another man who was not her husband. Jesus reached out to her despite her apparent promiscuity - or bad luck with men? He knew everything about her, yet, despite his knowledge of her troubled past, he was happy for her to represent him to her neighbors. He was not reluctant to let her communicate to her peers his identity as the Messiah. He did not caution her not to tell anyone about who he was. Instead he welcomed her evangelism.

She was a Samaritan woman. Jews like Jesus did not associate with Samaritans. They were regarded as religious heretics, and ethnic half-breeds, unfit to worship in the Temple at Jerusalem . They worshipped instead at their own temple on Mt. Gerizim . Yet Jesus asserted to her that although salvation was to come through the Jewish Messiah, his Heavenly Father would not discriminate between Jerusalem and Gerizim. God was indifferent to the place of worship, but instead was looking for those who would worship him in spirit and in truth. He assured her that salvation could be hers as well. God would not turn her away because she was a Samaritan.

She was a woman. It was not proper for single men to speak to strange women, yet Jesus did it all the time. He broke down the taboos about the place of women and their value in society. He asked for her help - a drink of water to refresh him. He offered her what he had to give - living water that satisfied the soul. By so doing he recognized her inherent worth and dignity.

He made such an impression on her she ran back to the town and invited her neighbors to come and see this man - "who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"

They came, curious about this man she talked about. In their turn, many of them believed in him because of the woman's testimony. This disreputable woman, who had undoubtedly lived a hard life, with many disappointments, introduced many of her fellow-Samaritans to the Christ. They prevailed on him to stay for two days, and many more became believers during that time. They said to the woman, "we no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man is the Savior of the world." (John 4:42)

She was an improbable evangelist. Yet God used her to reach her peers. She had no credentials to commend her. She was probably uneducated. Because she was a woman she certainly would not have had a religious education. She had probably never traveled. She did not know enough to answer any theological or philosophical questions. What she did know was that Jesus "told me everything I ever did!" Her testimony was about her experience of the living Christ. He had revealed to her his knowledge of her spiritual need. He knew that she was thirsty for the water of life, the Spirit of God, that would satisfy her desire for completion, for forgiveness, for wholeness, for salvation. She knew her need. Jesus had opened her eyes to her spiritual poverty, her emptiness, and offered to fill it with his grace and love.

If Jesus could use such a woman, with such an improbable testimony, to reach her peers, could he use you to reach your peers? It is not the amount of knowledge that counts, but the willingness to share what we know about ourselves and Jesus. She shared with others what Jesus meant to her - how he had opened up to her the significance of her own life, her own need, and God's provision for her. She had experienced disappointment in life. She had gone back to the same well and remained thirsty, dissatisfied with what she drank. Jesus promised her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13,14) He promised her eternal fulfillment, eternal satisfaction, the completion of her longing for love. She responded positively to his offer: "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty."

Are we any different? We sing:

Like the woman at the well I was seeking

For things that could not satisfy;

And then I heard my Savior speaking:

'Draw from my well that never shall run dry.'

Fill my cup, Lord - I lift it up, Lord!

Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;

Bread of heaven feed me till I want no more –

Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole! (Richard Blanchard)

Jesus said, "Open your eyes and look at their fields! They are ripe for harvest." (John 4:35) The field is the world in which we live. We are surrounded by people who are waiting for us to say, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did." They are ripe, ready, waiting for us to invite them to come and meet Jesus, the Savior who has made such a difference in our lives.

There are millions in this world who are craving

The pleasures earthly things afford;

But none can match the wondrous treasure

That I find in Jesus Christ, my Lord.

We cannot say, "I don't know enough! I am not good enough! I am not certain enough! I am not qualified enough to invite others to join me!" If Jesus could use this Samaritan woman he could use you.

If what we say and sing is true, then we have an authentic testimony to share with others. If what Jesus offers is eternal life-giving; if he has satisfied our need; if he has provided the self-awareness that leads to wholeness and harmony; then we need to invite others to share it. This woman was not shy. Neither should we be. We have something precious to give others. The fields are ripe for harvest. See your neighbors and friends as people seeking fulfillment. People are thirsty. Will you offer to fill their cup? You may be their only source of satisfaction. You may be God's provision for their spiritual need. Be bold in your conversation as Jesus was. Be enthusiastic in your invitation as this woman was. You may see yourself as an improbable evangelist, but God can use even you to bring people to faith in Christ. Your reward will be when they say "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

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