No Secrects Left

Almighty God, unto Whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from Whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love Thee, and worthily magnify Thy holy Name: through Christ our Lord. Amen.

There are people in this world who would much rather blend in than stand out. For one reason or another they would rather hang back unnoticed. The woman that we read about is one of those people. She knows that there are circumstances in her life that make her a target for gossip, ridicule, and a host of other social put downs. This is why we find her coming to the well where Jesus is at a time of the day when it’s usually deserted. She’s been marked. Whether through choices of her own or just a victim of circumstances, she knows she wears the labels unwanted, undesirable, used, broken, adulterer. So is it any wonder she would prefer to live her life with a certain amount of anonymity? If you were her wouldn’t you hide? Wouldn’t you want to avoid the stares and whispers?

I want us to see what happens when this woman, who has everything to hide encounters the Messiah the, “ Almighty God, unto Whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from Whom no secrets are hid:…”.

 But before we look too much more closely at her I have to share with you a story on my nephews Elijah and Gabriel.

Often when I go see my brother and his family the kids will insist on playing some form of hide and go seek. This fun because right now when you play hide and go seek 2 things almost always happen, you are the one who has to find them and you will always have help. Elijah being older has managed to find some good hiding spots, which unfortunately his brother also knows. As soon as you say the words ready or not hear I come you either hear Gabriel laughing saying that you won’t find him or you hear him running saying “Hear I am.” Once this happens, much like a hound dog on the scent of a fox or rabbit he’s off leading you to his brother. He doesn’t bark but he does point and says “He’s here! He’s right here!” So much like his grandpa and Uncle Toddy he’s not much at keeping secrets.

Can you imagine playing hide and go seek with someone who as soon as they are done counting know exactly where you are hiding and are right there before you even have a chance to run for base? My guess is Adam and Eve felt that way. I have pictured it something like “Hey this tastes pretty good and I didn’t die. Hey Adam try this.”

“You’re right Eve this really is good.” And right then, just as soon as they realize something’s different and they feel the need to cover up,  both literally and figuratively, God shows up with a ready or not here I come. Well actually it was more of an “Adam why are you hiding?”

You do realize that that’s how much of the world sees God, the church, and Christian’s in general right? A group or person, who is just waiting to find them out and show them up. We like to think that the world sees us as loving. We hope that they see the Jesus who inspired the words to the song “Just as I AM”. In reality they’ve run into far too many of us who say “Wow that’s a pretty bad cut, here let me pour some lemon juice on it.” “You think your ashamed now just wait until I show you how many of God’s laws you’ve broken. Hey and then after that we can pray with you and make it all better.” Now that’s evangelism right? Not really. That is however how many churches and Christians act and that is exactly the kind of reputation the Jews had.

So why doesn’t she wait until Jesus leaves? She may have been in a hurry to get her water and get out before the rest of the town started showing up. She may have also been a little more bold knowing that not only was this man a stranger who shouldn’t know her secret but Jews didn’t even like talking to Samaritans. In fact...

4:9 – dealings (found in KJV)

it has been understood to mean, the Jews will be under no kind of obligation to the Samaritans—will borrow nothing from them—will not drink out of the same cup or well with them—will not sit down to meals with them, nor eat out of the same vessel—will have no religious connection, no commercial dealings with them.

So with a little confidence and hopes that she would get her water and go before anyone else showed up, she approaches the well and Jesus.

This is where you wish that John would have added one of those “Now Jesus knowing her thoughts...” passages.

Imagine her surprise when Jesus asks her for a drink. There must have been a mixture of fear, nervousness, and confusion among other emotions. The first emotion that seems to surface though is her confusion. Knowing that Jews wouldn’t normally give a Samaritan, much less a Samaritan woman, the time of day she asks Him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” Not only is she confused by Him talking to her she’s confused by what He’s asking.

Have you ever wondered why she pointed out to Jesus that He had nothing to draw that water with? I have. She was there to get water for herself and she obviously had the means to get Jesus a drink if she wanted to. Think back to what I shared earlier about the word dealings. A Jew might talk to a Samaritan if it were absolutely necessary but they would never drink out of the same class or bucket. Think about it, If Samaritans were considered unclean then everything they touched would also be unclean. Jews even had rules for how far away they should be from a Samaritan depending on whether or not they were up or down wind, so that they wouldn’t breath the same air. That said do you think they would want to drink water from a Samaritan well, drawn by a Samaritan woman in HER bucket?

This unexpected request sparks a conversation. In my opinion she talks to Jesus as boldly as she does because for one things Samaritans are that fond of Jews either so she’s not going to pass up this opportunity to get her shots in and secondly in her mind there was no way He could look down on her anymore than she felt He already did. We see this today when we try to share our faith with someone who has already met, one too many “Christians”. This is why we should look to Jesus concerning our approach to evangelism.

Her biggest fear walking up to that well was that Jesus might somehow know or find out her secret. You and I both know that before she even took that first step toward the well Jesus knew. He knew the facts about her life. More than that though, he knew how her life’s circumstance made her feel. He knew the fear she felt of being found out. He knew the shame she felt every time she thought about how her life and marriages ended up. Jesus knew all this in an instant and still reached out to her.

It seems to be human nature though to want to label someone within minutes of meeting them. Just look at a high school or middle school lunch room and you’ll know what I mean. You’ll find groups that are easy to spot and if you are a high school or middle school student and are new, you’ll find out quickly what label you’ve been given and where both geographically and socially that puts you. And while the church doesn’t hold the corner of the market when it comes to labeling, there are some who have made it an art form.

Jesus, however, spends little time on her label. He doesn’t hammer away at it. Rather He goes in with a surgical scalpel.

She asks that Jesus give her this living water that He’s talking about so that she won’t have to keep coming to the well to get water. She does this, I believe, not to save trips but so that she might better hide from the community. So Jesus goes right to the heart and the cat’s out of the bag.

Her first reaction is to subvert any authority this Jew might have as far as judging her situation.  “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” She thinks to herself, “We’ll just leave that one to some one more qualified and more importantly not here right now to speak to me about that.” Imagine her utter astonishment at Jesus’ reply. “I who am speaking to you am He.”

The thought process must have gone something like this. You can’t be the Messiah. Or could you? He did know my life’s story. Wait if He knew He must have known before He talked to me about that other stuff. Could it be? Could it be that the Messiah is here and that He does know and yet He still cares?

Just then the disciples show up and with Jesus’ attention temporarily diverted to them the woman takes off. I imagine so excited that she forgot her bucket and rope. She completely forgets that she’s afraid of confronting the rest of her community and goes to all of them saying, “come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”

Footnote from The Gospel According to John by Morris

"Findlay writes about the woman’s view of Jesus, “…but first she caught sight of a thirsty man, then a Jew, then a Rabbi, afterwards a prophet, last of all the Messiah. She tried to get the better of the thirsty man, she showed her dislike of the Jew, she heckled the Rabbi, she was swept off her feet by the prophet, and she adored the Christ.”

Jesus showed much more concern for that present moment and the woman’s future than her past. Why? Because if in that present moment she would put her faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Messiah, her future would be forever changed and her past wouldn’t matter anymore.

Often what keeps us and others from drawing near to Jesus is the fear of what will happen once the light is shining and all that we worked so hard to keep hidden is now completely out in the open. It’s the same thing that keeps us coming to pray at the alter unless we’re sick or praying for someone else’s spiritual condition. “I’ll come and be anointed but don’t expect to see me up there praying about my marriage.”

Patrick Lecione in his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team says this about his definition of trust. That trust is a willingness to be completely open and vulnerable with absolute confidence that your weakness and shortcomings won’t be thrown back in your face.

We all have carried around weights that we were never meant to. They become heavy and can be almost suffocating. If you are here tonight and are feeling weighed down by something I have only one question. Are you willing to trust Jesus? Are you willing to be completely open and vulnerable to Him? I opened with this prayer…

Almighty God, unto Whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from Whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love Thee, and worthily magnify Thy holy Name: through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Perhaps today you’d like to pray something similar. “God, you know all my secrets. Clean me up so I can love you and worship you the way I should. Thank you God for loving me ‘Just as I AM’ tonight.”