WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.740 Thank you again for having me. Let me pray and 00:00:04.740 --> 00:00:07.679 ask for God's help as we look at this together. 00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:11.300 Father God, thank you so much for your living 00:00:11.300 --> 00:00:14.960 word. Thank you for your Holy Spirit who inspired 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:17.539 these words. Please, would your spirit be at 00:00:17.539 --> 00:00:19.780 work in our hearts now, helping us to see Jesus 00:00:19.780 --> 00:00:22.879 in all his glory so that we might love him and 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:29.519 live for him. In his name we pray. Amen. I don't 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:32.240 know how you'd answer the question, what do you 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:34.140 do? You know when people say, what do you do? 00:00:34.240 --> 00:00:35.600 It's pretty tricky when you're at college, isn't 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:39.179 it? What do you do? One Christian minister I 00:00:39.179 --> 00:00:41.820 know answers the question by saying, I prepare 00:00:41.820 --> 00:00:45.899 people to die. It's pretty provocative, in the 00:00:45.899 --> 00:00:47.359 hope, of course, that it would lead to a conversation 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:52.299 about Jesus. I tried that a while ago, and unfortunately, 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:56.659 I tried it on a doctor. just after a nurse had 00:00:56.659 --> 00:00:59.420 given me a general anaesthetic. And instead of 00:00:59.420 --> 00:01:00.880 following up by telling the doctor all about 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:04.099 Jesus, I got drowsier and drowsier as the doctor 00:01:04.099 --> 00:01:06.840 started telling me all about his Buddhism. So 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:09.280 it slightly backfired. But how would you answer 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:15.040 the question, what do you do? How do you think 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:17.140 God would answer that question? If you'd ask 00:01:17.140 --> 00:01:20.530 God that question, what do you do, God? It is 00:01:20.530 --> 00:01:21.909 important to be clear on what God's doing, because 00:01:21.909 --> 00:01:24.209 if we don't understand what our Father's doing, 00:01:24.370 --> 00:01:28.530 then we won't understand what we're doing. There 00:01:28.530 --> 00:01:30.650 is a link, isn't there, between what God is doing 00:01:30.650 --> 00:01:34.950 and what his people are to be doing. I ask that 00:01:34.950 --> 00:01:37.390 because in this part of John's Gospel, Jesus 00:01:37.390 --> 00:01:41.890 tells us what God's doing. And it is all about 00:01:41.890 --> 00:01:46.659 verse 34, reaping a harvest. My food, said Jesus, 00:01:46.739 --> 00:01:48.939 is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish 00:01:48.939 --> 00:01:51.900 his work. Don't you have a saying? It's still 00:01:51.900 --> 00:01:54.079 four months until harvest. I tell you, open your 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:56.620 eyes and look at the fields. They're ripe for 00:01:56.620 --> 00:02:00.680 harvest. So Jesus is working in his father's 00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:02.859 harvesting business, reaping a harvest not, of 00:02:02.859 --> 00:02:07.180 course, of crops, but of people. Now, that's 00:02:07.180 --> 00:02:09.039 something at this point in John's Gospels the 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:13.300 disciples really hadn't yet grasped. You'll know 00:02:13.300 --> 00:02:15.340 the story of John's Gospel. Jesus had recently 00:02:15.340 --> 00:02:18.979 met two people. In chapter 3, he met a religious 00:02:18.979 --> 00:02:22.719 leader called Nicodemus. At the start of chapter 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:26.699 4, he met a Samaritan woman, unnamed. And those 00:02:26.699 --> 00:02:28.099 two people couldn't be more different, could 00:02:28.099 --> 00:02:31.939 they? One was a man, one was a woman. One would 00:02:31.939 --> 00:02:35.919 have been thought of as pure, Israel's teacher, 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:39.860 Nicodemus. The other was thought of as unclean, 00:02:39.860 --> 00:02:43.759 a woman who'd had five husbands. One meets Jesus 00:02:43.759 --> 00:02:47.319 at night, the other in the middle of the day. 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:50.180 One of them comes to Jesus, the other one Jesus 00:02:50.180 --> 00:02:53.439 goes to her. Two completely different people. 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:58.400 And yet they both need the same thing. They both 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:01.659 need the sin -bearing death of God's Son and 00:03:01.659 --> 00:03:03.900 they both need the life -giving word of God's 00:03:03.900 --> 00:03:07.199 Spirit. Two different people both need the same 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:10.060 thing because God is at work saving people, all 00:03:10.060 --> 00:03:14.719 kinds of people. The disciples, however, hadn't 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:16.620 yet grasped any of this. Have a look down in 00:03:16.620 --> 00:03:19.520 verse 27. Just then the disciples returned and 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:21.060 were surprised to find him talking with a woman. 00:03:21.099 --> 00:03:23.400 But no one said, what do you want or why are 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:26.120 you talking with her? In other words, they don't 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:29.719 understand what God is doing in the world. They 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:31.520 don't know what their father's business is because 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:34.360 if they did know, they might have said, hey, 00:03:34.379 --> 00:03:38.419 Jesus, have you told her about the kingdom yet? 00:03:39.459 --> 00:03:41.780 We've just been into town, Jesus, and we've been 00:03:41.780 --> 00:03:45.979 telling loads of Samaritans about you. But now 00:03:45.979 --> 00:03:49.139 the disciples are more concerned with food. They 00:03:49.139 --> 00:03:53.979 think it's lunchtime. And so Jesus goes on to 00:03:53.979 --> 00:03:57.240 explain to them that it's not lunchtime. It's 00:03:57.240 --> 00:04:01.300 harvest time. Because God's work is reaping a 00:04:01.300 --> 00:04:04.020 harvest of people, and now is the time for that 00:04:04.020 --> 00:04:08.449 harvest. with an idea of lunch in mind. I am 00:04:08.449 --> 00:04:09.930 looking forward to lunch, by the way. I do get 00:04:09.930 --> 00:04:14.090 lunch, do I? These verses are a bit like a sandwich. 00:04:14.409 --> 00:04:17.470 So if you think, the bread on top is the woman 00:04:17.470 --> 00:04:21.129 sewing. So verse 29, she goes into the town and 00:04:21.129 --> 00:04:23.449 says, come see a man who told me everything I've 00:04:23.449 --> 00:04:25.629 ever done. That's the sort of bread on the top. 00:04:25.769 --> 00:04:28.449 The bread at the bottom is the Samaritans believing. 00:04:29.870 --> 00:04:32.110 So in verse 39, the Samaritans come from the 00:04:32.110 --> 00:04:35.240 town. believe in Jesus, and they refer to the 00:04:35.240 --> 00:04:36.839 woman's testimony. He told me everything I've 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:39.939 ever done. So there's the bread on the top, the 00:04:39.939 --> 00:04:41.980 woman sowing, the bread on the bottom, the Samaritans 00:04:41.980 --> 00:04:44.939 believing, and the meat, or the cheese, or the 00:04:44.939 --> 00:04:46.199 hummus, or whatever it is you have in the middle 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:49.699 of your sandwiches, is Jesus explaining to his 00:04:49.699 --> 00:04:53.100 disciples that he's all about reaping a harvest 00:04:53.100 --> 00:04:57.060 of people. That's what the Father's doing in 00:04:57.060 --> 00:04:59.300 the world. Therefore, that's what the Son's doing 00:04:59.300 --> 00:05:03.100 in the world. And therefore that's the work that 00:05:03.100 --> 00:05:06.480 the disciples and we should be doing in the world. 00:05:08.180 --> 00:05:10.519 Let's look at the sandwich for the next few minutes. 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:12.939 We're going to think about an unlikely sower, 00:05:13.060 --> 00:05:18.660 a ripe harvest and then a world saviour. Let's 00:05:18.660 --> 00:05:20.339 think about the unlikely sower. We meet her in 00:05:20.339 --> 00:05:25.139 verses 27 to 30. The disciples return from their 00:05:25.139 --> 00:05:28.139 shopping trip and they're surprised, literally 00:05:28.139 --> 00:05:31.620 astonished. to find Jesus talking with a Samaritan 00:05:31.620 --> 00:05:35.699 woman. But what she says next is equally astonishing. 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:39.420 It's in verse 28. Then leaving her water jar, 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:43.060 the woman went back to the town and said to the 00:05:43.060 --> 00:05:45.060 people, come, see a man who told me everything 00:05:45.060 --> 00:05:49.660 I've ever done. Could this be the Messiah? Notice 00:05:49.660 --> 00:05:51.600 she does three things. The first thing she does 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:55.620 is she leaves her water jar. Now that is amazing 00:05:55.620 --> 00:06:00.199 because The water was the very thing that she'd 00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:05.100 come for in verse 7. And now she's leaving it 00:06:05.100 --> 00:06:08.000 behind. I was going to say that the water bucket 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:09.939 pales into insignificance, but that would be 00:06:09.939 --> 00:06:11.399 a terrible joke and I would never make that. 00:06:12.819 --> 00:06:17.899 It's as if she realizes that what Jesus is offering 00:06:17.899 --> 00:06:21.019 is so much better than what she originally wanted. 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:25.040 She leaves the jar behind. The second thing she 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:28.480 does is she goes back to town. Now that would 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:30.160 not have been an easy thing for this woman to 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:32.740 do. Given this woman's relationship history, 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:34.680 she wouldn't have just been avoided by the Jews. 00:06:35.779 --> 00:06:39.060 She'd also been avoided by her own people, other 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:41.319 Samaritans. Five previous husbands, and now having 00:06:41.319 --> 00:06:43.279 a man she's not married to, would have meant 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:45.379 that she was viewed with disgust by other women, 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:50.240 treated with contempt by other men, which is 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:54.069 presumably why she's at the well at midday. This 00:06:54.069 --> 00:06:56.089 woman would have been ignored and isolated and 00:06:56.089 --> 00:07:00.589 yet she went back into the town. And she goes 00:07:00.589 --> 00:07:04.230 because she has found someone unlike anyone she 00:07:04.230 --> 00:07:09.589 has ever met. Who knew all about her past and 00:07:09.589 --> 00:07:14.569 who still offered her life. So she leaves the 00:07:14.569 --> 00:07:16.509 jar, she goes back to town. The third thing she 00:07:16.509 --> 00:07:19.410 does is she tells people about Jesus. Verse 29. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:22.420 Come see a man who told me everything I've ever 00:07:22.420 --> 00:07:25.879 done. Could this be the Messiah? Come and see. 00:07:27.459 --> 00:07:29.740 Come and see is what Jesus had said to his first 00:07:29.740 --> 00:07:34.199 disciples in chapter 1, verse 39. It's what Philip 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:38.019 had said to his friend Nathaniel in chapter 1, 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:42.139 verse 46. And now the invitation to come and 00:07:42.139 --> 00:07:47.019 see is given by a Samaritan woman to a bunch 00:07:47.019 --> 00:07:51.300 of filthy outsiders. She's an unlikely sower, 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:57.079 sowing in an extremely unlikely place. Now, she's 00:07:57.079 --> 00:07:59.199 not cleaned up her life, this woman. She's not 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:02.399 had the time. She hasn't been to theological 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:07.180 college. There's loads for her to learn. She 00:08:07.180 --> 00:08:09.519 hadn't done a training course in personal evangelism. 00:08:10.300 --> 00:08:12.360 I mean, her testimony needs some work, doesn't 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:17.110 it? But what she lacks in knowledge, she more 00:08:17.110 --> 00:08:18.689 than makes up for in courage and enthusiasm. 00:08:19.209 --> 00:08:20.670 And it is often the case, isn't it, that new 00:08:20.670 --> 00:08:24.769 believers are the most eager evangelists. It's 00:08:24.769 --> 00:08:27.610 like they can't keep it to themselves. There 00:08:27.610 --> 00:08:30.350 was a recently converted guy in our church who 00:08:30.350 --> 00:08:33.429 turned up last Sunday at our 6 .30 service with 00:08:33.429 --> 00:08:36.309 four people. One of them had smelt of weed and 00:08:36.309 --> 00:08:39.669 he was carrying a loud hailer. Because this Christian 00:08:39.669 --> 00:08:41.490 guy, who'd been converted a couple of months, 00:08:41.649 --> 00:08:45.120 went into Wimbledon, near where we are, in order 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:48.440 to do some street evangelism with some Christians. 00:08:48.539 --> 00:08:50.779 The Christians didn't turn up, so he was on his 00:08:50.779 --> 00:08:53.919 own, and he saw four people handing out flyers, 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:56.840 I think protesting against ID cards or something. 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:00.159 So he said, hey, if I join you, will you join 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:03.519 me? So he spent two hours in Wimbledon handing 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:07.840 out flyers about ID cards. They then went for 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:11.240 dinner at Nando's, and then he said, six o 'clock, 00:09:11.340 --> 00:09:18.669 church time. They all came. And as one of them 00:09:18.669 --> 00:09:20.090 walked in with a loud hailing, you think, oh 00:09:20.090 --> 00:09:24.669 my goodness, what's going to kick off here? But 00:09:24.669 --> 00:09:27.009 they all came. They were singing the last hymn. 00:09:27.309 --> 00:09:30.470 One of them has come back every week since. But 00:09:30.470 --> 00:09:33.970 he's bubbling over with enthusiasm. He can't 00:09:33.970 --> 00:09:38.490 stop himself. It's wonderful to see. Well, this 00:09:38.490 --> 00:09:40.289 Samaritan woman is like that. She's just met 00:09:40.289 --> 00:09:42.029 the Messiah and she can't keep it to herself. 00:09:42.789 --> 00:09:45.769 She goes and tells. And the people do come and 00:09:45.769 --> 00:09:48.029 see. Verse 30, they came out of the town, they 00:09:48.029 --> 00:09:50.669 made their way towards him. It is ironic, isn't 00:09:50.669 --> 00:09:52.490 it, that the disciples go into town and they 00:09:52.490 --> 00:09:54.870 come back with bags of food. The Samaritan woman 00:09:54.870 --> 00:09:56.909 went into town and she comes back with crowds 00:09:56.909 --> 00:10:00.990 of people. Which shows that she understood what 00:10:00.990 --> 00:10:04.070 the disciples hadn't understood. It's not lunchtime. 00:10:05.509 --> 00:10:12.860 It's harvest time. She's an unlikely sower. And 00:10:12.860 --> 00:10:15.059 I guess the same could be said of you and I. 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:20.500 We're unlikely sowers. Well, then we get to the 00:10:20.500 --> 00:10:23.700 meat, or whatever it is, lettuce, in the middle 00:10:23.700 --> 00:10:26.399 of the sandwich. Verse 31 to 38, this is a ripe 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:31.279 harvest. A ripe harvest. Again, what would you 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:33.440 say if somebody asked you what you're most concerned 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:38.679 with? So what occupies your mind most? What do 00:10:38.679 --> 00:10:43.250 you pray about most? What fills your diary? Well, 00:10:43.970 --> 00:10:45.750 the disciples seem most concerned with physical 00:10:45.750 --> 00:10:49.730 things, in particular food, because as the people 00:10:49.730 --> 00:10:51.889 are coming over the fields towards them, they 00:10:51.889 --> 00:10:57.049 urge Jesus in verse 31 to eat something. So they've 00:10:57.049 --> 00:11:01.370 been to Greg's in Sychar, and they've come back 00:11:01.370 --> 00:11:05.669 with 13 meal deals, because it's lunchtime, isn't 00:11:05.669 --> 00:11:09.450 it? Their concern is eating food. Jesus' concern 00:11:09.450 --> 00:11:12.750 is verse 32, harvesting people. I have food to 00:11:12.750 --> 00:11:15.149 eat, he said, that you know nothing about. Now 00:11:15.149 --> 00:11:16.629 again, the disciples think he's talking about 00:11:16.629 --> 00:11:19.289 physical food, but he's not saying, when he says 00:11:19.289 --> 00:11:20.470 I've got food to eat you know nothing about, 00:11:20.610 --> 00:11:22.230 he's not saying I've got a secret stash of energy 00:11:22.230 --> 00:11:27.450 bars. Just as he did with Nicodemus and the Samaritan 00:11:27.450 --> 00:11:29.769 woman, Jesus is talking about spiritual things, 00:11:29.909 --> 00:11:33.289 not physical things, as he explains in verse 00:11:33.289 --> 00:11:37.129 34. My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of 00:11:37.129 --> 00:11:40.779 him who sent me. and to finish his work. Don't 00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:42.679 you have a saying? It's still four months until 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:44.419 harvest. I tell you, open your eyes and look 00:11:44.419 --> 00:11:49.039 at the fields. They're ripe for harvest. Now, 00:11:49.059 --> 00:11:51.940 I'm no farmer, and my record of keeping plants, 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:55.980 and actually household pets alive, is not good. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:01.600 I do know that four months before harvest is 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:05.080 not harvest. That's why it's four months before 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:10.779 harvest. Four months before harvest is the time 00:12:10.779 --> 00:12:13.659 of year when the fields are brown and the seeds 00:12:13.659 --> 00:12:17.299 are sown. Well, at this time of year in Sychar, 00:12:17.399 --> 00:12:21.620 it was four months before harvesting crops. But 00:12:21.620 --> 00:12:26.139 when it comes to harvesting people, it's not 00:12:26.139 --> 00:12:31.659 four months away. It's now. So what do the disciples 00:12:31.659 --> 00:12:36.559 see when they look out over the fields? Verse 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:40.700 30. They see crowds of Samaritans coming from 00:12:40.700 --> 00:12:45.600 the town. The fields are white for harvest, four 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:48.659 months before harvest. And they're coming at 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:50.759 the invitation of the Samaritan woman. Jesus 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:56.019 is saying, look, forget food. Forget crops. It's 00:12:56.019 --> 00:12:58.379 saving people that I'm most interested in. That's 00:12:58.379 --> 00:12:59.860 why I'm here. That's what my father's about. 00:12:59.980 --> 00:13:05.539 That's what I'm about. Harvest time is now. It's 00:13:05.539 --> 00:13:08.919 time for all sorts of people. To be given life 00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:12.039 and enter the kingdom. That's the work of God 00:13:12.039 --> 00:13:15.179 that Jesus came to finish. It's like food to 00:13:15.179 --> 00:13:18.320 him, verse 34, in the sense that doing God's 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:20.899 work, his father's business, brings him much 00:13:20.899 --> 00:13:24.039 greater sustenance and satisfaction than any 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:27.659 sandwich or Sunday roast could. He's come to 00:13:27.659 --> 00:13:32.500 finish God's saving work. And he does that by 00:13:32.500 --> 00:13:35.200 speaking his word, as we'll see in a moment, 00:13:35.220 --> 00:13:38.789 verse 42. And ultimately by dying on the cross. 00:13:39.590 --> 00:13:41.509 So you'll know at the end of John's Gospel, chapter 00:13:41.509 --> 00:13:44.610 19, verse 30, Jesus' final words before he dies 00:13:44.610 --> 00:13:49.370 on the cross are, it is finished. Not I'm finished. 00:13:50.870 --> 00:13:56.549 It's finished. What's finished? Well, God's rescue 00:13:56.549 --> 00:14:00.769 plan is accomplished. Sin has been paid for. 00:14:00.889 --> 00:14:04.250 God's wrath has been satisfied. The way to the 00:14:04.250 --> 00:14:08.789 Father is now open. But from the time of Jesus' 00:14:08.990 --> 00:14:12.070 first coming up to the time of his second coming, 00:14:12.250 --> 00:14:16.870 it's harvest time. He's saying to his disciples, 00:14:17.110 --> 00:14:21.649 open your eyes. Wake up. Understand the times. 00:14:22.950 --> 00:14:25.509 There are people all around us in need of living 00:14:25.509 --> 00:14:32.330 water. Stop being concerned with food. Imagine 00:14:32.330 --> 00:14:34.070 for a moment that you're a consultant in charge 00:14:34.070 --> 00:14:38.070 of A &E. And one evening the call comes in that 00:14:38.070 --> 00:14:42.149 there's a huge crash on the M25. And you're warned 00:14:42.149 --> 00:14:44.309 as the chief consultant to expect a large number 00:14:44.309 --> 00:14:46.289 of patients coming in in critical condition. 00:14:46.929 --> 00:14:49.950 And so one by one the ambulances arrive. Paramedics 00:14:49.950 --> 00:14:52.970 bring in stretcher after stretcher. And all around 00:14:52.970 --> 00:14:56.429 you in A &E people are suffering. They're dying. 00:14:57.370 --> 00:15:00.549 And you as the A &E consultant sit in your office 00:15:00.549 --> 00:15:04.000 with your feet up. with a food menu, trying to 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:09.500 work out whether to order pizza or a curry. That's 00:15:09.500 --> 00:15:10.740 a little bit like what the disciples are doing. 00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:15.340 All around them, people are dying of spiritual 00:15:15.340 --> 00:15:19.360 thirst and hunger, and they're thinking about 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:23.899 lunch. By the way, before we think too critically 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:26.679 of the disciples, I do want to confess that I'm 00:15:26.679 --> 00:15:30.450 exactly the same as them. My mind and diary and 00:15:30.450 --> 00:15:34.330 prayers get very quickly taken up with me and 00:15:34.330 --> 00:15:38.789 now and physical. And I dare say I'm not the 00:15:38.789 --> 00:15:42.090 only one in the room. It may well not be food 00:15:42.090 --> 00:15:44.190 that occupies our minds, but we can so easily 00:15:44.190 --> 00:15:47.230 pour all our energies into our work in this world 00:15:47.230 --> 00:15:50.210 and very little thought or energy about God's 00:15:50.210 --> 00:15:53.789 work that lasts into eternity. Or in church life. 00:15:53.850 --> 00:15:58.649 Church life can very easily focus on the barns. 00:15:59.019 --> 00:16:02.340 and not the fields we do need to keep lifting 00:16:02.340 --> 00:16:05.399 our eyes don't we to the fields and the future 00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:09.879 because our heavenly father's business is saving 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:13.539 people that's the work that lasts into the next 00:16:13.539 --> 00:16:17.080 world and i take it that we just see our jobs 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:23.039 our course our relationships our the whole of 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:27.500 our lives in the light of that In the light of 00:16:27.500 --> 00:16:31.759 the fact that it's harvest time. So Jesus says 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:33.679 to us now, as he says to his disciples then, 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:36.919 open your eyes, look around you, understand the 00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:40.559 times you're in. Now when it comes to harvest 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:42.399 time, there are two types of people. There are 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:46.899 those who sow and those who reap, verse 36. Even 00:16:46.899 --> 00:16:50.559 now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:53.519 a crop for eternal life so that the sower and 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:56.519 the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying, 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:01.019 one sows and the other reaps, is true. So sower 00:17:01.019 --> 00:17:04.839 and reaper have different roles. Just as Paul 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:08.119 says in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 6, I planted the 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:10.259 seed, Apollos watered, God's making it grow. 00:17:11.299 --> 00:17:14.940 God employs different people in different roles 00:17:14.940 --> 00:17:19.079 in his harvesting work. You'll see this every 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:21.829 week in your... You see it every day in college. 00:17:21.930 --> 00:17:23.890 Different people, different roles, different 00:17:23.890 --> 00:17:28.750 gifts. But it's the same work. It's the same 00:17:28.750 --> 00:17:33.349 ministry to share in the joy when the harvest 00:17:33.349 --> 00:17:36.970 comes in. And Jesus' disciples were particularly 00:17:36.970 --> 00:17:40.470 privileged in verse 38. I send you to reap what 00:17:40.470 --> 00:17:42.829 you've not worked for. Others have done the hard 00:17:42.829 --> 00:17:44.710 work and you've reaped the benefits of their 00:17:44.710 --> 00:17:47.970 labor. Now we may be referring to the prophets. 00:17:48.750 --> 00:17:51.769 And John the Baptist, they do the hard work. 00:17:52.430 --> 00:17:55.250 They've laid the ground. The disciples come in 00:17:55.250 --> 00:17:58.349 and sort of in a football analogy, they just 00:17:58.349 --> 00:18:00.930 tap it in an open goal on the back post. They've 00:18:00.930 --> 00:18:02.450 done all the hard work. You reap the benefits. 00:18:02.769 --> 00:18:04.769 But I think actually in the immediate context 00:18:04.769 --> 00:18:08.009 suggests that it's the Samaritan woman who's 00:18:08.009 --> 00:18:11.069 done the hard work. She's the one who's gone 00:18:11.069 --> 00:18:13.849 back into town and brought back a load of people 00:18:13.849 --> 00:18:15.890 who were about to be harvested into the kingdom. 00:18:17.380 --> 00:18:19.500 That's the work that God is doing in his world. 00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:23.319 And therefore, whether you're a teacher or a 00:18:23.319 --> 00:18:26.839 student, for those who are full -time mums or 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:30.740 part -time physios, every Christian is employed 00:18:30.740 --> 00:18:34.700 in God's harvesting work. Because it's harvest 00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:40.039 time. Apparently a South African bishop called 00:18:40.039 --> 00:18:42.119 Frank Retief gathers all the church leaders together 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:45.230 in his area once a year. And he tells them to 00:18:45.230 --> 00:18:47.609 get their diaries out and write at the top of 00:18:47.609 --> 00:18:52.670 each page this phrase. People without Christ 00:18:52.670 --> 00:18:57.930 go to hell. And then he says to them, now organize 00:18:57.930 --> 00:19:03.829 your life around that truth. Imagine putting 00:19:03.829 --> 00:19:05.529 that at the top of every page of your diary or 00:19:05.529 --> 00:19:09.349 on your Google calendar. People without Christ 00:19:09.349 --> 00:19:14.170 go to hell. Okay, I've got to... What am I going 00:19:14.170 --> 00:19:17.390 to do in the light of that then? See, there's 00:19:17.390 --> 00:19:21.009 an unlikely sower. And there is a ripe harvest. 00:19:22.569 --> 00:19:24.369 And the third thing, much more briefly, is a 00:19:24.369 --> 00:19:26.890 world saviour. We see that in verses 39 to 42. 00:19:29.329 --> 00:19:32.730 This woman is an unlikely sower. The Samaritans 00:19:32.730 --> 00:19:35.250 are definitely an unlikely harvest. And yet, 00:19:35.269 --> 00:19:39.349 verse 39, many of the Samaritans from that town 00:19:39.349 --> 00:19:42.259 believed in him. because of the woman's testimony. 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:46.279 He told me everything I've ever done. But notice 00:19:46.279 --> 00:19:48.980 they want more. They don't just want to hear 00:19:48.980 --> 00:19:55.259 her testimony. They want to hear his word. And 00:19:55.259 --> 00:19:58.900 so they plead with him to stay for longer, which 00:19:58.900 --> 00:20:04.039 leads to verse 41. Because of his words, many 00:20:04.039 --> 00:20:06.000 more became believers. They said to the woman, 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:07.720 we no longer believe just because of what you 00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:11.619 said. Now we've heard for ourselves, and we know 00:20:11.619 --> 00:20:13.799 that this man really is the saviour of the world. 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:17.980 See, God is doing his work in his world, his 00:20:17.980 --> 00:20:22.299 harvesting work, through the word of his son. 00:20:23.980 --> 00:20:26.519 So these people here in Samaria aren't like those 00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:28.839 at the end of chapter 2. If you know the story, 00:20:28.980 --> 00:20:30.920 there are people at the end of chapter 2 who 00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:33.700 believe in Jesus because they saw the signs that 00:20:33.700 --> 00:20:36.680 he was performing. It's sort of superficial belief, 00:20:36.740 --> 00:20:40.069 if you like. You know, give us another one, Jesus. 00:20:41.150 --> 00:20:43.069 But they don't actually trust him. They don't 00:20:43.069 --> 00:20:47.549 want him. They just want his tricks and his miracles. 00:20:47.869 --> 00:20:51.630 It's superficial. This is sincere faith. The 00:20:51.630 --> 00:20:55.769 Samaritans haven't seen any miracles. They believe 00:20:55.769 --> 00:20:58.769 because they heard the words that he was speaking. 00:21:00.529 --> 00:21:02.529 We no longer believe because of what you said, 00:21:02.690 --> 00:21:07.769 but because of what he said. And there are two 00:21:07.769 --> 00:21:09.970 big announcements, if you notice, of Jesus' identity 00:21:09.970 --> 00:21:12.490 in this chapter. One was by Jesus himself, that's 00:21:12.490 --> 00:21:16.930 in verse 26. I am the Messiah, the Christ, the 00:21:16.930 --> 00:21:20.549 King. The other is by a group of Samaritans in 00:21:20.549 --> 00:21:24.869 verse 42. They identify him as, rightly, the 00:21:24.869 --> 00:21:27.950 saviour of the world. And John's bringing those 00:21:27.950 --> 00:21:31.390 two things together. The Messiah is the saviour 00:21:31.390 --> 00:21:36.519 of the world. In other words... Here is the one 00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:40.220 through whom God is reaping a harvest among all 00:21:40.220 --> 00:21:44.000 sorts of people. From the Nicodemuses of the 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:49.579 world to the Samaritan women of the world. To 00:21:49.579 --> 00:21:53.500 people like me and you. The Messiah, the saviour 00:21:53.500 --> 00:21:56.720 of the world. That's how God, that's through 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:58.880 whom God is reaping a harvest. And now is the 00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:04.240 time for that harvest. Just two brief invocations 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:08.059 as I close. And that is, number one, doing God's 00:22:08.059 --> 00:22:12.299 work is a privilege. It's a sign, isn't it, of 00:22:12.299 --> 00:22:14.640 God's outrageous grace that Jesus not only goes 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:21.299 to Samaria, talks to this outcast, and offers 00:22:21.299 --> 00:22:26.700 her living water. He washes her clean by his 00:22:26.700 --> 00:22:30.700 Holy Spirit, and then he employs her in his harvest 00:22:30.700 --> 00:22:37.630 field. And God has done that for you. If you're 00:22:37.630 --> 00:22:41.269 a Christian believer, he gives us new birth and 00:22:41.269 --> 00:22:45.650 involves us in his work. I said it earlier, but 00:22:45.650 --> 00:22:47.529 I find it absolutely staggering that God doesn't 00:22:47.529 --> 00:22:51.410 just save people like you and I, as if that's 00:22:51.410 --> 00:22:55.890 not outrageously gracious enough. He says, I've 00:22:55.890 --> 00:22:58.950 got work for you to do. I want to involve you 00:22:58.950 --> 00:23:02.990 in my harvesting business. You've got lots to 00:23:02.990 --> 00:23:04.990 learn. But don't worry about that because I'm 00:23:04.990 --> 00:23:07.170 going to be with you. I'm going to help you, 00:23:07.190 --> 00:23:08.529 equip you. I'm going to give you my Holy Spirit 00:23:08.529 --> 00:23:12.190 to change you and give you gifts to make you 00:23:12.190 --> 00:23:17.269 useful in my service. I think one of the things 00:23:17.269 --> 00:23:20.589 I've been struck by the longer I've been in Christian 00:23:20.589 --> 00:23:23.470 ministry is actually, I've been struck by several 00:23:23.470 --> 00:23:28.490 things. One of them is hard work. But also at 00:23:28.490 --> 00:23:31.829 the same time, it is privileged work. What else 00:23:31.829 --> 00:23:35.210 would you rather do with your life than give 00:23:35.210 --> 00:23:38.869 yourself to playing your part in the harvest 00:23:38.869 --> 00:23:43.690 field, in harvest time? Doing God's work is a 00:23:43.690 --> 00:23:47.329 privilege. And don't let the devil ever tell 00:23:47.329 --> 00:23:51.750 you otherwise. It's the meant privilege. But 00:23:51.750 --> 00:23:55.309 secondly, doing God's work is a priority. The 00:23:55.309 --> 00:23:57.230 harvest is plentiful, says Jesus in Matthew, 00:23:57.309 --> 00:24:00.609 but the work is a few. Ask the Lord of the harvest 00:24:00.609 --> 00:24:04.490 to send out workers into the harvest field. When 00:24:04.490 --> 00:24:05.789 I've always thought about that verse previously, 00:24:05.890 --> 00:24:07.869 I've always thought, oh, the workers are few. 00:24:08.650 --> 00:24:11.890 I've emphasized that bit. And by workers, I think 00:24:11.890 --> 00:24:18.890 I've meant vicars. The vicars are few. Now, there 00:24:18.890 --> 00:24:22.289 are few, and we need more and more. But a couple 00:24:22.289 --> 00:24:25.789 of things to notice. Jesus says there is a plentiful 00:24:25.789 --> 00:24:29.349 harvest field. I mean... You see that in John 00:24:29.349 --> 00:24:31.789 4, the crowd of Samaritans walking over the field. 00:24:32.670 --> 00:24:36.329 There is a plentiful harvest, and we do need 00:24:36.329 --> 00:24:40.549 more workers for that harvest field. But not 00:24:40.549 --> 00:24:42.750 just more vicars and pastors and women's workers 00:24:42.750 --> 00:24:44.990 and children's workers and youth workers to be 00:24:44.990 --> 00:24:47.849 full -time. Every Christian is involved in the 00:24:47.849 --> 00:24:53.190 harvesting business. We do need more workers, 00:24:53.349 --> 00:24:57.660 and it is a priority. And so whether we end up 00:24:57.660 --> 00:25:01.400 in full -time Christian ministry or not, the 00:25:01.400 --> 00:25:06.500 harvesting work is a priority. So what do you 00:25:06.500 --> 00:25:08.859 do? If I ask that question at the start, what 00:25:08.859 --> 00:25:12.039 is it you do? You could answer that in all kinds 00:25:12.039 --> 00:25:16.799 of ways. I'm a husband. I'm a dad. I'm a lecturer. 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:21.220 I'm a student. You work in God's harvest field. 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:25.660 That's what you do. It's not that you will work 00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:27.440 in God's harvest field one day when you graduate 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:30.920 and when you finish your exams. You already work 00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:34.160 in God's harvest field. And so give your life 00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:38.619 to those privileges and that great priority because 00:25:38.619 --> 00:25:42.900 it's harvest time. Let me lead us in a prayer. 00:25:50.519 --> 00:25:56.109 Thank you Father for your outrageous grace to 00:25:56.109 --> 00:25:58.589 people like us that you would, just like this 00:25:58.589 --> 00:26:04.950 Samaritan woman, save us and employ us in your 00:26:04.950 --> 00:26:08.750 service. Father, we're sorry, I'm sorry for times 00:26:08.750 --> 00:26:12.269 when we forget that that work is a privilege 00:26:12.269 --> 00:26:19.750 or a priority. Father, please would you persuade 00:26:19.750 --> 00:26:24.009 us in our hearts and minds. That it is now harvest 00:26:24.009 --> 00:26:29.309 time and we get to play our part in harvesting 00:26:29.309 --> 00:26:33.049 the crop of people. Thank you, Father, that you 00:26:33.049 --> 00:26:37.170 involve us in the family business. Father, please 00:26:37.170 --> 00:26:40.829 help us to be useful, to be faithful, to be fruitful 00:26:40.829 --> 00:26:43.210 in your service so that many more people like 00:26:43.210 --> 00:26:47.450 these Samaritans, like us, would come into your 00:26:47.450 --> 00:26:53.200 kingdom and enjoy eternal life. In the Lord Jesus. 00:26:54.660 --> 00:26:57.319 And it's in his name we pray. Amen.