Chosen to Tell the Story
“The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” (AKJV John 4:28-29)
The woman in the story was a Samaritan, a person of Jewish and Gentile descent. In 721 B.C., the northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians. Many people of Israel were led off to Assyria as captives, but some remained in the land and intermarried with foreigners planted there by the Assyrians. These people became known as the Samaritans.
There was real tension between the Jewish people and the Samaritans. Therefore, Jesus choosing to make a special effort to speak to the woman in John 4 speaks volumes about inclusion, kindness and speaking truth as Christians.
The friction between Jews and gentiles was quite deeply embedded and strict customs were set up to keep them apart. Certain groups of Samaritans opposed Nehemiah building in Jerusalem (Strike 1). Also, there was a cultural clash because of the Samaritan and Jewish marital tradition. This woman was a much-married woman. She had been the wife of five husbands and is currently with a man that is not her husband. (Strike 2). Then, there were strict gender specific duties during the time in which Jesus had this meeting with the woman at the well. She was, after all, a woman (Strike 3).
Despite all that society might have held against her, the Samaritan woman was compelled to tell the story of Christ, “Come see a man. Is this not Christ?”
All of us are charged with telling the salvation story. We may worry because there is not enough participation in church activities, but are we telling the story? Do we tell of the goodness of the Lord?
See, in addition to telling the story, the woman at the well went into her community and told her story. She was not ashamed to tell those who would listen to, “Come see a man which told me all things that ever I did….”
Your story may not be like her story, but you have a story. I have my story and there are times when our individual stories would make an impact on a Christian who has fallen out of fellowship or is struggling to remain faithful in service to the Lord.
One cannot read the story of the woman at the well without noting the urgency and excitement that flows from the telling of the story. The Samaritan woman issued an urgent and enthusiastic invitation to those who had never met Christ. This woman had an audience with which she was most familiar. She told the men in her community, and no matter who we are most comfortable conversing with that group is a segment of our audience.
The Jews and the Samaritans did not have anything to do with each other. Yet Jesus went out of His way to tell the story. Do we go out of our way to tell the story?
Jesus demonstrated that it is important to be purposeful in talking to others about Christ. It does not matter where we worship. We must, when we go outside the walls, meet people in their circumstances and tell the story and plant a seed of hope. John 3:16 promises eternal life for the believer: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Somebody needs to know that they have not been forgotten by God. Somebody needs to know that they are loved. Somebody needs to know about the plan of salvation. Someone may need encouragement and the Word of God in John 7:38 promises a refreshing: “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters.”
Telling the story and telling our story not only blesses the one hearing the story, but it will also bless the one telling the story. We have an opportunity to revisit the place and time when we first believed the promise of John 3:16 and recall the many blessings from the Lord.
