Grace Christian Fellowship: Teachings

John 4:27-42 "Harvest"

And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?" The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" Then they went out of the city and came to Him. In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. "Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: "One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors." And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." (John 4:27-42)

I am the forgetful type, I often forget what I went upstairs to do because on the way I thought of something else. Then when I get back downstairs I remember what I went up in the first place for. My wife occasionally sees me carrying the wet laundry into the bedroom because on the way I forgot what I was doing and started thinking about something else. The Samaritan woman had carried her water pot all the way out to the lonely well at noon to fetch the water, but something made her forget all about that. In her hurry to bring others to Christ she left her waterpot behind. She had found living water and knew that this was too good to keep to herself. Whereas she had been shy of contact with other people before because of her shame, now she boldly goes to the men of the city (perhaps even those who knew her shame most of all) and proclaims "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
Have you ever met a Christian who is just so excited about their faith that they are exploding with it? Sure, but to be honest aren’t they kind of annoying? They seem to lack all common sense, ignore social niceties and in general make a nuisance of themselves. I have experienced it in my life, when I first got saved all I wanted to do was tell people about Jesus. I walked around with a Bible and each and every conversation that I had ultimately led to the topic of God. I noticed that a similar thing happened when I met my wife Rie. We lived about 14 hours apart at different colleges, but just about every person at my school knew that I had a girlfriend and just how wonderful she was and what she looked like and on and on ad nauseum. Yet again with the birth of my children each and every conversation led to me pulling out the pictures and explaining just how cute they actually are. If you meet an overzealous Christian that just cannot contain themselves, be kind. Listen to them tell you the gospel and what Jesus has done for them and thank them for letting you in on their secret, even if you have known Jesus for years or have heard the gospel hundreds of times. You wouldn’t dream of spoiling the excitement for young lovers or a proud new parent, don’t dampen the faith of a newborn saint.
The woman was so excited that she forgot the very reason she came out to the well in the first place. But Jesus was also moved by the encounter. When the disciples, who had gone all the way into town to get food for their weary Teacher, urged Him to eat, He said, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." Indeed, there is nothing more fulfilling in life than to pass the good news on to someone else. Nothing satisfies more than to know that God has used you to bring someone else into eternal life. Jesus knew that this woman’s life would never be the same. She would no longer be lonely and confused, passed around from man to man and filled with shame. Instead she would walk in newness of life. "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Him, and to finish His work." To be honest, some of us have "outgrown" the early excitement of being on-fire for Jesus and stopped doing the will of the Father all together. The will of God is that all be saved. His Son died on the cross to save the world. Sure, some of the early excitement leads to abuses and mistakes, some of our friends and relatives got pretty turned off about God because we tried so hard to convert them before we learned to love them. But you will not be satisfied with your Christian life until like Jesus you can bring someone else into the kingdom of God. How do we lead someone to Christ in a mature way?
Jesus said to His disciples, "Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? "Behold I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!" After the initial excitement wears off, we are much more cautious about sharing our faith. We are afraid that we might offend someone, that they won’t be open to what we have to say. We think, "In a few more months then they will be ready." Months turn into years and years into never. Lift up your eyes and look at the fields! There are many people who are ready. In the Machida service Rick and Melissa shared how they have been praying for Rick’s mom, an elderly Japanese woman. She went into the hospital and Rick asked us to pray, for her healing of course but also for her salvation. The very next week, Rick was bursting with excitement to tell us that his mom had received Jesus Christ and was recovering well. I wish I could say that was the very first prayer that they had said, but actually they had been praying for her eleven years. The important thing is to watch and pray. Prayer helps us to keep our heads up and notice what God is doing in the people that we are praying for. When the time was right Rick was able to explain the gospel to her in a way that she could understand and that she was open to receiving. All around us there are people who are all in different stages in their spiritual life. You cannot simply go out gunning and shoot them all down with your gospel gun. It is not simply a matter of how good you are at evangelism. It depends on if they ready for harvest or not. A mature Christian watches and prays to know when the time is right.
Jesus told his disciples, "And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: "One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors." It is important for us to realize that we ourselves don’t save anybody. We cannot put another notch in our Bible case or brag that we "Got another one". At best we are matchmakers, friends of the bridegroom, who introduce people to Jesus. Only Jesus saves. But we cannot really get the credit for leading people to Him. Because God has been active in their lives through a number of different people for a long time. Perhaps it is through us that He finally brings them home, but others sowed the seeds, watered and cared for them, and protected them from harm. We enter into the labor of Christ who died on the cross for them, the labor of the Holy Spirit which draws them to Him, the labor of all the saints who went before who passed the gospel down to us, the labor of every Christian who loved them in any way at all no matter how small. When we see how small our part is in the whole, we are humbled. We have no reason to think more of ourselves than we should. But we are also encouraged. The salvation of this person does not rest on whether or not I am successful at presenting the gospel to him. I am not solely responsible whether or not this person is saved. I enter into the work that God is already doing out of His great love for them.
When the Samaritan women in her excitement spread the new around town that Jesus had told her all that she ever did, many believed because of what she said and came out to meet Jesus. Jesus had only planned on a brief stop to rest before continuing on His way, but they changed their plan and stayed there two days to teach the people. After this time of teaching, The people said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." I want you to pick up on this important part of sharing our faith in a mature way. When we first introduce people to Christ, it is a lot like a blind date. They come to Him based largely on what they think of you. They come on your recommendation, your testimony about what Christ has done in your life. Praise God that even the most immature Christian, like the Samaritan woman, can bring people to Christ this way. But look what happens next. The people are taught and come to have their own faith, not based on someone else’s experience with Jesus, but their own relationship with Him. It is not enough that people agree with you. They need to know Jesus themselves personally.
Perhaps you have met Christians before who turned you off because they were so zealous to press their religion on you. Please forgive us, we meant well but were so caught up with what God was doing in our own lives that we could not see if you were ready or not. Forgive us for being proud, for treating people like objects in our rush to bring them into the kingdom. But please see that behind our mistakes is a true concern that you know Jesus Christ who can change your life and who can give you love and joy and peace.
Perhaps you were one of those immature Christians who could not control themselves and now have stopped sharing your faith all together. Decide with me today to lift up your eyes and look at the fields, to watch and pray so that you know when the timing is right. Decide with me to enter into the labors of all those who came before, to receive the true riches of heaven when we arrive and are welcomed by those who we helped to find Jesus. Decide with me to help those people who are seeking to believe not just because we said it, but because they know Jesus Christ themselves.

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