Introduction: The opportunities for ministry to others does not always come
at a convenient time!
The choices of who we would like to see saved doesn't always present itself conveniently at times! In fact, many of the greatest moments of leading others to Christ will come unexpectedly and they may be people that we ordinarily would not have chosen to lead to Christ.

Christ's passion was winning the lost, and seeking out the lost, it did not
matter to Him if they were Gentile or Jew, male or female, rich or poor … just  that they were lost without Him!

ILLUS:
God's salvation takes into account the lost, the last, and the least. --
Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton: Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., 1990).

We cannot afford to bypass anyone in witnessing, everyone is a candidate to hear God's message of salvation, and every Christian is a witness of God's salvation!

ILLUS:
One day a lady criticized D. L. Moody for his methods of evangelism in
attempting to win people to the Lord.
Moody's reply was "I agree with you. I don't like the way I do it either.
Tell me, how do you do it?" The lady replied, "I don't do it." Moody
retorted, "Then I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing
it." -- James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 178.

Tired, busy, hectic schedules, nothing should deter us from the greatest
mission of mankind, sharing the message of Christ's salvation.
Jesus utilized every moment to reach out, even when exhausted!

The Bible teaches us that every contact with others is an opportunity to
share our faith. There is no one excluded from God's love, Jesus reached out to touch even the morally lax with the offer of salvation.

1. MESSIAH'S MISSION      

1. Systematic    

And he must needs go through Samaria.                 John 4:4

1. Jesus was passionate about His mission.

a. He traveled extensively and systematically as much as possible.

b. Even in this passage He "had to go through Samaria"

c. The necessity wasn't as much geographical as it was in the mission itself.  
   
2. Christ refused to take the long way around the territory of the Samaritans
just to avoid contact with them, necessity of getting to the next place meant
using the shortest route possible, which was the direct route through
Samaria.

3. Any normal Jew would have avoided this if at all possible since the
Samaritans and Jews had a very poor relationship with one another, they
despised each other!

a. This was a long standing feud, going back to a time hundreds of years
earlier when some poor Jews who were left behind in a captivity sweep married non Jews and thus became impure.

b. Jesus however refuses to be ruled by prejudices, He sees people the same, as all in need of a savior. He came for the "WORLD".

4. For Christ, ministry is not a duty, it is a passion! As Christians this
should be our attitude as well!

ILLUS:
It is our privilege to have world evangelism as a passion, not our
responsibility to have as a burden. -- Attributed to
Mary Nordstrom; quoted by Gary Ginter in a sermon. Christianity Today, Vol.
38, no. 6.

5. It is not enough to hope for a harvest, Jesus made Himself available to
make it happen also.

ILLUS:
Everybody wants a harvest, but few want to plow. -- Croft M. Pentz, The
Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).

6. Christ looked at every moment as an open invitation to reach someone.

a. We as Christians would do well to emulate    Him in this.

b. So often we pray for a harvest, but this is wrong! Jesus never said "pray
for a harvest" - He said, Matthew 9:38 "Ask the Lord of the harvest,
therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

c. There IS A HARVEST … the only lack is workers!!!

2. Sacrificial     

5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the
parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being
wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth
hour.                          John 4:5-6

1. Jesus was exhausted and in territory where Jews would be unwelcome, it was
at noon and the heat of the day was no doubt terrible, hence His thirst.
And He had just finished a grueling time of ministry to huge crowds before
stopping here. Since the disciples had gone into town   to buy food He was
probably also hungry.

a. Jesus had every excuse to avoid ministry to  anyone else that came into
contact with Him!

b. Most of us would have said, "I deserve some time away from ministry"

2. Instead of some well deserved rest Jesus finds   Himself coming face to
face with a Samaritan   woman of very questionable character!

a. What will He do?

b. He finds Himself once again sacrificing His own needs for the needs of
others … this is the love of God at work!

3. Many times we will find ourselves in situations where we understandably
could relax and yet there we are, faced with someone who needs ministry.

a. So often our own need then has to take a back seat to the greater need of the other person!

b. Jesus eventually would lay down His own life for us, but He showed this
trait long before the cross!

ILLUS:
Andrew Meekens, an elder in the International Evangelical Church of Addis Ababa, was one of those who died on November 23, 1996, when a hijacked jet ran out of fuel and crashed near the Comoros Islands. According to survivors of the crash, after the pilot announced he would attempt an emergency landing, Meekens stood up and spoke, calming passengers on the Ethiopian Airlines flight. Meekens then presented the gospel of Jesus Christ, and invited people to respond. A surviving flight attendant said that about twenty people accepted salvation, including a flight attendant who did not survive the crash. We preach as dying people to dying people. -- Beacon
(1/97). Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (Baker), from the
editors of Leadership.

4. Where are our priorities when it comes to ministry   to others?

2. MESSIAH'S MESSAGE    

1. Salvation    

7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water
springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not,
neither come hither to draw.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy
husband: in that saidst thou truly.
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say,
that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and
in truth.
25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called
Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. John 4:7-26
 
1. Jesus finds Himself exhausted facing a very needy lady.

a. She was a Samaritan woman … the  Samaritans were hostile with the Jews.

b. That fact that she comes at noon instead of  the usual dawn or dusk when
most women came to draw water indicates that she was probably a woman of low
moral character … by coming alone at a time when the women didn't normally
come assured her of not being hassled.

c. It was completely improper for a Jew to interact with a Samaritan, much
less a woman, much less a woman of low repute!
   
2. Jesus doesn't see however a hopeless case, or racial barriers, or someone
who may make Him ceremonially unclean … He only saw someone with the need of
forgiveness!

3. It is important to not ignore those around us who are need.

ILLUS:
The world has more winnable people than ever before ... but it is possible to
come out of a ripe field empty-handed. -- Donal McGavran. Leadership, Vol.
12, no. 4.

4. Jesus' greatest need wasn't rest, it wasn't water, it wasn't food, it was
to do the will of the father who sent Him!

5. The world's greatest need is not material in nature, and while it is
important for us to do as much as we can materially to help others, we must not ignore the spiritual nature of the world's need!

ILLUS:
Charles Malik, Lebanese ambassador to the United Nations, asked in a speech:
"What has been the greatest American contribution to the rest of the world?
Has it been money? Has it been food? Has it been medical skill? Has
it been military might? Has it been industrial know-how?" Then he answered,
"The greatest thing to come out of America has been the American missionary effort: the quiet, selfless men and women who have left the comfort and security of their homeland to bring the gospel of Christianity to less favored nations. -- James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton:
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p. 358.

6. Jesus attempts to get this woman to recognize her true need.

a. She is thinking in terms of physical water at first.

b. She would be happy to have this special water from Jesus so she wouldn't have to come and draw water from the well anymore.

c. Jesus however moves her from the physical need to the spiritual need.

7. Like so many today, once it is clear that Jesus is   driving home a
spiritual issue, she begins to argue theology and forms of religion.

a. This has always been the way people attempt to avoid the real issue of
their soul, get into an argument over   religion.

b. Her diversion tactics however fail as Jesus puts the issue back on her and her need.

8. Jesus exposes her sinfulness ….

a. While Jesus may have been able to guess she was a woman of low moral standing by the fact that she had come to draw water alone during the heat of the day instead of with the other women at dusk or dawn there was no way anyone could have guessed her 5 other sexual affairs and the present one she was now in!

b. Her response to Jesus' exact details is finally to acknowledge the
spiritual dynamic of Christ, albeit only as a prophet.

c. She is in need of further revelation, and so Christ tells her plainly who
He is.

9. She needed more than a prophet, she needed a savior!

a. So many people today are running to new age prophets or even prophets in the Church for answers, the world's     greatest need however isn't prophets, it needs a true savior!

b. Jesus is the only savior of the world!

c. Christ's offer of salvation is genuine, although she was a sinful woman
estranged from the Jews and her own people Christ sees a person who has a real chance to be something in Christ!

2. Spiritual     

27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the
woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and
saith to the men,
29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the
Christ?
30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.
32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him
ought to eat?
34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and
to finish his work.
35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I
say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white
already to harvest.
36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life
eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another
reapeth.
38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured,
and ye are entered into their labours.
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him
12
for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.
40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.
41 And many more believed because of his own word;
42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.                                  John 4:27-42

1. It was bad enough that the Samaritan woman could only see the material
realm at first, now Jesus' disciples return and they are frustrated that
Jesus is talking to a Samaritan woman … but they say nothing!

a. Their only concern was for Jesus to eat something!!

b. They could care less about this woman … they were only concerned about Jesus!

c. Isn't it ironic that we can be so concerned about our Lord that we forget
about those in need?

2. How about us? Can we be so concerned about proper worship services and how much we pray to the Lord that we do nothing about lost people around us?

a. The woman in the meantime
28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and
saith to the men,
29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the
Christ?                                    John 4:28-29

b. Isn't it interesting that she left her water jar behind, after all, it was
physical water she had come for originally!

c. She had found something better, something more satisfying … and suddenly the spiritual was far more  important than the material!

d. When we have contact with God through Christ our understanding of the
importance of spiritual things vs.  material things takes on a whole new
dimension.

3. She could never have expected what she found, but it was her greatest joy!

ILLUS:
My mother and I arise early on Saturday mornings to catch all the garage
sales. One typical Saturday we spotted a garage sale that seemed to be just opening for business. We quickly walked into the man's garage and began looking over his wares. After a few minutes and several
stern looks from the solemn-faced garage owner, he asked if there was
anything he could do for us. "This is a garage sale, isn't it?" my mother
asked timidly. The gentleman chuckled, somewhat relieved. "No," he said. "I was just cleaning out my garage. But if there's something you want, let me know." We did--and now he's five dollars richer. -- Teri Leinbaugh,
Shelbyville, KY, Christian Reader, "Lite Fare."

4. Isn't it ironic that the disciples of Jesus didn't want  Jesus bothering
with this woman, yet she is in town witnessing to everyone!

a. She wanted to shout from the streets her newfound joy in having the
Messiah come to her!

b. Though an outcast is so many ways, God saw in her value, and she became a daughter of God through Christ!
   
5. Many in the town believed in Christ because of her witness … and they too made their way out to see Jesus.

a. Some rest for Christ! - now He has a whole town to minister to!

b. Even more believed in Him after they heard   Him speak themselves!

6. From a simple opportunity to minister to an  adulterous woman an entire
Samaritan village found the greatest gift of all, the gift of salvation!

7. And in all this Jesus has to teach His own disciples the importance of
keeping a priority on ministry when it presents itself, not on food, rest, or
anything else!

a. They went into town to buy bread … she went into town to give the bread of life to everyone!

b. They went into town for their own needs, she went to meet everyone else's needs.

c. They wanted to minister to Christ, but Christ wants them to minister to
others!

8. What about us?

a. Can we get lost in our own little world of happy worship of the Lord and
forget about the kinds of people Jesus  ministered to?

b. Do we who have Christ get too caught up in the material things that we
forget the importance of the spiritual realm?

c. Is there a "woman at the well" in our lives …    someone who desperately
needs Christ - and are we too busy or tired to reach out to that person?

9. Though Jesus had originally taken the short cut through Samaria to
obviously get through here quickly He instead stays 2 extra days just to
minister to these hungry and thirsty souls … Jacob's well wasn't good enough for their needs, they needed LIVING WATER!

CONCLUSION:    Though exhausted from a busy schedule, Jesus found both the time and energy to minister to someone whose lifestyle and values were not even accepted by the ungodly citizens around her!
Are we sensitive to the spiritual needs of those around us, or does our busy
lives keep us from ministry?
Shouldn't the passion and the mission of the Messiah be ours too