From Serbia with Love

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

I'm posting this from Subotica, Serbia. I had the opportunity to preach in two different churches this morning, and thought I'd make a post of the message. If I end up preaching this at PCC sometime, you'll have to act surprised.

As I was getting settled into my room and trying to get everything ready after arriving in Serbia, I found a mirror in my suitcase… I must have packed it so I could make sure my hair looked nice every morning. But as I was removing the mirror from my suitcase, I lost my grip and sent it tumbling to the hard tile below. Of course it shattered into a hundred little pieces of broken glass upon impact. And strangely enough, as I thought about it, it actually reminded me of one of my favorite stories in Scripture.

Today I would like to speak to you from that passage. It’s found in John, chapter 4, and it’s the story about the Samaritan Woman at the well. You are probably familiar with this story, but if you’re like me you learn something new each time you look at a passage. So I’d like to take a look at this with you today.

We know the story of this woman who encountered Jesus at the well in her village. If you don’t know it, you can read it very quickly there in John chapter 4.

As we know, Jesus and his disciples were traveling on their way to Galilee. To get there, however, they needed to pass through a Samaritan village. It was in the middle of the day, it was very hot, and Jesus was both tired and thirsty. So he sat down to rest at a well while the disciples went into town looking for some food to eat.

I think it’s worth mentioning that Jesus didn’t have anything with which to draw water, and the well was very deep. What’s more… it’s in the middle of the day when most people are staying out of the sun. Most of the women in that village would have drawn their water for the day, and probably wouldn’t be back until later in the day when it was cooler.

But still Jesus stopped at this well, with nothing to draw water for himself, because I believe he was expecting someone. I believe this wasn’t a chance meeting. And then comes this Samaritan woman to draw water from the well.

As the story continues, we observe an interesting conversation between Jesus and this Samaritan woman. Through the course of this conversation, Jesus begins to open her eyes to spiritual concepts… things like Living Water… worshiping in Spirit and in Truth… and they even begin to discuss the coming of the Messiah, who Jesus eventually reveals himself to be. And somewhere in the midst of all that, Jesus confronts this woman’s sin.

The reason I was reminded of this story after seeing my mirror shattered on the floor is the fact that this woman really was a broken and shattered mess… and yet Jesus sought her out on purpose, and chose to spend time with her. And the simple fact that Jesus spent any time at all with her was remarkable for several reasons. First of all, she’s a Samaritan… a race of people deeply despised by Jews. Any other Jewish man would not have spoken to her at all in light of that. Another reason is the simple fact that she was a woman… in that culture, it was very surprising that Jesus spent time talking with her alone. In fact, later in this passage when the disciples return, it says they were shocked to find him talking with a woman… doesn’t say anything about her being a Samaritan woman… just the fact that she was a woman.

And then there was this woman’s life, about which Jesus confronted her. She claimed to have no husband, which was true. Jesus told her that she had five husbands, and was living with a man she wasn’t married to.

The truth is that this woman had lived a painful life… in many ways, she was shattered and broken. We don’t know how her previous marriages had ended. We don’t know much about the circumstances. But we know she was trying awfully hard to hide it from Jesus. We also know that she was going to the village well at a time when she expected to be alone… maybe this was intentional… maybe she was avoiding other people… maybe she had a reputation. In many ways, her life was messed up. She was a mess of broken pieces, shattered on the ground.

As I dropped that mirror, I remember watching it fall to the ground… almost as if it was in slow motion, tumbling end over end, until it finally hit the ground with a loud crash that sent broken glass scattering all over the floor. But when I bent down to pick it up, I looked down and saw my broken reflection in the tiny pieces. It reminded me of the fact that I - like the Samaritan Woman - am a shattered person.

I grew up in a Christian home, where my father was a pastor. But while I was growing up, being a Christian was just a mask I wore in some places, but would take off in other places. I could answer all the questions in my church classes, but could also cuss like a sailor on the playground at school. I would pretend to be this good little church boy preacher’s kid on Sundays, but was like all the other kids Monday through Saturday.

Finally, as I became a teenager, God got through to me in a real way, and I began to get more serious about living as a Christ-follower. In fact, I even began to sense that God was calling me to be a pastor. So I even went to college to study pastoral ministry.

But by the time I graduated from college, I began to question my calling. And shortly after graduating I decided to run away from the calling that God had on my life. I knew God was leading me in one direction, but I chose a different path for myself. Something that I thought would make me wealthier and happier. But at that time in my life, I hit bottom in my relationship with God, I lost my job, and I nearly lost my marriage because of it. As I look back at my life, especially when I look internally, I see a shattered mess. But the amazing thing is that God still chose me… he took my brokenness – my shattered pieces – and he put me back together again with a new purpose, a new calling, a new life. And because of his grace, I now have the opportunity to serve him and have an impact on his Kingdom!

He did the same thing with the Samaritan Woman. He went out of his way to meet with a woman of a despised race who had a string of broken relationships and a sinful lifestyle. He spent time with her… he didn’t condone her sin, but accepted her for who she was. He loved her as the Messiah… her savior… and she believed in Him. What’s more, the Scriptures tell us that she was so deeply impacted by the love of Christ that she left her water jars at the well, and ran into her village telling everyone about the man who told her everything she ever did. And because of her testimony many more Samaritans came to believe in Christ.

She was broken and shattered… too ashamed to even draw water at the well with others from the village. But she was restored by the love of Christ… captured by his grace. And it made a profound impact on her life, and those around her.

This story gives us an amazing picture of what can happen when just one shattered person is changed by the love of Christ and captured by his grace. Nearly an entire village was saved.

What do you suppose can happen when an entire church is captured by grace? What would happen if we were so captured by grace that we began to live out his love to everyone around us? Your church here in Serbia… my church back home in the states… all of us reaching out to our communities demonstrating the love of Christ.

Acts 1:8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

We are called to be his witnesses… starting in our villages, then to our country, and then to all the nations. Our team is here in obedience to that call… not to come and do the ministry for the Serbian church, but to serve alongside the Serbian church in the work that God is already doing! But it is our privilege and joy to share in this work with you. But American churches aren’t the only ones who can go to serve others and spread the Gospel. At our camp next week, we will have Americans serving with Serbians, who are serving with British, who are serving with Australians, who are serving with Irish, who are serving with Romanians… the Kingdome of God working together to advance the gospel… even to the ends of the earth. Maybe your church could send a team to serve in the states some day… we could use the help!

St. Francis of Assisi was once quoted as saying, “Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.” Our call to be witnesses is more about how we live out the love of Christ than it is about the message we preach. Thank you for letting us live it out this love with you over these two weeks. Amen.