Easter Zeal - Do You Have it?

Well, there is a natural law in life that time breeds familiarity and familiarity breeds indifference. It's a natural law in life. You get a puppy and that puppy will greet you when you come home. He'll be all over you. You'll be wagon, you stay out, jumping up and down, barking, licking you into face. I mean, just glad to see you. Give that dog 10 years. You'll walk in the door. He'll be laying on the floor with his head between his paws and he'll barely roll his eyes up to greet you. Same thing is true in marriage. You first get married. You're going somewhere. You walk your sweetheart out to the car, arm in arm. Open the door for her. Make sure she gets in okay. Everything okay, honey? Yes. You gingerly close the door, walk around the car to get in, smiling at each other. Give it 10 years. Somebody told me after the first service five years. After five years, 10 years, you know what it looks like. Don't you? You're sitting out in the driver's seat, honking the horn. Come on out here, lady. Take sure forever. They get ready to go anywhere and she opens the door and you're ready to back out and you throw it in reverse and peel out of the driveway. She's still got the door open. One leg out the car, heel dragging the driveway as you pull out. That's the way it is after 10 years. Same thing is true of the job. You're all excited about that new job. Lots of energy and vigor for that. Given a few years kind of wears off and it's routine. You no longer have the excitement about it you once had. I'd say that natural law also applies to spiritual life. When we first come to know Christ, typically we are marked with a zeal about that new found life that is contagious. We want everybody to know what we have found and we're excited about it and we're excited than we would be about a new career, a new car, a new house. We found eternal life in Christ but give us a few years and we get used to the terminology. We get used to the Bible. We get used to prayer. Things begin to settle into a routine and before long we are completely indifferent. We're journeying through the Gospel of John on Sunday mornings and we're going to continue that journey this morning and not break necessarily for a specific Easter message because I think what we will find in the passage today fits very beautifully with the theme of a resurrected Christ and new life in Him. But what we have been looking at is a woman who was a sinner by any definition whom Jesus encounters on His journey through Samaria to get to Galilee. He begins by talking with her about what they have in common. They're both at a well. He's thirsty. He's drawing water. So the common ground that he engages her in conversation about is water. But he moves quickly from physical water that will quench thirst to a spiritual water that can become a well within her, welling up to eternal life. It's spiritual water, spiritual life, eternal life that he really has to offer her and as he points out her sinfulness and then her recognition of Him as the Messiah, the one who came to be the Savior, she embraces Him in faith, trusts Him as her Messiah, her Lord, her Savior, and she walks away a new person. That's what we find in John chapter 4. But that's not the end of the story. There is an ending to the story that brings out a bold contrast. In fact, in verses 27 to 42, in this passage that we will look at today, we will see a stark contrast between this woman and the disciples. Here's a woman who has just gotten saved. A new convert marked by zeal. It is the zeal of new life. It is the zeal of knowing that you're forgiven. It's the zeal of knowing that your eternity is now settled. You have a whole new direction in this life and you have a whole new home waiting for you. When this life is over, it's that kind of zeal. It's the zeal of eternal life, the zeal of resurrection life. It's Easter zeal. It's the zeal of knowing that a Savior has died for me and He's alive and I can live forever because of Him. He goes away with that zeal. But the disciples? Well, they've been around the block a few times. Sure, it's early in Jesus' ministry, but some of them have been followers of John the Baptist. So some of them have known the Old Testament scriptures. They have known of the coming Messiah. They have been now introduced to Jesus. They have walked with Him for a while, a few weeks. At least they have heard Him teach. They've been personally mentored and discipled and instructed by Him. And they're already showing signs of kind of being used to this. Already showing signs of indifference. So what I want us to do for a few moments this morning is to compare the two. Because verses 27 to 42 show us in bold contrast the difference between a new convert and a disciple who's walked with the Lord for a little while. What often happens to us when we've been saved for a little while? Let's take the woman first of all. The woman, an example of zeal. Her zeal is seen in at least three ways. It is reflected first of all in new priorities. New priorities, verse 27 says, just then, as Jesus has just introduced Himself to this woman in verse 26, just then His disciples returned and were surprised to find Him talking with a woman. No one asked what do you want or why are you talking with her? We'll come back to that verse in a few moments. Now look at verse 28. Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah? It's the first thing that she did that interests me. She left her water jar. Oh, wait a second. Isn't that the reason she came to the well? Wasn't that her whole focus for this day and this time was to get water? Isn't that her whole purpose right now to get water? Of course it is. But now she leaves that. Why? Because she has a new priority. There is something that has become more important to her than physical water that will quench her physical thirst. She has found living water that will give her eternal life and that has become more important to her so she can leave her water pot behind. She has a new set of priorities. The material, the earthly, the mundane, the routine, the stuff of this life is no longer as important to her as what she now has in Christ. And that marks the zeal of a new convert quite often right after we get saved. We have that same kind of zeal and we want to pour all of our time and energy into learning more about Jesus and telling others about Him because this is new. It's exciting. It's eternal. And we are excited about it. Priorities have changed and now the spiritual has become far more important to us than anything else. That's the zeal of a new convert. She has new priorities. But secondly, she also has new concerns. Her zeal is reflected in new concerns. What does she leave her water pot for? Again, verses 28 and 29, she leaves her water jar. The woman went back to the town and said to the people, come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah? Her immediate response after she finds Jesus as her Savior is to have a concern for other people to find Him as their Savior. She wants other people to know the same forgiveness and sense of freedom that the past is gone. There's a new direction in her life and most of all eternal life that she now has. And her love for Christ, the Christ she has just embraced in faith, constrains her to let other people know. She has a new concern in life. Immediately she has transformed from an outcast sinner to a devoted servant of Christ. There's no probationary period. There's no seminary training needed. She has a new concern, a concern that other people find what she has found. And that concern is natural for a new believer. Why? Because now you have the Holy Spirit within. Now you have the nature of Christ within. When you trust Jesus as your Savior, the Bible says we receive a new nature. We are now partakers of a divine nature. We have the Holy Spirit within us who now gives us new desires, new motivations, new concerns. With a little time that concern becomes blunted. It's not as sharp and as focused as it should be. But her zeal as a new convert is seen in her concern for other people. One of my favorite historical characters is Abraham Lincoln. I've enjoyed reading biographies about him. He's a fascinating man. He had seen the ravages of slavery growing up and he was opposed to it. But he felt like as a politician getting into politics and especially when he's elected president, he kind of had to moderate. But the longer he got into his presidency and the more the Civil War went on, he became more firmly convinced that slavery was absolutely an unjust evil and a plague on mankind. One time he said this, I am sorry for the man who can't feel the whip when it is laid on the other man's back. Sorry for the man who can't feel the whip when it is laid on the other man's back. That same kind of concern for other people is the kind of concern that we have as new believers. We naturally have a heart for other people to be forgiven. We don't want to see anyone else go to hell. We don't want to see people die without Christ and go out into a dark eternity. We have a natural concern for others and a feel for others that comes when we are first saved. I don't even remember this but I remember my parents telling me about this. When I was, I was saved when I was eight years old across the road, little white church across the road and VBS when I was eight years old. And I remember my mother telling me that when we went home that day after that VBS, a little bit later in the day, she found me looking out the front window across the street. She asked me what I was looking at and evidently I told her something like this. I wonder if those people across the street know Jesus. Now I didn't know anything. I didn't know anything. All I knew is that I had the peace of knowing that I was forgiven as an eight year old boy. And I wanted somebody else to know that. I didn't really understand that. I didn't know that was, you know, check that off your list or supposed to have that. I didn't know anything. That was just natural. And it is for every new believer. You have to have a concern for other people. That zeal, that Easter zeal, that new life zeal, eternal life zeal is reflected in a concern for others that others know Christ. But thirdly, it is also reflected in her life in boldness. Her zeal is reflected in her boldness. Look again, verse 29. She says, come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah? They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Now if anyone in this town would have any reason to say, I have no platform to speak, nobody is going to listen to me. I have no credibility in this town. It would be her. I mean, with her past, the very fact that she has come out to the well, when typically at a time of day, no one else would be there indicates that she knows she is not liked. No one else wants to be around her. And she is very timid about being with other people. It's all because of her immoral past. But now that she's found Jesus, all of that doesn't matter. She goes back into the town and gathers as many people as she can and says, come, come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Now that may sound like an exaggeration, but really she's speaking truth. Jesus may not have told her everything she's ever done, but he told her enough about her past that she knows he could tell everything she's ever done. He has that knowledge in his mind. And so he is a man who could tell you anything you've ever done. And then notice how she frames the question. She may realize that she's not in a position to make bold dogmatic statements, but she at least arouses curiosity by saying, could this be the Messiah? She's convinced he is. She wants others to know and she boldly proclaims him to others. Satan will do everything he can to keep you silent after you get saved. He will give you every argument possible. Well, I don't know enough yet to answer people's questions. So I really shouldn't tell people yet about Jesus. Or I really don't know how to do that. Or, you know, I'm just not sure that people would really listen to me or you know, these people know me. They know my past. This woman had all of that. And yet there was something inside her, a zeal that would not allow her to remain quiet. She is characterized by a new boldness to proclaim Christ to others. That happens quite often when we are newly saved. We don't know yet what we don't know. And we don't know yet what we feel like we're supposed to know. Or everybody tells us we should know. All we know is that Jesus has saved us and cleansed us and we have eternal life. We have peace and joy. We're going to tell other people about it. And that boldness is often characterized by new converts. Where is it with the rest of us? Notice the result of her boldness. If you'll skip down to verse 39, verse 30 tells us they're coming out of the town. Verse 39 says, many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. He told me everything I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them. And he stayed two days. Think about that. He was just going to Galilee. But now because of her testimony and the interest of other people in the town, Jesus stays there for two days. Seizes the opportunity. While the ground has been poiled, has been tilled by the Holy Spirit and made ready for the gospel seed, he seizes the opportunity. He stays two days, verse 41. And because of his words, many more become believers. They said to the woman, we no longer believe just because of what you said. Now we have heard for ourselves and we know that this man really is the savior of the world. Interesting expression by the way, John's the only one that uses it twice. Savior of the world. Indicating that he's not just for Jews only. He is a Jew. But he will come to us Samaritans too. He will go to anyone in the world and offer to be their savior. What a tremendous revival takes place. What a tremendous harvest and in gathering of souls takes place because of a woman who would not stay quiet. Because of a woman whose newfound faith bubbled over in zeal with new priorities and a new concern for others and a new boldness to share that message with others. And she didn't know much. All she knew is there's a man who told me what I've done. Could he be the Messiah and God took it from there? Don't wait until you feel like you know enough to witness or the devil will keep you thinking the rest of your life. You don't know enough. Don't wait until you get to a certain point to start living for Christ or the devil will keep you captive to the thought that you're never good enough to really serve God or do anything for him. God used this infant faith and minuscule knowledge of a new believer to reach a whole town. God can do that. The zeal. The zeal of a new convert. But on the other side you've got the disciples. An example of indifference. Please understand the setting here. Jesus has been talking with this woman at the well while the disciples have been in town finding something to eat. Now they have come back on the scene just as she is finishing her conversation with Jesus in verse 27 and she leaves to go back to the town. Now in the time it takes her to get back into town, start talking to a few people about what she's witnessed and heard and for them to start coming out, Jesus has a conversation with the disciples. And his conversation in those moments with the disciples is a tremendous picture, clear picture of indifference. Of people who have been around this long enough to have let the early zeal and joy wear off, their indifference is seen first of all in their wrong priorities. Look at verse 31. Meanwhile the disciples urged him, Rabbi eats something. By the way, verse 27 has said when they come on the scene, they don't bother to ask the woman why she's there or ask Jesus what he's been talking to her about. That's not their concern. Their concern is they're hungry and Jesus is hungry. They want to eat. They've been in and got something with Burger King and came back out and we got hamburgers here. We got fish sandwiches in that day. We got those and we got some soft drinks here. Come on, we're ready to eat. Come on, lady get out of here. Get out of here. I'm sure they were happy when she took off. And they said, okay, come on, let's eat. Come on, let's get to the real business of the day. Let's eat. And Jesus responds puzzles them, verse 32. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you know nothing about. A Jesus will constantly do this with these men as he brings them along to understand spiritual things. He says, I have something to eat you don't know anything about. Well, notice their response in verse 33, then his disciples said to each other, could someone have brought him food? I mean, I can just see him looking at each other quizzically and maybe think of the dead woman bringing food out here. What's going on? Does somebody else come out here while we were gone? Who brought him food? See, there's a, there's a, a dissonance here. There's, there are two different pages. Jesus is talking about spiritual food. The disciples are still stuck on the physical food on the fish sandwiches. And so, verse 34, Jesus says this, my food said Jesus is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. That's the kind of food I'm talking about. I'm talking about the kind of food that when you get engrossed in dealing with a person who needs Christ, when you get engrossed in doing something, some work for God, when you get engrossed in spiritual things, you forget all about your physical hunger. You know what it's like to get engrossed in a hobby or a book or a task you're doing around the house and before long hours have gone by and you haven't eaten, you didn't even notice it because you're focused. You're engrossed in that task or that book or whatever it might be. Jesus is saying I've had an opportunity to speak to a woman about spiritual things. That is my food. That's my sustenance. That's what satisfies me. That's what gives my heart joy and far outweighs food or material things, earthly things, and the disciples, all they're still concerned about is the food. So you see, they are marked by a set of wrong priorities, wrong priorities. Jesus Lewis wrote a number of excellent books and one of the books that he wrote is called the Screwtap Letters. In that book, the devil or Jesus Lewis has the devil tutoring his nephew, Wormwood, about the subtleties and art of temptation. And he basically tells Wormwood this. He says the goal is not wickedness but indifference. So here's the job description he gives him. He says either devil will always see to it that there are bad people. Your job, my dear Wormwood, is to provide me with the people who do not care. I'll take care of the wickedness. Your job is to make people not care. And he gives him some advice on how to do that. If they start thinking about spiritual things, then encourage him to think about their lunch plans. If they start worrying about the condition of their soul or rather going to spend eternity, give them indigestion, give them something else to think about. Make sure they don't care. There are lots of Christians who don't care. Whose minds are focused only on physical material things, the things of this life, they could not care less about people who need Jesus. Indifference is seen in wrong priorities. Focus on earthly material things completely distracted by that. No recognition of spiritual needs. That leads me to the second evidence of indifference in their hearts. They're indifference is reflected in spiritual insensitivity. I go back to verse 27. When they show up, when they return, they're surprised to find them talking with a woman. Again, their cultural instincts are, it's not appropriate to be talking to a woman in public alone. That's just not accepted in their culture. So that's all they're thinking about. But none of them thought to ask her, what do you want? What are you here for? What are you talking about? And none of them thought to ask Jesus, why are you talking with her? I think probably again, their only concern is, come on, let's get this done. Get out of here so we can eat. They are totally insensitivity to the opportunities right in front of them. A spiritual insensitivity. I wonder how many opportunities I miss because my mind is so focused on other things. Cultural prejudices, traditions, things that are going on in my life, and God brings someone across my path. And I totally miss it. I miss the opportunity because there's no spiritual sensitivity. I wonder, do you miss opportunities that way, too? Do you sometimes have people right there in front of you and you never even think about engaging them in spiritual conversation? Because your mind is so wrapped up in other things and you're spiritually insensitive. It carries on to verse 35. After Jesus says, my food is to do the will of him who sent me, he says to them in verse 35, don't you have a saying, it's still four months until harvest. And that was not only an agricultural saying, it had become kind of an idiom in a way of manner of speaking in the culture about, you know, you do something. Sometimes you got to wait to see the results. Yeah, actual harvest, you plant, you have some time, you have to wait for the harvest. But that's true of the lot of things in life. Don't you have that saying, still four months to harvest? I tell you, he says, open your eyes and look at the fields. They are ripe for harvest. Now maybe they were actually thinking there's no need for us to stop here in Samaria, no need to do any ministry here. You know, Jews hate Samaritans, there's all that kind of stuff going on. So we'll just get the gallery. There's no need to do anything here. And Jesus is saying, come on, get your eyes up and get your eyes open. There is a harvest that is already white and ripe and he may have actually forced their attention on the townspeople who were coming toward them. Those are the people that are ripe for the harvest. Those people moving toward you. That's the grain you're going to harvest. That's the harvest today. Come on, think guys, there's a harvest right in front of you and you don't see it. You don't see it. Spiritual insensitivity. And then thirdly, their indifference was marked, reflected in spiritual pride. Once they realize that there is a harvest coming, they kind of get excited. I think and kind of think, oh boy, now we're going to really get to be important. We get to reap the harvest. We get to win the souls. So I think Jesus gives them a little different perspective here. Look at verse 36. He says, even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying one sows and another reeps is true. He's beginning to focus their minds on the fact that it's not just reaping the harvest that is an important part of this process. It's also the people who sow. Now look at verse 38. He really brings it home. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work and you've reaped the benefits of their labor. You can get too proud, guys, or the role you're about ready to play. Don't write in your newsletters. We want 50 people today, Christ. Be careful about that because there are a lot of people who have done the hard work of sowing the seed. They'll never be known. They'll never be recognized. But God knows. And God rewards both the person who sowed a long time ago and he may have been talking about the woman. Obviously, but he may have been talking about John the Baptist. He may have been talking about Old Testament prophets who ministered in this area and they've been so in seed for a long, long time. And there's this expectation of a Messiah that will come because of their ministry. And now you're reaping. You get to see the results. But there's been a lot of sowing going on and God rewards both because God sees the hard work done by others that doesn't bring the fruit necessarily or at least they don't see it. Paul will say something very similar to this to the Corinthians who are all been out of shape about following preachers. You know, I like this preacher. I like that preacher. Some like Peter, some like a Paul, some like Paul, some said, we don't like any preachers. We dislike Christ. And we're really spiritual. Well, notice what Peter or what Paul said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. He said, what after all is a Paulist? And what is Paul? He's servants through whom you came to believe. And notice this next statement, as the Lord has assigned to each his task. God gives people different tasks in his kingdom work. Not everybody sees the same results. But here's how God works. He says, I planted the seed. Paulist watered it. But God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but only God who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose. In other words, they have the same purpose. And they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God's service, you are God's field, God's building. You're who God's working with. And those of us who are ministering to you were co-workers. We're working together. Not everybody doing the same job, doing it in the same way with the same results. But God rewards all of those who have been faithful to the task that he has assigned them in his work. So I think coming back to John 4, Jesus is bringing the disciples down a little bit. I think when they finally recognize, oh, here's a harvest, we're going to get the win some souls. And we'll get to put it in our newsletter and send it out by email that we want so many people to the Lord. He says, wait a second. Don't get too high in mighty here. There are a lot of people who've invested in this. You're going to be rewarded by God. And it's really the one who gives the increase that's important. As I think about the disciples and I think about this woman, I'm trying to place myself. Where do I fit in these two categories? And I'm thinking about all of us. I'm thinking about us as a church. I'm thinking about each of us individually as believers. Where are we? I've tried to think of how do I get this down to where we live? How do we place ourselves in a category? And I've begun to wonder whether or not we are truly marked by the kind of zeal, whether I'm marked by the kind of zeal that I should, or whether or not because of time and familiarity I've become indifferent. And so let me just ask you this morning, where are we in this spectrum of zeal to indifference? Where are we when we have plenty of time for the gym, but no time for the word and prayer? When we're devoted to developing ourselves physically, but not spiritually. Where are we when we passionately proclaim our political views, but never talk with anyone about Christ? Where are we? What are we doing when we pour all of our energy into preparing for an economic collapse, give little thought to the day when we will prepare to meet God and stand before Him? What are we doing anyway? Where are we when we will work our fingers to the bone to get people to a sales party at our house but never invite anyone to God's house to hear the gospel? Where are we? Where are we when every sport and dance class or every activity takes precedence over the opportunities for our kids to grow spiritually in their relationship with God through children and youth ministries? Where are we? What are our priorities? What is our concern? Where is our zeal? Has it been misplaced? Where are we when we tell our kids you need to be at youth ministries, you need to be at youth ministries, but then we drop them off and go and do our own thing. Which basically says to them, by example, when you get to be an adult, spiritual things really don't matter. Oh yeah, you need to be in there now, but when you get old enough, forget it. That's what we're showing them, that's what we're telling them. Where are we? Where is our concern and zeal? Where are we when we pour huge amounts of time into our yards and our houses and our cars, but never serve God and others in a ministry? Where are we when we are more excited about the race and the football games and about worshiping an awesome God? And so even while we do our duty of being in church, our minds are a hundred miles away. Now is there anything wrong with any of those things I've mentioned? Oh no, no. Is there anything wrong with a water jar and getting water at a well? No. Nothing wrong with that and I'm convinced the moment probably came back and filled her water jar and went about her responsibilities at some point, nothing wrong with those things. The question is really, are we so focused on the water pots that that has become our priority, that has become our concern, that is where our zeal flows toward and we're not willing to leave the water pot behind because there really is no zeal and burden and concern for the lost or for God and His work and His things. I've read this, I don't know who came up with this, but I think it's probably true. First, spontaneous witnessing and zealous commitment to Christ and His priorities happen in the first two years after we're saved. Think about that for a minute. Let that one kick you in the gut. See if it's true. After that we become domesticated, tame, knowledgeable, indifferent. And so now we worry more about what people will think and we back off because now we know what we should know or we know what we don't know and we become fearful and timid. So we lack that boldness and zeal of a new convert. You know what we need along the way. I do, I do, I desperately need this, along the way we need regular infusions of Easter zeal, of joyous zeal that reorders our priorities, long eternal lines that says, yes, I'll forget the water pot for now and I'll focus on people and on the Lord. The water pot is not the real priority. We need a regular infusion of Easter zeal that fills us with a burden to reach the lost. We need an infusion of Easter zeal that fuels our passion to grow in His Word so that not that will become headspull of knowledge, Paul said knowledge just puffs up and makes you proud. But so that I'll know what God expects of me and how He wants me to live so that I might become more like Christ and conform more to Him. So I have this overwhelming passion to grow. We need regular infusions of Easter zeal that will fuel that. We need regular infusions of Easter zeal that will motivate us to serve Him. To take some of the time we place on our water pots and give it to Him, the Him be pleased with our lives and our service and our focus. One of these days my friend, we're going to stand before God and all the time and energy we spent filling our water pots is going to stare us in the face. And Jesus is going to be concerned about did you try to reach the people back in the town? Did you do anything to serve me? Did you show anyone the fact that you have new life, that you have forgiveness? Did that motivate you at all to reach out to other people? That's what Jesus is going to be looking for when we stand before Him. So where do you fit? Where do I fit? Am I closer in this continuum, the spectrum? Am I closer to the Easter zeal of this woman who's just found Christ? Or am I closer to the disciples who've been with Him long enough to get used to things and become indifferent? Let's pray. They're helping me to examine my heart. Help us all to do that and to be honest with you about where we are, what we're so consumed with, what our priorities are, our concerns are, what we really get bold about. It would help us to be honest as we look at our lives to say that it's not very often about spiritual things. Renew in us a heart that is hot toward you, toward the lost, toward your work that is willing to leave the water pots because they're not the priority anymore to go tell others about you. To order our priorities, renew our concern, refuel our boldness and zeal, deliver us, all God from indifference. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.