Sunday's notes

Inconsistency of Man
and the Consistent Mercy of God
John 4:1-26


This past week I finished a book entitled “Knowledge of the Holy” by A.W. Tozer. This wonderful book dealt with how unchangeable God is in all his characteristics and actions. God is God. To be less or different in any one area would mean that He would cease to be God. Maybe it is because I have spent much time meditating on the consistent being of God that I have also become aware of the horrible inconsistency of men, and therefore have become almost over burdened by the inconsistency of myself in spiritual things. I think that for most people our inconsistency come from a rather innocent place. We pay attention to details. In fact, we pay such close attention to the details that we often times become trapped or enslaved by them. We come to depend upon such trivial things that it often time clouds our judgment, our thought processes and our belief systems. We accept a+b=c, but can’t deal with the possibility of e-d=c.

Now step into the world of religion. Not only are we, by our very nature as sinful beings, inconsistent but we are prideful in it. Not only do we try to force a+b but we shun anything other than a+b. We pay such close attention to so many of the wrong details we become the very people we once swore we would never become. Details enslave us and create such a mess of red tape for so many churches and people is there any wonder that we don’t know or understand what it means to “walk in the Spirit”? Details become rules. Rules become idols. Idols move us away from God. But of course, these rules only apply to others, not ourselves.

Details also have a tendency to blind us form what is really going on, especially in Scripture. Our passage today is a passage that many of us probably know or have heard preached. While it is important, the message is not about how Samaritans were viewed by Jews. The message is not about how many husbands the woman at the well had. Here’s what the details do to us when we focus too much on them; “Thank you for not making me like that sinner over there”! What the message is about is how consistently merciful God is towards sinful people, regardless of the details.

Now to prove how inconsistently human I am, there are some details we must discuss that will show us the “Inconsistency of man and the consistent mercy of God”.

1. The Pharisees
a. Jesus left when they heard he was baptizing more than John.

2. The Disciples
a. Went to buy food in Sychar. v.8
b. Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. v.9
c. They want to question both Jesus and the woman. v.27

3. The Samaritan Woman
a. Can’t be pleased. v.9
i. The number one complaint Samaritans had was how Jews treated them. Now here is one who is treating her well and she seems upset by it.
b. Disbelief v.11
c. Nationalistic not spiritual. v.12
d. Her response to both the Word and sign is in religious pride. v.19-20

It is at this point we must acknowledge how inconsistent we truly are. How many of us will admit what scripture says is true, but we find all sorts of reasons not to do it, or why we can’t do it, or reasons someone else should do it? Perfect example, “Do not forsake the gathering of saints”. In other words, “DON’T SKIP CHURCH!!!!” Oh the excuses we come up for this simple, simple command in the Bible. To remove a coal from the fire is to guarantee that it will be extinguished. It will no longer be useful for anything. But not us, we will be the exception. Friends, I bring this up because it may more clearly illustrate the path that the three groups of people are on. The core of all three is what we brought up last with the Samaritan woman, religious pride. No matter what level of spirituality we may be on, it is there.

This pride leads to a cheap/false belief or religion. Notice that her request is not to know, receive, or to follow the One who gives this water, but rather it is to benefit herself in an earthly materialistic manner because she knows. She’s smart enough to have figured this out. Friends if you do not move past this elementary way of thinking it leads to quiet judgmentalism like the disciples displayed, which leads to loud legalistic religion like the Pharisees. All while missing the consistent merciful heart of God.

Consistency of God

1. The Gift
a. Do you know Jesus? If you ask, he will give. v.10, 14

2. God points out sin.
a. We really like a God who forgives but doesn’t hold us accountable don’t we. v.16-18

3. God seeks true worshippers not vain worship that is dependant on time and place and ceremony. v.23,24

4. Jesus reveals himself to someone who needs Jesus.
a. The first person Jesus says he is the Christ to, is not even a Jew. v.26