Main Idea: Discovering a person’s story can be the bridge God uses to connect their life with his.

Recently Kathy and I had the opportunity to go to Fayetteville in the opposite corner of our state. As we traveled from Alma to Fayetteville on I-540 we crossed two bridges that are one hundred and fifty feet in the air. That’s almost three and one half LIFE Centers stacked on top of each other. What made it interesting to me was that I remember when I-540 was being built. As many of you recall, the trip from I-40 to Fayetteville went fine until you got to Alma. Then you took a narrow two-lane road through Mountainburg over the Boston Mountains and at last drove into Fayetteville. The construction of that highway and particularly those bridges provided a connection that wasn’t impossible but sometimes felt like it!

Bridges are amazing feats of architectural design and construction. They are lifelines, connections for people, commerce and progress. The story of a person’s life is like a bridge that lets another person connect with their life. When a person tells you their story they are opening their life to you, allowing you to find out who they are and showing you what connection you might have with them. This is true in simple human relationships but it is especially true when we are seeking to introduce someone else to Jesus. It doesn’t take long for us to find out that discovering a person’s story can be the bridge God uses to connect their life with his.

Jesus was the master at discovering another person’s story. He knew exactly how to build a relationship bridge from where a person was to where they needed to be. Discovering a person’s story is essential if we ever hope to introduce them to Jesus. Last week we said that sharing Jesus with those we know starts by developing friendships. Today we want to see how we can strengthen that relationship by connecting our lives with theirs by hearing their story. One of the greatest examples of this is the account of Jesus talking with the woman at the well. As Jesus discovered her story she discovered the hope that she had looked for all her life.

The story of Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well is fascinating for so many reasons. It is filled with just so much real tension, gut level honesty and yet Jesus’ own redeeming love. The encounter occurs as Jesus is leaving one area of ministry to start work in another. To get to where he wanted to go he had to pass through the region called Samaria. Samaria was a place that had its roots in rebellion and resistance to the way the rest of the Jews worshipped God. They were considered to be outcasts because they claimed they were the true worshippers of God. It was common for Jews to go miles out of their way to keep from going through Samaria. However, for Jesus, he didn’t have time to waste so he led his disciples through this area.

After traveling, Jesus is tired, thirsty, and likely hungry. He sits down at a well in the heat of the day, while the disciples went ahead for food. While he is sitting there a woman from the village came to draw water. What is unusual is that drawing water was done by women in the early morning and it was a social time for them. This woman comes in the heat of the day and is alone. Because Jesus was sensitive to the moment, he is aware that something is wrong and sees this encounter as perhaps the very reason God prompted him to go through this region. He is also thirsty and he makes a request for a drink. That request opened the door for him to hear the story of her life but also her heart.

After his request the woman immediately recognizes that something is different about this man. She points out the obvious that the two of them don’t have anything to do with each other so why would he ask her for a drink. Jesus’ response to her cuts quickly to the real need in her life: a relationship with God that would give her life, which would last forever. The woman thinks that she is avoiding Jesus’ probing statement by deflecting his spiritual confrontation with discussion about the material. Each time Jesus brings up the spiritual she puts the conversation back on the material. Each time she brings up the material he brings up the spiritual.

Finally Jesus has grown tired of her playing games and takes the conversation to a place she really didn’t want to go: the truth about her life. He tells her to go get her husband. He knew the answer before he made the statement. Her response, though, exposed more than just the facts but it made it clear why she was there alone in the middle of the day. Jesus doesn’t back away but spoke truth into her life without condemning or condoning what she was doing.

She tries to change the subject away from herself and onto something she knew they would disagree on: religion! Why she kept up the conversation I don’t know. Why she didn’t just walk away I can’t say. But as they talk about places of worship, Jesus talks about what really matters to God was less about the place of worship and all about the heart of worship. At last, though, she tells him what she is really looking for and it isn’t water, it is life through the one called the Christ. Jesus tells her that her search had at last come to an end. He was the one she had always looked for and he was all she could ever want. She needed hope, endless hope, and found it at last in Jesus.

A simple request for a drink of water became a bridge for a broken, lonely person to find hope in Jesus Christ. The story Jesus discovered was the connection for this one woman to find the life she had been waiting for all her life. You never know where a conversation might lead when you are available to be led by God’s Spirit to share Jesus with those you know. For two of our youth it started with an invitation to church but that one conversation became a bridge that connected the faith they had with the spiritual life this church offered.

What can we do that Jesus did to discover someone else’s story? One thing to remember is that the story in the gospel account took only a few minutes. The story of the two brothers in the video took weeks to develop. The principles that I find in this example of Jesus can take only a few minutes or months. Our responsibility is to follow the Spirit’s leading, not keep time on a clock.

The first thing I see here is to simply be available to the Spirit’s leading. (John 4:6-8) Jesus intentionally went out of his way to be in this area, chose to stay behind and was willing to admit he had a need that the woman could satisfy—he was thirsty. He was simply available for God to use him. If there are two keys to sustaining evangelism in our lives and our church they are being available to be led by the Spirit to engage people in conversation and to be intentional about the opportunity. Being available to God’s Spirit and being intentional will mean choosing to be aware of the moment and being with people who need Jesus. Our biggest hindrance to introducing someone else to Jesus is our being so self-absorbed in our needs, our agenda, ourselves that we are not available to God’s Spirit and not intentional about our relationships. No one is going to tell their story to you if you are not available to hear it and not interested!

The next thing that I observe is that we must close the gap that separates your life from theirs. (Jn. 4:9) Jesus and the woman both knew that there was a huge gap between them: gender differences, religious differences and cultural differences. Jesus chose by his simple request for water to close the gap and build a bridge of relationship with this woman. If you are going to discover someone else’s story, it is up to you to close the gap of differences that exist between you and them. That will mean refusing to be intimidated by the differences but using the differences as a bridge from your life to theirs. It will also mean making the decision to choose to be stretched out of where we are safe and comfortable. That may mean being in some places that you normally wouldn’t be or being with a group of people that are not familiar to you. The thing we have to keep in mind is not what makes us uncomfortable but what we can do to close the gap between us so that we can hear their story! As long as we focus on what keeps us apart we will never build the bridge that can connect their life with ours.

Another thing that is obvious to me is that if we are going to discover someone’s story we have to practice patience. (Jn. 4:10-15). Jesus was so very patient with this woman. She tried time and time again to divert Jesus from getting close to her. She talked about water, religion, prejudice, everything but her own issues. Yet Jesus patiently listened and guided the conversation until she opened the door just for a moment when she said, "Please sir…give me some of that water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again…" He waited patiently for that one admission that she needed something truly lasting to satisfy her deepest need.

Recently I was in conversation with someone whom I had just met and they mentioned a very deep sadness that had occurred in their life years ago. That comment was an immediate bridge that allowed a connection between the two of us. Getting there took some time but by being patient that door opened up their life story to me at a level I didn’t expect but was glad to know. You see you have to listen for the need in someone’s life if you ever hope to discover his or her story. They may try to chase all kinds of other issues but if you are patient you will often be surprised at what a person will tell you if you just choose to listen.

One thing that Jesus did that I know is hard for me and for us is to speak truth to someone as we discover their story. (Jn. 4:16-18) Jesus tells the woman to go get her husband. When she admits she doesn’t have a husband, he tells her the truth about her life and her relationships. Now what I love about this is that Jesus spoke truth into her life without condoning or condemning her! He was accepting of the woman where she was but at the same time not backing away from the truth about her life.

Now I know this is going to upset some of us but when you read the Gospels Jesus reserved his harshest words for those who thought they were right with God but were totally clueless. I can’t recall him ever speaking in judgment to persons who were desperately sinful. That doesn’t mean he condoned their sin; rather, he always spoke truth into their life. We need to do the same. It is a sell-out on our part to recklessly condone sin in another person’s life. Yet it is our responsibility to speak truth into their life. It is entirely possible with love and grace to speak truth into a person’s life without condoning or condemning them. When we speak truth, the truth confronts without our having to add anything else. Listening to someone’s story may create places of tension, areas where it is obvious to us that they need Jesus. It is in those places of tension where we are going to be challenged to speak truth. I know it is hard but who else will speak truth if we don’t?

There’s one final thing I see here that we must do and that is to focus on hope. (Jn. 4:20-29). As this conversation took its twists and turns, Jesus kept his focus on the ultimate issue in her life—she needed to know that she had found the one she had been hoping would come. She said, "I know the Messiah will come—the one who is called the Christ. When he comes he will explain everything to us." Jesus said in response, "I am the Messiah." He was who she had been looking for her whole life. He was her hope. It would be her telling others about the hope that she had found that will result in many people in her village believing that Jesus was their Savior and the Savior of the world.

As you discover another person’s story remember that the singular focus must be on their ultimate issue, which is what they are going to do with the person of Jesus Christ. They may have a story that would make you blush or you find offensive. They may have a story that is so complex that you don’t know what the answer is. The thing we have to remember is as Bill Hybels says, "Anyone, anywhere…anyone, anywhere, can be transformed into a new creation through the power and grace of our Lord." (Just Walk Across the Room, p. 89) As we discover another person’s story remember that Jesus is hope for those filled with shame, bound by addiction, exhausted from living, overcome by problems and believing that there is no one that can ever help them. Jesus is their hope! He is the end of their story! As you discover their story, keep the focus on hope!

Jesus was the master at discovering the story of a person’s life in order to build a bridge to connect their life to God. We can do that as well. The truth is that we are accountable to God to regularly be in places and with people who are lost to a relationship with Jesus, uncover their stories and then naturally and consistently make ourselves available for God to use us to connect their life with his. We are the bridge builder in order for someone without Jesus to find the hope they’ve been waiting for all their life. But it won’t happen unless we leave our circles of comfort and "walk across the room" to discover someone’s story. And here’s the thing: someone, somewhere, somehow, some way did that for you. Someone discovered your story and your life has never been the same. Isn’t it worth it for you to take the risk to walk across a room, look a person in the eye and ask, "Would you like a cup of water?" (Just Walk Across the Room, p. 166).

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org