The Great I Am!

For this Lenten Journey, I want us to look at the most profound statement ever made by Jesus while He was here in our human form.  We are going to be in John’s Gospel looking some of the “I-Am” sayings of Jesus—those moments and situations where He identifies Himself in a very specific way.

Let’s lay the groundwork for today’s passage before I read it to you.  Moses had this unbelievable encounter with God.  We call it “The Burning Bush” story.  God tells Moses to go back to Egypt and inform them that God has appointed him to lead them to the Promised Land. 

But before Moses agrees, he wants to know who it is that is sending him.  They will want to know who has sent him, so Moses poses the question:  “Who shall I tell them sent me?”  And in that moment God reveals His true Name:  I Am Who I Am!  In Hebrew, the word is Yahweh!  And God goes further with this statement:

This Is My Eternal Name, My Name To Remember For All Generations.

Why am I telling you all this?  Because without this knowledge, nothing that we look at this season will be really understood.  The first one we need to look at is from John 4:4-26 (N.L.T.). 

He had to go through Samaria on the way.  Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.  Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.”  He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”   Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

 “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep.  Where would you get this living water?  And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well?  How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”  Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.  But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again.  It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”  

“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”  “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.  “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.  Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband—for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet.  So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”

Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.  You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.  But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.  The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.  For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ.  When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”  Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!”

We need be begin our journey with boldest statement ever made by a human being.  Jesus tells her:  I AM!  For what I am about to say, some would want to tar and feather me and run me out of town, but I’m going to say it.  Jesus did not say “I Am”.  Now, you look confused.  “Preacher, you just read that Jesus said I Am.” 

But Jesus did NOT say I Am—because He did not speak English.  Jesus spoke in both Aramaic and Hebrew.  So when He identifies himself to her, the word He used is Yahweh!  The Eternal Name of God that everyone is to remember!  Can you imagine the shock on this woman’s face when Jesus identified Himself as Yahweh?  It was a name so sacred that Law prohibited its use in public.  No human being since Moses was allowed to use that name. 

And no one dare named their child Yahweh!  Yet this is the name Jesus calls Himself.  What were the first thoughts running through her mind?  “Is he crazy?  Has he been out in the sun too long?  Is he playing mind games with me?  Is he mocking me because I’m a Samaritan?”  Whatever her first thoughts might have been, they didn’t stay long. 

Somehow she knows His words ring true, so she runs back into Sychar with the news, telling everyone she can find:  “I’ve found Him!  I’ve found Him!”  And the people may have laughed, “Who, husband number 6?”  She catches her breath, “No, no, I think I’ve found Messiah!  I just know He must be Messiah!”

I know it says she asked a question:  “Could He be the Messiah?”, but it’s not a question of doubt.  Hers is the question of hope.  And here’s the One Thing you need to remember today:

The Deepest Longing Of Every Human Heart Is To Be Near To God!

Hers may have been a tarnished hope, or it may have been a secret hope that no one could see in her life.  But somehow, deep down in her heart, there must have been that hope that God would come near to her to satisfy the deepest longings of her heart. As we make our Lenten Journey, we need to know that we are going to find that same longing in our heart—to see and experience the nearness of the One, True and Living God.  And we can count on Jesus being that just for us, as He was for her!  And it is all because of The Name:  Yahweh!  Jesus is Yahweh and here’s why:

1.  He Is Yahweh Because He Looks For Us

Jacob’s Well was the place ordained by God for this woman.  He Has A Place Ordained For You, To Meet Him Face To Face, For You To Surrender Your Life To Him.  And Jesus planned it out for that moment when she would be coming to draw water.  As Jesus and his entourage arrives at Jacob’s Well, Jesus announces, “Guys, I need to stop and rest; besides it lunch time.  Tell you what, go into town to McDavid’s and get you something to eat, and bring me back a #7 combo.  I’ll just wait right here.  Now, go on guys.” 

Have you ever wondered why Jesus sent them ahead while He stayed behind?  Well, I have and I’ve come to this conclusion.  If there had been several of them with Jesus, that woman probably would have stayed away.  But just one man there, it’s not as threatening to her.  Jesus wanted this moment with her.  He had been looking for her and the time was right. 

And He looks for us.  There are God-ordained moments where He is looking for us.  He is looking for us to have this special relationship with Him.  God wants us to have more than a mental knowledge about Him.  He longs for us to give Him our hearts.  But God-ordained moments go further than for us to become a Christian.  There are God-ordained moments to comfort us, encourage us, strengthen us, and to take us deeper into this relationship with Him.  And you never know when they will appear.  This woman came in the middle of the day; not the usual time to draw water.  And God may surprise you with ordained moments because He is always looking for us. 

2.  He Is Yahweh Because He Knows Us

Everyone in Sychar must have known this woman.  Five divorces and shacking up with another man.  They looked at her and saw someone who couldn’t keep commitments.  They saw someone who had no morals.  They saw someone whose only contribution to the community was to keep the gossip lines hot.  They saw her as dirtied and all messed up.  They saw everything that was wrong with her.  They thought they knew her.  But there was so much about her they could not see because they had made up their minds about her.  But Jesus knew there was more to her than what was on the surface. 

Only God, Only The One Whose Eternal Name Is YAHWEH Can See Into The Deepest Recesses Of The Human Heart.

He sees the secret sins we hide from others.  He knows the dark secrets we keep pushed down deep.  But He knows more, much more.  He knew what she was truly longing for, and He knows what we are longing for.  This woman wasn’t ignorant of God’s promises.  She knew one day Messiah would come.  Though it may have been a weak hope, there was the hope that Messiah would come to save her.  Listen to your heart; your heart knows it wants to be known deeply and intimately by God.

3.  He Is Yahweh Because He Offers Us Life

At Jacob’s Well this God-Ordained moment was for one single purpose:  To Bring Real Life To This Dirty, Broken Woman!  It wasn’t an accident Jesus was there.  It didn’t just so happen that this woman appeared.  She needed life and Life is what Jesus has to offer.  Nothing Can Give Us The Life We Long For, Only Jesus.

Some people settle for a life of thrills, but there are never enough thrills.  Some settle for a life of wealth; but there’s never enough.  Some settle for a life of respectability—but they are hollow and empty inside.  This woman was looking for life through one relationship after another.  But none of them satisfied the cravings of her heart.

Nothing in this world can give you real, abundant, lasting, eternal life.  This is something only God has—Jesus is Yahweh because only HE has the life that we hunger for.  Only He Has The Life That Will Survive The Ups And Downs Of Life Here On Earth.  Only Yahweh can offer us this kind of life—and He does it as The Gift.  He and only He paid the price necessary to take away the dead things of our life, and put in their place Life.  It’s not just any ordinary life, but the most extraordinary life of all—His Very Own Life.

It is His Eternal Name, Yahweh and He is looking, looking for you because He knows you. He knows you need more than an ordinary life—but the most extraordinary life of all.  Only Yahweh, only The Great I Am can put the life of Christ in you.  Since you can’t follow Jesus and stay where you are, here are your Next Steps:

1. Identity Anything That May Have Robbed You Of Hope.  The news;  This controversy going on in our Tribe;  Guilt;  Some fear, named or unnamed; Crushing grief that you keep holding on to, that you never completely give over to Jesus; Feelings of inadequacy.  It’s the thing that is limiting your potential.  Once you identify it—
2. Give It Up To Jesus.  Make it your offering to Him.  He’s not looking for only the good things to offer Him, He wants the pain, the burdens that you carry to be given over to Him.  You don’t have to keep carrying them because He carried that weight, while on that Cross! 

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Timely Text–Monday Musing 27 January 2020

Last Tuesday I was on my way to the hospital in Tupelo, Mississippi to see a parishioner and a very good friend who has Stage 4 cancer. I’ve been praying for his healing and it seemed like God wasn’t listening, or at least doing what I thought He should do. It’s about an hour and a half drive from home, so I had some time to do something other than thinking, about my friend and my soon to be 94 year old Dad. He had been having a difficult week. I needed a distraction–not from my driving–but from my thoughts.

I decided to listen to some podcasts from one of my mentors (who doesn’t know me)–Andy Andrews. I find him insightful and humorous. God knows I needed a laugh, and I hoped Andy wouldn’t disappoint me. He didn’t. But about 15 minutes into my hour and a half drive, the podcast was interrupted by a text. So I did the safe thing and found a place to pull over and check out the text. And here is what I saw:

I started to reply with one word: Thanks. But that would have been deceptive by me. So I told my friend, Matthew Winters, exactly what I was struggling with. By the way, Matthew has started blogging again with a new direction. You can check him out HERE! Commercial over, back to Monday’s Musing.

At the moment I needed help, God sent me help. But it took someone else to bring me that help. In this case, it was Matthew. And this morning I’m thinking about a particular passage, Philippians 2:4 (NLT)

Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

That afternoon God spoke and Matthew was listening–and God’s grace once again renewed my heart and mind. Matthew took an interest in me; his heart was directed to me; and Matthew was obedient to God. And here’s the point I want to make, and it’s in the form of a question:

God is wanting to help someone who is in a struggle–and He’s chosen you to send His help. ARE YOU LISTENING?

Only by having a deep walk with Jesus and The Holy Spirit can you be in a place where you can hear God speaking. Like a 911 Operator, God is saying, “Help is on the way!” Make sure you’re “on call” to receive His Dispatch.

Love God with all your heart. Love others the way Jesus loves you. And make sure all the glory goes to Him!

What If Jesus Did A Draft For His Disciples?

Now, I’m not here to brag about College football, just making some Kingdom Observations.  For football fans, last night and for the next few days, there is an air of excitement.  It’s the NFL selecting which players will have an opportunity to take their skill sets to the next level.  I admit that though I’m not exactly an NFL fan, I did watch the first round last night.  Reason being is that I wanted to see how players from THE University of Alabama would fare, and how the Southeastern Conference fared.  And once again, the dominant program of the dominant Conference can celebrate success.  Out of 32 players selected, 10 came from the SEC, and of that 10, 4 came from Alabama.  Both numbers more than any other Conference or School.  I’m just sayin’…

All this got me to thinking this morning.  I know, I know.  I think differently from most folks.  Some folks think I live in my own little world, but that’s OK.  They actually like me here.  The thought I had this morning is this:  What if there was a draft when Jesus was selecting His disciples?  A little background.

Back in the day when the Creator walked in His creation as one HE created, there were a lot of Rabbis and what we might call Rabbinical Schools League.  We usually think of a Rabbi as a “teacher”.  But that word “Rabbi” means someone who is a master and in their culture, a master of the Word of God.  And Rabbis would often have “schools”, so what if there was a draft for who would get into which school.  Picture this, if you can.

Rabbis from around the region gather in Jerusalem in a room.  They are busy reading scouting reports about potential students.  They cast lots (because that’s just a thing they did) and an order of drafting is established.  What qualities are they looking for in a future student/disciple?  Probably they are looking for the cream of the crop.  The best educated and most honorable men available.  They would look for people from the largest towns.  Men who were well-groomed and noble.  After all, no Rabbi worth his weight in salt would want anything less.  Fast forward now.

The Disciple Draft is over and the experts are giving their analysis on how the Rabbis did and who did the best.  “This year’s Draft is now over, and we have a new School in the League:  The School of Rabbi Jesus.  Now here are the 12 students that this Nazarene Rabbi Jesus selected in this year’s draft and how they are seen by the rest of us.:

1. Simon Peter.  He is a fisherman from Bethsaida by the Sea of Galilee.  Not exactly a thriving metropolis.  And education?  How much education is needed to throw a net and pull it back in, again and again and again?
2. Andrew.  He seems to have no identity of his own.  His identity seems to always be the brother of Simon Peter.  He was also a known student of that wild man, John the Baptist.  Seems to have trouble settling down with just one Rabbi.
3. James.  Like Andrew, he seems to have no identity on his own; always known as the brother of John.  Like Simon and Andrew, he is also from Bethsaida and a known fisherman.  Also has another nickname, “Son of Thunder”, for his father Zebedee.  It would appear that this family has a reputation for being quite loud.
4. John.  Just another fisherman from the same little village.  Rumor has it he is very much like his father, Zebedee.  A chip off the old “Son of Thunder” block.  It is also reported he has issues with people who reject him or his friends.
5. Philip.  Another one from Bethsaida.  This is the most any Rabbi has ever taken in the draft from this insignificant fishing village.  Not much is known about him at this point.  However, rumor has it he can run really fast.  Perhaps that is good, IF the Schools of Rabbis League ever has a field and track event.  This selection just seems to add more head scratching to why Rabbi Jesus is selecting these men.
6. Thaddeus.  He is also known as Jude, which makes one wonder what he has to hide.  Another unknown selected by Rabbi Jesus.  He appears to be much older than the others selected.  Not exactly what is needed for this new Rabbi’s School.  You would think He would focus on someone much younger.
7. Bartholomew, A.K.A., Nathaniel.  Much, so much, is unknown about him as well.  However he is known to be a bit of a snob, even questioning the area Rabbi Jesus came from.  Reportedly he Tweeted, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  But this just seems to be another in a long line of questionable draft choices.
8. Thomas.  This man is totally unknown.  He only thing we may assume about him is that he has a twin somewhere.  How does that qualify him for being a disciple of any Rabbi?
9. James The Less.  Unlike Rabbi Jesus’ selection of the much older Bartholomew, James the Less is the exact opposite.  He’s younger and reportedly shorter than the others.  But he certainly fits in with all the others drafted–“The Less”.  Maybe Jesus should have stuck to carpentry.
10. Matthew.  Perhaps the most questionable draft selection by Rabbi Jesus.  Though certainly educated, this man is not even permitted to enter any synagogue, and certainly not The Temple.  He is a Tax Collector, and this makes him a collaborator with the occupying Romans.  No one in the community likes him, except the local sinners.  What is this Rabbi thinking with?
11. Simon the Zealot.  This selection is perhaps the second worst behind Matthew.  He is a known member of a radical group that has been listed by Rome as a Terrorist Organization.  This certainly puts this new Rabbi under the microscope of Caesar, which is not a good place to be.
12.  Judas Iscariot.  This is the most reasonable draft selection by Jesus in this whole class.  Judas is from the Tribe of Judah, a well-known and solid family in Israel.  Of this year’s class, Judas is a great choice on the surface.  Unique to him is that he and Jesus are from the same Tribe, Judah.  One would think Jesus would have selected more from his own Tribe, but no other Judeans were selected; only Jesus and Judas have this honor..  It is a wonder that the other Rabbis did not select Judas, so it is really lucky that Rabbi Jesus was able to snatch this man.  The only strike against Judas are the rumors that he is a member of the Scarii, another known terrorist organization characterized by their use of long daggers to assassinate those they consider a danger to Israel.

“In the view of this reporter, the success or failure of this Rabbi clearly hinges on his  selections in subsequent drafts, because there is nothing here to indicate this Rabbi will make any impact in the nation now.  If future drafts look like this one, do not expect Rabbinical School of Jesus to hang around very long.  I would say after just 3 years, you won’t hear anything about Rabbi Jesus and His School.  Without a defined location, simply moving from place to place, we do not expect this Rabbi’s School to draw in many students.  He’s making it too hard for anyone to follow Him.  Look for Judas to jump ship to another School.  He’s too good not to!”

Last night it was all about the best of the best, those who had already proven themselves and their skill sets.  None of those selected by Jesus were among the very best.  The above analysis would have been true, based on what they knew about these 12 draftees.  There is more here than meets the eye.  And there is more to others, more to you, than what meets the eye of so-called experts.

It is this group of The Least Likely  that literally turned the world right-side-up back then.  It seems that Jesus has a knack for bringing things out of people that others don’t see in them, and that they don’t see in themselves.  And it is still the way Jesus works today.  So, if you feel like you are the least talented, least gifted–if you see your past track record as a complete failure–then get ready for Jesus to call your name in “The Draft”.  Two thousand years later, the technique of Rabbi Jesus has a proven track record.  Trust Jesus with what He wants to do with your life.  He does know what He is doing–even if the world calls Him crazy!

Love God with all your heart.  Love others the way Jesus loves you.  And make sure all the glory goes to Him!