I was making a pastoral visit last week, taking time to catch up with a couple and pray for them as they faced a situation on their horizon. We had a nice visit, talking and sharing. We had prayer and handed some things over to the Lord. When it was time to go, I noticed that the wife had ordered some tea. Being a tea drinker myself, I was curious as to why she chose what she had ordered for herself. I was pleased to learn about this particular kind and snapped a quick photo in order to try some for myself.
I am always looking for good tea and good coffee. I like to grind my own beans and try different roasts of coffee. I love using my Price & Kensington tea pot to steep loose-leaf tea and enjoy a cup, or make some for others. But there is no enjoying these things without good recommendations. I mean, let’s be honest: someone has to recommend the good tea before you can have some. There’s something special about being pointed in the right direction and discovering something for yourself what others have tried to tell you is good.
“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. And because of his words many more became 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.””—John 4:39-42 NIV
The beauty of John 4 is often misplaced by certain other aspects of the story of the woman at the well. Did Jesus meet with a Samaritan when He “shouldn’t”? Yes. Was Jesus talking to a strange woman alone when He shouldn’t? Yes. Was Jesus at the well at midday with a women of “ill repute”? Yes. And I could go on. But the purpose of that encounter is so much BIGGER than the metrics I just recounted.
Yes, Jesus changed the life of the woman at the well. But do we think about all the people who would come to believe in Jesus BECAUSE of the woman’s testimony?! Do we ever consider the impact of the women’s testimony and how it saved others? Because the woman was willing to share, to tell others about where she had found change, others would experience that shame change. Or, to put it another way, like the congregation member who told me where to find “good tea”, so the woman at the well told people where to find peace with God—in Jesus Christ.
I love the line, “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.” I really do know, now, that the tea is good. But that started with someone willing to share. Go…share today…tell someone else about this Jesus. Tell them about the “good tea”. Tell them about the good news.
—Pastor Whit