Podcast Host (Zach) (16:44)
I want you to think about the boldest person you know. Maybe it's an athlete you look up to. Maybe it's one of your parents. What qualities do they possess? When we think of boldness, it's often associated with the absence of fear. But in reality, boldness is the ability to overcome fear by finding strength and comfort in something or someone who helps us take a stand for what we believe in as we face our fear and embrace the love of Christ. John tells us in 1 John 4:18 that there is no fear in love, and that perfect love drives out all fear. There's four lessons about boldness that we want to learn from today's story. The first is that Jesus gives us boldness to worship freely. In her deflections, Zimira begins to talk about worship and asks where the proper place to worship is. At this, Jesus takes the time to expand her understanding of what genuine worship of the Lord is. He explains that the Samaritans don't have a comprehensive understanding of worship, but that the Father was calling true worshipers who would worship him in spirit and in truth to something greater. Something greater than a temple, something greater than a mount, something greater than a religious system. Jesus explains that the heart of true worship isn't just about a physical space, but also about the posture of our hearts. Worship isn't a ritual that makes us right before God. It's a response of adoration and appreciation for his glory and goodness in our lives. Throughout creation, worshiping is a moment of connection where we come before God to sing his praises alongside others who have found their hope in him as well. When we accept that Jesus is the Messiah, he gives us the boldness to lift up his name in heartfelt and genuine worship, and it inspires and emboldens others as well. The louder your worship, the more emboldened other people feel to worship alongside you. And we're not just talking about musical worship here. We're not just talking about a moment where you sing hymns or you hear a band play on a Sunday morning. We're talking about the worship of our lives. We're talking about the obedience and the response of the Call of God to live by the Spirit and bless the people around us. As the disciples enter the scene, we also learn that Jesus gives us a boldness to welcome other people. Perhaps some of us don't fully relate to the woman at the well. Maybe you've been blessed by a great community your whole life and you haven't experienced the gravity of the type of sin that Zamira was lost in. Maybe you've been blessed by a great community and close friends, and for you, there's a lot to glean from the disciples in this situation. As the disciples return from town, they find Jesus in deep conversation with the woman at the well and are very curious about his actions. In stiffening silence, they observe the Lord trying to understand his intentions. It's apparent that their customs are skewing the way they see Jesus. Here you see, Jesus is welcoming a Samaritan woman. And as we spoke of in our last episode, we this was scandalous of the time. Their prejudice and their customs are keeping them from truly embracing the people that Jesus embraced on a daily basis. The disciples were learning that the gospel is often offensive to cultural norms. This world operates in contradiction to the kingdom of God, and Jesus has come to flip it right side up. As they intently watched Jesus and his interaction with the woman at the well, the disciples were learning an important and necessary lesson about the gospel, and he was going to set an example for them. It seems that they had forgotten their own sense of loneliness and worthlessness that they were experiencing when Jesus found them and called them to follow him. But they were going to be reminded that the power of Christ is enough to save anyone from their sin, regardless of background, regardless of sin, regardless of socioeconomic status, culture or creed. Here's a harsh reality, but a beautiful reality all at once. No one is deserving of God's love and salvation. To say that any one person can't receive it is to say that no one can. Everyone has a debt for their sin to pay. The very act of redemption speaks to Jesus. Paying that price through his sacrifice on the cross so that we could experience freedom from sin and a sense of belonging to Him. We are all outcasts and Jesus has come to bring every single one of us in. For us to point at a specific people, group or a specific person and say, well, they're not worthy of Jesus's redemption is actually pointing more of an egregious finger towards ourselves. The gospel of grace should empower us to welcome everyone into the fold, welcome everyone into the church, welcome everyone into the community. Of God, just as Jesus has. This story also teaches us that Jesus gives us boldness to proclaim his name. As Amira discovered who Jesus was, she ran off to the city to tell others about what had just happened. She was so overjoyed at meeting the Messiah that she can't contain herself. Despite her past experiences with the people of Sychar, Zamira wanted others to meet Jesus to experience what she had just experienced. When we have a real encounter with Jesus, it changes the way we view our lives and our pasts. It gives us a new perspective on what actually matters. And so we are no longer held back by shame, but rather experience a boldness and a freedom that to go and tell others about what Jesus has done in our lives. For Zamira, that started with her ability to overcome her fear of others and the judgment that she had always received from them. When Jesus thoughts towards us are more important than those of the people around us, we can boldly tell others about him without fear. So let me pose that statement in the form of a Are you more concerned about the opinions of others than you are with the redemption and the story of God? If we simply focus on his beauty, nothing else matters. But if that first step of faith, to profess Jesus as the Lord sounds intimidating, it's okay. Proclaiming Jesus requires a certain level of vulnerability, but it's called a leap of faith for a reason. We can trust that what God says to us is true and that he will strengthen and protect us as we spread His Gospel in every area of our lives. In Matthew 10, Jesus calls the 12 apostles to himself to send them out to proclaim the message. He says this in verse 21:20. Do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of the Father speaking through you. God gives us the Spirit to be bold and provides us with the words to speak to others. As Zamira begins proclaiming the Gospel, we learn a final and beautiful lesson. Jesus gives us the boldness to approach him. At first, the people of Sychar are meeting Zamira as they would normally. They make passive aggressive comments meant to tear her down, but she holds on to the boldness that she has found in Jesus and continues to urge them to follow her to meet the Messiah. As she turns around, heart full of hope, the Spirit moves in power as people begin to follow her to the place where her life changed forever. It wasn't Zamira who was going to change their hearts. All she could do was act as a messenger. But sure enough, as they see Zamira's passion and approach Jesus themselves, they are given boldness as well. They worship him at that well and thus fulfilling what Jesus said the true worshipers were going to worship in spirit and in truth. It wasn't going to be about what culture or creed you come from. It wasn't going to be about whether you went to this temple or that synagogue. It was going to be you boldly approaching Jesus, feeling at ease and comforted to be at his feet and learn from him and embrace him as your Savior. The author of Hebrews tells us, let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. If you want the same boldness, it simply starts with coming before Jesus, confessing your sins and and receiving his forgiveness and following him into new life. Be bold and find strength in him today because there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. In our next episode, we'll face the concept of grief, loss and hope. How does Jesus meet us in our despair? Thanks again for joining us for the Jesus Podcast. You know what to do. Make sure to rate Leave a review, subscribe and share this podcast with a friend. Thanks for being part of this movement. A movement of storytellers. A movement of people that want to be more enamored and immersed in the story of Jesus.
