{"id":1454,"date":"2014-03-23T14:33:22","date_gmt":"2014-03-23T14:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=1454"},"modified":"2020-12-03T10:54:45","modified_gmt":"2020-12-03T10:54:45","slug":"the-refreshing-sounds-of-ahh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/the-refreshing-sounds-of-ahh\/","title":{"rendered":"The Refreshing Sounds of \u201cAhh\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

John 4:5-42<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

March 23, 2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every group and individual families have their own particular sound effects that convey emotions and perhaps even thoughts. As a Toishanese, I would say, \u201cAi-yah!\u201d In Joy\u2019s family, she grew up saying \u201cWah-ko!\u201d Very different but pretty much saying the same thing\u2014\u201cWow!\u201d Our 3 year-old grandson Canon discovered these two words to mean saying the same thing now goes around when he sees us, \u201cYeh Yeh says, \u201cAi-yah\u201d and Po Po says, \u201cWah-ko!\u201d He\u2019s learning to make comparisons and knowing that things can mean the same even when they sound different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Coca Cola Company has come up with a new advertising campaign that is designed to offer brand recognition across a number of products they produce. With 61 beverage products, they wanted an innovative effort to capture the attention of their teen audience. They came up with the Ahh Effect campaign focuses on Coke and the response drinkers should have when taking a sip; an audible \u2018ahh.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAhh\u201d is not really a word like \u201cAi-yah.\u201d \u201cAhh\u201d is sort of instinctive groan frequently uttered after we\u2019ve taken a sip or a gulp of a refreshing beverage. You\u2019re dying of thirst, and you grab a bottle of water, twist the cap and take a swig. You swallow, and then you say, \u201cAhh.\u201d Coca Cola wants people who drink any one of their 61 products to let out an \u201cAhh.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, do you suppose there was an \u201cAhh\u201d effect in the story that we read about Jesus talking to the woman at the well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Survival<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus knew all about water. Growing up in the rocky, dry land of Israel, he knew first hand that water was a precious resource that didn\u2019t come easily. Living in California, we actually live in an arid and desert place but with our modern ways of irrigation and our desire to have green lawns, we have forgotten that water is a precious resource that we need to conserve. Getting back to Jesus, he must have grown up seeing his mother and countless women spend hours of their days hauling water for cooking, cleaning and drinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when Jesus encounters the lone Samaritan woman at the well in the hot noonday sun, he could appreciate the hard work that was required to draw enough water from the deep well in order to meet the needs of her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you know that water is notoriously heavy\u20141 pint of water weighs 1 pound, so a 5-gallon bucket equals to a staggering 40 pounds. A woman would have to haul this much of water several times every day to meet the demands of a large family and busy household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Jesus, that human Savior, encounters the woman at the well, he\u2019s hot and tired from his journey (v. 6). He didn\u2019t have these convenient plastic bottles; he\u2019s parched. But he knows exactly what he needs to ease his thirst; \u201cGive me a drink,\u201d he says to the Samaritan woman. This is one of just a few times that we hear Jesus making a request of another person. He needs something that she can provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that moment it doesn\u2019t matter that he\u2019s the Son of God, the Savior of the world, a man in a male-oriented society or a Jew encountering someone from the ethnically disliked Samaritans. All the barriers and differences\u2014like gender and nationality\u2014that might divide them, fall away. Jesus is simply a person with a basic human need, and this woman has the ability to help him. She can give him water. Did you know that you can survive three weeks without food but you can only survive three days without water?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Jesus had his \u201cahh\u201d moment. Water for us humans is necessary for survival. What we don\u2019t often consider is how necessary for our spiritual survival is the living water Jesus offers through the Holy Spirit. The woman\u2019s \u201cahh\u201d moment is coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In looking closely at the text, the story never actually tells us if Jesus gets that cup of water because there\u2019s something much more important going on here. We don\u2019t know if this unnamed woman took the time to draw water for Jesus. What we do know is that she stops what she\u2019s doing because she\u2019s amazed that Jesus is speaking to her at all. Just by noticing her, Jesus has opened up a world of brand new possibilities to this woman weighed down by guilt and shame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus, of course, is never simply someone who takes from someone without offering something that\u2019s more important. While Jesus is thirsty, he knows that the woman at the well is carrying a far heavier burden than 40 pounds of water. He\u2019s prepared to give her much more than a simple cup of water. He\u2019s going to offer her something that Coca Cola or these bottled waters cannot offer: water that will remove her thirst forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus knows exactly who this woman is and can see the painful secrets in her heart. Jesus recognizes her thirst for forgiveness and acceptance. Jesus offers what she needs even before she knows enough to ask for help. She doesn\u2019t even have to voice her request. Jesus says, \u201cI can give you living water,\u201d water that can heal your spirit and ease the pain in your heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woman is so consumed with the day-in, day-out burden of hauling endless buckets of water that she can\u2019t grasp the magnitude of what Jesus is offering. She is simply eager to find a way to avoid this back-breaking drudgery that defines her life. When Jesus tells her that he has water that will forever cure her thirst, she eagerly replies, \u201cSir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water\u201d (v. 15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus is offering to open up all of eternity to her, and she\u2019s focused on making fewer trips to the village well! How often are we ready to settle for less than what God wants to offer to us? How often do we hesitate to ask for anything from this generous God who\u2019s prepared to let love and blessing and forgiveness flow over us like an ever-flowing stream?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We come to church to see our friends when what a friend we have in Jesus. We come to sing in the choir when we have heard angels sing on high. We come to petition God to end our pain and suffering when Jesus is offering eternal life. We come expecting to receive a plastic bottled of water when God in Christ is giving us Living Water that will quench your thirst forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When was the last time that you called out, \u201cAi-yah\u201d when you could have said, \u201cAhh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no way the woman at the well could visualize how refreshing this water is. Jesus isn\u2019t suggesting a better way to do her chores like how our Thailand mission team will provide fresh water from the hills down to the village this June. Jesus isn\u2019t proposing to create a better work environment for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s offering to ease the burden of her troubled soul; and release her from the pain of guilt. This woman is living with a past that makes her an outcast in her own village\u2014she\u2019s been married multiple times. Even worst, for that day and age and culture\u2014she\u2019s now living with a man who\u2019s not her husband (v. 17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She carries with her the pain of guilt, shame and rejection\u2014and that\u2019s a far heavier burden than the water that she hauls every day. Jesus doesn\u2019t want to help her with the burden of her hands; he wants to ease the burden of her heart. He wants to remove the pain of isolation and disgrace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There by the well Jesus shows this woman why he has come\u2014he wants to offer the gift of God\u2019s life-giving Spirit, water that wells \u201cup to eternal life\u201d to God\u2019s people. Just as the Samaritan woman has exactly what Jesus needs in that moment\u2014water\u2014he has precisely what she needs as well, even if she doesn\u2019t know it. She is receiving grace and forgiveness and the promise of a new life. The woman is about to say, \u201cAhh.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transformation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although we never see Jesus receive water from this woman, we do get to see the power of Jesus\u2019 transforming love when it is given and received. Jesus tells her that he is the Messiah, the One that they have all been waiting and hoping for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus tells her the good news, \u201cThe hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth\u201d (vv.24-25). That\u2019s what Jesus offers this tired, burdened woman\u2014a chance to be transformed. She can be washed clean with but one drink of the water he\u2019s offering her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You get the sense that this woman is street smart. She\u2019s talking to a stranger. She\u2019s a person of dubious reputation. She\u2019s probably had to scratch and claw to get what she\u2019s got. So when she finally understands what\u2019s being offered, she grabs it and rejoices. But this woman is also generous. She wants to share this gift of new life and hope with everyone she knows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s possible that this woman had been an outcast in her own village because of her misdeeds and guilty past. But all of that is behind her now. She takes this \u201cliving water\u201d and she runs back to her village to tell others the good news. She eagerly approaches everyone that she sees and says with wonder, \u201cCome and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he? They left the city and were on their way to him\u201d (vv. 29-30).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sip of this living water has transformed her life. She says, \u201cAhh.\u201d She\u2019s so excited that she wants to share the good news with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living Water<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do we thirst?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you know that more than half of all Americans buy bottled water\u2014a fact that boggles the mind when one considers that our country has some of the cleanest tap water in the world! Yet the sales of bottled drinking water has become a $4 billion industry in our country alone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do this even though there\u2019s no guarantee that the plastic-encased liquid will be any purer than what is available from your own kitchen sink\u2014and it probably isn\u2019t. Visions of remote mountain springs vanish when one realizes that Dasani (made by Coca Cola) is simply purified tap water. In fact, most bottled water you might buy in the supermarket is purified faucet fluid, rather than you may think is the source\u2014bubbling spring or mountain geyser!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point is not what we drink but is the source of that drink that really matters. No bottled water company has given the world water that if you drink it, quenches your thirst forever!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do we thirst? We thirst for Jesus who completely loves us. We thirst for forgiveness and new life that God alone can offer. We want a fresh start like the woman at the well. We want rest, renewal, and peace. We thirst to acknowledge the mistakes that we have made and know that there is still hope for us. We want to cast away the burden of guilt and the weight of regret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the label on the bottle of Good News water. All of that and more is offered to us in the \u201cliving water\u201d Jesus offers us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living water is not a commercial brand and even if Coca Cola tried to use it, it would never satisfy us forever. Living water reaches a need far deeper than everyday thirst. Living water touches the part of us that wakes us up at night worried or lonely or consumed with remorse. Living water can wash away the parts of us that feel unclean and threaten to keep us isolated forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus invites you to take a sip of this living water; and then say, \u201cAhh!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holy and merciful God, we thank you for this season of Lent when you call us to slow down to hear your quiet voice inviting us to drink Living Water. Forgive us of our sins and grant us the courage to confess the desires that distract us from your higher purposes. Thank you for this season of repentance and empower us to celebrate life by saying \u201cahh!\u201d In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John 4:5-42 March 23, 2014 Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco. Every group and individual families have their own particular soundContinue readingThe Refreshing Sounds of \u201cAhh\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[11,13],"class_list":["post-1454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donald-ng-sermons","tag-fcbc","tag-john"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1454"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2561,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1454\/revisions\/2561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}