Failure: When life fails you

Focus Passage: John 4:1-26

Failure can feel like a hole so deep that you just can’t seem to get out of. You are fighting to get upstream and it seems the whole world is stacked against you. I bet that you either know what that feels like or you know people who feel that way. Taxes and expenses are up, but salary ends up going down. Family or friends doing stupid things and you have to pick up the pieces. You can try your hardest, but there seems no way to get out of the hole. You think of yourself as a failure with no hope. Such was the woman in our text. She has been divorced five times and is living with another man. You may have just consigned yourself that this is the way that it is going to be. Jesus gave hope to a woman who was a failure and He can help you and me when we feel that way, too. There are four questions for people when life is failing

What prejudices do you have? Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. We need someone to ask us the hard questions that shake us out of our failure. The first question that Jesus asks is about prejudice. The woman shows her prejudice when she is surprised at Jesus’ request for a glass of water. The woman had to set aside her “you think you’re so great” prejudice if she was to be healed. Sometimes people have prejudices against Christ and the church. They can’t see how Jesus wants to help them because they think that Jesus wouldn’t help someone who wasn’t perfect. They dismiss Jesus and Christians as being too good to help just as the woman did. Yet, that is not why we seek Jesus. We band together as a church because we need the healing. We want others to join us so Jesus can help us all be whole.

What preconceptions must you drop? Everyone has preconceptions. They are the framework that we view life through. Preconceptions are not always bad, but if we are not careful, those preconceptions enslave us. We get stuck in a box whose answers don’t work instead of seeking the truth. The woman has her preconceptions. She gets a little huffy when she thinks that Jesus is putting down Jacob, her great ancestor. Yet, all Jesus is trying to do is to get her out of her box. People can still get upset when you question their preconceptions. They see technology and the media as having all the answers, but reject the Bible as an old dusty book. Jesus has the real answers for our lives as He teaches us about things like finance, rearing our children or helpful priorities. We need to be open to His answers. They really help.

What sin must you confess? Sometimes the wrong framework causes us to make mistakes. The woman in the text had led life to the fullest. Jesus’ question is designed to help her to see that things had not turned out very well. With a series of divorces, she was ostracized by her community. She had messed up and needed to admit her sin was the cause of her pain. There can be no healing or change without an admission of sin. Sadly, we live in a society where everyone wants to do their own thing and is surprised that there are consequences from it. People can’t see that overspending can bring foreclosure. People ignore the connection between adultery and ruined families. Yet, ignoring sin doesn’t stop its disastrous effects. Only the mercy of the cross forgives us and helps us to overcome the consequences of sin. We seek him out because He is the only one who can forgive and restore.

What are you really afraid of? Have you noticed that when the questions get too intense or too close to the heart, people often change the conversation? The woman was uncomfortable talking about her sinful life. She tried to change the topic to talk about the differences between Jewish and Samaritan religion. This prophet was getting too close to the truth. She was a failure and she had no idea how to make things better. Truth makes us feel open and exposed. Often, they don’t want to talk about God or about the brokenness in their life. They pretend that if they avoid it, it will all go away eventually. Change is hard and so we often would rather stay in failure. Yet, the churches exist because we are all broken people in one way or another. We can come for support and for help. We are broken people walking together. Jesus can help us all.

Failure doesn’t have to be terminal. So many people think that life is as good as it is going to get. They have had problems and sins and they are stuck in that hole. All four questions are simply about the walls that we build around ourselves. The walls tell us that there is nothing we can do. Yet, the walls really keep us from seeing the real solution. Yet, Jesus has answers. Jesus patiently asked the questions and moved her closer to a relationship with him where she could be healed and her life could be change. It is only when Jesus breaks down our walls that the real answers come. Failure happens to every one of God’s people. Just look at Abraham, David and Peter to name a few. Success came to each one and to the woman because they opened up their lives to Jesus. The answer to failure is to let the walls come down and Jesus to come in. There is nothing our savior can’t help.