SERMON
Our Stories OF BROKENNESS
September 14, 2025
John 4:4-10; 15-18
Pastor Sunil
4 Now he (Jesus) had to go through Samaria.
5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” (John 4:4-18 NIV)
Remember those life-stories in 6 words?
Was fat, now thin. Still unhappy.
Still trying to impress my Dad
Learned to live with great loss
Born once, died; born twice, lived (SB)
Remember? Each of our lives is a story, made up of many small(er) stories
Some stories we want to remember because they give us happiness, keep us “sane.” But they often are reasons we live in the past, “those were the days…”
Some stories we want to forget, because they are too painful or embarrassing – and we'd rather forget them without realizing how much that story has changed us
Some stories we retell differently because we want to remember the central character(s) differently
How we remember ourselves as the central character in our stories will indicate how authentic we really are – how real we are – especially when those stories are of our brokenness.
We are not always to blame for our brokenness. In one sense, yes, there is a brokenness that is because of our sin, our choices that ignored a God of love, which result in our causing ourselves pain.
But all of our stories of brokenness is in some way because we live in a broken world.
The Samaritan woman at the well is an example of a life with multiple stories of brokenness – many like you and me have.
But John records this meeting with particular detail (the other 3 gospels have no mention of it). It is almost as if John wants us to see what happens to our story when Jesus intersects with it.
CONCLUSION
The Samaritan woman had started a new story. She was becoming a “new creation.” This new story was one that honestly acknowledged her brokenness (come see a man who told me everything. I ever did." (v.29a). She did not yet have all the answers - "Could this be the Messiah?" (v.29b)
But she was someone who experienced a genuine and authentic new story even in her brokenness, which became the basis that led many others to believe - "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 (v.42)
I think God can and wants to re-tell each of our stories of brokenness as “new stories” of “Life made new” to a world that is still in bondage to brokenness
5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” (John 4:4-18 NIV)
Remember those life-stories in 6 words?
Was fat, now thin. Still unhappy.
Still trying to impress my Dad
Learned to live with great loss
Born once, died; born twice, lived (SB)
Remember? Each of our lives is a story, made up of many small(er) stories
Some stories we want to remember because they give us happiness, keep us “sane.” But they often are reasons we live in the past, “those were the days…”
Some stories we want to forget, because they are too painful or embarrassing – and we'd rather forget them without realizing how much that story has changed us
Some stories we retell differently because we want to remember the central character(s) differently
How we remember ourselves as the central character in our stories will indicate how authentic we really are – how real we are – especially when those stories are of our brokenness.
We are not always to blame for our brokenness. In one sense, yes, there is a brokenness that is because of our sin, our choices that ignored a God of love, which result in our causing ourselves pain.
But all of our stories of brokenness is in some way because we live in a broken world.
The Samaritan woman at the well is an example of a life with multiple stories of brokenness – many like you and me have.
- Our Story of Brokenness
- Stories of Prejudice (v.9)
- The woman lived in a world where she knew she was already prejudged. First, she was a woman, and in that culture it meant she would never be considered equal to men. She had no voice, no wisdom, no leadership skills she could ever contribute that would be accepted in the world of men. I wonder what stories of humiliation she had to experience because of that. Second, as a Samaritan, she would always be despised by Jews as a “half-breed” stained by pagan blood in her veins!
- I am sure each of us has similar stories of brokenness caused by similar prejudices of gender, age, race…
- Stories of Religious Trauma (v.20)
- As a Samaritan, she would have had to face the scorn of the Jew because they did follow the same Mosaic faith in very different and unacceptable (to the Jew) ways. The Samaritans believed in the first 5 books of Moses (only), and they worshiped YHWH in a Temple built on Mt. Gerazim. But they were treated as heretics and unacceptable because of that.
- How many people have been “burned” and even traumatized by a particular brand of Christianity that demanded adherence to that brand, even when their practices were contrary to Jesus’ life and teachings?
- Stories of Loneliness (vs.16-18)
- The Samaritan woman lived a lonely life. Proof? She went alone to the well at midday to collect water when women usually went in groups in the mornings. She had multiple relationships with men. In fact, she had married 5 times and divorced 5 times. And now she lived with a man, having lost all hope for marriage.
- How many people have yearned for deeper relationships, and not finding them have hurt themselves?
But John records this meeting with particular detail (the other 3 gospels have no mention of it). It is almost as if John wants us to see what happens to our story when Jesus intersects with it.
- Jesus' Meeting us in our Story
- Jesus reaches out - taking the first step
- Hospitality is more than accepting the unaccepted when they come; it taking the first step towards them and accepting them even before you know them. Jesus was thirsty, yes, and used his physical need to begin building a bridge. He did not come with: “I have come to give you something you need” – that’s arrogance. He started with “Can you please help me in my need?” He approached her, a woman and a Samaritan, with all her stories of brokenness, and saw her as valuable, someone who could be a blessing to him. That itself is a sure way to begin changing a storyline!
- Jesus offers the Gift of Living Water that is without any preconditions except for one - she needed to ask for it / desire it (irrespective of her misunderstanding)
- Jesus honestly confronted her underlying story, with Love and Compassion
CONCLUSION
The Samaritan woman had started a new story. She was becoming a “new creation.” This new story was one that honestly acknowledged her brokenness (come see a man who told me everything. I ever did." (v.29a). She did not yet have all the answers - "Could this be the Messiah?" (v.29b)
But she was someone who experienced a genuine and authentic new story even in her brokenness, which became the basis that led many others to believe - "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 (v.42)
I think God can and wants to re-tell each of our stories of brokenness as “new stories” of “Life made new” to a world that is still in bondage to brokenness