Lessons From The Road

Introduction

Excluding those who may be visiting with us, and by the way, that’s the only time we’re going to exclude you visitors, but excluding those that may be visiting with us, because to you the answer probably is obvious. But have you been on vacation lately? You’ve been able to kind of get away. And well, that’s good. That’s important to be able to kind of get away and refresh and relax, hopefully. And it’s good to kind of see different things, different parts of the country, or maybe if you’re fortunate, different parts of the world. I can tell you, growing up, some of my most vivid and fun memories are of going somewhere. Now, let me tell you a little bit about going somewhere when I was a kid.

Number one is it always involved an automobile. There were no airplane flights. And it was just usually a one-day road trip. Y’all know I grew up in North Alabama, and until I was married and made decisions of my own and had money of my own, I’d only visited three other states. On rare occasions, we would go north into Tennessee at that time in Nashville. There was a theme park known as Opriland, and that was our Disney World. We would go to Opriland on rare occasions. We would go east and to Georgia, to Carrollton, Georgia. I had a great aunt and uncle who lived there, and we would go over there for family reunions. That’s where we would kill a hog every time. We would go to my Uncle Jody and Aunt Zima Zelma’s house.

And then I had, I was fortunate enough had an uncle that lived in the Panhandle of Florida around Panama City. And so my mom and dad would drive me down the summer, and I would spend a couple weeks with my aunt and uncle in Panama City, probably the best two weeks of the year for my parents, uh, because they had some peace and quiet. And so we would do those road trips. So those were rare, and those were short, but those road trips were fun. Now, I need to tell the kids today about road trips back in my day. They’re different than the road trips you take today. Different in a couple ways. Number one is the cars that we took those road trips in didn’t have air conditioning.

And we often took those road trips in the summer, and it was always hot. Luckily, we had what we called uh 455 air conditioning. That is all four windows rolled down going 55 miles an hour. You got a you got a little bit of a breeze, but we had no air conditioning, and we had no onboard or in our lap entertainment devices. We didn’t get to watch a movie or stream some uh television show while we drove down the road. We had to make our own entertainment. Let me tell you what passed for entertainment in those days. My mom was a sewer. She did a lot of sewing for herself and other people, and so if I knew we were going on a road trip, I would sneak into mom’s sewing room and I would steal a spool of thread.

And my entertainment would be, because the windows would be rolled down, that was our air conditioning, is I’d throw that spool of thread out the window and hold on to the end of it. And watch that thing unroll down the highway. And uh, if there was just a little bit, I would tie a knot in the end so that thing of spool of thread would bounce down the highway until it just broke into a million pieces. That was entertainment, folks. Another thing that was different about our road trips is this was in my experience, at least, this was before the days of car seats and seatbelt laws. In fact, my dad, the first thing he would do when we got a new vehicle, is he would go through and take all the seatbelts out.

They were just in the way. We had a box in the utility room full of old seat belts. I don’t know what he was saving them for. And so we didn’t buckle up on road trips. In fact, as for an age till I got too tall, my position was actually standing up in the back floorboard looking over my dad’s shoulder and watching uh the traffic come by. Fighting with my brothers for territory. There was always a line in the upholstery that they could not cross because that was my territory of seats. But road trips were fun. They didn’t sound like fun, did it? But they were fun. And we learned things on those road trips. Sometimes we would stop at the historical markers and see different things and learn different things about history, because you know, those road trips can be not only fun, but educational at times.

1. The Lord Loves Us All and Seeks Us All

Well, this morning I want to take you on a road trip. You want to go? We’re going to take three lessons on three different road trips in the scriptures, in the new testaments. And so, would you get your new testaments and turn with me? To the book of John, chapter four? We’re going to look at some lessons from the road, three lessons from three different road trips in the Bible. The first one is found in John chapter 4. You know this story so well, but let’s tell it again. John chapter 4, Jesus is on his way to Galilee, leaving from Jerusalem and going to Galilee. Well, for the Jew, particularly the Orthodox Jew of that day, there was one problem with that road trip going from Jerusalem in the south to Galilee in the north.

You had to pass through the dirty lands of the Samaritans. And so for many of those Jews, they would go out of their way, cross the Jordan River twice to keep from going through Samaria. We’ll talk more about that hatred a little bit later. But Jesus didn’t take that diversion. He went through Samaria. And they stopped along that road trip. Sometimes on road trips, you need to make those stops. They needed to stop to eat and to drink. And so Jesus stayed in Sycar by the well, and his disciples had gone into the city to get food for them to eat. And while Jesus was waiting there, you know the story. A Samaritan woman came to draw water. And Jesus asked her a favor. Can I have a drink of water?

She was shocked by that request. Because as she would point out, Jesus and that woman were well aware, the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans, the text says. Now that was an understatement. The Jews hated the Samaritans. And vice versa. The Samaritans didn’t like the Jews. It’s kind of hate to hard to like people that hate you, isn’t it? So there was that great hatred there, and he asked her for a drink of water, and she was surprised by that. And that led into a discussion, and Jesus masterfully took a earthly discussion about water and turned it into a spiritual discussion about water that he could offer. Not real water. It took her a while to figure out what he was talking about, but he was talking about eternal life, salvation that would be like water that would refresh the soul, like water refreshes the body, but this water wouldn’t have to be renewed over and over again.

Once you drank of it once, it would spring up into you, into this spiritual wellspring of refreshing. And as often is the case when you run into a preacher, you want to ask a question, a spiritual question. And so she did that once she found out that he was a prophet. That’s all she knew of him at that moment. And so she asked a question about the differences between the Jewish religion and the Samaritan religion. You worship in Jerusalem, we worship here in these mountains, Ebal and Gerizim, and which one’s right? And Jesus answered the question well, the Jews are doing it the right way. They’re worshiping God according to the covenant. But greater than that is there’s coming a time in which neither one of those will be right or will matter, because God is seeking people to worship him in spirit and in truth.

Remember that part of John 4, verses 24. God will worship wants those that worship him in spirit in truth, because God is spirit. And then Jesus says to this woman, Well, why don’t you call your husband? And we’ll talk. Well, I have no husband, she says. And Jesus said, You’re right. You don’t have. You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re now with is not your husband. She is shocked that he would know such details about her personal life when he has told her, she has told him nothing about that personal life. The disciples come and they’re actually shocked that he’s talking, not that he’s talking to a Samaritan, maybe they hadn’t figured that out part out, but he was talking to a woman. Because that was unusual at the time to have that break down that barrier.

But Jesus goes and talks to her and her family about who he is and reveals himself to her and speaks to her of eternal life. And so this road trip was a life-changing trip, not for necessarily the ones on the trip, but for who they ran into, this Samaritan woman. And you know, there’s one lesson I want us to draw. There’s many lessons from that road trip in John chapter 4. But let’s notice this glaring lesson. And that is that regardless of race, status, our history, the Lord loves us all and seeks us all. You know, from a strictly human, selfish standpoint, there were a lot of reasons that Jesus should not have talked to this woman. Number one is there was a stark racial difference.

She, and maybe the understatement of John chapter 4 said again, Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Wow, what an understatement. Many of them wouldn’t, as we said, wouldn’t even walk through this territory because it was deemed dirty. Because these Samaritans, whom many of the Jews would refer to as dogs, lived there. They had nothing to do with them. There was a hatred there. We learned that not only was there a racial difference between Jesus, the Jew, and this woman, a Samaritan, but there was a difference of status. In the first century, one of those differences of status was she was a woman. He was a man. And historically, we recognize that in many cultures, this one certainly, women were kind of second class citizens. And so, again, the disciples, when they came back, were shocked that he was talking to a woman.

But that didn’t matter. But there were other differences. She had a past. And her past and her status was vastly different than that of Jesus. He had a past as well, didn’t he? If we can refer to it as such, his eternal existence as God.

In the word was God. That’s the person talking to this woman. He is God. He has experienced eternity in heaven already. He is the spotless, sinless Lamb of God. And who is she? We don’t know all of her story, but it seems like it was somewhat of a mess, wasn’t it? She’s had five husbands, and the man she’s with now is not her husband. And so there’s a racial difference, there’s a status difference, there’s a moral difference, there’s a religious difference. He’s a Jew, she’s a Samaritan. Those religions were vastly different. And so, boy, we could call all kind of less reasons if we wanted to be that way as to why he should have never talked to her. But here’s the reason he did. She was a soul made in the image of God who needed a relationship to God.

And Jesus had the means for that relationship. So there was no hatred between this Jew and that Samaritan. Why is it? I think we might come up with some answers, but why is it that we tend to dislike and ostracize and maybe even hate people who are different than us?

But can I offer some suggestions in which we can overcome that? To overcome that which’s almost ingrained within us through our history. To dislike, ostracize, and maybe even hate people who are different than us, ways that maybe we can work toward ending in our lives at least. That kind of racism. I think we can find many of those principles here in this story on this road trip. Number one is don’t view people as a member of a group. View them as individuals. That’s what Jesus did. Jesus didn’t see her as one of those filthy Samaritans. He looked at her as an individual. Maybe some of the Jews dislike Samaritans because some Samaritan in the past had done something wrong to them. And so they grouped the whole camp as reprobates.

Our two nations have been at odds. And so if you’re a member of that class and I’m a member of this class, by default, I have to dislike you. Jesus didn’t deal in that class warfare. He didn’t deal in that group think mentality. He saw her as an individual, as a soul. Secondly, and more importantly, he not only saw her as an individual soul, he saw her as an individual soul made in the image of God. Go with me to Acts chapter 17. The Apostle Paul in his famous sermon on Mars Hill states, almost in passing, a fundamental truth in how God sees people and how we as God’s people should see other individuals. When he says, speaking of this God, who’s the God of everything, unlike their false gods who specialized, he says in Acts chapter 17 in verse 26, and he, that is God over all, he has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.

From one, your translation may say, from one, he has made every nation of men. So one way we can overcome this insidious sin of racism is to see people as individuals, not a part of a group, but to also see people as a soul made in the image of God.

Not different.

Despite all of the excuses that could have been offered why he shouldn’t have been talking to her, the reason he did was because she was made in the image of God. And so we begin to see people same rather than different. Another thing that we can do is follow the words of Jesus and practice the golden rule.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you don’t want to be excluded, don’t exclude. If you don’t want to be hated, don’t hate. Jesus didn’t just institute and teach that golden rule, he practiced it in his own life. Lastly, and this kind of wraps up everything that we’ve talked about, learn to see as God sees. He saw an individual soul, a soul made in the image of God, and a soul that was apart from God and needed deliverance from the shackles of sin. See as God sees, and love as God loves. And by the way, if we don’t, Scripture is clear. If we don’t see as God sees and love as God sees, we’re not his children. It’s as simple as that.

2. The Closer We Get, the More Our Hearts Burn

Well, let’s take another road trip. This one is in Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24 records the events immediately after, by immediate, I mean three days after the death of Christ. Things have changed. That’s an understatement again. Numerous people, not just the twelve, but numerous people have followed Jesus. And they didn’t follow him just selfishly just because he fed them with fish and bread, and they didn’t just follow him because he performed miracles and healed them and raised family members from the dead. They followed him because they believed in him. They thought he was going to be the king of the Jews, their savior, their answer. But now the officials have taken him and tried him and put him to death. Despite what they should have known and what they were told, they were confused and dismayed by this series of events.

And in Luke chapter 24, starting in verse 13, two men are on their way to Emmaus. That’s about seven miles from Jerusalem. It’s a Sunday. Jesus has been dead three days, and they’ve heard the story of the women who went to the tomb and found it empty, and instead found an angel who said he’s risen. But they’re probably a little suspicious of that story. They’ve also heard the report of the men who followed the women who got there and said, Yes, the tomb was empty, but we didn’t see any angel. We didn’t see anything.

Tape player. On a road trip you talked. It might be a good time to reinstate that policy. But they were talking as they went, and they were talking about what had just happened, and they are confused and they’re sad. And as they’re talking, someone joins them on that road trip. It’s Jesus Himself. Now we don’t really know what to make of this. They didn’t recognize him. Let me offer you some gestures, some suggestions.

He’s dead. He’s not this man who’s well. So maybe just he. And we don’t know how well they knew Jesus. They were followers of his. They weren’t one of the twelve.

Maybe as you’re walking down the road, you don’t walk down the road like this, looking at it, so maybe they didn’t really get a good look at him, even though they were walking with them. But it’s also possible that their eyes had been divinely restrained. That’s what my translation says, that their eyes were restrained. It’s possible that God had in some way clouded their vision from recognizing. We don’t know why, but they didn’t know that Jesus was the one walking with them. And Jesus asked them, What are you talking about? Why are you so sad? They said, Are you the only guy in Jerusalem that doesn’t know what’s happening? Jesus died on the cross.

We thought he was going to be our king, but now we don’t know what to think.

Them, reprimands them, and says, Really? You don’t know? You don’t know that this Jesus you’re talking about had to die and suffer? And he starts talking the scriptures with them. Starts at Moses and goes all the way through and gives them a history lesson of the prophecies of the Messiah. But he wouldn’t just come and be an earthly king, and nothing bad would ever happen to him, but the Psalms and Isaiah actually prophesied that he would die. But he would be raised up. So they get to their destination and start to stop, and Jesus says, Well, I’m going on, and they literally beg him, No, stop, stay with us. And maybe they wanted to hear more of this Bible lesson. So Jesus sets down and eats bread with them.

And somewhere in that exchange, whatever had restrained their vision is now cleared up. And they see who they’ve been talking with. But almost as quickly as they see and recognize him, the text simply says he vanishes from their sight.

Are you with me there in Luke chapter 24? Notice the statement as after they had recognized finally who this man was who had been talking with them. Notice what it says in verse 32. Luke 24, verse 32. They said to one another, Did not our heart burn within us while we took while he talked with us on the road, and while he opened the scriptures to us. Did our heart not burn within us? Now I don’t know exactly what to make of that statement. Are they saying, Oh, I knew? Are they kind of backfilling some information? Now that I know my heart is burning within me. But regardless of when that spiritual heartburn took place, it was a good thing. And the lesson from this road trip is the more we know, and the closer we get to our Lord, the more our hearts should burn.

And unlike the physical heartburn, this is a good one. Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked with us about the scriptures. They experienced something special, an emotional connection to this Jesus. He wasn’t just the Jesus of prophecy and of scripture that he explained to them. He was not just someone fulfilling a role and doing something for all of mankind. They experienced a personal relationship with God.

Sometimes, because some of our religious friends have so misused this language and this phrase, we shy away from the idea and even the words of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior. Don’t let that phrase be stolen from you anymore.

Because that’s what we need to have. Now, again, it may not be the way that people are telling you you need to have that personal relationship, but you need to have that personal relationship. The scriptures talk about knowing God. Look with me, if you will, John chapter 17. Our Lord Himself told us that we told His disciples, and certainly this applies to us, that we need to have that burning in our hearts, that idea of knowing Him. John 17 verse 3 says, and this, this is Jesus Himself, self speaking, this is eternal life, that they may know you, speaking of the Father, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Do we know that the word know in verses such as this and countless others that talk about us knowing God is speaking of a personal, intimate relationship with God.

Not to be too indelicate, and not to stretch this illustration too far. But as good Bible students, you know that a euphemism for one of the most intimate relationships humans can have with one another is referred to by knowing them. Adam knew Eve and she conceived and bore a son. When speaking of a very intimate relationship, the Bible often says that’s knowing that person. So when the Bible talks about us knowing God, it’s talking in a very different way, but it’s talking about a close, intimate relationship with God, not some kind of clinical scholarly understanding of God, but of knowing Him, of feeling His presence in your life, of feeling a true relationship with your Father in heaven, and as Jesus would say, and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent.

And that’s something we need to work on. Now, don’t misunderstand me, God cares about our actions and our obedience. But he cares about our actions and our obedience only as it grows out of a deep personal relationship with him. Now, how can we have that? Seek to know him, read. Study, learn. The more you know him, the more you learn of him, the more you will love him. And I truly believe as you immerse yourself in the scriptures in the true sense and the true meaning and purpose of that endeavor, that your hearts will burn within you as you get closer and closer to God. Secondly, personalize the gospel story. We sometimes, and correctly so, speak in global terms. Jesus died for all the world. Jesus shed his blood so that every sin might be forgiven.

And all of that is absolutely true. But when you’re speaking in those sweeping global terms, don’t forget to also speak in very personal terms. Yes, God so loved the world. But it’s also equally true that God so loved you. And yes, Jesus died for the sins of all mankind. But it’s also true that Jesus died to wash away your sins. Personalize that story. Make it real. Meditate on him and his word. Spend time thinking and meditating and living in that word. Spend time in prayer, real, not just some rote ritualistic, memorized prayer that you recite back because you’ve heard somebody else say it. But spend real time in prayer to God, getting close and feeling close to him. Our last road trip’s going to have to be a quick one.

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Make Big Changes

But Damascus isn’t that far away. Saul of Tarsus, you remember in Acts chapter 9, is on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians. But on this road trip, Saul’s life is going to change forever. Change so drastically so when he sees that bright light and hears the voice from heaven. And quickly, though he does not at first recognize this as being Jesus of Nazareth, what a shock to hear that Jesus, whom he believed to be an imposter, and not from God, that it’s Jesus who’s speaking from heaven and saying, Why are you persecuting me? Saul falls to his knees, literally and metaphorically. And his life will ever be altered. And so this lesson that we learn is don’t be afraid to sacrifice and make big changes to serve the Lord.

Saul did.

Conclusion

And Paul, as we know him, will spend the rest of his life telling us to do the same thing. Forgetting what is behind and stretching forward to what is before. And don’t be afraid to make those big changes in your own life. That’s what conversion is all about. Don’t be afraid to give up everything as Saul did that day. When you learn that you’re wrong. Don’t forget to be humble enough to do that. To recognize when you are wrong. And make the change that is necessary. Will you make that change this morning? Will you do what Saul did? Will you do what that Ethiopian eunuch did later in that book of Acts? Or earlier in the book of Acts, excuse me, in Acts chapter 8, where he made great changes in his life.

And when he was humble enough to recognize that he needed help to understand the scriptures. Would you humble yourself this morning? Would you make those changes and begin this journey with our Lord? Would you do that right now? Can we help you in that in any ways? You make your desires known right now as together we have.