Find a Need and Fill It
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Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. –John 4:35
In choosing today’s text, I’ve departed from the suggestions offered by the Revised Common Lectionary. Instead, I’ve focused our attention on the encounter between Jesus and the woman at the well. My choice of this text was inspired by a conversation in which our Evangelism Committee was told, more or less, to find a need and fill it.
The background to this conversation requires some explanation. The strategic planning team, during the past few years, has focused its prayers, reflection, and discussion on developing goals that will enable this congregation to better fulfill its mission “to be Christ for the world today.” One of three major goals is related to evangelism. As the team struggled with what evangelism might look like in our context, and how our congregation might practice it, we decided to consult a Presbyterian pastor in our area who has a reasonably good track record of building membership and worship attendance.
I think it’s fair to say that the conversation didn’t go as expected. This particular pastor seemed to have little appreciation for our previous attempts to practice evangelism, and little patience for half-hearted efforts. When he said that some people are concerned that the church survive only until the day after their funeral, I think most of us felt the sting. But when he talked about the value of being visible in the community, interacting with the people of the community, finding a need, filling it, and so earning a hearing, I think most of us heard a valuable challenge.
The way Jesus spread good news might be characterized in a similar way.
In the Gospel of John’s account of Jesus’ early ministry, he journeyed from Judea into Samaria. When he ran into the woman at the well, he wasn’t anywhere near Jerusalem. By foot, the Temple was two long days away. He definitely wasn’t expecting her to come to church. Instead he went to her. Jesus carefully built a conversation, sensing the woman’s need, and finding a way to meet it in an unexpected and powerful way. When the conversation ended, the good news continued to spread to others the woman knew.
Often Presbyterians have a negative reaction to the word “evangelism,” equating it with fundamentalist preachers, evangelists who ring home door bells, and messages that motivate others through fear or guilt. What if evangelism is kinder and simpler than all that? What if it has more to do with being visible in your community, interacting with the people of your community, finding a need, filling it, and so earning a hearing?
About one year ago, many of us began to learn about a proposed new ministry in Edwardsville. Some members of First Baptist Church had befriended a homeless man in our community. When he showed up one day with frostbite, they were motivated to do something. An overnight warming location was proposed, debated, and ultimately approved. The congregation made an effort to be visible in the community, to interact with the people of the community, to find a need and fill it. As a result, they have received a new respect and right to be heard when they talk about the good news of Jesus.
This week, the Washington Post ran a story about several new software applications that connect people to one another for friendly conversation and meals.[1] “No dating or networking. Just breakfast,” advertises one. Such apps have drawn a following and revenue stream from people who are disconnected from human contact by remote work and electronic communication. People are paying for a service that, for hundreds of years, the Church has provided as part of its normal ministries. What if evangelism were that simple, interacting with the people of the community, finding a need and filling it, sharing a meal and conversation. If a congregation offered something like that, then its members might earn new respect and right to be heard when they talk about the good news of Jesus.
Today’s sermon is different in the respect that it ends in a writing activity. In your worship bulletins, there is a final page with a “needs-identification exercise,” essentially a feedback form. It invites you to help the strategic planning team. “Help us to identify one need in our community that you believe our congregation would be well suited to address.” Our congregation has a unique personality, constituency, and resources, and many of you know this congregation very well from decades of involvement. Our community has many needs, some of which you may know and understand better than anyone else here. Given all you know, would you please suggest one need in our community that you think might be a good match for this congregation’s ministries, gifts, and resources. Write down that need. Be as general or specific as you like. Give as few or as many reasons as you like. When we get to the offering, we will be collecting these feedback forms. If you think of more later, simply write an e-mail to the general office address.
When Jesus explains to the disciples why he has been speaking to the woman at the well, he challenges them to open their eyes and hearts to see the needs that are right there in plain sight. “Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.”[2]
What if evangelism starts as simply as that? What if it has to do with knowing your community, really seeing its members, finding a need, filling it, and so earning a hearing? May God bless our discernment with wisdom and grace.
NOTES
[1] Lisa Bonos, “A new loneliness cure: Apps that match you with strangers for a meal,” The Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/19/social-apps-friends-strangers/
[2] Gospel of John 4:35.
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