“Not A Problem!”
Text: John 4:5-42
3-8-2026
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Sometimes when we have a longer reading like with our Gospel today, it’s hard to grasp the whole picture of what was transpiring. So, to help with that, allow me to give you just a brief synopsis. Jesus and the disciples were traveling through the region of Samaria. The disciples went into the town of Sychar to buy some food, leaving Jesus to wait for them at Jacob’s well. A Samaritan woman came out to the well and Jesus asked her for a drink. After a bit of a discussion about how Jews and Samaritans don’t like each other, Jesus offers the woman something that she desperately needs. He offers her His living water. That living water is saving faith in Jesus as the Savior, which is the only way to quench the thirst of our parched souls. The woman says in response: "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?”
Do you see the beautiful picture that’s beginning to develop here? Jesus was thirsty for a drink, but He didn’t have any way to get water from the well. But when He offers to give the woman a drink of spiritual water, she’s the one who doesn’t have a way to dip into Christ’s well of living water. And Jesus is about to show her why she has no means to receive that water. She’s got a problem that she’s been ignoring. And until her problem is solved, she’ll never be able to drink that living water. In a spiritual sense, this woman had the problem of Liza in that song: “There’s a hole in the bucket, Dear Liza, Dear Liza. There’s a hole in the bucket, Dear Liza a hole.”
Lately I’ve noticed a new phrase that has crept into our language. I’ve heard it at restaurants and also when ordering things over the phone. If there’s something missing or needs to be changed on your order and you bring it to the attention of the person serving you, they’ll say, “Not a problem, sir.” Can I get a salad instead of fries? “Not a problem, sir.” Can you ship that to my home address? “Not a problem, sir.” It’s almost robotic how it pops out of their mouths, no matter how annoyed they might be getting. Sometimes I want to say, “Can you stand on your head and whistle Dixie while you take my order?” With the hopes that they’d say, “Not a problem, sir.” I suppose this is the modern way of saying, “The customer is always right.” You know as well as I do that in their heads, some of these folks are saying, “You are a big pain in the neck!” But they just smile and say, “Not a problem, sir.”
In essence, that’s what the Samaritan woman was used to saying. She had been married 5 times and for whatever reason it didn’t work out. Each time it was, “Not a problem.” It doesn’t matter if her divorces were her fault or the fault of the men she married. It was a violation of the sacredness of marriage which God had established between one man and one woman for a lifetime. Evidently, she had given up on marriage and was now living with a man. She could say “Not a problem, sir” all she wanted, but Jesus wouldn’t let her dodge the issue. He confronted it head on. He basically said, “There’s a big problem here. And until we solve it, you’ll never be able to drink my living water.” You see, unconfessed sin is like huge holes in a bucket. You can go to the well of living water all you want, but until you have those holes repaired by Christ’s forgiveness, your soul will remain thirsty.
Why is it that the thing we need the most we seek the least? I’ve seen it happen thousands of times, in my own life and in the lives of others. Now don’t try to guess who this is, because I’m sure you’ll be wrong. But I know a young lady who had a rough life. Her father failed her and she was hurting. She had a huge hole in her heart. So, she starts staying overnight at her boyfriend’s house thinking he will give her love and security. In reality, she got the exact opposite. There was no commitment to give her security. If it continues, like so many relationships similar to this, he will eventually dump her and she’ll walk away more hurt and less secure than before. When I was a policeman, I saw women who were raised by drunken, abusive fathers. And guess what kind of men they’d go and hook up with? Drunken, abusive men who would beat them for no reason. We’d put the guy in jail and guess who would go bail the sleaze bag out? The abused woman. And the cycle would keep on repeating itself, always getting worse. There’s a hole in their hearts and they’re trying to fill it with fake love of the men they bring into their lives. But that hole in their hearts can only be filled with the love of Christ.
It’s not just women who do this either. Men start feeling like their relationship with their wife is getting boring. It’s like a hole in their heart. So, they start viewing pornography or flirting with another woman to stir up the flame inside they think is going out. But they’re actually doing the opposite. They should be focusing on their relationship with their own spouse but instead, they’re punching more holes in the bucket that needs to be repaired.
Kids are no different. They desperately want to be loved by their parents. They need to know that they’re worth something to the people that they love. But then they do and say things that are disrespectful and unloving to their family. They end up more and getting less of what they really want and need. There’s a hole in their bucket that needs repair.
Men, women, children; we’re all alike. Why do we do that to ourselves? The answer is simple: Sin. Because of our old, sinful nature, we go back over and over again to the very thing that causes the problem. Proverbs 26:11 says, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.” I know that’s disgusting, but then why aren’t we disgusted with our sinful mistakes of the past? Why do we keep returning to the same sickening things that caused us the problem in the first place? As long as we keep saying, “Not a problem, sir” we are destined to repeat the same stupid sins that cause us so much pain. The hole in our leaky bucket will only get worse. And our thirsty souls will never be satisfied.
Jesus has the answer, though. You see, we are unable to fix our sin problem. It starts at the moment we’re conceived. Figuratively speaking, we were born with no bottom to our spiritual bucket. We had no way to dip into the well of Christ’s living water. But God in His mercy offered a solution. You witnessed it this morning with the Baptism of Tessa. The Holy Spirit washed her soul clean of all sins and then gave her the gift of faith. It’s like a solid receptacle, a bucket, which allows us to receive Christ’s living water for our souls. With it, we can drink freely of God’s grace and His promise of eternal life for all who believe and are Baptized.
The only problem is that even though we’re Baptized we all still sin in this life. It’s like punching holes in the bottom of our spiritual bucket. So, what’s the solution to our damning dilemma? Well, what did Jesus do with the Samaritan woman? First, He confronted the sin. Jesus showed that He was all-knowing. He knew all the secret sins of that woman and He knows all yours too! And He invited that woman to stop saying to herself and others, “Not a problem.” Jesus Christ invites you to do the same. He invites us to come to Him so that the gaping holes in our lives, caused by sin, can be repaired. The first step, is to repent and confess those sins.
But before we go any further, let’s be clear about what true repentance is. We need to define it because all too many people are confused about it. Regret and repentance are not the same thing. True repentance is a whole lot more than regretting that your actions have caused a problem. True repentance comes to Jesus and says, “Lord, I recognize that I have a huge problem. I have sinned against you and my fellow man. Please forgive me and heal me so that I can receive your living water for my thirsting soul.”
Let’s face it. It’s not comfortable to admit that we have a problem with sin. Like with the Samaritan woman, Jesus will take you to places in your heart that you don’t want to go. But there are hidden sins which need to be confessed so that He can heal that area of your life.
There’s a very insightful song by a Christian musician named Steve Chapman, called “The Secret Place.” In the song he says that his heart is like a house with many rooms where he and Jesus would visit. But there was a room where he kept his hidden sins locked up. Listen to the words of the rest of the song:
But then one day He saw that door. I knew the day had come too soon.
I said ‘Jesus I’m not ready, For us to visit in that room.’
Cause there’s a place in my heart, Where even I don’t go.
I have some things hidden there. I don’t want no one to know.
But He handed me the keys, with tears of love on His face.
He said ‘I want to make you clean. Let me go in your secret place.’
Then I opened up the door, and as the two of us walked in,
I was so ashamed. His light revealed my hidden sin.
But when I think about that room now. I’m not afraid anymore.
Cause I know my hidden sin, No longer hides behind that door.
You see, the only way that we’ll be healed is by the loving forgiveness of Jesus Christ. He will heal the gaping hole left by sin in your heart. He’ll heal your soul so that you’ll be able to dip into His well of living water and drink freely of His grace. Your thirsty soul will finally be satisfied. We often need to hear those words of Christ’s forgiveness through the voice of another person. That’s what God has called me to do as your Pastor. Christ’s voice comes to you through my lips as you hear those beautiful words in the Absolution that your sins are all forgiven. I would also remind you that you can come to me privately if there is a particular sin that’s really bothering you. You see, once you’ve received those life-giving words of forgiveness, then you can truly say, “Not a problem, sir” because all the holes of sin in your heart will have been repaired by the atoning death of Jesus and His forgiveness which was won for you on the cross. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!