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Your Hearts Desire

by Olivia Fairfax

 
I want to start by asking you all a question.  What is it that you want most in life? What is your heart's greatest desire?

As we approach the Christmas season, all of us are asked by our friends and family what it is that we want for Christmas. For some it is difficult to think of anything in the moment and we ask for a gift card or cash, but for others they have had their Wishlist prepared for months waiting for the Christmas season to come around.

But when we know what we want for Christmas and have been waiting to receive something special, there is nothing quite like the excitement of unwrapping that gift on Christmas morning. The anticipation, the suspense, the delight in receiving the thing you really want… that's what Christmas is all about, am I right?

I am only joking - Christmas is about far more than presents! But there is still something special about receiving gifts at Christmastime, particularly when they are wrapped up and unrecognisable under the paper. The mystery, the wonder, the curiosity about what you will receive sparks a sense of excitement… or worry!

Of course, when a present is all wrapped up on the outside, it is hard to know whether what lies inside is actually something you want, or whether it might be something disappointing which you have to grin about and later regift and palm off to someone else.

The story in the sermon I will talk about later today will touch on this problem of not knowing how to respond to a wrapped present. But first I want to return to the question, "What do you want most in life?"

Now this question has much broader implications than merely asking what you want for Christmas. It is a question which requires a little more thought than your average Christmas Wishlist.

What do you want most in this world?

The most common answer to this question is to love and to be loved. This is the single greatest desire of any human heart. All of us want to be loved.

The world knows this and tries to sell to us its own idea of love. Movies and music tell us that love is all about attraction and romance-especially at Christmastime (thanks Hallmark)! The media convinces us that we need to look and act a certain way to be worthy of love. Retail giants tell us that buying the latest car or make up or clothes will increase our chances of finding love. Society tells us that love is only possible to be found if we 'try before we buy'.

Everyone is living in pursuit of true love and acceptance in a world full of empty promises. Because the truth is, this world can't satisfy the infinite yearning in our hearts for perfect love.

Proverbs 19:22 says, 'What a man desires is unfailing love.' We want to know with absolute certainty that there is someone we can trust with the full weight of our total reliance. We want to be completely confident that we have an unfailing friendship that is grounded in honesty and integrity. We want to know that someone has given their life to us with unreserved commitment and loyalty, and that we are perfectly valued and cared for.

This desire for love is more than a mere desire of our hearts. It is actually something we in fact NEED.

This was discovered in the 13th Century by Frederick the second, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany. He conducted an experiment to discover what language children would naturally speak if never spoken to. He had a hunch it would be German! So, he took babies away from their parents at birth and placed them in the care of nurses who were forbidden to speak in their hearing. The babies lived in complete and utter silence.

Not only this, but the babies were not allowed to be touched. The nurses who cared for them, feeding and changing them, were only allowed to interact with them using utensils. The research never yielded the information Frederick the second desired, because all the babies died. It was reported that they all died for a lack of love. Though well fed, warm, and clean, they could not survive without experiencing love and connectedness through speech and touch.

We need love to survive. And as creatures, we only have needs which are able to be met - every need we experience has the potential to be satiated somehow. C. S. Lewis put it this way: "Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water… If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." 

If each of us have the need for perfect love, it means that surely such a need can be met somehow. But in our pursuit of this kind of love, we can often be hurt, rejected, betrayed, and let down - leading us to put up barriers and walls to stop ourselves from getting hurt again.

Now there was a woman in the bible who understood, perhaps more than most, this intrinsic need and desire for love. She had spent her entire life pursuing love, only to be disappointed at every turn. I invite you to turn in your bibles to John chapter 4 as today we look at the story of the Samaritan woman.

Interestingly, of all the recorded conversations Jesus had in the bible, this exchange with the woman at the well is the longest.

In this story, we find a broken woman who has been hard done by in life. Time and again, this woman's heart has been left in bitter disappointment and cynicism towards love as the thing she yearns for most always seems just out of reach. She has made poor choices, though probably not all a fault of her own, and has developed coping mechanisms just to survive. While inwardly she longs for something better, she refuses to entertain any hope that things could be better, putting up barrier after barrier to protect herself from being hurt once again.

Read with me John 4:6-7 - 'Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"'

The first thing we learn about the Samaritan woman is that she is drawing water from a well in the middle of the day. Now back in this time, it was customary to draw water first thing in the morning with all the other women from the village. But here she is drawing water at midday, in the heat of the day. We can assume from this introduction that this woman is either not welcomed by the other women of the village or was carefully avoiding their judgement, gossip, and scorn. She typically performed this ritual alone. Except his time, she wasn't alone.

A man, a Jew, was there waiting for her.

Let's continue reading. John 4:9 says - '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.)'

Now, in the interactions between the Samaritan woman and Jesus, we will see that the woman places barrier after barrier between herself and Jesus. This is the first barrier - their cultural differences.

Now in the text here it says that the Jews did not associate with Samaritans. This is important to note because the Jews rejected the Samaritans as fellow Israelites, while the Samaritans still considered themselves children of God. This was one of the sources of their tension. And yet here was Jesus, a Jew, side-stepping this major issue of identity and culture, to ask her for a drink.

Naturally, she questions why Jesus would do such a thing - how could he ask her for a drink? She is wary of Jesus' intentions. Was he just asking for a drink, or did he have an ulterior motive? Wary, she keeps her guard up.

Let's keep reading from verse 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.'

Jesus completely ignores the huge cultural debate which the Samaritan woman has just raised, and instead addresses who he is and why he is here. He is here to offer a gift from God - living water - to the woman, and establishes his authority to do so. If she knew who he was, she would be asking him for a drink! This is quite a bold claim! How does the woman respond?

Let's continue reading verse 11 to 12 - '"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"'

Here comes the woman's second barrier - she challenges Jesus' offer and authority. Sensing that Jesus is talking about spiritual things when he offers her living water, she redirects the conversation back to the literal well of water, revealing her fear to address the deeper pains her heart has suffered and her fear to entertain hope. And in doing so, this woman also challenges Jesus' authority to provide any kind of 'spiritual' water. After all, who is this random stranger in comparison to Jacob, the forefather of all Israel, who provided the well?

But not only does the Samaritan woman redirect the conversation away from spiritual things, but she also raises another major point of contention between the Jews and the Samaritans by bringing up her right to draw from the well as a descendant of Israel. You see, the Jews from Samaria had intermarried with Gentile colonists during the Babylonian exile from Israel and were viewed as "mixed-blood" and were not considered true Israelites by the Jews. But here the woman is clinging to her Israelite heritage and claiming her right to the spiritual inheritance of their forefathers. This woman was clearly intelligent and knew how to manipulate a conversation.

Let's continue reading. John 4:13-15 - 'Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 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."'

Jesus again ignores her attempt to redirect the conversation and bring up derailing topics. Instead, Jesus simply tells her about the spiritual water He is offering to her. He can see her thirst for love, and is offering to her that this gift will satisfy her thirsts and grant her eternal life.

But what is the woman's response? While she indicates genuine interest in the gift Jesus is offering, she is only interested insofar as it can solve her immediate problem of having to come to collect water from the well. Here we see her putting up the third barrier between herself and Jesus, though it is clear that she is starting to open up. She makes it clear that the gift Jesus is offering would be nice, but how could it possibly solve her immediate problems? After all, religion has only ever made her problems worse in the past…

So, how does Jesus reply? Let's read verses 16 - 'He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."'

Jesus gets right to the point. He knows her past. He knows her immediate problem. And He brings it up completely out of the blue and yet very subtly.

Now, it was cultural back in this time that women were not to be educated or taught in spiritual matters, except if their husband or father were present; and even then, it was unusual. It was considered the man's role to be educated and involved in spiritual and political matters, while it was considered the woman's role to care for the home and family. While these roles had some value, they were ingrained in society to a fault - to the point where women were not allowed to be taught or educated in any matters of public life without her husband or father being present. So here we see Jesus is using this contextual norm as a conduit to address this woman's problem.

The story continues. In verse 17 to 18 we read -- '"I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 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."'

When the woman responds that she has no husband, she is yet again setting up a fourth barrier between herself and Jesus - using the contextual perceptions of gendered rights to education to put distance between herself and Jesus. She has no man whom she can call to authorise Jesus to educate her, so that should have prevented Jesus from continuing.

But Jesus tackles even the cultural context of the time and continues to talk with this woman about spiritual matters without a husband or father present. He goes on to reveal - without any judgement - the truth about the woman's past, highlighting the issue that has brought her to this moment; the issue which has driven her from God, from religion, and from society - bringing her to this very well. Jesus points out her issue is that of desperately desiring perfect love.

Jesus has hit home, and the Samaritan woman is caught completely off-guard. Afraid of being vulnerable and hurt from where this conversation might go, the woman quickly changes the topic yet again. Let's continue with verses 19 to 24 - '"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth."''

Here we find the Samaritan woman admitting that Jesus must be a prophet of some kind, because he clearly knows the personal details of her entire life. But this was getting far too personal for her liking, so she tries to distract Jesus and escape the limelight by bringing up a fifth barrier - the biggest theological issue between Samaritans and Jews since the time of King Jeroboam - their place of worship.

Now, for a quick recap of history we're going to jump momentarily to 1 Kings 12.

During the reign of Solomon, a prophet came to a man named Jeroboam, who was one of Solomon's officials, and told him that he would be given 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel to rule over in place of Solomon's lineage. When Solomon's son Rehoboam came to power, Israel revolted against him because of his harsh rule and dictatorship. So, Israel went to Jeroboam and made him their king. All of Israel, except for the southern kingdom of Judah, was under Jeroboam's reign.

One problem remained, however. Jerusalem - the place of worship for annual feasts and festivals - was located in Judah. Jeroboam became afraid that when the Israelites travelled to Jerusalem for these feasts and festivals, they would revert their allegiance to Rehoboam. So instead of trusting in God's prophesy, Jeroboam built two high places in the northern kingdoms with golden calves in them for the Israelites to worship.

As such, Israelites all throughout history would worship God at these high places rather than at the temple in Jerusalem and began to build their own temples in major cities in Israel. The Samaritans, in particular, worshipped in a temple on Mount Gerizim in Samaria, which they considered to be the true temple of God, being built according to the laws of Moses. However, in the year 129 BC, the Jews destroyed this temple in Samaria, adding to the hostility between the two groups.

This was one of the biggest theological disputes going on for centuries, with religious leaders judging Israelites' religiosity based on where they worshipped - the high places, or Jerusalem.

All the Samaritans believed Mount Gerizim was the place of true worship, and so when the Samaritan woman brings it up to Jesus, a Jew, she is drawing attention away from herself and yet again revealing her problems with how religious bodies have judged her and her people.

But Jesus' response is incredible. He does not deny the truth about history, or the importance of the spiritual undertones of the debate the woman has raised. But instead of discussing the theology of this debate, Jesus instead addresses the heart of the issue she is raising - that of worship. Jesus teaches her that the place of worship is not so important, but what matters is the worship itself - that it is genuine, true, and earnest. This is what God desires from his people - their hearts, not just their presence in a building.

The Samaritan woman can see that nothing she says is working to avoid Jesus getting to the heart of her problem. So, in one last-ditch attempt to protect her fragile heart, she tries to put an end to the conversation with a sixth and final barrier. She announces that while Jesus can say all these things, there is no way to know anything for sure until the Messiah comes. Jesus has been offering her hope in everything he has said, but she does not want to hope. She is afraid to indulge the hope that what he says is true and open herself up to accept his gift of living water.

Everything in this woman's life was far too messy to be fixed by just one man with a few nice things to say. She knew she needed a Saviour and was determined to keep everything - her hurt, her pain, her disappointments, her fear, and her desperation for love - buried deep inside until the Messiah came. She was waiting for true restoration and the true living water to satisfy her soul.

Let's read John 4:25-26 - 'The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."'

Jesus tells her that HE is the fulfilment of her hope. He is perfect love. He is the restoration that she has been longing for. She doesn't have to keep her hurt and disappointment and mess hidden anymore. Because He is the Messiah, and he was here for her. Literally, RIGHT HERE - at the well - for HER.

Everything she had ever been looking for in life had come to find her. Jesus had side-stepped every single barrier that stood between the two of them in order to reach her heart. The very thing which had driven her away from God - her desire for perfect love - was the very thing which came to the well to bring her back to God. Except this time, her desire for perfect love was made complete in Him.

Each of us set up mental and emotional barriers inside our hearts to avoid getting hurt. We set up defence mechanisms and tell ourselves survival lies so that we don't have to be vulnerable. But God's love will never let us down. His love is the answer we have been searching for - the fulfilment of our heart's greatest desire. A love which is always there for us, supporting us, and loyal even to the point of death - when we don't deserve it.

In these interactions with the woman at the well, Jesus showed compassion, kindness, and love, yet never pushed the woman beyond her comfort zone. He was a gentleman, knocking on the door of her heart for her to open up to him. As Jesus says in Revelation 3:20, 'Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.'

Jesus is knocking at the door of each of our hearts, longing to be welcomed in. He knows we all need and deeply long for a love that fulfils us. And He wants to give us that love.

That's why He came to this earth - to demonstrate the depths of his love for us.

Just like at the well with the Samaritan woman, Jesus overcame every barrier which stood in the way of our salvation to enter into our world as a baby and offer us the gift of life.

Philippians 2:6-8 tells us this about Jesus. Jesus, 'who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross!'

Jesus set aside the barriers of his divinity and glory and righteousness, and was born as a human being, into a race marred by sin. He set aside his rightful position as king of the universe, and became the child of poor parents who could only offer him a simple life and an education in carpentry. He set aside his right to worship and instead suffered abuse, scorn, and unjustified murder.

There is a passage from the book Prophets and Kings by Ellen White which I would like to share with you. It reads, "When the Saviour finally appeared in the likeness of men, Satan could but bruise the heel, while by every act of suffering Christ was bruising the head of His adversary. The anguish that sin has brought was poured into the bosom of the Sinless. Yet Christ was breaking the bondage in which humanity had been held. Every pang of anguish, every insult was working out the deliverance of the race."

"In Gethsemane and on the cross, our Saviour measured weapons with the prince of darkness. When Christ hung in agony on the cross, then indeed His heel was bruised by Satan. But that very act was crushing the serpent's head. Through death He destroyed "him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." This act made forever sure the plan of salvation. In death, in rising again, he opened the gates of the grave to all His followers. Our Redeemer has opened the way so that the most sinful, the most needy, the most oppressed and despised may find access to the Father." (EGW Prophets and Kings, chapter 58)

With every injury, every cruelty, and every unjust torture suffered by Jesus in this life, he was breaking down every barrier of injury, pain and suffering which might keep us from salvation. He took every single barrier which could get in our way to receiving His perfect love, and He nailed every single barrier to that cross.

This is the true gift of Christmas. The gift of love which would overcome every single barrier, suffer on our behalf, and die the death we deserved, just so that we might not be lost.

Many are lost even today. We each have neighbours, friends, and family who do not understand what Christmas is truly about.

Return with me for a moment back to the story of the woman at the well… what does she do once she has discovered this perfect love? She tells her entire village!

She goes to the few friends that she has, and tells them about Jesus. She goes to the women who judged her and despised her, and tells them about Jesus. She goes to the men she has cheated on and with, and those who have scorned her, and she tells them about Jesus. She goes to the religious leaders and spiritual leaders of her village, and tells them about Jesus. There is not a single person that she does not tell about Jesus.

John 4:39-42 reads - 'Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, "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 Saviour of the world."'

Jesus' interaction with the woman at the well is a beautiful story of restoration and fulfilment of our greatest desire - love. God tells us in Jeremiah 31:3, 'I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.' The woman walked to the well that day in shame, cynicism and heartbreak but walked away with confidence, hope and restoration.

What do you desire the most in this life? The answer is the same for you as it is for your neighbour, colleague, relatives, old school friends, and strangers - perfect love. Have you found perfect love in Jesus? If not, I want you to take away from this sermon today that Jesus will gently overcome every single barrier in the way to reach your heart with tender compassion. If you have already found this perfect love in Jesus, I want to challenge you today to be like the Samaritan woman and share your testimony about Jesus with everyone.

Matthew 5:14-16 says, '"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.'

Our experiences of God and our testimonies are a powerful light in a world of darkness and empty promises. Our testimonies were meant to be shared. So, as you go about your week this coming week, I want to encourage you all - and I include myself in this too - I want to encourage us to all think about how we can share our testimonies with those around us, and pray for opportunities to witness Jesus' perfect love to others.

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