Jesus meets a Samaritan, tells her everything that she ever did, and offers her living water; water that will become in her a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
Now she wants to change the subject. “I can see you are a prophet,” she replies. She realizes that Jesus knows entirely too much about her life and her choices to be anything else. Since you are so smart, Jesus, let us talk about an “issue” that has been plaguing the Jews and Samaritans for quite some time. She asks, “Are we supposed to worship in the temple, or are we supposed to worship on this mountain?” Is she genuinely interested in getting the answer to this question, or is she trying to avoid any more unpleasant talk about her sin and poor choices.
Either way, Jesus obliges and continues to have a very meaningful conversation with her. He replies, “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.” Okay, let me say something here…both the Jews and the Samaritans are at fault in their worship. The Samaritans have missed the mark because they worship God, but they do not truly understand God. They accepted only the Pentatuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy), therefore, leaving out much of his revelation in the prophets, they really knew little of him (i.e. his character, his nature). The Jews truly knew God, and the Messiah was even to come from Jewish lineage; but, they missed the mark because their religious experience up to this point was confined to a building (one that was soon to be destroyed and what then?). Both groups had a thing or two to learn about worship!
Jesus defines it for her, and certainly later defines it for all of John’s readers (that includes you and me, by the way). Jesus says, “A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” Think about that for a second! Jesus just said that there is such a thing as a “true worshiper,” which also implies that there are people out there who do not truly worship. You mean, there are people out there who get together, they know God, but there is the chance that God does not accept their worship? Apparently so!! Why? Well, they are not truly worshiping God because they are not worshiping him in spirit and in truth.
God is spirit. Do you realize what that means? That means that God is everywhere. He is not a physical body that is tied down to any type of physical structure (mountain or building). God is spirit, therefore, he cannot be contained. He is everywhere and can be worshiped anywhere. Jesus has just redefined the location of worship. We cannot put ourselves in a position to dictate “how” or “where” we worship. We must only come in the way the spirit of God opens for us. God is to be worshiped in the place he is present. I once heard a man say, “God is not nearly as concerned with the ‘tune’ of worship, as he is with the ‘tude’ of worship (attitude/heart).” I truly believe that there is much truth in that.
This “truth” Jesus speaks of, what is it? I believe that he is speaking of worship that is done in a true way, worship that is genuine. A people who worship in truth are ones that recognize God, his character, and his nature. They also equally recognize their need for him. These people worship “in truth” because they worship what is true (Jesus, John 14). They approach God with an attitude like this, “Thank you for understanding where I am; I can hardly wait to be where you are!”
All of these thoughts bring me to ask a question, “Do we worship with instruments or without?” Does it really matter? But then again, thinking along the lines of this story, why do we get so wrapped up in asking such a question? Sometimes I wonder if we are not a lot like the Samaritan woman in this story. She, I believe, changed the subject to worship because she was tired of being confronted with the unpleasantness of her sin. I wonder if we like to focus so much on “issues” because we are afraid of confronting the real issues in our lives…pride, passion, arrogance, prejudice, hate, lust. It is so much easier to focus on some other “issue” that will soon be a matter of little consequence. I mean really, when Jesus comes back is he going to care whether we are worshiping with a piano, band, or a cappella? Or, is he just going to be ecstatic that he finds his church worshiping in spirit and truth upon his return? I mean, after all, he is coming with trumpets, right?
In closing, I want to leave you all with a passage of Scripture that I hope encourages some serious reflection from all of us. It comes from 2 Corinthians 3:17 and reads, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” What if we spent less time disputing the issues and more time swimming in the springs of water welling up to eternal life? Life in Christ. Let’s LIVE!
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So, if God is not confined to time or place; worship should become more of a lifestyle than an event. I should be worshipping God at work, when interacting with others, when I watch TV, etc… If this is the case, then the position of my heart ought to be of much more concern to me than the mechanics of the corporate worship. Maybe this is some of the spec/plank concept. Maybe I should get my life in order before I even begin to concern myself with your worship style.
{Habakkuk 2:4 says, "See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright- but the righteous will live by his faith.} How interesting faith is contrasted with pride. You could define pride as “getting it right”. I would rather be righteous in God’s sight than right in man’s eyes any day.
It is amazing that people would rather focus on someone else’s worship style instead of their own life issues.
I never thought about the woman at the well trying to change the subject. And to think we still do that today. Even though I may be uncomfortable with the "issue" being brought up, it is still better than discussing my sin.
Christiantechnologist...I think you are exactly right. As a matter of fact, I do believe Jesus pointedly says "somewhere" in Scripture that I should go and make myself right before the Lord before I go and confront my brother with an "issue." I wonder how many "issues" could be avoided if all of us would spend some time 'making ourselves right' before the Lord before we jumped in and started ranting and raving. And I am certianly with you...I would much rather be righteous in the Lord's eyes as well. Thanks for sharing!
Jaime lynn...welcome to enduringthejourney. This is the first time I have seen you here. Thanks for your comments. I hope you come back and visit soon. Good point...funny how we will talk about everything else that makes us uncomfortable in the world, except that which is making us most uncomfortable in meeting the next world being prepared for us. Thanks for participating!
This is such an interesting passage..especially when Jesus says we must worship in spirit and truth. I know there's lots of diverse thoughts as to what is meant here. The more I study it, the more I agree with you--that I believe he's referring to how genuine we are are in our worship. Another word that comes to mind is sincerity.
I know I've heard lessons before when individuals indicate they feel Jesus is emphasizing two different aspects of worship. Again, the more I reflect on this, the more I think that one word is a commentary on the other. Just as we may say we would like "peace and quiet." The words are different, but they really communicate the same thought/idea. If our spirits--not just as our fleshy bodies are worshipping, it seems to me we will be worshipping in truth. At times I've heard people use the tone when they read the word "truth" to imply "correctness" and "doing things the right way." I don't believe that was Jesus' emphasis here. If it was, it sure seems that he would have elaborated more on what that correct way would be.
I want to be correct in my worship and do it in a way that pleases God, but the post also reminds me of a question I have pondered repeatedly over the years. Within the Churches of Christ, the idea has seemed to be promoted (indirectly probably more so than directly) that we had to be perfect/correct in our form or practice of worhip or it would be a sin that God would not or could not forgive. What's the scriptural basis for that idea?
I wish I could tell you that I've always examined myself everytime before communion and that I always make melody in my heart when I sing, and that I have always lifted up holy hands in prayer, but the truth is I have not. I'm a weak human who is not always capable of true worship. Thanks be to God for his marvelous grace!
Tommy, thanks for posting such an interesting question. I too have struggled with how some have come to such a conclusion. If you read my post on "A Crippling Fear," you might see the conclusions that I am beginning to come to concerning your thought. I am beginning to believe that it has everything to do with one's view of God (as Charles has been discussing on Wednesday nights). If you view God as this almight judge who is waiting to slam the gavel down when you step out of line, then you are going to avoid the "grey" areas of Scripture. This where you would coin a phrase like, "Speak where the Bible speaks, and be silent where the Bible is silent." If the Bible doesn't clearly say that I can, I won't. I fear that God will judge me, punish me, or stop loving me. What if we are missing out on a unique aspect of our relationship with God because of an unhealthy fear of him? Just some thoughts!
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