Scripture Introduction
God is seeking worshippers in spirit and truth. That does not mean that God seeks to make worshippers, as if there were people not worshipping whom he hopes to change. The issue is not whether we will worship, but whom and how.
John Calvin (a pastor in the 1600s) described the human heart as an “idol factory.” God made us to worship. Sin does not make us non-worshippers; it makes us worship something other than the living God and in a self-pleasing way.
The Apostle Paul said the same. Our problem is not really atheism – refusing to acknowledge God. It is worshipping the creature rather than the Creator. And that explains how we can profess the faith, participate in Sunday service, and go through the motions, while having hearts far from God. An idolatrous heart belongs not only to those who deny God; it can belong to those who do their duty without delight. These issues are central to John 4.19-26. [Read John 4.19-26. Pray.]
Introduction
“Where do you go to church?” For many people that question (or one like it) is a central issue in their relationship with God. Those exact words may not be used. Instead, we worry: “Is it high church or low? Is there a set liturgy or free-flowing praise? Does the pastor wear a robe or an open collar? Is there an organ or drums? Do we read prayers or pray spontaneously? Do you sing hymns or choruses?”
Those questions may be akin to asking: “Where do you worship?” Please do not misunderstand – I am not dismissing those concerns out of hand. But a careful consideration of this text must make us ask whether they are of first importance. Here, Jesus moves the Samaritan woman from consideration of peripheral issues to dwelling on what is vital.
Many of you are passionate about the corporate worship service. We should be – worship is the major issue in all of life. We cannot escape it – we are made for worship as we are made to breathe air. Without it we die.
John Frame, Worship in Spirit and Truth, 11: “In one sense, worship is the whole point of everything. It is the purpose of history, the goal of the whole Christian story. Worship is not one segment of the Christian life among others. Worship is the entire Christian life, seen as a priestly offering to God. And when we meet together as a church, our time of worship is not merely a preliminary to something else; rather, it is the whole point of our existence as the body of Christ.”
So because of the centrality of worship, Christians ought to be passionate about the topic. Yet as fire can hurt more than the light from it helps, so our passions must be carefully controlled – not simply to burn for our preferences, but to light the way to the Living God. It is perfectly good to have preferences; but we must distinguish them from the unalterable principles. This text focuses on those.
Before looking at the specifics, however, please note that Jesus assumes we know what it is to worship; he does not define the topic. But we do well to make sure we are clear. Obviously, we seek to honor God at church. Worship then, can be defined as “giving praise and thanksgiving to God through faith in Jesus Christ.”
But listen to this event. Does this describe worship? “Rays of late afternoon sun gild the hushed sanctuary filled with hundreds of expectant devotees. From the vaulted ceiling a camera pans the scene. Holding their breath as one, the congregation watches the mitered priest walk down the aisle, slowly approaching the chancel. His brightly colored vestments add to the joyful ambiance. There is not a cough nor a whisper as he kneels on the lush carpet seeking divine blessing for the offering. Moments of prayerful waiting follow. The bishop stands and grips his scepter, all eyes fasten on the calm figure. All ears tune to the awaited word. Then the tap of his staff is followed by a deeper silence. The flock in unison gazes at the pure chalice. Then a grand oratorio of praise explodes. He raises his scepter and approaches the altar. One voice, then another and another exult, ‘That is his third birdie today!’”
One definition of worship is giving praise to God through faith in Jesus Christ. But the basic and literal meaning of the word, “worship” (in the Bible) is “bowing or prostrating oneself or kissing the feet.” But from that, any honor or reverence given can be called worship. Thus we can “worship” the true God or false gods. We can “worship” the Creator, or our own creaturely preferences. We can “worship” God the Son, or we can make our own sons’ and daughters’ practical gods which rule our lives. Worship in its broadest sense is giving honor and praise. Thus, everyone worships – to whom will we give our devotion? That is the first question which must be answered.
1. Our Worship Must Be God-centered
Some of us attended the Mars Hill Academy’s Fine Arts Presentation on Friday night. Maybe you noticed the beautiful banner which Hope Church had in the corner of the sanctuary. It said, “God is the Audience.” What a great truth to see every Sunday! “God is the audience.” In Christian worship, we perform – God promises to attend and enjoy.
That reminds me of the four-year old boy saying his prayers one Sunday night: “Dear God, we had a good time at church today – but I wish you had been there!” What most matters in biblical worship is whether God is there.
I hope you noticed that Jesus’ description of worship is completely focused on God’s expectations. Jesus does not ask this woman what kind of music she likes. He makes no inquiry into the time she wants church to start. He seems uninterested in what makes her feel spiritual. Instead, Jesus dwells on what God requires. Jesus tells her whom God is seeking. Jesus speaks about what pleases God! God must be the subject of every discussion of Biblical worship.
You might wonder, “Do we really need to dwell on such an obvious and elementary point?” Surely none here needs me to tell you that God is to be central to worship!
Yet there is a depth in this simple truth which we do well to meditate upon. When the Bible insists we give honor and glory only to the one true God (when we are warned against idolatry), something more is being referred to than simply the statues before which pagans bow. The idols my heart adores are all those things which I demand for joy and significance.
Pastor Tim Keller tells a wonderful story about a time when he discovered this application in his own life. He came home one Wednesday evening (after a session meeting) whistling with joy over the unity of the elders and the success he had dealing with complex problems. When he entered the house his wife said, “Wow, Tim, you must have had a great day.” He suddenly recognized that his moods had less to do with the nature and character and promises of God, than whether he got what he wanted at work.
The Bible warns us against worshipping another God because no other “god” promises to make you eternally and completely happy. All other gods use you for their needs; only the God of the Bible has a fullness overflowing into service and joy for his people.
William Henley in the poem Invictus proudly bragged that though his circumstances were fell, he neither “winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance / My head is bloody, but unbowed.” The poem concludes: “It matters not how strait the gate / How charged with punishments the scroll / I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul.”
Henley is deceived; self-contained mastery of life and devotion is not possible. We all bow down and kneel before someone or something. We were made to worship and the Bible insists there are only two outcomes – honor the true God and live, or submit to idols and be destroyed. Our worship must be God-centered for life and joy.
2. Our Worship Must Engage Our Spirits (John 4.23-24)
Jesus twice says that we must worship God “in spirit.” He is telling us that Christian worship is to be spiritual as opposed to merely physical. Not that nothing physical is required. The Bible always unites the soul’s adoration with bodily acts of devotion. Thus, God’s people sing and give offerings and kneel and eat bread and drink wine and raise hands in prayer and praise! Spiritual worship is not disembodied worship. Rather, no externals can dictate the true praise and adoration of God. “The hour is now here when the place of worship does not matter.” It matters not how beautiful the building is, whether it points east or west, what instruments you play, or what you wear.
On a vacation trip, Helen and I happened to catch a Television show with dozens of nuns mumbling over and over, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” The form was followed; no effort was made for the words to be heart-felt. Yet praying to Mary is not the only way to fail to worship in spirit.
• Have we not allowed our minds to drift so that the words we spoke or sang or heard did not engage our hearts?
• Have we not (at times) come to church because we must, yet refused to bring our souls to God for breaking and healing, for adoration and transformation?
• Children, have you not sometimes let your parents do the worshipping while you dreamed of other activities?
• Have there not been times when we stayed up so late Saturday night that we could not give God our best?
• Are there not weeks (maybe months) when personal and family devotion are so infrequent that we are unfamiliar with our Father when we arrive at church?
But let me not simply describe failures; may these positive examples turn us from self-focused worship.
• When Jesus says worship must be in spirit, he reminds us that what is really important is not what we see, but the One who remains unseen.
• When Jesus says worship must be in spirit, he reminds us that what is really important is not how long church lasts, but how long we focus on the One who created time.
• When Jesus says worship must be in spirit, he reminds us that what is really important is not your limitations, but communion with the One who is never tired, never distant, never distracted, never hurried, never late, never limited.
• When Jesus says worship must be in spirit, he reminds us that what is really important is not which song we sing, but that we sing to the God who promises to rejoice over us with singing! (Zephaniah 3.17).
God is spirit and we must worship him in sprit.
3. Our Worship Must Be True (John 4.23-24)
Under the old covenant, worship involved many outward forms and external rites which pointed to and “pre-shadowed” the Messiah to come. One location for worship (the temple), animals and blood, and rules defined ritual worship. But now that Jesus has fulfilled all the ceremonies which taught Israel about the Messiah, the inner reality remains without as many of the outward forms.
But we err when we use this fact as an excuse to elevate our subjective experiences. It is correct to say (and this was true before Jesus came, just as it is now): the only acceptable worship is that which comes from the heart. It is not correct to say everything which comes from the heart is acceptable worship. The only acceptable worship is that which comes from the heart; but not everything which comes from the heart is acceptable worship. God must be worshipped in truth as well as in spirit. Three things to note.
First, worship in truth admits who we are. You will notice, in our services, there is always a place for humility and confession. Satan and our flesh conspire to convince us that God is honored by our attendance and that we need not turn from sin in order to turn to him. But the truth is that my sin separates me from God, and that unless God seeks and saves, I have no hope. True worship is honest about who we are.
Second, worship in truth acknowledges who God is. Jesus condemns Samaritan worship because they worship what they do not know. Why did they not know? Because they refused to accept the whole Bible as the Word of God. Whatever sincerity they “worked up” in their spirits drove them away because they rejected the truth which alone could direct their spirits to him.
Third, worship in truth honors what God says. Surely one of the great travesties in the church today is our commitment to “have it our way.” Like the Israelites during the period of the Judges (people who did what was right in their own eyes with no regard to God’s opinion), so each church today seems infatuated with her preferences.
In Colossians 2.23, God condemns what is called, “self-made religion,” or “self-imposed religion.” The old version translated it, “will-worship.” The Greek word means, “arbitrary worship, worship which one prescribes and devises for himself.” There it is! In our age, when feelings and emotions are valued far above truth and revelation, worship easily degenerates into “self-made religion.”
During the Reformation, Roman priests had a slogan: “Ignorance is the mother of devotion.” Many American Christians seem to agree. But the Reformers said, “No, Ignorance is the murderer of devotion.”
John Piper: “Worshiping in spirit is the opposite of worshiping in mere external ways. It is the opposite of formalism and traditionalism. Worshiping in truth is the opposite of worship based on an inadequate view of God. Together the words ‘spirit and truth’ mean that real worship comes from the spirit within and is based on true views of God. Worship must have heart and worship must have head. Worship must engage your emotions and worship must engage your thought. Truth without emotion produces dead orthodoxy and a church full of unspiritual fighters. Emotion without truth produces empty frenzy and cultivates flaky people who reject the discipline of rigorous thought. True worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine.”
Worship must be in spirit and truth.
4. Our Worship Must Be Through Faith in Jesus (John 4.22,25,26)
Having moved the Samaritan woman from Old Testament worship with its dependence on external forms, to New Covenant worship with its focus on her heart and soul, Jesus now tells her how and why this transition is possible: the Messiah has come.
No longer does a priest enter the holy of holies with a lifeless sacrifice while the people wait outside. Messiah has ripped apart the veil! We are the priests entering the holy of holies to worship God.
No longer does the priest pray for us, for the Messiah ever lives to intercede and sends the Spirit to enter us and grown unutterable prayers from within.
No longer are we dependent on the prophet to give us the word. The word became flesh in the Messiah and dwelled among us and so anoints us with the Holy Spirit that we might know the God whom we worship.
No longer must the Levites alone eat the showbread in the holy place. The Messiah is the bread of life that all of His Holy people must eat.
No longer must the best wine be devoted to Aaron and his sons, for the Messiah offers us the wine which is His blood, poured out for the forgiveness of sins.
John Frame, 6: “As in Eden, God’s people hear his word in worship. But now it is somewhat different, for God’s word now tells us of our sin and God’s provision for our forgiveness. Again, we fellowship with God by eating and drinking with him, but that eating and drinking sets forth the Lord’s death until he comes (1Corinthians 11.26). Everything we do in worship, therefore, now speaks of sin and forgiveness, of Jesus’ atonement and resurrection for us. Worship following the fall of Adam should not only be God-centered, but also Christ-centered and gospel-centered. In all our worship, the good news that Jesus has died for our sins and risen gloriously from the dead should be central.”
5. Conclusion
In August, Helen and I will have been married 19 years. For our anniversary I will likely purchase some flowers, a sentimental card, and maybe some other gift to acknowledge my love and appreciation for her friendship and faithful companionship. Would that be good?
What if I give those to her and she says, “Oh thank you!” and I say in return: “Don’t mention it. I had to do it. Such is the duty of a husband and to fail would make me look really bad at church.” Duty without desire is dead.
But if I say I am devoted, yet never remember her birthday, never acknowledge our anniversary, never buy her a gift or speak of the love I feel, then that too falls short of a proper response. Desire without duty is insipid.
Love requires flaming desire focused by practical fulfillment. We can learn a lot about worship from our wives. Maybe that is why the first commandment is to love God. Worship, like love, requires a spirit inflamed and focused toward the true God in the way which pleases him. God is seeking those worshippers. Will you be one?
