I AM GRATEFUL TO WORSHIP THE LORD WITH YOU ALL THIS MORNING. THERE’S A STORY I WANT TO TELL YOU WHICH I BELIEVE WILL BLESS YOUR HEART. YOU’LL FIND THAT SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS STORY IS QUITE COMMON AND FAMILIAR. SO, ARE YOU READY?
There was a woman who lived at that time when women were deprived of human rights; when women were viewed and treated as an “object” rather than a person. When women could not get into profitable employment, so they had to depend on their man to provide for their daily needs. At that time, divorce could only be initiated by the husband. And any man can divorce his wife for any reason. IF YOU ARE WATCHING THE MKR SEASON, it's on now, The HUSBANDS WHOSE WIVES PUT THEIR TEAM IN THE BOTTOM OF THE LEADERBOARD COULD FILE A DIVORCE. REASON: her cooking was bland. For a divorce to be granted, the man had to expose the wife in public. He had to publicly give reasons why this woman deserves a divorce. He had to say that his wife was unclean, that she was unlovable or incapable of fulfilling her duties, as a wife, and the wife had no say on the matter.
So as you can see, DIVORCE SHAME THE WOMAN. When we were treated unjustly and suffered injustice, our natural response is to protect ourselves from more hurt. That explains why this woman chose not to walk at the time of the day when she could be scrutinized by eyeing public because this woman had been divorced 5x. In short, this woman was publicly shamed and humiliated 5x, dumped 5x. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THIS WOMAN WAS UNFIT TO BE A WIFE, SOME SCHOLARS CONCLUDED THAT SHE WAS A PROSTITUTE, BUT THE FACT THAT SHE HAD TO FACE A PUBLIC SCRUTINY FOR HER FAILURES AND MISGIVINGS WAS UNMERCIFUL, UNJUST, AND INHUMANE. TO HUMILIATE SOMEONE IN PUBLIC WAS UNGODLY. Moving on, this woman now lives with another man who was not her husband, possibly for economic reason, and the fact that they were still unmarried, it was most likely, that she was not being treated well. Perhaps, she was again in another complicated situation. Whatever the case may be, she knew her life was not in order, she knew she was in a relationship situation that was unacceptable in the eyes of God and society.
One day, this woman went out of the house and headed to fetch water from a well. Again, this story happened when tap water in kitchen homes have not been discovered yet. Everyone would have to go to the well. And so she did in the middle of the day when the sun was up, and the heat was on. She probably thought that no one would be at the well by that time. To her surprise, when she got to the well, a man whom she never met before was at the well. And this stranger began to talk to her. A gesture that was not socially and culturally normal. She could tell, possibly by his accent, that this stranger was not a local, and definitely, not one of her people. This stranger even told her about her life, HER PAST, AND HER PRESENT. The woman didn’t know that HER LIFE WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE. SHE DIDN’T KNOW THAT she was up for an encounter of a lifetime. AND THE CONVERSATION WAS STARTING TO GET UNEASY FOR THE WOMEN, SO SHE ABRUPTLY SWITCH TO A TOPIC THAT WOULD APPEAL TO THIS STRANGER WHOM SHE PERCEIVED WAS A PROPHET.
I can imagine the woman saying,
“I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT MY PERSONAL LIFE.” LET’S TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE. LET’S TALK ABOUT WORSHIP! To continue with our story, I WILL GET YOU TO PULL OUT YOUR BIBLE AND TURN TO JOHN 4; I WOULD LIKE US TO FOCUS ON VERSES 21-26. BY THE END OF THIS MESSAGE, MY PRAYER IS THAT WE WILL FIND OURSELVES ESTABLISHED IN WORSHIP. READ AND PRAY.
IN (v20) the Samaritan woman said: “our ancestors worshiped in this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
HER USE OF THE WORD “OUR” TO REFER TO HER ANCESTORS INDICATED THAT SHE WAS NEVER A PART OF THAT WORSHIP. She might have been in that place to attend, BUT The personal EXPERIENCE OF WHAT WENT ON IN THAT PLACE WAS REMOTE AND NON-EXPERIENTIAL TO HER. A GENUINE WORSHIP EXPERIENCE AFFECTS YOUR INNER MAN AND NOT JUST GIVE YOU AN EMOTIONAL HIGH.
V21) It shows how one worships is more important than where one worships. And this is not to say, that we should not come together in one place. Jesus said that He is coming back for the BRIDE WHICH IS THE CHURCH. The word “church” comes from the word “ekklesia” meaning “assembly. That’s why Paul reminded the church in Hebrews 10:25, not to neglect to assemble.
So we come to church on Sunday mornings to worship God. Sadly, to a lot of people, worship and going to church are the same thing. We have already established that going to church is very important. But worship is more than just going to church. Worship is the act of entering God’s presence for the sole purpose of exalting Him. Many times we leave the church the same as when we entered. We sit in church, unmoved and unemotional because, to us, attendance and worship are the same things. The point is that you could be in a place like this and be absent in spirit and truth altogether.
YOU AND I ARE AWARE THAT PEOPLE CAN BE OFFENDED BY HONEST REMARKS. HOWEVER, OUR SAVIOR DID NOT HESITATE TO GIVE A PIECE OF HIS MIND TO THE WOMAN. JESUS CARED SO MUCH FOR THE SOUL OF THIS WOMAN, AND HER NATION THAT HE CARED LESS HOW SHE WOULD TAKE IT.
IN V22, JESUS SAID TO THE WOMAN, “YOU SAMARITANS WORSHIP WHAT YOU DO NOT KNOW.” I UNDERSTAND WHY JESUS HAD TO SAY THAT REMARKABLE STATEMENT! WORSHIP OF THE LIVING GOD WILL ALWAYS BRING LIFE, AND FRESHNESS TO THE WORSHIPER. THAT’S WHY, JESUS SAID TO THE WOMAN IN V10) “IF YOU ONLY 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.”
IN WORSHIP, It does matter whether we have true knowledge and understanding of God whom we worship. IT IS THE STARTING POINT. Knowing who YOU worship define your worship, AND HOW YOU WORSHIP. Our Scripture in Matthew 22:37, says “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Let us understand worship the way God intended. IF we do, you won’t even think of playing on your phone or check your emails or SMS messages. You would even shut off your FaceBook, your Instagram, Twitter, etc. because you have full knowledge of the environment you are in. You understand well that the place you are standing is a HOLY GROUND! And you don’t need anyone to tell you that because You KNOW WHO YOU WORSHIP. We worship when we enter into his presence to express our humility, our respect, our adoration, our gratitude, and our love for him.
We see the problem that this woman had. Her worship is tied to her family tradition, cultural orientation, RELIGION, and RITUAL. V23-24 now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. (24) God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” V23 refers to an attitude of heart; a heart that acknowledges God and his sovereignty over our lives. WORSHIP TRANSCENDS BEYOND MERE PHYSICAL PRESENCE. IT IS RESPONSIVE TO THE REVELATORY WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT INSIDE US. IT IS RESPONSIVE TO THE PERSON OF GOD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD. SO, WE ARE CHANGED, WE ARE TRANSFORMED!
2 Co 3:17–18 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. David was a person who worships God in spirit and truth and he experienced the joy of worshipping his God. 2 Samuel 6:5 says that "David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals." If you continue reading the account in 2 Samuel, you'll see that this was the occasion when David danced in the street. David worshiped, but his wife, Michal, got angry. David knew how to worship.
Worship must be done in truth—The Father has revealed himself in the Son who is the truth (John 14:6, 9). He must be the focus of our worship. The woman said in verse 25: “I know that the Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
(26) Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” (NKJV) “I, the one speaking to you – I am he.” (NIV) “He is talking to you now – I am the Messiah.” (ERV) - An absolute declaration of deity. “You are waiting for the Messiah? Then you should be interested in this conversation because I have come and am speaking personally to you.” True worshipers are those who realize that Jesus is the Truth of God (3:21; 14:6) and the only Way to the Father (Acts 4:12). The Father is seeking true worshipers because He wants people to live in reality, not in falsehood. You know when you are in the presence of God when you are having a real encounter with Him when you feel naked before Him. When your most hidden fears, worries, and sins, those things that you don't want to talk about nor the things you don't want to admit, those things that are buried and hidden for many years yet, you know still got a hold of you. Jesus said to the woman, (v16) "GO, CALL YOUR HUSBAND." And it's not because, Jesus wanted to humiliate her, not because He wanted to discredit her or to shame her. He dug them into it because He wants to free the woman from shame, guilt, and pain. He wants to settle it once for all that the woman didn't have to hide or pretend. True worship of the Living God IS FREEING. IT always moves you to Him in honesty and sincerity. It makes us admit our brokenness, and not hide our brokenness from Him. Jesus wants to admit it; to bring us to the point of surrender. Because being true and honest to God is the kind of worship that moves the heart of God. In v17, she admitted: “I have no husband.” That’s all that Jesus wants to hear. Jesus is not out there to destroy you, but he is out there to mend you. He wants to cleanse you. He wants to heal. TRUE worship happens when a direct upfront confrontation with the divine happens in the spirit and soul. MAY WE ALL ESTABLISH OUR WORSHIP IN GOD OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST?
INVITATION:
Initially, she perceived that Jesus was a prophet (v19) and NOW as the Messiah (v29). HER WORSHIP WAS ESTABLISHED IN CHRIST JESUS! WAS NO LONGER ABOUT THE PLACE, BUT like GOD. What the woman knew about the place of worship did not change her. But Jesus, the person of worship whom she now knew brought an almost instant and radical change of heart, behavior, and lifestyle. He offers you the same today! Will you respond to Him in faith!
