Good morning. In the 4th chapter of John’s gospel, we are told of an incredible meeting between Jesus and a Samaritan woman. Jesus and His closest disciples were traveling through Samaria on their way north to Galilee. Traveling through Samaria wasn’t something good Jews were comfortable with, but by doing so it removed about 1/3 of the miles required to reach their destination. They had reached the point where they needed supplies and the disciples went to a nearby town to purchase what was needed. Jesus stayed at the well which served the local community and rested. Before long, a Samaritan woman came to draw water. This was unusual because it was the hot time of the day, and drawing water was typically a social activity where women traveled together early in the morning to fetch the water needed for their families. But this wasn’t just any Samaritan woman.
This woman was in all likelihood the scandal of the community. Her personal history, which the Lord accurately brings up in the course of their conversation, was one of hardship and sin. She was making her way to the well in the heat of the day because she was not welcomed as a part of the group the rest of the community’s women formed.
Jesus challenges her to understand that while she seeks water to quench her physical thirst, He offers Himself to quench the thirst of her soul. As we come to verses 19-20 we read of her reaction: “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
This is a very interesting response on the part of the Samaritan woman. Is she trying to re-direct Jesus’ attention away from herself and her personal problems? Perhaps. Is she trying to pick a fight because this Jewish man seems to be criticizing her? Perhaps. Is she trying to justify herself, creating a separation between them? Perhaps.
What we know is how the Lord responded to her. “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, 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 worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:21-24
Jesus makes the point that God’s plan of salvation was made through the Jews. However, Jesus tells her, the place of worship as well as the methods and means of worship carried out by the Jews and the Samaritans will soon be irrelevant. True worshippers, Jesus tells her, will worship our Father God in the Spirit and in Truth. He tells her that it “must” be understood that this is God’s desire.
Today, we too should understand that the place of worship, as well as the methods and means, are not what is important. There are Christians on the other side of the world who are worshipping today with different music, within different types of surroundings, with different ideas of time and schedule. None of that matters when we are all worshipping our Father God in Spirit and in Truth.
To worship God in Spirit is just as much God’s desire for us as it was for the worship of the Samaritans, or for the worship of the Jews Jesus was traveling to meet. To say that we must worship God “in Spirit” means, among other things, that it must originate from within, from the heart; it must be sincere, motivated by our love for God and gratitude for all He is and has done. Worship cannot be mechanical or formalistic. It must be personal. God sent His Son, Jesus, to us ensure our personal relationship with Him.
To worship God in Truth may be easier for us to understand, for it obviously means that our worship must conform to the revelation of God in Scripture. Worship must conform to who God is and what He is like. Our worship must be rooted in and tethered to the realities of Biblical revelation. God forbid that we should ever sing heresy. Worship is not meant to be formed by what feels good, but by the light of what is true. To worship inconsistently with what is revealed to us in Scripture ultimately degenerates into idolatry. May this never be!
May our worship today be personal, delightful to God, Spiritual in origin and power, focused, based upon what is true, and revealed to us through God’s Word.
Vern