John 4:1-26 True
Worship WC McCarter
Introduction
In John four, we meet Jesus as He is heading out of
Judea and north to Galilee. In between these
two regions is the region of Samaria. Most
Jews would avoid Samaria by going around it along the Jordan River, since over
700 years of religious and racial prejudice separated the Jews and Samaritans. Jews looked down on Samaritans who were half
Jew and half Gentile, and considered them impure people. Although it took more time, traveling along
the river would be the easiest route. Jesus
had a special purpose for this trip. He
was on a mission. He overlooked racism
and disregarded the Jewish traditions of the time. What he does and says is highly valuable.
In
the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John, in response to one of the most heated
questions of the day, Jesus makes a statement about worship and worshippers. He told a Samaritan woman at a well that the
time had come when true believers would worship God in spirit and truth. This woman quickly grew to understand that
Jesus was a prophet and maybe even the Messiah, but it is not clear whether she
understood what Jesus meant by “spirit and truth.” Yet, that is our goal today. What was Jesus teaching about true worship,
and how does it apply to us?
READ SCRIPTURE
Point 1: Spirit and Truth- Linked
These
2 terms go hand in hand because they are both governed by the same preposition-
“in.” In effect, Jesus says that worship
is to be, “In spirit and in truth.” They are linked together. We must interpret both terms in light of each
other. D. A. Carson says that
they “form one matrix” and therefore are “indivisible” (226).
Connective: First, we see that both of
these words must go together. This will guide us as we investigate this text.
Point 2: Location and Means- Dismissed
In
the context, it seems that Jesus compares and contrasts location and means of
worship. These are the two subjects
discussed.
*What locations are named? (1) Mount
Gerizim; (2) Jerusalem Temple
*What means of worship is
understood at both? Ritual Ceremonies
Jesus
dismisses Mount Gerizim and even the Jerusalem Temple as the correct location
for worship. He also rejects the means
of worship for both, which was ritual ceremonies. Since both the location and means of worship
have been dismissed, all we are left with is what? Worship in spirit and truth.
The
spirit (human) replaces both the Jerusalem and Gerizim locations for the
appropriate place for worship, while truth replaces ritual ceremonies. Let me mention that the apostle John often
uses words that can have multiple meanings.
Here is an example, the word “truth” can also be translated as “faithfulness”
or “reality.” Jesus is saying that we
must worship God with sincerity of heart, in truth, in faithfulness. This is our true act of worship. Outward rituals are not our means of genuine
worship. Love for the truth and
faithfulness to the truth is our true means of worshipping God the Father
through Christ the Son.
Connective: It is now clear that worship
has changed to spirit and truth because the old locations and means have been
replaced, but we now face the real question, What does it mean to worship in
spirit and truth?
Point 3: Spirit and Truth- Meaning
At this point I
like what Mark Moore says about true worship, “The Spirit of God and the spirit
of man commingle.” Worship is when our human spirits commingle
with the Holy Spirit, with sincerity and complete reality before God.
Ritual
was the old requirement of worship. Jesus
changes this to worship in truth, which is anything that is in harmony with
God’s Word and will.
God is not limited to a place or time. We can commune
with God anywhere at any time. We can
serve God in many capacities and in any place.
You know when you’re riding with someone and they have
to slam on their brakes? What do we do a
lot of times? We grab the dash, like
it’s a steering wheel. We tense up and
try to push the brake with our foot, even though we are not behind the wheel. It is an automatic reflex that we have developed. Now, who can blame someone for doing
that? Yet, the same thing often happens
in our worship times, but that cannot be excused. That cannot be laughed off. We cannot allow ourselves to merely go
through the motions of a traditional routine.
Jesus said, “God is Spirit.” God is much more than this physical
world. Worship is much more than a
specific location or any ritualistic event. Is it wrong to designate a place to meet for
worship or to do many of the same things each week? No, of course not. We have the commands of the Lord and His
apostles and the example of the early church to follow. We are commanded to assemble together on a
regular basis. We are commanded to do
some of the same things when we meet such as partaking of the Lord’s
Supper. We are to belong to a local
church among whom we worship and serve. Yet,
we must understand that the location and means by which we worship do not control
us. We worship the Father in spirit and
truth. We can worship under a steeple,
in a pew, at someone’s house, in someone’s basement, at a baseball stadium, at
work, or out under a tree, etc.
Have you been in a spiritual rut? Have you not “felt” the Spirit in worship?
Do you feel far away from God at times?
Let us forsake
all forms of worship that are based merely on man-made traditions, human
insights, and only outward activities.
This, of course, means that we must not bend to cultural pressure, whether
it be secular culture or Christian culture, as to how we should worship our
Lord. We must be faithful to the truth,
and we must worship Him in spirit.
Let us not
engage in the “worship wars” to argue about music styles or what clothes we
wear on Sundays.
Let us do this one thing: Worship God in spirit and in truth. In your spirit, get to know the Lord
better. In your spirit, commune with the
living God. Let your spirit be the
starting place of your obedience to the truth.
Believe in your spirit. Trust in
your spirit. Pray in your spirit. Love Christ in your spirit. Let us be faithful to our Lord in everything
we do because He has and will be faithful to us.