The Subject of Worship
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Where do pirates get their hooks? Second hand stores.
Had a friend get so angry he threw his keyboard against the wall. Thats when the shift hit the fan. He completely lost control.
This woman was troubled, look at what she says to Jesus
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
This my friends is conviction.... Jesus has reached her heart and hit her right in the feels so to speak.... and as we will see she is going to feel the need to worship in the next verse… and thats a lesson we can learn from this woman… when Jesus reaches your heart our natural response is to worship him… you see what you have done wrong and you see how good he is and the only thing your heart will know what to do is worship… some of you remember this moment in your life… vbs… a night out with friends… a new experience at church… but suddenly you were confronted… yes confronted with the gospel of Jesus and your sin and his goodness became apparent.... and everythign changed…
IF you have not had that moment let me explain to you the gospel and what is happening… God created.... man sinned… god died…and right now you need to know that Jesus is your only hope… and he is so good to us he deserves a life of worship.... and so look at what she says… hopefully the same thing you will be saying when we start to worship at the end of this message....
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
The place of worship is not important
Let’s talk about this, because this is extremely important, and most of us might not understand what is going on here. A lot of you are aware the the Jews and the Samaritans didn’t get along… You may not remember exactly why… see about 750 years before this conversation, the Assyrians took over this land in the northern kingdom of Israel… and they put other people on this land that had different gods..you can see that in 2 Kings 17.. and what you see is the Assyrians couldn't get rid of all the Jewish people in the area, its almost impossible to completely move them, they could have hid or whatever, and what happens is the Jews that were left started to marry some of these assyrians.. and unforgivable sin in the eyes of the Jewish people… it was forbidden in the OT… so the southern Jews decided these northerners had lost their right to be Jews at all… their dirty half bloods...
Some time later the Babylonians kept the southern kingdom in captivity for 70 years and at the end of the captivity the people moved back to the southern kingdom and began to rebuild… they hadn’t intermarried… they kept steadfast… and when they moved back they begun to rebuild their temple to worship God…and when they started to rebuild the northern kingdom offered to help… but because of their thoughts on what the Samaritans were the southerners didn’t want anything to do with the yankees… so they refused their help… and the southern kingdom went ahead and built their temple… well the northern kingdom was angry… so the built a temple of their own… and all of a sudden there was this competing religion....
And this is the question that she is asking him… shes convicted of her sin… and she wants to worship God but now she has some confusion and she looks at Jesus and she says Jesus where am I supposed to worship… my people have always said we are supposed to worship here at Mt. Gerizim but your people have always said that worship happens in Jerusalem… I want to make sure what I am doing is right.. I believe in you… so What do I do… do I do what my people say is right, or do I do what your people say is right, I am so confused… help me....
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
Just think for a moment the life altering moment that this would have been for her… I know.... I know… its hard to get in her place, but we have to… this is life altering… there were only two places they could even perceive to worship god… and he has just blown it up… and I can only imagine as he is making this statement that this woman is utterly confused, and perhaps even sad becasue there was so much pride in these places of worship it was the best thing they could do was go to the temple and worship God in the way he deserved… and he has said neither of these places are that important .... and if he had stopped there I can imagine she would have been confused as what to do next… but he drops a huge truth bomb on here in the very next verse...
22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
Now, this is a difficult thing for us to understand in this moment where we stand, and I just want you to be able to understand this… salvation is from the Jews remember this is the fulfillment of a promise to Abraham… but at this moment that they sat and talked there was only ONE means of salvation… what was it… through a direct decendent of aaron in the temple… the royal priesthood had to make the sacrifice in the temple… it was the only way that you could be made right with God… so at this moment when he says that… its a true statement… so the only way at that time for people to be saved would have been for them to first become jews so they could then offer the sacrifices that they needed to make them right with God.... and its no wonder later that at the council of Jerusalem in acts 15.... that Peter is trying to say all Gentiles need to first become Jewish to become christian… he understood that salvation was through the jews… and Paul had to set him straight…
but just imagine in that moment that Jesus could have given her different OT examples of this Ruth and Naomi.... and after her husband dies Naomi doesn’t want to go back to her people she wants to stay with Ruth and she says your people will become my people… and your god my god.... and it couldn’t be the later without the former.... right… she had to be one of their people before she became under their god...
I think of the story of Naaman… who had heard from a jewish slave of Elisha and how he could heal him… and he goes to Elisha and Elisha wont even come out to talk to him he tells him to go wash himself seven times in teh Jordan… Namaan couldnt imagine doing such a dirty thing.. he had better rivers in his country… his national pride didnt allow him to think that way… so he wasnt going to do it… finally one of his servants argues with him that its worth a try I mean you came this far you might as well try it… so he does… and he’s cured… adn the beautiful part of the story.... as much dirt… never offer sacrfices to anyone but the Lord..and they make a frame to pour the dirt in and he is willing to kneel and pray to the Jewish God as a jew… a beautiful story...
And isnt this statement still true? Our Salvation came through a Jew! Yes he is GOd, but he was also fully Jewish… he gave us our salvation… and much look at what Hebrews 4:14-16
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
And so Jesus is called the great high priest… and he offered a sacrifice for you and for me.. he offered himself as the sacrifice that we need.... its such an amazing thing
And Jesus told the woman, you worship what you do not know… we worship what we do know… what a mic drop moment… he is telling her basically, sure you are worshipping GOd, but you dont know him clearly, and you aren’t worshipping him in line with what he has called us to… and so you really don’t know him but you are still trying to worship… and real worship must be something different… and he will explain it in the next two verses…
But this is something we can relate to in today;s society… so many people think there is one god… and they worship him with their own methods… but they don’t know him....they are ignorant of God… who he is… his character...
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
There are so many new world ideas of this higher power that is going to take care of everything… and people burn incense…and do weird religious junk for this God they think is meaningful… but they are worshipping what they don’t know… its not in line with What God has called them to… and here is the real crux of this verse.....
We must worship in spirit and truth
23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
We must worship in spirit and truth.... but why… becasue the Father is seeking people to worship him...
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
HE wants us to worship him… but what does it mean to worship him in Spirit and truth?
For some when they read this verse they think he is talking Holy Spirit, but we can be assured that this is not the case… when John is referring to the Holy sprit he says THE spirit… so we know that is not to be the case.,, but think about what is going on here… she is asking him for a physical position of where she should worship… here or there.... in a box with a fox… in a train… where.....
And Jesus here is giving her a position, but its not physical… its a spiritual position… hes saying its all about the position of our heart… our spirit.... and what this does is it kills the idea that you are worshipping God by just showing up and sitting in the seat on sunday morning while music is playing and everyone around you is singing… becasue Jesus has killed the position idea.... sure the place in our society can be a vehicle for what worshipping in spirit is, but awe must worship with our spirit… with all of who we are with our emitions with out heart… it must be a cry out to him for who he is....
And listen I am not saying raise hands… dance… some people DO worship that way.... thats not what I am saying.... but it cant be dur dur;.. and you have to have your heart in it… thats why I raise my hands… IM reaching out to him with my heart becasue I know I need him… I lift my hands out becasue I want to receive from him… im emotional knowing that I must have him.... some people take it too far....
but its not just about the emotion of it… it has to be more… it has to be in TRUTH
I love What James Boice says of the meaning of this
“…it means we must approach God truthfully, that is, honestly or wholeheartedly…According to Jesus, no worship is true worship unless there is an honesty of heart on the part of worshiper. We must not pretend to worship. We must worship truthfully, knowing that our hearts are an open books before God.”
This means we have to worship him in the truth of who he is our worship can’t be blank words like we talked about that don’t reach our hearts. Thats why I am constantly saying you should take time to really hear and sing the words we are singing....
it must be from your heart.