Friday, July 19, 2013

Spirit and Truth - Part One

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know;we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 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. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”  JOHN 4:21-24 (NIV)

 In this section of a wonderful exchange between a Samaritan woman and Jesus, something critically important to everyone shines through.  The fact that God the Father is actively seeking a certain kind of worshiper.  If we were to grasp the import of this concept, what would it mean to the way we approach worship?  It seems explicit in this passage that there is a right way to approach the LORD in worship, and because of this, there is a wrong way to approach the LORD.  This truth is borne out through the Scriptures, and for Christians, the concept of correct-worship is tied directly to the requirement for Spirit and truth in worship.  

Take some time to think about this question: if there is a kind of worshiper whom the LORD is seeking, do you want to be that kind of worshiper?  What's it worth to you to cultivate proper and powerful worship in your life?

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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 19, 2013 at 5:43 PM

    Spirit and truth. Is Truth Jesus here? How are we to worship? in God and Jesus, how do I cultivate this? Is it the same for everyone? is there only one way to worship God? I don't think so.

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  2. Sean RileyJuly 20, 2013 at 7:03 AM

    Thanks for your thoughts, Joy. I do believe that while Jesus made it clear in John 14, that He is the way, the truth, and the life, in this passage in John 4, He is pointing to something in addition to Himself. It seems that in this conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus is acknowledging the need for truth in worship, basically worshiping what is real - not false. I believe He is pointing not only to worshiping Him, but doing so in light of the revealed truth of the entirity of Scripture. This keeps our worship biblically grounded and informed by the truth of God's word. Marva Dawn said it well in her plenary talk at NWLC 13 that worship in truth is Triune in nature (honoring all three persons of the Godhead); that is is connected to sacred rituals of observance (no matter how formal or informal they may be); that it is done with understanding (held in dialectic tension with the mysteries of our faith); that is is set apart as a special and specific time (with the view of eternity in mind); and that it encorporates hymns, psalms and spiritual songs as a part of its expression. In order to cultivate this kind of worship, it must be a "both-and" relationship between Spirit and Truth. We worship God as a response to His revealed truth, in Holy Spirit drenched expressions (whatever form they may take - formal or informal). This means that there are certainly many ways to worship God in Spirit and Truth, but it also means that the worshipers God is seeking will desire to do so.

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