Worship — John 4:21-24

Introduction

If you haven’t been to the gorge you need to know Cody. Dude knows the gorge. He comes just close enough to making you feel lost to where you still trust him.

Story about going to the gorge and prayingBilly taking me up Hawksbill

Mission:

To live on mission for Christ's Kingdom.

Our identity — our foundation — our calling

Vision:

To see Morganton, Burke County, and beyond transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What we aspire towards — in and through Christ.

MPT: God is seeking, and will find, His true worshippers.

We have been walking through our core values. The core values of the church are the intentional, culture-shaping distinctives.

— Show swimming pool graphic —

So the metric or frame work we operate in will be measured against our core values and our core values will always be aligned to the Word of God.

So today as we walk through this passage in John, we will look at the core value of worship. Now this seems like perhaps an overly obvious value to have. So how is this a culture shaping distinctive?

Because by and large there is a prevalent thought amongst cultural Christianity — worship is a type of music. I grew up thinking that for sure. Though some of us may know in our heads that worship is an all of life activity, I believe this exchange in John’s gospel account will open our eyes to see that — just like worshiping is singing but so much more — worship is no only an all of life activity, but is as consistent as the breath going in and out of our lungs.

See, scripture defines worship in a couple different ways that may surprise you. In the Old testament, the Hebrew word — which I will not attempt to pronounce — is synonymous with bowing down; it is a physical act. So in Psalm 95 it says let us worship and bow down, the original language would say let us lay down and bow down. This is a physical act of bringing one’s self low to show honor and praise to God.

The new testament is even more surprising. It means to serve or give service to. The word study tool says “state of a hired workman”.

There are so many implications of this that we don’t have time to unpack, but nonetheless; 1, it drives home this point that Worship is a very physical, lived, breathed, experience. And 2, when we worship, we are serving God. What could we offer Him? Even our worship to Him is really a gift to us.

It really shapes how we read Romans 12:1

Romans 12:1 [1] I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (ESV)

David Foster Wallace

Pulitzer Prize winning writerrenowned atheist who took his own life

There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. _ David Foster Wallace

And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship—be it JC or Allah, be it YHWH or the Wiccan Mother Goddess, or the Four Noble Truths, or some inviolable set of ethical principles—is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. On one level, we all know this stuff already. It's been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, epigrams, parables; the skeleton of every great story. The whole trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness.

And so the question that I have been facing all week — the question we all must ask— moment by moment, has been “who or what am I worshipping in this or that?”

This is how we have defined this value for us as a Church.

Value: Worship — Every day, every moment, our lives echo God's glory, resonating with devotion and gratitude.

As with each of our values we have been looking at them from the vantage point of two spheres of the life of the church — gathered, and scattered.

Another way of saying it; what does worship look like as a body of believers together and what does it look like in the every day rhythms of life — when we are on our own at work, when it’s a lazy Saturday…is there worship in that?

Let’s look first at Worship Gathered.

I. Worship Gathered | vs. 23-24:

[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.” (ESV)

So to give context, she came to draw water and Jesus decisively shows up around this time and asks her for a drink. Then an exchange takes place wherein she is trying to avoid any sort of depth and yet she is talking to the one who knows her better than she does.

Now this is a fairly well known passage in scripture. In case you aren’t familiar with it, there are some key things to note.

First of all is the scandal of Jesus talking with this woman. She came to the well during the day, most likely, to avoid talking with anyone because of her sinful lifestyle. Secondly she is from Samaria — a people not looked at fondly by the Jews. So there are all sorts of variables to this scenario that make it noteworthy but perhaps the most significant thing is the intentionality of Christ.

Jesus could have stuck with the custom of the time which was to avoid this route altogether. but verse 4 of this chapter says Jesus had to pass through Samaria. But we know that, not only could he have gone the long way, it would have been normal for Him to do so by the culture’s standard. But the message from Christ matches the life of Christ.

The Father is seeking His worshipers. He has sought us. Mission Church sees worship as a core value and it is interconnected with the other values. We value renewal, which at its fundamental level is something that happens to us from God. We value hospitality, which at it’s fundamental level begins and ends with the welcome we have all received into the presence of God through our union with Christ and so we value Worship because at it’s fundamental level it is a response to an almighty God that first came looking for us — not the other way around.

In other words, when we experience the welcome of Jesus, and the renewal of the Spirit’s work in our life, it stirs our souls to worship.

So our value of Worshiping Gathered is further defined like this:

Worshipping Corporately through receiving the Word, singing, baptism, communion and the giving of offerings.

We gather on Sunday, which is the day Jesus rose from the dead, to hear the word proclaimed, to sing songs together, give faithfully and to practice the ordinances. These are the ordinarily, ultimately significant, means through which disciples are shaped, formed, and equipped to be faithfully sent out to make more disciples — brought into the fold of God.

As it was said earlier our series - the church gathered and the church scattered are deeply interconnected. Andrew Wilson says it like this:

"Our patterns of worship when we are scattered are shaped by our patterns of worship when we our gathered. Good liturgy is a gift that keeps on giving.” _ Andrew Wilson Eucharismatic Worship

So with this understanding we seek to have a liturgy that shapes and forms us into the image of Jesus by pointing us to the good news of who He is; The one and only Son who’s life death and resurrection brought those of us who were far off — near.

Liturgy is a nice sounding word that means order of worship. It’s important for us, Mission Church, to understand this — to see the intentionality of it. Christ was intentional in His pursuit of us. We want to be intentional in our pursuit of Him. This shapes all that we do in our service but it also provides the framework for being sent to live on mission for Christ’s kingdom, making disciples who make disciples.

When you walk in each week you are handed a bulletin that has our liturgy right on it.

The Call

We begin each week with an invitation to come and worship the Holy God.

We begin each service with a literal call to this gospel **community to the unique activity of worship. One of the resources we utilize puts it like this -

The primary activity of the worship service is for worshipers to participate in the gift exchange of worship itself, by hearing God’s Word, by offering prayers and praise, and by receiving spiritual nourishment offered at the Lord’s table. The call to worship establishes the unique purpose of the worship service and reinforces the “vertical dimension” of worship—an encounter between God and the gathered congregation.

It is not just routine. It is intentional. We know that worship on Sunday should be an overflow of a week filled with worshipping God, but we are prone to wander. We need to be called! We need to be reminded of our purpose for existing! To enjoy God and glorify Him forever — to worship the creator almighty who is worthy of all praise and worship!

The Gospel

We are then reminded of Christ’s sacrifice and respond by confessing our sin and embracing His grace. We gather to set our gaze upward and are struck with the reality of our need for a savior. That we can walk through these doors, that we can be in the presence of God, that we can enjoy fellowship — is only because of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ!

We gather, confess our sin, confess our need, and collectively seek repentance.

The Assurance

We then hear the assurance, God's response to our confession that He has forgiven us.

1 John 1:7–9 [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. [8] If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (ESV)

When we confess it is an act of worship. It is the first testimony that we believe that Christ really did die in our place, that His sacrifice was acceptable to God, that He did in fact rise from the grave, ascend to the Father, and that He intercedes on our behalf!

So your confession is an acknowledgement of your sin, yes, it does require vulnerability with your brothers and sisters. It makes sense that this would be difficult to do. Sin is shameful. But as you acknowledge this, out loud to your brothers and sisters, how much more is the acknowledgement — the proclamation! — that He took your shame! What good news! Jesus said in John 6:29, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” To act on this belief is to confess it says here in 1 John, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness! This is the assurance every Christian has. This is the blueprint for becoming a disciple of Jesus. “I am a sinner, I believe Jesus died on my behalf, rose from the grave conquering my sin, and ascended to the right hand of God the Father to intercede on my behalf!”

Hallelujah, God be praised!

The Welcome and The Word

We hear the welcome and continue in worship by listening to the Bible explained and proclaimed , His word of life.

In our message on Renewal we drove home the point that we value expositional messages. We walk through scripture. Our messages don’t pop up because of some current event that we need to harp on, there would be too many, rather we submit to scripture as our guide.

So how does this involve you? How is your hearing the word of God worship? Well just like everything we have said so far, your primary participation as well as mine is receiving. But remember, this is not passive.

Remember, presenting your bodies as living sacrifices — Let me get really practical.

Are you awake? Are you listening? See, your part in worship during the hearing of the Word is to submit to the Spirit of God and posture your body and soul to receive what God would have for you to encourage you, to rebuke you, to ultimately sanctify you into the Holy child of God He has adopted through His son.

So come ready! We don’t just serve coffee because we love it. We don’t just serve it because Hospitality is one of our values. We serve it because when we say in our welcome, “all who are weary” we mean it! We see you. God sees you!

So when you enter in, dear brother’s and sisters, after a long week, when you do the “work” of cultivating a listening, ready, and hopeful heart - that is worship! Praise God.

So we wake up, allow God’s word to challenge — not only challenge but put to death in us the things of the world and give us a new self in Christ Jesus! This is one of the ways we are “transformed by the renewing of our minds.”

The Supper

We respond by rehearsing the gospel once more, celebrating the feast in repentance and faith.

This is a communal gathering where we respond not in isolation but with locked arms with the saints of God. The gathered worship of the church is not simply a formative event, but a true experience and participation in the life of the Triune God.

The Praises

We then rejoice with songs and prayers of praise, declaring His worth and seeking His presence. We are called into worship God. We see our sin, confess it, and are assured by the good news of God’s forgiveness in Jesus. We are renewed and equipped by hearing the word. We remember Christ’s sacrifice together and then we respond!

Though this message is not primarily about singing it certainly includes it!

See, each element of our liturgy flows into the next. This is my great hope for us this morning and every Sunday that we gather to worship together, that we would be so caught up in Jesus and His love for us that our response in song would be filled with joy and thanksgiving!

Oh that the Love of God, made a reality for us through Jesus Christ, would embody us physically and Spiritually and we would be so moved into our sung response!

God has sought true worshipers and through Jesus has made us His family, He is our Father! We are sons and daughters of the God of this universe. We do not have the ability to gather and or worship together let alone sing because we happened walk a really Holy walk this week or because of the speediness of our repentance or because of anything we have done. You aren’t brought near to the presence of God by these songs or by our words. You are brought near by the blood of Jesus! And so our song is the result of all we have been given not the cause! And as the writer of Hebrews says we Hebrews 10:19–22

Hebrews 10:19–22 [19] Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, [20] by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, [21] and since we have a great priest over the house of God, [22] let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (ESV)

Brothers and sisters, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance and sing loud! Oh the kindness of our Lord — the songs we sing, that remind us of the gospel, that express joy, sorrow, lament, the songs that are straight up praises to God for who He is, these songs that are life giving to us as we sing and hear one another sing — He counts as worship!

Even when we are trying to give to Him. He is giving to us.

As we serve Him it is always because He has first served us.

He has first sung over us.

Oh that we would each of us experience the incredible paradox of being so united with the saints in song that it’s like we are alone in the presence of God — The body of Christ lifting her voice in praise.

Billy will wrap up this series next week with the last of our core values; community. So I will not go on a rant about community groups.

But, can you begin to see why we hold gathered worship so dear? This gathering is His gift to shape us for the life He has put us in.

The Offering and Sending

Finally, we worship with our finances and send one another out once more, to scatter on mission to our region. You hear us say this week after week - we continue in our worship through giving. We say together to God, all we have is yours, we are but stewards of your gifts. We could give you all the practical things that are helped by giving, and we are transparent about all of those things but ultimately our giving is meant to echo John the baptist’s words in John 3:27

John 3:27

[27] John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. (ESV)

So we give and worship and then we are sent out to be on mission for Christ’s kingdom.

Let’s look at worship scattered.

Let’s look back at our passage once more at verse 21.

II. Worship Scattered | vs. 21:

[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.

In the previous verses this woman and Jesus are having somewhat of a back and forth about who worships when and where and how. It’s a misdirect from the real conversation. But nonetheless Jesus is gracious and engages. He is saying to her, the time is coming, the moment will be here, and actually it starts now — that none of that will matter.

Jesus knew what she didn’t. He knew that the Holy Spirit was coming soon because of the price He would pay. In this time, you could dispute who the “true” worshipers were based on Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim. Jesus is saying that part of the argument is no longer relevant because as D.A. Carson puts it “the true worshippers cannot be identified by their attachment to a particular shrine, but by their worship of the Father in spirit and truth.” Jesus knew that one day people would worship God right where they are because God would no longer relegate His presence to one location but in the hearts and souls of His people!

That’s the day we live in. This is a call to worship every day and in every place. This is call to enact upon the very thing we were designed for; worshiping and glorifying God in all we do.

This is how we have defined this value as a scattered people.

Worship Scattered

Intentionally celebrating the creative work God is doing in our region.

If you are around me for more than an hour you will likely see me look around like I am lost, and then I will pick up a cloth and clean my glasses off. I cannot stand even the slightest smudge — i can’t not notice it.

Our dear friend Jen recently came for a visit. We were sitting at Town Tavern over a meal. Jen never cleans her glasses. Ne-ver. We are sitting there laughing and having a good time and Billy finally breaks and says “Jen may I please clean your glasses?!” “Sure” she replied, with a smile on her face. After he cleaned them she put them on and said “oh much better”.

This is what gathered worship does for us. We are able to see clearly the beauty and grandeur of God and who He is and it illuminates the world around us as His creation.

Romans 1:20 [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. (ESV)

The mundane becomes magnificent! The boring becomes beautiful. Dull and dreary begin to take on the form of delight. Worry turns into holy wonder at what God is going to redeem next!

The mural’s downtown are no longer just some cool painting someone did - we are able to see the beauty in that art as a reflection of an image bearing soul. Maybe they don’t know Christ, but God’s love and ownership of all things beautiful is put on display nonetheless.

Meals become feasts of celebration, food moving from mere nourishment to a joyous celebration of taste.

Our work, our jobs; they take off the shackles of a mere need for a paycheck and turn into a gratitude filled expression of working unto the Lord. We no longer need our job to identify us because Jesus did the most important “work” in all of History! It is done! Finished! You are bought and sealed!

You begin to see how everything in all of creation testifies to and points to the Glory of God.

That is how Cody and I, just two normal dudes, can be in the gorge and our feeling small next to the glorious mountains - turns from hiking to worship.

See, everything good and true and beautiful is from and belongs to God. Every good gift he gives is meant to stir our hearts. Like a drop of honey on the tip of your tongue leaves you wanting more — so is the beauty of all that is around us. Suddenly everything, every moment, of every day, every task, takes on the form of worship. And we realize, yes all of life is worship and that means I am either worshiping God, or the world. If I it is the world, ultimately we will find that we are really worshiping ourselves. My kingdom come, My will be done.

Oh that we would clean the grime off our spiritual glasses and see the gifts of God.

The O’keefe’s had us over for dinner Friday evening. As the ladies visited chatting together, Dustin and I were talking about all things music, food, art, growing up, theology, and just the overwhelming grace of God. I looked at him and said - this is worship. It’s not church, though we are part of the body- but it is worship.

Worship scattered happens when God’s people enjoy His gifts as gifts yet magnify, praise, and exalt the giver above any gift. When God’s people are embodied with the knowledge that every gift is just a sign pointing to His glory.

We must not cease to wonder at the great marvels of our God. It would be very difficult to draw a line between holy wonder and real worship; for when the soul is overwhelmed with the majesty of God's glory, though it may not express itself in song, or even utter its voice with bowed head and humble prayer, yet it silently adores. Our incarnate God is to be worshipped as "the Wonderful." That God should consider his fallen creature, man, and should himself undertake to be man's Redeemer, and to pay his ransom price, is, indeed, marvelous! _ C.H. Spurgeon

Conclusion

As we close today. My hope is that these values would truly embody us as a church family. That we would look for ways to glorify God in everything we do. That we would eat, drink, play, create, love, and work recognizing that in Christ it is all worship. Our role is merely to remember God.

Andrew Wilson wrote an incredible book called The God of All Things. Each of the thirty chapters in the book recounts some thing in creation that we would not normally think of as pointing to God’s glory. He shows how they do. In his epilogue this is what he writes.

‌But the day is coming when the signposts will not be needed, because the reality is here. We will know fully, even as we are fully known. And on that day—the day for which, Paul tells us earlier in this letter, creation itself is groaning in the pains of childbirth (Rom. 8:22)—the things of God will stop pointing and start praising. “The mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands” (Isa. 55:12). “Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together” (Ps. 98:8). “The stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40 NIV). The things of God will sing to the King of Kings and the God of things, for whom and through whom and to whom they exist. So will we.

Application Questions

1. How can we intentionally reflect on and recognize the presence of God in our daily lives, finding moments throughout each day to offer gratitude and devotion?

2. How does our perspective on worship guide us in responding to challenging or difficult moments in life? How can worship become a source of strength and guidance during tough times?

3. In what ways can our daily worship impact the way we interact with others? How can our lives echo God's glory in our relationships, demonstrating love, kindness, and compassion?

4. How can we share our worship experiences with others, creating a sense of community and encouraging one another