Worshiping In the Spirit

John 4:23-24

The Question of Worship

“If you could worship anyway you wanted to, what would it look like?”

The question is flawed, and it reflects one of the biggest problems with worship in the American Church: We worship the way we want to, rather than the way God has told us; we make worship about us, rather than about God.

The problem isn’t new, but is as old as humanity.

Cain and Able (Gen 4): which sacrifice to bring to God.

The golden calf (Ex 32): the greatest example of people worshiping God the way they wanted with no restraint.

Nadab and Abihu and their strange fire (Lev 10), sons of Aaron the priest, who saw what other religions did and tried it themselves.

In our reading today we hear Jesus proclaim that true worshipers of the Father worship in Spirit and in truth.

This morning we will take a moment to understand this conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, and how the Holy Spirit leads us in worship before God.

Jesus and the Woman at the Well.

The Worship War.

The context of John 4 - The Samaritans & Jews.

The Samaritans relied exclusively on the Pentateuch. In their view, they were the true descendants of people of God. They rejected the prophets and writings and the word of God. They only accepted Gerizim as the place of worship, rooted in Deut 11:29 where Israel is told proclaim blessing from Gerizim and cursing from Ebal. The well where the story takes place dated back to Jacob and Joseph, on Mt. Gerizim, near Shechem, or Sychar.

The Jews saw the Samaritans as apostate, mixed with the foreign peoples and foreign gods. They held all of the scriptures as the word of God, and that the only place of worship was Mt. Zion, where God had set His name upon the Temple.

The heart of the argument, and what the woman said to Jesus, was on the outward things of worship.

In her question to Jesus, the woman was saying, “We Samaritans think we’ve got the right place, therefore the right kind, of worship, but we won’t figure it out until the Messiah comes.”

This argument continues in the Church today; traditional hymns or contemporary music, formal liturgies or more freedom in worship. The reality is, we have an epidemic of golden calves in the church today. People want to worship God according to their own desires and wisdom, and consider the standard of their worship the feeling it invokes.

Jesus' Answer

To the woman, and to the church today, redirects our focus in worship.

“You worship what you don’t know, the Jews worship was we do know.” The matter is important, and Zion was the place to worship according the full revelation of the truth of God.

“But the hour is coming, and is now here…” There was a time for this argument - but something new has come that makes the whole argument obsolete.

The Messiah you are looking for has come.

“When true worshipers will worship the father in Spirit and Truth.” Rather than worshiping in Jerusalem at the temple, Jesus brings a new covenant in which true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit, regardless of where they find themselves.

The radical change of the Gospel of Christ:

The earthly shadows of the OT worship in the ceremonies and sacrifices, fasts and feasts are no longer binding. These things were meant to lead people to worship God in Spirit, but worship became concealed under forms and shadows. Now we worship in the light of Christ, and the shadows have been dispelled. The curtain of the temple is now open so that we have access to God wherever we go.

The sacrifice is complete. We no longer come to be atoned, to shed blood on the altar, but through the perfect sacrifice of Christ, we are cleansed, forgiven, and redeemed.

Worshiping in Spirit and Truth

What does this mean?

It is led by the Spirit and according to God's word

In Spirit… Those who show up to worship by just going through the motions (standing to sing, bowing to pray, putting money in the plate) they’re checking the box, but their heart isn’t in it.

God is Spirit, and those who worship must worship in the spirit, with hearts filled with a sense of thankfulness, reverence, awe, and adoration.

In Truth… If we have false thoughts about God, we cannot worship him. If we think of God as distant and unloving, we cannot worship him. If we think God is our cosmic “get-out-of-jail-free” card to pull out when in trouble, you cannot worship him.

God is fountain of truth, and we must worship God according to the truth, as God is revealed and as God has instructed.

It is delightful and reverent - in balance.

The Spirit brings delight in worship.

Worship is filled with joy, because we are giving God thanks for his provision, his deliverance, his goodness and grace - even when we worship through tears - we lift up our hearts to the Lord. There can be no sour worshipers.

The Spirit leads us to reverence and sanctity in worship

You draw near the one who is Holy, Holy, Holy, infinite and eternal, the creator of all things, and the one who will judge all things according to his perfect righteousness.

It is not dependent upon the elements of our service.

We’ve become dependent on the externals (pews, hymnals, organs, guitars), all of which can help us in worship, but can become a hindrance in worship too.

If you come to church and all you notice is the piano out of tune, or the wrinkled shirt of the guy in front of you, or the poor grammar of the preacher, you aren’t worshiping.

Worshiping in the Spirit isn’t a feeling, a fervor, or an emotional state. It isn’t something you can replicate by running in place for 10 minutes, or going to a rock concert.

It is focused on the Glory of God in Jesus Christ

Worship isn’t about what you get, but what you give to God.

This is not entertainment, where you come to receive. This is worship, where you come to give glory due to God.

Worship in spirit must be sincere and God-directed. Perhaps our greatest problem today is that we come to church worshiping ourselves, wanting mainly to get something out of it for ourselves instead of worshiping God.

Our goal is not to present that appeals to the world, but to present God biblically in his saving glory so that those whom God is seeking will find him and know Him in His church.

The paradox is, in giving of yourselves to him in worship, you find a superabundance of grace - you cannot out give God.

How to worship in the Spirit.

Come in Christ to God.

The only right we have to come before God is through the redeeming work of Jesus. To really worship, you must be born again by the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and filled with the Spirit.

If you have to be dragged to worship on a Sunday, you don’t know, or don’t appreciate the work of Christ, and are outside of His saving grace.

But Christ has given you life, when you have come to know Him as your Lord and Savior, and daily rest in the grace that is found in Him alone, wild horses couldn’t keep you away from worshiping Him.

Come having already Worshiped God.

A.W. Tozer - “If you don’t walking into your office on Monday and say, “The Lord is in my office, and all the world is silent before him.” then you were not worshiping the Lord on Sunday. If there is anything in you that does not worship God, then there is not anything in you that does worship God very well.

Worship doesn’t begin at 9:25 - corporate worship does - but you should be coming in the spirit of worship, and leave to live in worship before God

To turn Tozer’s quote around, if you don’t worship God on Saturday, you won’t worship him on Sunday. If you want to worship God in the Spirit, then always be in a place of worship, giving praise and adoration to the Lord at all times for all things.

Come in Awe of God.

If you are bored with worship, you are not worshiping the living God. R.C. Sproul, “You will never be bored in worship when you worship in awe.”

Come to worship mindful of awesomeness of God’s love and grace revealed in Jesus Christ. Come expecting to meet with the God who has made you, who has saved you, and who has called you to live in Christ. Come amazed at his grace, his love, and his power. Come filled with the knowledge of who God is and what he has done.

Come, worship God in Spirit and Truth.