The Woman at the Well: Where Should I Worship?

Questions to ponder

Sometimes we live with questions on your mind that just seem to have no answers.

And we think that if we could ever meet someone who knows, we would ask him and get this question settled once and for all.

(ESV)

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 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. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 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.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

In this story, the woman doesn’t seem to come across as a deep thinker. She just kind of says what’s on her mind and asks the first thing that comes to mind.

In the discussion about living water, Jesus exposes one of her deepest needs: A need for a love.

And then comes this moment:

immediately after Jesus shows His knowledge of her personal life, she abruptly changes the subject.

Some commentators speculate that she is so embarrassed by her personal life that she is trying to change the subject in order to keep Jesus from speaking more about it.

But I don’t think it is that so much as she is so astounded at his knowledge, that she immediately shifts off the current topic to a question that has been burning in her mind for a long time.

The question is, Where is the proper place to worship?

To help us understand this problem, we have to go back to Deut. 12:5

In

(ESV)

5 But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go,

The Jews and the Samaritans drew conflicting conclusions from this verse.

The Jews recognized the rest of the Hebrew canon and not just the Pentateuch. With a wider scope of Scripture knowledge and acceptance, they drew the conclusion correctly that Jerusalem was to be the place of worship.

The Samaritans, however, only recognized the Pentateuch as inspired and so they looked only at the Pentateuch to discover the place of worship.

They noted that that when Abraham entered the promised land in Genesis 12:7, he built an alter at Shechem which was overlooked by Mount Gerizim.

Then when the children of Israel were about to enter the promised land from Egypt, God gave them instructions in to declare the law and God’s blessings from Mount Gerizim.

So they concluded that Mt. Gerizim was the place to worship. They even built a temple there and declared that Mt. Gerizim was the highest mountain in the world, even though it obviously wasn’t.

it is only about 2800’ above sea level and Mount Ebal just across the valley is a little higher than that.

And so this became a major point of contention between the Jews and the Samaritans.

The Jews: Jerusalem

The Samaritans: Mount Gerizim

The argument became NOT, “Whom do I worship”, but Where should I worship.

The fact that the Samaritans were so proud of their Mt. Gerizim might seem kind of silly to us.

But it shouldn’t

In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of American Christians can identify with an argument like this.

We have a lot of arguments and discussions just like this.

This subject of worship is extremely polarizing

We talk about:

Where we worship—I don’t know if I can really worship in that church. They use chairs instead of benches.

It just doesn’t seem right somehow.

Their building just doesn’t seem “churchy” enough

The people in there are kind of odd, too.

They look different

They act different

They talk different

They aren’t like me. I don’t know anybody there

How we worship

I just don’t connect with my pastor. He doesn’t preach the way I like. I’m going over here because I like this pastor a lot better.

They use the KJV over there. Or, they use “The Message” over there. That’s not proper.

I just don’t connect with the music. They use hymns. I just can’t worship with hymns. They’re so old fashioned.

I just can’t worship with these new worship choruses. I don’t know them. The instruments are too loud. And BTW, should we even be using instruments when we worship?

And ususally when we talk about worship, we are talking about music, right?

I just can’t worship there!

I just can’t worship like that!

And the discussion goes around and around. And those who are more traditional feel unheard and uncared for because times they are a-changin’ and churches are singing more modern music

And those who are more progressive feel frustrated and in many cases shut down because the music that connects with them isn’t appreciated.

And so, with our smorgasbord of churches, we move around and pick and chose. Feelings are hurt. Tensions are high.

Now before we go any farther, I just want to say that I get it. This is a serious discussion and I don’t mean to make light of it in any way.

For those who are more traditional, can I just say, I get it. I get that many of our newer songs are written for solo voices and are very hard to sing. Their pitch is wrong for the average voice. The rhythm is hard to follow. I get that in some cases, they contain questionable theology. I really do get it.

For those who are more progressive, can I just say, I get it. I get that the older hymns seem slow and boring. I get that the language in them is often hard to understand “When hoary time shall pass away” (what does that even mean? It sounds bad). I get that sometimes even they contain questionable theology

I get all this.

But for both “sides” and for those of us in the middle, I would say, (and I say this in the most gentlest of tones because I’m talking to myself as well) “Shame on us!”

Shame on us for making the worship of almighty God about music styles, preachers, programs, and buildings!

Because the uncomfortable truth is that in too many cases, we have made worship about us. Worship is about me and MY preferences.

We find ourselves exactly where this woman was. Where is the proper place to worship?

Now it is true, that Jerusalem was the proper place to worship at that time.

But we immediately see that Jesus is introducing us to a new paradigm or way of thinking.

Because Jesus looks at her earnestly with passion in his eyes and says, “Woman, BELIEVE ME! The hour is coming when the place where you worship won’t matter anymore. In fact, the hour that I am speaking of is already here!

By the way, you Samaritans don’t really understand what you are worshiping. We Jews do understand, but that still is a mute point. Because the time is coming, and in fact, is already here when TRUE worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

In spirit and truth. What does that mean?

When I was younger, I used to read this verse and get pictures of a pious individual kneeling in a huge lofty cathedral with stained glass windows and angels singing in the lofty rafters, a haze of holiness drifting around

I didn’t know what it meant but it arose in me feelings of…i’m not sure what. But included feelings of righteous indignation against those who would dare to claim they are worshiping with bands and loud music and preachers strutting around on a platform.

I don’t know why this passage did this to me, but it did.

Now, I’m pretty sure that I was a little off track at that point in my life.

So what does Jesus mean?

Some translations render it, “in spirit AND in truth”, making it appear that you can worship either in spirit or in truth, but you really should be worshiping in both.

But that’s not a good translation.

The ESV states it correctly: in spirit and truth. In defines both spirit and truth, meaning that this is one concept that we are talking about. They cannot be separated.

God is spirit

Not God is a spirit (or one of many). But God is Spirit. It is a defining characteristic. Like God is love. God is light.

It means that He is invisible and divine

He is not limited to a single location. He is not limited by physical boundaries

Therefore: Those who worship Him must worship in

Those who worship Him must worship in

Spirit: Although we use our voices and our bodies and our instruments and our symbols to worship Him, it is our spirits that are doing the true worshiping

We connect to the Father through our spirits. He ministers to our spirits. He speaks to our spirits.

We understand truth in our spirits

And in truth: Jesus is not trying to set up an argument here that there are right and wrong ways to worship (such as with P&W choruses or hymns)

Certainly there are wrong ways to worship. We don’t ahve time to get into those

But I don’t think that is what Jesus is getting at.

So what is He saying?

Do you remember much later on in His ministry, in where Jesus says, I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Could it be that Jesus is introducing what true worship looks like

That it’s a spiritual thing. Not limited by physical location and symbols

The prophets spoke of a time like this, when the earth would be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

And Revelations speaks of a time when there would be no temple because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple.

it can be in a building like this

It can be under a tree in an African village

It can be in the muffler shop

It can be in the chicken house

It can be in the truck

Worship happens as we sing. We are returning praises to God

As we pray: We are communing with Him in our spirits

As we listen to the message: I pray that He is being magnified in your mind

As we lift the offerning: Lord, I worship you with my tithes and offerings. I praise you for taking my humble offerings and using it powerfully

As we hear the announcement: Lord, I praise you for allowing me to be part of a church which enjoys serving together

Again, worship is not limited by place, time, and activity. Never miss a chance to worship God!

And that it’s only through Him. Jesus.

True worship comes through Jesus Christ, the embodiment of TRUTH

Which means that it’s only through Jesus that we have access into the precence of God

And it’s Jesus who brings the global family of God together and unites us together under himself as head of the church

Which means that I can worship with all those who name Jesus as Lord

God is seeking these kind of worshipers.

Jesus, the only way that I can come to the Father is through you. It is not about me. It is not about my preferences. It is about You and You alone. And the only way that I can come to you is through the Truth, that is

God is not just sitting back and hoping that these kind of worshipers come along. He is actively seeking!

If there was ever a missional verse that shows the heart of the Father it’s this. God is seeking, God desires, these kind of people to worship him.

John Piper in his book, “Let the Nations Be Glad” says “Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more.”

Because He is seeking, We have opportunities

It is our opportunity to BE these kind of worshipers. If we aren’t, we will continue to be bogged down in arguments over style and place of worship. And when that happens, we completely miss the point of worship. It’s no longer about Him. It’s about me.

It is our opportunity to INVITE worshipers.