Sermon Tone Analysis

Narrative

Some things are just meant to be together, right?

Peanut butter and jelly, chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk, steak and potatoes, Brandon and Kelly.

When you don’t have one, the other just isn’t as good.

Or just doesn’t function properly (as is the case when I am gone and Brandon is all alone with the children).

Now I know this isn’t a hard and fast rule.

Some people have cookies with coffee, and eat peanut butter with honey and I will admit these are also delicious.

But in general we know, some things and just meant to be together.

We see this played out in nature.

When sodium and chlorine are by themselves they are deadly dangerous.

Sodium is reactive to water, so if you try to put a piece on your tongue, you’ll have a serious case of burned taste buds, and lips, and cheeks, and most likely esophagus as well.

And of course trying to ingest chlorine is, one, very difficult since its a gas, but more importantly, is potentially fatal.

But these two things together result in a substance that is not only ingestible, but also a primary seasoning in food and has many other useful applications.

Of course you know I’m talking about sodium chloride, salt.

There are some things that are just meant to be together.

In our text for today we are going to talk about two such things, things that go hand in hand, as in one needs the other, as in you must have both, in relation to worship.

I’m talking about the passage in John chapter 4, when Jesus speaks with the Samaritan woman at the well and tells her God is seeking worshippers to worship Him in spirit, and in truth.

Now I wish I had time to go through the whole conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman but since my sermon ended up around 50 minutes, I decided to forgo.

I know you’re all very disappointed but, as we know, church, followed by lunch, are another two things that are just meant to be together.

So just some quick background, Jesus is traveling from Judea in the South to Galilee in the North and has to go through Samaria, right in the middle.

He stops at a well near a well known landmark in Samaria, Mt Gerizim.

He meets the Samaritan woman there and they have a laid back conversation about living water, her sinful lifestyle, and worship.

So pretty much a typical Jesus conversation, right?

We are going to pick it up in verse 21.

The woman is basically trying to distract Jesus after he mentioned her sinful lifestyle, by changing the subject and asking about worship.

Samaritans worship at Mt. Gerizim and Jews from Judea worship in Jerusalem.

Which is the correct spot?

And Jesus responds in John 4:21:

Jesus says true worshipers worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

It’s these two words I want to talk about today, spirit and truth.

You and I come to church most every week and sing worship songs, and pray, and listen to the sermon, and reflect, and throughout the week we have opportunities to interact with non believers, to serve those in need, to read our bibles and “devotionalize” and just go through the day to day.

In all these things, are we true worshipers of the Father?

What does it mean to worship the Father in spirit?

And what does it mean to worship the Father in truth?

We’re going to tackle each of these separately and it’s a lot, so hold on tight.

Let’s start with Spirit.

Spirit

The text says in verse 24:

God is Spirit.

I think this is pretty straight foward.

In Psalm 139 David says

David goes on about going to the heavens, descending to the depths, in the sky and in the sea and in the darkness.

Even there God is present.

David knows that God is Spirit and because He is spirit He is everywhere.

There is no place we can go to escape his presence.

He is spirit, and is therefore not limited the same way man is.

He is spirit, everywhere present, and so it does not matter if we go toJerusalem as the Jews of Judea do, or worship on Mount Gerizim as the Samaritans do.

He is right there, and there, and here.

What’s more, through the giving of the Holy Spirit, the spirit is now in you, and you, and you, and me.

And because the Spirit is in me, I am in the Spirit and able to worship in spirit.

Romans 8: 9 says:

Basically Paul is saying if the Spirit of God dwells in you, then you are in the Spirit.

This language Paul uses here is similar to language he uses throughout his other letters, referring to being in Christ, or in the Lord.

This word “in,” has more meaning than we realize.

There are several ways to translate the greek word, “in.”

Among.

With.

By.

When Paul uses the phrases “In Christ” or “In the Lord” we understand the meaning is often “in fellowship with” and to be “In Christ” means to be a believer in Christ, to have fellowship with Christ.

In the same way when Jesus says we must worship in Spirit I believe this means we must have fellowship with the Spirit, that we dwell with the Spirit because the Spirit dwells within us.

We can only worship God in Spirit if we have ourselves recieved the Spirit of God.

But I think its also a little more complicated than that.

I am a Christian.

I have been baptized and have recieved the Holy Spirit.

I know this is true, I have no doubt.

And yet there are times when I live not really filled with the holy spirit.

It dwells in me but it doesn’t dwell in me fully.

There are times when I struggle with sin and shame, or I’m busy and have my mind focused not on the things of God.

And here’s what I think: to the extent that the Holy Spirit dwells in me, to that extent will I dwell in the Spirit, and am then able to worship God in Spirit.

So we have to start with the basic question: Have I recieved the Holy Spirit?

As in do I believe that Jesus is my Lord and savior, that he died on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins and rose on the third day, and I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit?

I think most of us would answer that question with a Yes.

But then we have to go further.

Do I dwell in the Holy Spirit, every day, every second of every day.

Is He dwelling in me, not in a diluted, watered down way, but rich and full?

Do I have fellowship with the Spirit, listening for every word and whisper He offers, and knowing every thought and desire and cry of mine is heard in turn?

So that when I go through my every day, the mundane and the extraordinary, it is with the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit in me.

We cannot worship God in Spirit if we don’t have the Spirit in us, But even if we have recieved the Holy Spirit, we can still be limited in the depth of our worship because we are not filled with the Holy Spirit.

So then, if you are not experiencing the power and presence of the Holy Spirit to the full, ask yourself, what’s other things am I allowing to fill me up?

Do I read more news stories, more football stats, more fiction novels (raise your hand, Kelly) than I do my bible?

Do I spend more time conversing over coffee with friends than I do in fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

Please don’t mistake me, I’m not judging anyone for doing these things, I am the number one culprit of some of these things and others.

I’m also not saying we shouldn’t do any of these, there is a time and place for it, for sure.

I really just want to get us thinking about what fills us up.

What do we use to try to fill and refresh and renew, instead of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit?

Phew, one down!

Now lets talk truth.

Truth

Jesus says those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.

The question is, what truth or truths do I need to know in order to worship in truth?

This is such a general term.

Is it referring to all the truth of all the things?

I think our heads would explode if we tried to grasp that.

If we look back at the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman I think we can glean what some of this truth may be.

Jesus offered this woman living water, and she’s like, “ok give it to me so I don’t have to come to the well everyday.”

Kind of a snarky response from this woman, which has been the case up to this point in the conversation.

So Jesus decides to go with the surprise attack approach and completely catch her off guard.

He confronts her about the sin she is living in, going back to verse 16:

You see, Jesus wants this woman to be one of the true worshipers.

I know this because He wants every person, each one of us, to be a true worshiper.