Scripture: John 4:19-26
We do not have
to be present together to worship Jesus because we worship in Spirit and Truth.
However, there is something special about coming together. At a surface level,
I have always preferred Live stage shows over movies. There is an inherent
interaction that you get when something is live instead of recorded or live
streamed.
Beyond that
surface level, Jesus said, Matthew 18:20 For where
two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. Yes,
that is more about the hearts coming together than the body. And, there is a
fear among some pastors that people will have decided they can stay home and
“get church” instead of going “to” church. (Today you can order free deliver to
your home any kind of church you want without ever getting out of a chair.)
Let
me state clearly, I did not worship as well while I was not physically present
with you and I know that you did not worship as well without being physically
present with your brothers and sisters in worship. We are designed by God to be
physically present together in worship and ministry. But we had NO choice so we
have done and are doing the best we can. Some will not return physically until
a cure, a vaccine, or an eradication of COVID 19 has occurred.
I
have to tell you that I do not know how much longer I could preach to an empty
sanctuary – out here it would be like preaching to the trees.
It’s
said that missionary statesman and Canadian pastor Oswald J. Smith would go out
into the woods and preach to the trees. I am sure that some will say this is no
different than modern preachers doing a midweek practice run in an empty
auditorium, and I am 100% confident the response rate was extremely low.
Many
of you know that once I prepare my sermon notes, I go into the sanctuary and
audibly preach. This is not to practice as Smith did with one exception – I do
want to see how long the actual preaching is compared to what I imagine it
might be. Other than that, speaking the message aloud is another part of
preparation, and in that moment I do prefer to be completely alone because I am
worshipping in Spirit and Truth and God uses that method to continue to speak
and confirm or change the message. But, the actual preaching event is
incarnational. The bible does not say, “For God so loved the world, that He
sent a pre-recorded message…” No! He sent His son. Preaching and all of worship
is designed to be in person for the preacher and the hearer. PRAISE GOD for the
technology that has and still does allow us to reach people who are not able to
worship in person. It is a next best thing…but it is not the same.
All
of that is to say, as different and crazy as all this still is, like to the
prodigal son when he finally returned home, I say; “Welcome back”
(Play
the welcome back song)
Therefore,
brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of
Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his
body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near
to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed
with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who
promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward
love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the
habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see
the Day approaching.
THE WORDS OF
JESUS FOR TODAY
John 4:19-26
"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped
on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in
Jerusalem." 21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the
Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what
you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the
Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father
seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah"
(called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to
us." Then Jesus declared, "I who speak
to you am he."
Worship in
spirit can mean two things – 1) Our worship must come from the heart, not from
formalized ritualistic routines. It must come from the center of who we are. 2)
Worship in the Spirit can mean in the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:26-27 We do not
know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with
groans that words cannot express. It is the Spirit who leads us in worship.
So, to worship in spirit and truth first means we worship from our heart as
guided by the Holy Spirit.
But then we
worship in truth. Our worship must be rooted in and tethered to the realities
of biblical revelation. Worship is not meant to be formed by what feels
good, but by the light of what’s true. Genuine,
Christ-exalting worship must never be mindless or based in ignorance. It must
be doctrinally grounded and focused on the truth .
Some people
worship in spirit without truth – it is only about feelings and emotions. If I
walk away having gotten an emotional high then that was good worship.
Some people
worship in truth without the spirit – it is only about the bible and church
doctrine. If I walk away having learned something or confirmed what I already
believe then I have worshipped. Strong
affections for God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship.
Genuine, Christ-exalting worship,
after all, is the fruit of both heat and light. The light of truth shines into
our minds and instructs us about who God is. Such light in turn ignites the
fire of passion and affection and the heat of joy, love, and gratitude.
Let’s
see an example of worshipping in spirit but not truth.
Luke 4:15-30
Jesus taught
in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he
had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was
his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was
handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to
preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the
prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.
The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by
saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled
in your hearing." All spoke well of him and were amazed at the
gracious words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?"
they asked. They were so in the spirit – “this worship feels good.”
But then Jesus
gave them some truth.
23 Jesus said
to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to
me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that
you did in Capernaum.' I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his
hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time,
when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine
throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in
Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in
the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed — only Naaman
the Syrian." All the people in the synagogue were furious when they
heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of
the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff.
How did they go from praise and adoration to being ready to throw him off a
cliff? It happens today – people love to worship Jesus in spirit but not when
the truth is hard.
Good news: v30 But he walked right
through the crowd and went on his way.
Here
is an example of worshipping in spirit and truth from the Old Testament:
Nehemiah
8:1-6
…all the
people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra
the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had
commanded for Israel. 2 So
on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before
the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to
understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he
faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and
others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the
Book of the Law. 4 Ezra
the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him
on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and
on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah
and Meshullam. 5 Ezra
opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above
them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra
praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and
responded, "Amen! Amen!" Then they
bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Justin
the Martyr was executed for his faith around A.D. 165. His writings and
leadership helped shape and influence countless believers. He has given the
oldest non-biblical description of Christian worship we have. He wrote, “On the
day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to
one place (a spirit is present), and the memoirs of the apostles or the
writings of the prophets are read (truth is present) as long as time permits.
The
communion table is the perfect combination of worshipping in spirit and truth.
It is the truth that Jesus went to the cross so that we could be forgiven and
cleansed of our sins and it is the spirit as we come to Jesus with a broken and
contrite heart to receive that cleansing.
Consider that in
1818, Ignaz Philip Semmelweis was born into a world of dying women. The finest
hospitals lost one out of six mothers to the scourge of “childbed fever.” A
doctor’s daily routine began in the dissecting room where he performed
autopsies. From there he made his way to the hospital to examine expectant
mothers without ever pausing to wash his hands. Dr. Semmelweis was the first
man in history to associate such examinations with the resultant infection and
death. 202 years later we find ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic and
the single most effective thing we can do to combat it is “wash our hands”. As
we worship Jesus through communion, we come to spiritually wash our hearts and
our heads the seat of spirt and truth.
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