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Topical on Worship given Wednesday April 10, 2024
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Topical on Worship given Wednesday April 10, 2024
Put me in John chapter 4. How about that, john, chapter 4. What's that? It's good stuff. Good stuff, we'll see. Good stuff, we'll see. All right, john, chapter 4.
Speaker 1:Man, let's pray, god, thank you Just for your goodness and your grace that's got us through our days, and just think about all the what it takes to get through school these days and just pray for our kids here that do have tests and projects and things to learn and times to wake up, and I just pray that you give them all the grace that they need, and not even just that to the information down, but to stay strong for you. I pray that you'd be their strength in that place, that you have them for all of us, that we would have our eyes fixed on you and, as we just consider your word tonight, that you would teach us your word tonight, that you would teach us, thank you, that we can look to you and just see you know you a little better even tonight. So we pray that you would do work in our hearts and bless your word. In Jesus name. We pray, amen. Well, we're just taking a little bit of time to consider worship and you know, perhaps one of the difficult things about considering worship? Is that we considered last time that, although it definitely includes musical worship, biblically speaking it's deeper than that. It's a whole life thing.
Speaker 1:But here in John, chapter four, we see Jesus going through Samaria and it's a great read. We won't read the whole thing tonight because that would take a while, but a great read. There is Jesus and his disciples. They're headed back to Galilee and it says there in verse four. It's all that verse four says is but he needed to go through Samaria and you remember there was quite a division there between the Jews there in Judea and the Samaritans. It was a division that started a long time before there, when Solomon's son Rehoboam pretty much throws the kingdom away and the kingdom is split north and south. That division continued to this day and the Samaritans were seen as compromised, they were seen as selling out by the Jews in Judea and there was quite a division. We read here even the woman that Jesus meets says that I know, you don't talk to us Samaritans, you don't have anything to do with us. And yet verse four Jesus needed to go through Samaria and that wasn't really right in the sense of he couldn't have gone another way. He could have gone another way and most people did. But Jesus here had a desire to go through Samaria and we we assume that was really this ministry to this woman and the people in her town there in Samaria. So a very sweet thing here, as you see, just the heart of Jesus breaking down barriers and all those things.
Speaker 1:According to verse six, as Jesus is traveling, it says Now Jacob's well was there and Jesus therefore being wearied. That says a lot about Jesus and his humanity there being wearied from his journey. Sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour, 12 noon, high noon, and a woman of Samaria came to draw water and Jesus said to her give me a drink, for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to him how is it that you, being being a Jew, ask a drink of me, a Samaritan woman, for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her If you knew the gift of God and who it was who says to you Give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. So Jesus here has this conversation with a Samaritan woman. She's very surprised that he would talk with her or have anything to do with her, and he asked her for a drink. That in itself was surprising too, and Jesus quickly turns the conversation.
Speaker 1:Now we understand that he's talking about spiritual things. She thinks he's talking about literal water and she goes on confused in verse 11. A woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where do you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? Well, yeah, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and livestock? Jesus answered and said to her whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but the water shall. I'm sorry, but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water, springing up into everlasting life. The woman said to him, sir, give me this water that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw water. So he's talking about spiritual things. He's talking about living water and fulfillment that comes through relationship with God. And the woman doesn't understand, but she's good with the idea of not having to come and draw water at 12 noon.
Speaker 1:Now check out how Jesus turns a whole conversation on its head here in verse 16. Jesus said to her go and call your husband and come here. Well, the woman answered and said I have no husband. Jesus said to her now picture it. Jesus said to her you have well said, I have no husband, for you've had five husbands and the one whom you now have is not your husband. In that you spoke truly. So here Jesus begins to deal with the real issues and he says well, we're talking about water, drawing water, you know what? Call your husband and let's all talk together. And she, of course, tries to cover it up and says well, I don't have a husband. And Jesus, calling it exactly as it is, he says well, that's true, you've had five husbands and the guy you're with now you're not even married to. And he really calls out this issue.
Speaker 1:That was a strong issue in her life. It's easy to read this, you know, in her response in the next verse you know, sir, verse 19,. Sir, I perceived that you were a prophet. In other words, you're seeing things that nobody's been telling you. How do you know this about me? And she changes the subject and of course, that's where we get into the idea of worship here. But Jesus gets to the heart of it and of course we have to picture this where the woman is at. This is the big deal. In her life she's wanted relationships and she's been burnt by relationships to the point where now she doesn't even care about getting married anymore. She just is living with a guy and and she's hurt. You know, again, it's good comic relief for us, but for her this is what her whole life has of it, in conviction not to just embarrass her but to bring her to her true need of forgiveness and love and life and all these things. Now, in verse 19, that's amazing to see his heart for her. But verse 19, she changes the subject. I presume that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain and you Jews say that Jerusalem is a place where we ought to worship. So she changes the subject and we're sort of glad she does, in a sense, because she gives us a lesson on worship.
Speaker 1:Jesus addresses this issue of worship as she changes the subject. Now he could have just said hey look, let's not worry about that right now, stop trying to put up smoke screen, let's deal with this. But Jesus plays the ball where it lies and he addresses this idea of worship. Now notice well, let's just read this conversation and how it goes down and notice, if you would, how many times the word worship or something like worship comes up. She says Our fathers worshiped on this mountain. You Jews say that in Jerusalem is a place we want to worship. Jesus said to her Woman believe me, the hour is coming when you will, neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know. We know what we worship for. Salvation is of the Jews, but the hour is coming, and now is when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. So I counted ten times in those few verses the word worship or something like worship, and that's really what it's all about. She asked the question that she knew would get him talking, because she had heard people debate this subject over and over again Are we allowed to worship here on Mount Gerizim here in Samaria, or are we really supposed to worship in Jerusalem? Now, you remember how it all started there.
Speaker 1:Rehoboam, solomon's son. He does just a lame choice and he's harsh with the people. He says you know what? My father Solomon? He gave you a few taxes. I'm going to give you, I'm going to tax you like mad. And the people in Israel say you know what? We don't need you, you're not Solomon and you can't hold us here. And so they split off from Judah and follow a guy named Jeroboam, jeroboam, judah, and follow a guy named Jeroboam, jeroboam, wanting to keep the people right there in Israel. He says you know what? You don't need to go worship in Jerusalem anymore. They're in Judah, but worship here. And so he set up two golden calves. Now, why he came up with that silly idea, I don't know, but he sets up two golden calves and says worship here instead. So that's where this division of worship really came from. Was Jeroboam trying to keep everybody up north in Samaria? And all the legends and stories began to change. So instead of, you know, jerusalem being significant, it was Samaria, you know, and he drew people to that place.
Speaker 1:Well, she asked that question that had been going on for hundreds of years Can we worship here? Are we not really worshiping God unless we go down to Jerusalem and Jesus here? He addresses it rather simply and he addresses it with the where here, the where of worship. You know our fathers worshiped on this mountain. You say Jerusalem where? And Jesus says there in verse 21, the hour is coming when you will, neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. And Jesus really lays it down.
Speaker 1:Location is not the main thing Now. The Jews were required to go to Jerusalem, but that would only last for so long, because in AD 70, 30 to 40 years later the Romans would come and destroy the place and so Jerusalem would sort of become irrelevant for them. They wouldn't worship at the temple either. The temple would be destroyed. And so Jesus lays it down and says it's really not about location. That's, you know, good for us to realize, about worship, musical worship, just worship in our hearts to God, worship in our lives. Worship happens anywhere. Now, of course, I think we kind of get that. You know meeting in a house a little less.
Speaker 1:You know the way I kind of grew up, where that church was a special place. You know where this is. Holy ground was a song we used to sing. You know this is holy ground. We're standing on holy ground, and the song clarified where the Lord is present, where he are is holy. Where he is is holy. That really means it's holy wherever God is, god's everywhere. It's holy. Right, it's a holy place, but when I was a kid and I used to hear that I used to go oh yeah, that's why we have these interesting benches that we sit on, you know, and the carpet doesn't look like anything. You know that I have in my house. It was a holy place. What were you going to say? Owen Pews, pews, yeah, weird name too, pew. But yeah, that's the way I grew up and I'm not saying it was horrible, but you know, there was something special about that place and worship happened at church. Right, but worship could happen in your house and worship I loved home fellowships, you know, going over to your place for home fellowships because it really just kind of I felt like said you know, you can worship right here in your living room.
Speaker 1:It's the same as church. You could worship outside when we're camping. You can worship anywhere, and Jesus really kind of puts that down here. You can worship anywhere anytime. You can worship when things are good, you can worship when things are bad. You can worship, you know, on a mountain, you can worship in a hospital bed.
Speaker 1:Acts, chapter 16, paul and Silas. They worshiped in prison. That doesn't seem like a good place for worship, but they worship there. You know. You can worship in the morning, you can worship late at night. As I get older, I find more times that I'm just me and God in the middle of the night. I don't know if anyone else when you get to that point, but you wake up in the middle of the night and you start talking to God. You know because nobody else is up and you know it's worship anywhere, anytime. But it's good that we realize that it's not, you know, just here and now. It's everywhere and every time.
Speaker 1:But how should we worship? And here in chapter four we get it rather succinctly by Jesus how true worshipers are to worship. It's in spirit and in truth, and I looked at that because this really is a key passage on worship. It's Jesus teaching on what it means to worship. And yet I looked at it and I go. Man, this is going to be a rough Bible study because it's not really a how. You know, when I look at how I go, you know well five steps to a richer worship life, you know. Let's talk about some, some ways that you can just experience worship, you know, and, and the Bible just really doesn't do that, it really doesn't lay down five steps to to greater worship. I mean, I'm sure you could find something like that, but you know, it's kind of like the woman here. You know, she starts in verse 20 by saying our fathers said that this is where we should worship. And you get that. It's the traditions, it's a list of worship at Mount Gerizim, these times a year, these kinds of sacrifices, and this was our tradition, you know, and that's the kind of stuff we really like. But here Jesus really takes it from the how and more like the who.
Speaker 1:True worshipers is what God is looking for, that they do worship in spirit and truth. But this is true or genuine worshipers, authentic worshipers, is what God is looking for, honest. So the last thing we want to do is be fake. So the last thing we want to do is be fake. That's really in there, of course. But we want to be actual, true worshipers and we're going to worship in spirit and in truth. Let's just consider this and look at truth first.
Speaker 1:Worshiping in truth, that word there is objective truth, absolute truth. It's God's truth, right John 17, 17,. Jesus, in praying for his disciples he says sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth and we know that. Right, you knew I was going to say that, but it's so important to just realize that everything we're going to compare and find out truth, it's got to be God's word. True worship is based on what God says about himself and this world around us. The first thing here for worship to be true, it has to be based on a true idea of who God is. We really live in a dangerous world.
Speaker 1:It's very popular to say, well, my God is da-da-da and that's in the church, right? Well, you know, god to me is and it's not objective truth, absolute truth. It's like your truth, right, that's so popular nowadays, even in the church. Well, my God is, and yet God is who he is. When we look at the subject of who God is, the Bible is very distinct with who he is and most of the time he doesn't line up with our idea. He is, and most of the time he doesn't line up with our idea.
Speaker 1:I think, even as conservative Christians, we have to really make sure that we're seeing what the Bible says about God, because so many times we make God in our own image. You know, if I'm politically a conservative Christian, then God is a conservative Christian across the board. He's not a Christian, but you know what I mean. God is conservative across the board. Or you know in other places. You know God is progressive, right, my God is progressive on these ideas. And as life changes and society changes, god has sort of changed. But God doesn't ever change. And the dangerous part is we oftentimes, in fact always, make God in our own image. God is powerful and eternal.
Speaker 1:We consider the idea that God is just. He's not just that he does things my way, he's absolutely righteous and absolutely just. He judges sin perfectly, he never changes. And yet then you look at the flip side, right To put God. We can't really put God in our box so many times because you look at the flip side and he's also merciful. How does that fit into our theology? You know that he's merciful for us. Oh yes, I'm always looking for God's mercy.
Speaker 1:But what about those other people? Would we look at the people from the Bible the same way that God does that Paul, a murderer I mean no joke, a murderer becomes the one that's forgiven and his life is redeemed and used to spread the good news everywhere that God forgives people like Peter who just totally mess it up and deny him. I don't have that kind of patience for people a lot of times in my life and yet God is merciful and gracious and forgiving and loving. That even honestly, people like Pharaoh right, you could stretch your theology talking about Pharaoh for a little bit but even people like Pharaoh who are in just direct opposition, god still shows some mercy there. I mean he could have just squashed Pharaoh at the very beginning and yet God shows compassion and mercy in all these things and then squashes them at the end. But you know, he gives them a lot of chances. I'm telling you God is patient. I'm telling you God is patient.
Speaker 1:And so we try to make God in our own image, and yet he's not. He just isn't. It's so important that when we worship God, we worship God for who he really is. It's also very popular, in making God in our own image, to kind of rewrite, like his motives right, the health and wealth idea of who God is. It's a great, you know, it's the all American quest. For I just want more stuff, more money. I, you know I do want to be wealthy. Well, god wants you to be wealthy. Yeah, I like that. You know what I mean. And and it's just not what the Bible teaches, right, it's not at all what the Bible teaches and we need to be aware of that. You know, god is absolutely who he is and that's why Bible reading and Bible study go along with worship, because we want to worship in truth. Now we also see it's important when we look at worship that even if we're worshiping the true God how to deal with skin diseases and all sorts of things specified in the Old Testament there specifically detailed and yet we also see there that it's important that people follow those directions that God gave Not too long ago in Leviticus.
Speaker 1:Leviticus, chapter 10, we see Aaron's two sons, nadab and Abihu, right now. Just picture it. They've dedicated the tabernacle and you know God shows up in a real way that they could see and everything. There's fire that comes out and consumes the sacrifice and God really puts a stamp of approval on the tabernacle and says exactly what I ordered. And there it is. God's presence comes in Well.
Speaker 1:In Leviticus, chapter 10, nadab and Abihu, aaron's sons. They get excited, I guess, and everything's going down right. You know, the tabernacle is being dedicated and the fire is consuming the sacrifice. And they come out with their little censers, these little incense burners, and they come out and they offer incense before the sacrifice. And they come out with their little censers, these little incense burners, and they come out and they offer incense before the Lord and fire comes out and consumes them, right, just whoosh, it's toast, you know, and and and everybody stops. It kind of puts a little bump in the road there, you know, and God was serious, he didn't ask them to come out with their little censors. Now, a little later God's going to say and the priests, they shouldn't get drunk. So we do have a little bit of an idea that maybe they were celebrating more than just in that way that they had just sort of lost control and began to kind of misrepresent God.
Speaker 1:But you know, we see this very specific way that God ordained worship and he took it very seriously. Right Later on we got Uzzah there in David's day who, you know good intentions, puts his hand on the ark and toast again. You know, don't mess around with the way God said to do things. Well, in the New Testament there aren't as many regulations, but God is still serious about things being done, rightly. They're in the ministry of Jesus, the beginning of his ministry and the end of his ministry. Jesus goes into the temple and he cleans house from people who are misrepresenting God's heart, that we're trying to make money off of those that came to worship. And he goes in and he whoops them up and clears them out, says you know, gives them a good talking to. You know, you made my father's house a den of thieves. It's a house of prayer and so God takes it seriously.
Speaker 1:But there's not as much specified in the New Testament as to directly how worship ought to be. Isn't that kind of like almost a hard thing for us? You know the style of church or the style of music. Does God like drums? Big controversy not that long ago, even in some churches today. Is God okay with drums? Should worship be done on a guitar or with an organ? And yet we look back and it always blows me away that when the organ was invented, can you believe that the organ had an inventing date? You know there was a time where an organ didn't exist, you know, and in the church they used to call it the devil's pitch pipe, and we still do. No, just joking, but you know they used to call it the devil's pitch pipe. And can you actually have worship with organ music? And there was a debate about that. And yet the Bible really doesn't specify how musical worship ought to be done. It doesn't, you know, specify the style of music, right? It doesn't specify. Can you worship God with rap music? Or you know? Specify the style of music, right, it doesn't specify. Can you worship God with rap music? Or you know, techno, country music or what you know.
Speaker 1:We can't be adamant about any of that stuff, but what does become pretty clear is the heart right of worship. And this is where we can come back the heart of worship. God does not want hypocrisy in our hearts when we worship, even when it's just us and him. He wants a sincere heart. First, samuel 16 says that God doesn't see as man sees, he sees the heart. That's kind of a little sobering to realize for us right now that God knows what's on our mind and God knows what's on our heart, and we can, of course, sing all the right words, and yet our heart can be far away. And you know, plenty of times I've realized that leading worship, that my heart can be far away, and one time God snapped my string to get my attention. So you know he wants our heart and that's why David says search me and know me, try me and see if there's any wicked way in me.
Speaker 1:God wants us to worship him in truth, us to worship Him in truth, and I think that's probably the biggest way that we want truth to be in. Our worship is just our heart. David says in Psalm 51, 6, behold, you desire truth in the inward parts, so, deep down in our heart, god wants us to really be his, really be undivided and sincere and unhypocritical. God in truth wants our heart, but here he gives us kind of the flip side of this, that true worshipers will worship the Father. It's a relational thing too in spirit and in truth, um, we could look at spirit easily and say, well, this is the heart part of of this whole thing, it's the passion part, and you could maybe say that, um, but spirit here is the same word that we use for the holy spirit. Um, uh, and, and I think we kind of then look at this and realize, yes, our heart totally given over to God. We want that. We want our passions to be directed towards God, but we also want to be in the Spirit, right.
Speaker 1:John, chapter 3, classic passage. Jesus says to Nicodemus you got to be born again. You got to be born of the spirit. You're born of the flesh, right, you're born human body, but you got to be born again in the spirit because by nature, understand, we're all dead, right, we're all given over to the flesh very naturally. So worship then needs to be in the spirit. That's why it's kind of difficult the idea of worship.
Speaker 1:You know we want to be worshipers. You know, in youth ministry, you know there were times where I'm sure I was negative and said guys, come on, let's stand up, why don't you worship, right? I remember one time a counselor, you know, we just finished worship and a counselor stood up and right after it and turned around and looked at a group of kids and said how can you just sit there? And I'm like, oh you know, because one, that didn't help, right. But two, you could teach anybody to worship. You know you could teach anybody to raise their hands and maybe even have some tears. I mean, you could do that. A person could say this is what worship is. Man, I really want to just get into worship. So I'm going to do it, and that's great stuff for sure.
Speaker 1:But if the heart is not there, it doesn't do the trick right. We can all go through the motions of worship, but we have to be spiritually connected to God, worshiping in spirit, not in the flesh, not in our deadness of sins. We need to be born again, we need to be spiritually alive. And even though the Bible says that one day every knee will bow, that doesn't mean that every person will be saved, right? So going through the motions is not enough. It has to be a true through. The motions is not enough. It has to be a true living spirit connected to God. And that's what God wants more than our songs, more than our good works. God really does want our hearts in spirit and in truth.
Speaker 1:But you know, any one of us that's been in the church long enough, any one of us that's been in the church long enough, we can get into the routine of doing what we do and I think so many times God really stops us the same way. He kind of found this woman here and you read on in the chapter and it's beautiful to see how Jesus got a hold of her life and her whole village comes out to see. But that's what God wants, you know, is our heart. He really wants us just connected to him. The Father, right, the Father, worshiping the Father in spirit and in truth.
Speaker 1:So let's pray, god. I just look at my own heart and I can just kind of get through so many of the motions and yet I know you're wanting me just to come away and really come to you, just to find you in all the sweetness that there is in you, and knowing you and experiencing you through the good times and through the bad times. And, god, that our whole life then would be just instinctive worship for who you are and all you've done. God, we need your spirit to just make us alive, even in these things. Just bring that relationship back into our hearts every day, just anew and afresh. God, thank you again for this time. I pray the things that we need to remember, we would, and the things that we don't need to remember, that you would. Just take those things, god, you're so good, be with again my friends, strengthen them for the rest of this week, and we pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen, thank you.