For the last several years, we’ve taken teams of people from Grace to the Holy Land annually for a trip we call EPIC.
On EPIC, one of my favorite visits is to modern-day Nablus, where a small church sits over the original site of Jacob’s well. In a small grotto beneath the sanctuary of the church is mouth of the very same well where Jesus met a Samaritan woman in John 4! To this day, visitors can draw water and drink it straight from the source. The water is sweet and delicious.
Almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus asked for a drink from the woman he’d just met and then offered her “living water.”
What kind of water could be better than that of Jacob’s well? And what happens when someone drinks it?
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Grace Fellowship Church
Jon Stallsmith
Series: The Gospel of John
February 1, 2015
Worship, the Word, and the Work of God
John 3:22-4:54
If you have your Bible, open it to John, chapter 3. If you don’t have a Bible, you can slip up your hand, and we’ll put a Bible in your hand. Also, if you need a Grace Notes sheet, our fantastic ushers will get you one of those also. As you’re turning to John 3, where we are in the gospel of John is past the prologue in the first 18 verses where Jesus really… The big picture. John gives the big picture of Jesus. “…the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)
Then this Word, Jesus, comes to earth, takes on flesh, dwells among us, that we might behold his glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Here is Jesus, the source through which we know and understand and worship God. Then he draws us up into his great plans, his eternal life.
We saw how Jesus began calling disciples to himself, began working wonders, turning the water into wine (a great sign of his grace), cleansing the temple (a great demonstration of his truth), saying, “This is where we need to worship in truth, not turn it into a place of trade.” We saw his conversation with Nicodemus, the religious leader, trying to get his head around what it means to enter into this new life. What does it mean to be born again? This is where Jesus, of course, says, “…whosoever believeth…should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Now as we sort of finish up this little section of John, chapters 2 through 4, we get in the end of John, chapter 3, a glimpse into the emphasis of the whole gospel of John. As I’ve been reading this passage, it’s made me think of a conversation I had over the break during the Christmas season. Schedules were a little bit slower, so I actually went out and played flag football with some friends. We went and played pick-up football, and it was a lot of fun with a bunch of young guys kind of my age.
We learned that day what many of those men who were part of the Men’s Late-Nighter on Friday learned also: the competitive fire still burns hot, but the wood is a little more brittle than it used to be. All of us the next day after playing were sending texts about how sore we were and how we needed to eat Aleve instead of Cheerios for breakfast and stuff like that.
Right after we played, we were all kind of sitting down hanging out. We had this great community connection time. It was sweet, nothing intense. It was just good friends hanging out after playing football. We started to have this conversation about why you should go to church. Many of them now have kids of their own who are growing up. They said some Sundays are a real challenge. Maybe you’ve had that experience where your kids just say, “I don’t want to go!”
One of the guys was saying it’s kind of funny because when they get here, they love it. But before they go, they don’t want to go at all. I can relate to that. As a kid myself, I remember the mornings when we would get up to go to church. I would always want to stay home because at nine o’clock on Sunday morning in Milwaukee is when they put on that show American Gladiators.
I didn’t have anything against church; I just really liked American Gladiators, which is so cheesy! I’m way past that now, just so you know. (And I’ve been preaching most Sunday mornings anyway, so it’s not like I could really watch it.) You know, sometimes it’s a challenge just getting to church. Some people go to church, get together to worship, and it’s just a matter of routine. It’s simply what you do. It’s what you’ve done since you were little, and you do it kind of every Sunday just because that’s what you do.
Some people come to church because they’re seeking answers about God. Some people come to church because they really want to meet with God and they want to worship God as part of a community. Sometimes people come to church to hear a sermon. They’re not so big on the music. They’re kind of like, “Well, let’s get through the music, and then we’ll do the talk.” Other people are exact opposite. Kind of, “Hurry up and finish that sermon. I’d like to sing.” You know?
The question that’s on my heart ever since that conversation with the guys after playing football is…Why do we gather like this? Why do we become a part of a local congregation, a local body like Grace here in Snellville? Why do we gather here? Why do we serve here? Why do we give here? Why do we invest our time? These sort of questions are probably pretty basic in their answers, but from time to time it’s really good to revisit and just remember what it is we’re doing when we get together.
I think this passage, as we’ll see, helps to unpack some of the really key answers to those questions. In the Scripture, you do have a pattern of God’s people gathering. In the Old Testament, God’s people would get together. They would have celebrations of the festivals and the feasts of God. Every Sabbath was a day to come together to hear from the Word and to worship God.
Then in the New Testament, we see the early church was a gathering church, a gathering community. Paul the apostle at the end of his letter when he wrote to the Colossians (so the end of the book of Colossians) said, “After you guys have read this letter among your community, make sure the church down the road in Laodicea also gets to read it.” We see, even in the earliest days of the church, it was God’s people gathering around God’s Word. There were these local congregations that got together to worship and to interact with the Word.
You see the book of Hebrews reminding us, “Don’t forsake the gathering together, as some among you have begun to do, but continue to get together and spur each other on to good works and to love.” Then we know in the book of Revelation the perspective of Jesus. The beginning of the book of Revelation, he has these letters to deliver to the churches in these various cities (Pergamum, Laodicea, Ephesus).
Jesus, when he looks at the world, sees his churches, his gatherings of people. Even beyond the fact that it’s a pattern and a command in Scripture to get together, what are we doing here? Why do we gather? Why do we give? Why do we worship? Why do we do this? John, chapter 3, verse 22. I’m just going to tell you from the get-go that I am not going to finish what I intended to start. Last hour I got through point one. Sorry about that.
I’ll just give you some blanks now if you’d like to fill them in because you’re that kind of person. The first blank is, “John and John agree.” Next, for number one, “The well, part 1, is about worship.” Then, number two, “The well, part 2, is about God’s work.” And finally, number three, “At Galilee, it’s about the Word of Jesus.” So worship, work, and Word. That will be enough. I don’t even get to the bottom part.
John 3, verse 22. “After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized (for John had not yet been put in prison).
Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.’
John answered, ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, “I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.” The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.'” (John 3:22-30)
In this little section, John is reminding us that the point of this whole gospel, this whole Book, this whole story, is Jesus. John the Baptist’s response shows us just how much Jesus is the point. Jesus is baptizing, and John, who has been leading this giant ministry…he has had a lot of people; everybody is coming out to be baptized by John…suddenly is no longer leading such a giant ministry. A lot of people are going over to Jesus.
They come to him and say, “John, aren’t you jealous? You’re losing a lot of your people.” John says, “No, I’m not jealous at all. They’re going to Jesus! That’s the whole point!” See, John in his leadership and as he is evaluating his spiritual impact… For John the Baptist, it is never about how many people are following him, but rather it’s who is following Jesus.
For all of us, I think if we’re trying to get some sense of our spiritual impact in the world, never measure that sense by how many people are following you. How many people are being drawn to Jesus? That’s the key! That’s the goal. That’s actually what John has received from heaven. Verse 27. He said, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.” (John 3:27)
He is saying, “My ministry, my job, my responsibility, my impact in the world is to be pointing people toward Jesus. I’m just the friend of the bridegroom.” The image is powerful. John says, “I’m like the best man rooting on the groom (Jesus) as he draws together his bride, his people.”
Can you imagine? If John the Baptist started to become possessive and wanted all the people to come to follow him, that would be like the best man flirting with the bride at the wedding! As you can imagine, you would not be very happy with your best man if he was trying to run off with your bride.
Following in John the Baptist’s footsteps, we too need to look at how we’re pointing people toward Jesus, not how we draw people to ourselves. Jesus is the point. Even in local churches when we gather, it’s not about a leader or some leaders or anything like that. It’s like when we get together, how are we all helping each other, spurring each other on toward love and good works, toward Jesus?
Now John the evangelist (John, the one writing this gospel) chimes in here in verse 31 and agrees with what John the Baptist has said. There is some debate whether or not verse 31 is a continuation of John the Baptist or if it’s just the commentary written by John writing the gospel. I know there are a lot of Johns going on. I mean, my name is even Jon.
A couple of weeks ago… One of the families from the church has a little 3-year-old girl who likes to sit in the sermons on Sundays. After church, they were at lunch, and they asked her, “What did you think about the sermon today?” She said, “Well, I liked it very much, but Jon keeps talking about himself so much!” It’s where the silent H… I’m just a J-O-N, guys.
Here it seems to me that John the evangelist is writing to really confirm that the whole point is Jesus. Verse 31: “He who comes from above [Jesus] is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.
For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:31-36)
Here John the evangelist, writing the gospel, of John confirms what we see in John the Baptist, that Jesus is the point. He is the great groom. He is the one who has the words from God. He brings the truth of heaven to earth. He is the one who has all things given into his hands. He is the one who has the Spirit without measure. He is the central issue when it comes to eternal life. “…whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36)
We don’t often like to talk about the wrath of God. It’s an unsettling subject. A great commentary writer/leader, Pastor William Temple, said, “Of course, if ‘anger’ and ‘wrath’ are taken to mean the emotional reaction of an irritated self-concern, there is no such thing in God.” Basically we should not read the word wrath and understand God is petty or emotionally frustrated or angry with us.
He continues, “But if God is holy love, and I am in any degree given to uncleanness or selfishness, then there is, in that degree, stark antagonism in God against me.” God, the one who is holy love, encountering brokenness or waywardness, encounters their antagonism. This is what we understand when we read about the wrath of God.
Now what happens when these two things come together? Beautiful example: John, chapter 4. “Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria.” (John 4:1-4) That’s a very strong word. He had to. It’s like part of the plan of God was for him to pass through Samaria.
“So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.” (John 4:5-6) There is so much set-up here for this story of the encounter between Jesus and the woman from Samaria. I’ll give you just a few pieces that will help frame and understand the conversation that is to come.
First, Jesus didn’t want to be a part of any of the petty competition the Pharisees are trying to provoke. “John the Baptist’s ministry…Jesus’ ministry. Who is bigger?” You know, when people start competing about who has a bigger ministry, Jesus just leaves. We need to keep that in mind. He heads up to Galilee, goes through Samaria.
If you’ve been reading the Bible or you know much history about the first century, you know the relationship between the Jews and Samaritans was very bad. It goes all the way back to the book of 2 Kings, chapter 17, where the people of that region were conquered by the Assyrians, and the leaders of the Jews who lived there were carried off into exile. The Assyrians brought in people from five different nations to repopulate the area after the war.
What developed was a sort of mixed community of multiple ethnicities who maintained some of their Jewishness. For example, they held to the Samaritan Pentateuch (a version of the first five books of the Bible the Jews would have held sacred) but also had their own unique practices. This Samaritan community was always viewed by the “pure” Jewish community as half-breeds, enemies, not good enough.
This played out in their history when the Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem after their time in Babylon. It tells us in the book of Ezra the Samaritans came down and they wanted to help rebuild the temple. The Jews said, “No! You can’t be a part of it.” Can you imagine how offensive? “We want to come help you rebuild the temple.” “Nope, you’re not worthy to do it.”
Then when the Hasmonean Dynasty of the Jews in the South rose again and came to power, they actually went up to Samaria to their holy mountain, Mount Gerizim, and burned the Samaritan temple to the ground. That was several hundred years before the life of Jesus, but you can see how the anger and the hatred are multiplying between these communities.
Then just about 20 years before Jesus’ ministry, there’s this story of some Samaritans who came down to the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, and they brought with them human bones, which were considered so unclean and defiling. They scattered these bones of dead humans all through the Jerusalem temple, almost like a terrorist attack. It was so offensive. These people really dislike each other.
In fact, the Jewish rabbis said the Samaritans were perpetually unclean always in the eyes of God because they did not have the right purification rituals. The women were always unclean. Every Samaritan woman was constantly unclean. Then on top of that, because the men were with the Samaritan women, they too were unclean. Basically they said, “Everybody is unclean.” Some of them even believed all the Samaritans were demon-possessed.
This is not a good relationship, and when Jesus and his disciples went through Samaria, they were very much walking through the wrong part of town, what everyone in their community would have considered to be a very dangerous and unwise journey. Furthermore, there’s about to be a conversation that happens at a well. If you remember from your Old Testament, there are a lot of important stories that occur at a well.
It’s the Middle East, after all, so there are a lot of dry areas and a few wells. People tend to congregate at wells. The thing that happens very frequently and significantly in the Old Testament at the wells is people meet wives. Abraham sends his servant out to find a suitable wife for his son Isaac. Where does this servant meet Rebekah? At a well. A little bit later, Jacob. Where does he meet his future wife? At a well. Then Moses, fleeing from Egypt, comes to a well and there meets Zipporah and becomes her husband also.
I remember reading those stories in my twenties when I was a single guy. I thought, “I need to find a well! Forget these online dating sites. It seems like good things happen at wells.” I did not meet Amy at a well, but it all worked out. Now you have to catch the significance of what’s happening here because Jesus is about to have a conversation with another woman at a well. This time, she is from the sworn enemy people group than his own, and yet there are so many parallels.
If you go back and read those Old Testament stories next to this story and the conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well, there are so many parallels that you can’t help but wonder, “What’s going on here? What’s the deeper picture?” Now I am not saying Jesus in his conversation with this woman at the well has a desire to marry her as his singular wife or that he did marry her or anything else like that.
What we can say is when we read this story of the woman at the well with Jesus, we can actually see the woman as a picture of Jesus’ true bride. His true bride is all of us, his people. We just read John the Baptist talking about Jesus is the true groom. So all of his people are the true bride. When we read the story of the woman from Samaria, we do not only need to see it as just a picture of one woman who Jesus met and blessed with his words but also as a picture of us (all the church).
Why do we gather together? Why do the people of God come together? What is God doing? What is he looking for from us? When we look at this story, we see an amazing picture of Jesus sitting down. His interaction with the woman helps us, I think, understand who we are and what we’re doing.
Verse 7. It says, “A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)” (John 4:7-9)
A quick note… That phrase, no dealings… The Jews have no dealings or no relationships with Samaritans. Technically, it means they hate each other so much they won’t even drink from the same cup as another. If a Samaritan has had a drink from a cup, a Jew wouldn’t even touch it. “I’m not drinking. It’s unclean.” Like that. There are no dealings there.
Perhaps a more modern-day example would be even within this century in this part of the country, the idea that some people groups are unclean. They need to have their own water over here, and then there needs to be this water over here or restroom facilities or whatever else. I mean, this is a picture of segregation and racism. Huge barriers! Watch. I love this, how Jesus just bashes through the barriers of racism and segregation. Everything that was separate, he just rams right through it.
Verse 10: “Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink,” you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob?'” (John 4:10-12) Yes, he is!
“‘He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.'” (John 4:12-15)
A beautiful conversation. Jesus is speaking to her of profound spiritual things, eternal life, deep satisfaction of coming to him to receive this living water. The phrase living water itself means water that is not in a well but the kind that runs in a river that’s constantly fresh and being renewed. He says, “Tap into me as the renewable source of water.”
The woman does not understand what he is talking about. She is trying to get her head around what Jesus is saying, and she kind of thinks he is talking about indoor plumbing, which would be very convenient and is very convenient. Now that we have running water in our homes, we don’t have to carry it in jars back and forth from the well.
In verse 15, the woman does something remarkable. Remember Jesus, in verse 10, says, “If you knew…who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10) Jesus is saying, “Come on! Ask me. I am here. Simply turn toward me and ask me. It’s available.”
The woman, even though she doesn’t fully understand what Jesus is talking about and all the deep ramifications, asks him. She does what Jesus wants. She says, “Give me some of this water. I don’t understand exactly what it is, but I’m asking.” Jesus responds so generously and so beautifully to this simple act of trust.
You know, sometimes you wonder, “Am I trusting God? Am I trusting Jesus? Is my belief authentic?” When Jesus is asked a question, it means whoever is asking is showing some trust. We never ask something of someone authentically unless we have some measure of faith that the person can respond to our request.
For example, if I need a stick of gum, I would ask Amy. In the very act of asking Amy, I am showing I have some level of faith that she might have gum. She might not have gum, but Jesus has living water. No gum? No. Good. It’s not any good to chew gum while you’re preaching anyway. It’s just a silly example.
The woman, see, when she asks Jesus, “Give me this water,” even though she doesn’t fully understand it, is showing some level of faith in Jesus even though it’s kind of on an earthly need sort of basis. Jesus now continues to move forward with her. This is verse 16.
“Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.'” (John 4:16-19)
See, now Jesus in conversation with this woman is beginning to provoke her brokenness, to get it out into the open. The things that have been hidden in darkness are now coming to the light. This is what happens when we get to know Jesus and begin walking with him. Even his first phrase with the woman (He says, “Woman, give me a drink”) suddenly becomes a little bit clearer now.
Here’s a woman who has been divorced five times (or her husbands have died five times, which is hard to imagine). We don’t know exactly the circumstances of her marriages and her relationships with these men, but in the ancient world, we know it was impossible for a woman to initiate a divorce. It had to be the man who did it.
She has been divorced by men. She is now with a man who is not her husband. Clearly, it seems she has some issues with relationships. She seems to be going through them at a frightening pace. It even seems like she has a distrust or dislike of men that they kind of want to just use her, and maybe she uses them.
When Jesus shows up and says, “Give me a drink,” she kind of responds back a little bit. “What? Are you trying to get a drink from me? What’s going on?” Now Jesus continues to provoke her brokenness so he can restore her in wholeness, to offer her wholeness. He says, “Let me give you this living water.” Where does this wholeness come from? The woman turns the conversation in verse 19 toward worship.
She says, “‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
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. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ 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.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am he.'” (John 4:19-26)
Powerful statement. The woman is engaging with Jesus in some level of conversation and trust. Her reward, in a sense, is Jesus’ self-revelation. This is the first of the great “I am” statements Jesus makes in the gospel of John. He says, “I am the one who you’re talking about, the Messiah you’re waiting for.”
Now if we put the pieces of our picture together we’ve talked about so far, what’s Jesus doing with this woman? He is taking her from a place of brokenness, a place of darkness, bitterness, anger, and his words are leading her into a place of authentic worship. This is a picture of what the Lord does with all of us. What does he want to do with us? Take us from those places of brokenness into the place of authentic, true worship.
The woman says, “Hey, I want you to be… Where are we going to do this? Are we going to do this in Gerizim? Are we going to do this in Jerusalem? What’s the place? What do I have to go and do?” Jesus says, “No, no, no, no. It’s no longer about the place. It’s about something deeper than that.” Worshiping in spirit and in truth…what does that mean? How do you worship in spirit and in truth?
Well, first, the word worship is an important one. It comes from our old English word worth‑ship. It got shortened to worship. The idea in worship (whatever it is humans are worshiping) is we are showing or ascribing worth to something. The word worship itself in English means to show value, to show worth. In the original language, the Greek (in which this is written) word means to kiss out with the hand. It’s kind of a gesture again of showing worth, but also it can mean to prostrate yourself or to bow down and show reverence. It’s the same idea.
Jesus here is saying what the Father really wants is worshipers. He is looking, seeking after worshipers: people who recognize and ascribe his true value, people who bow before him, people who can see who he really is, which, of course, is the primary function of Jesus. When we look at Jesus, we see who God really is. We see his true wonder, grace, and mercy. This is why we worship God through Jesus with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Trinitarian little picture here worshiping the Father in spirit and in truth.
Now how do we worship? What does it mean to worship in spirit? It’s an interesting phrase. Sometimes you hear it, and it’s like, “Well, it just means you really feel it like in your spirit.” Right? Emotionally. Actually, when Jesus is talking about spirit, he is talking about the Holy Spirit. Throughout this whole passage, he is talking about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s job in the gospel of John is to bring people who are marginalized, broken, and away from God, living in darkness, into new life. That’s what the Holy Spirit does.
We receive the Holy Spirit from Jesus. When we trust Jesus, he gives us the Holy Spirit who draws us into the new life of God, the great plans of what God is doing. When Jesus is talking about worshiping in spirit, he is talking about worshiping God in the reality of our new life in him given by the power of God. It’s much more than merely an emotion. It’s actually fully embracing the reality of the new life that comes from Jesus. It actually wells up. It’s a supernatural gift from God. Just like he says, the gift of God, this living water, to worship in spirit.
Then to worship in truth means we’re worshiping accurately. He says to the Samaritan woman, “You worship what you don’t know. You are ascribing value to something you don’t fully understand.” Worship without knowledge is blind. Worship without knowledge can lead us into idolatry. When worship, that desire to find something out there that’s valuable, to recognize it and to adore it, is not connected to truth it can go anywhere.
Just think about the example of this woman. She doesn’t know her worship. She doesn’t know her anger point, her security, her sense of identity in accurate, authentic, truthful worship. What has it led to? This repeating cycle of brokenness in her relationships. Because her worship is not rooted in truth, she has been trying to find that deep soul spirit satisfaction in her relationships, and it has not been good for her.
In fact, it’s so bad that she comes to the well at noon, under the noonday sun, just to avoid all the other women who would come either at sunrise or sunset, in the cool of the day, to collect water, because she wants to avoid their gossip and the shame associated with all of that. Here what Jesus is saying is the Father is seeking people who worship in spirit (in reality of the new life) and in truth (in an accurate understanding of who God is).
You see, doctrine (what we understand to be true about God, our theology) leads to doxology. Our doctrine should always direct us toward praise. That’s what doxology is (praise and worship toward God). Sometimes I find this to be the case. When I’m reading these passages… I mean, it’s such a privilege all week to be reading the gospel of John and taking it in, chewing on it. I’m seeing these connections. I feel like the words of the Lord are just alive in my heart.
There are times in the afternoon when I’ve been studying a passage, and it’s just like the truth of who God is is so beautiful, I kind of have to just stop. I get my guitar out and sing a song just to say, “Lord, you’re amazing. This is awesome! I mean, look what you do with this lady who is so shameful and shamed and broken, and yet you just draw her in. You give her this truth, and she is transformed.”
I mean, when you read that, you can’t help but just be blessed because you start to see the truth of who God is, his grace, his mercy, his pursuit of people who run from him. You say, “Wow! I have to stop and worship God.” That’s part of what it means to worship in truth. When we talk about worship, we’re talking, of course, about something more than just songs. We’re talking about a full-life posture. The Father wants worshipers.
But even though it’s more than songs and music, through the history of the people of God, music has always been one of the primary expressions of worship toward God, coming together and singing. If you read through the book of Psalms, how often did the psalmist exclaim, “Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn”? (Psalm 57:8)
There’s something that happens when the spirit and the truth are coming together that almost erupts from us in song, because the song and the worship through music is one of those places where the things of our new life in the Spirit of God and the truth of God come together, and we just really connect in that.
Why do we gather? Why do we get together? Why do we give? Why are we part of this local body? One of the primary reasons is really so we can get together and worship together, so we can come to this place, and we can bless God, because he deserves it and because he wants it. That’s what he is seeking.
Several years ago, we were in Ethiopia, and we were worshiping at a church there. It was a long service. It went for hours and hours. Most of it was worship, and it was really beautiful, although I didn’t understand any of the words that were being said. I was talking to one of my friends afterward (an Ethiopian guy, one of the believers), and I said, “Tell me about the worship. What’s going on there?”
He said, “Well, actually one of the things about our worship is that we watch each other when we’re worshiping,” which I know here for many of us is kind of a frightening idea. “No, I want the lights to be off. I don’t want anyone to listen. I don’t want anybody to look. I would like to come stand in a room with 800 other people but really be in a cone of privacy while I worship.” Sometimes we foster that, you know? Sometimes we say, “Well, just come in and worship anonymously.”
My friend in Ethiopia was saying, “But actually if you see somebody and they’re not really worshiping, you can say, ‘Hey, what’s wrong?'” Can you imagine? If you’re not worshiping in your seat, the next… “Hey, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you worshiping God?” It’s like, “None of your business!” Maybe it is. He says, “Hey, what’s going on?” The person says, “Well, you know…” Whatever. You can explain it.
He says, “Hey, remember we’re here to be joyful. We serve this amazing God who came and took us, even though we were wandering and in cycles of brokenness, and restored us and gave us living water. Let’s praise God!” They like encourage each other to worship, and they do worship together.
I can tell you one of my favorite things about worshiping on Sundays together with this body is getting to sit right there, which sonically is not the best seat in the house. You’re right in front of the drums and the subwoofers and everything else. Everybody who sits in this row kind of knows what it’s like. It feels like there’s this huge wave of bass just kind of rushing over your knees.
What you can hear when you’re at the front of the room (and I don’t think you can hear it quite as well when you’re in the back) is this chorus of God’s people, this congregation singing together, worshiping together, and those voices just echoing off the ceiling and in the room. You hear it. To me, it feels almost like a fresh breeze toward God coming out of us. There are days when I’m like a weathervane, and I feel like I don’t know which way I’m headed.
Then I hear that sound of the saints singing together, and it just draws my heart back in the direction to God. It just sweeps us all together in that beautiful chorus of worship. Why do we gather? The Father is seeking worshipers. When we come to see who the Father is in spirit and in truth, we can’t help but worship. Sometimes it’s quiet. Sometimes it’s kneeling. Sometimes it’s exuberant, communal. We come together to worship.
Out of that worship, if we read the rest of the passage, we would see that woman goes back and actually brings her whole village to Jesus. They meet and hear for themselves. Then the very next story at the end of John 4, Jesus’ words bring life to an official’s son who is dying. Jesus doesn’t even have to be there. It’s simply his words that bring life.
What do we do when we gather together? We gather to worship. We gather to engage out of our worship in the work of God. Then we come back to hear the life-giving words of God, life-giving words of Jesus. This is the life of the church. In just a moment, we’ll celebrate Communion together. It’s the first Sunday of the month, and it’s something we’ve grown accustomed to doing.
As we prepare our hearts to receive that Communion, I just want to draw our attention back to that verse 23 where Jesus says, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth…” (John 4:23) When Jesus speaks of the hour, we know in the gospel of John he is referring to the day of his death and then his subsequent resurrection.
He says, “But the hour is coming and is now here, when the curtain to the Holy of Holies, when that avenue of access to God, when the grace of God that reaches in to brokenness and brings us in to worship and wholeness will be fully unveiled.” That’s what happened at the cross. Jesus, the one who perfectly reveals God, reveals God’s perfect love in his sacrifice and his power in his resurrection. Let’s pray.