Worship in Spirit and Truth
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)
1. Introduction
The question on worship was a good way to deflect a conversation that was getting personal and uncomfortable as Jesus Christ poked deeper into the life of the Samaritan woman in John 4. Who wants to discuss with a strange man passed relationships that went bad? Not with the mix of hurt, regret, ‘I was the bad one’ and ‘he disappointed me’ feelings. ‘So, if he is a prophet that has discerned all my life, let us discuss another matter: Worship’, thought the woman. Her question invoked a teaching that is the subject of this reflection. In his answer, the Lord deflected her mind from peoples (Jews or Gentiles) and places (Jerusalem or Gerizim) to point her to what acceptable worship is:
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
2. People and Worship: The concept of people groups is a reality, but the Lord is concerned rather with true worshippers. Worship is at the heart of every people group and culture; when the ark of God was captured, or when the Temple was ransacked and destroyed in war, Israel felt terribly violated, raped, and desecrated; similarly when , or when Dagon fell and broke into pieces, Philistia was shaken to the core. Worship is an essential fabric that ties people together; it is a centerpiece which when broken things fall apart.
Do not be deceived with the term ‘atheist’. They too have a religion and celebration times and places – whether at the casino or golf course or some free mason house or some other meeting point. However, this article must now concentrate on Christian Worship.
3. Worship (definitions): “Let my people go, so that they may worship me” (Exodus 4:23). This passage appears 8 times in Exodus between chapters 4 and 10. The Hebrew word translated as ‘worship’ in this verse is ‘awbad’ which means ‘to work, serve, till, be enslaved’. This is clearly both ritual (the retreat and ceremony to which the Hebrews were being required to go for) and life – as these words are clearly applicable – to work, serve or being enslaved by a master.
The Greek in John 4:23 is ‘proskuneo’ translated as worship means ‘to kiss, prostrate oneself in homage, reverence, adore’. There is here also evidence a master-servant relationship, in which the worshipper has a perpetual obligation of service and honour to the master. This still goes to both ritual and life.
To worship in spirit and truth brings in the idea of worship going beyond outward show; the spirit is the heart – the intangible, the will. The entire being of the worshipper must be inclined and wholly sold out to honour the master. Truth in John’s gospel points to Jesus Christ himself: He is the true light (1:9, 14), the true bread (6:32), the true (living) water (4:10) the truth (14:1), and the true vine (15:1). Jesus Christ is therefore the way to true worship.
4. Deflection – the problem: The problem lies in arguments and monuments that deflect or distract the worshipper from the master. For the Samaritan woman, the debate on the place of worship seems to have been blinding her from the real tenets of true worship. In similar vein, legalistic righteousness can overshadow worship in spirit and truth. We have had examples of such deflection schemes in the media and politics.
5. True Worship: Several Bible passages illustrate the necessity for ritual and life to move together if worship is to be acceptable to the Father:
1Sa 15:22 And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”
Isa 1:15 When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
Isa 29:13-14 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote; therefore, behold, I will again do marvelous things with this people, wonderful and marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hid.”
Isa 58:6-7 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”
Justice is a prerequisite for acceptable worship – in spirit and in truth. In practice it is a full circle of work and service, as well as ritual celebration – such as in church: epitomized with music, dance, offering, and the important ministry of the Word.
6. In conclusion and in summary:
- The hour is now. The call has been on for a long time – not just when Jesus spoke to the woman.
- True worshippers are what the Father seeks. Regardless of your dichotomous belonging – religious or tribal – it is important to focus whether or not you relate with the Father as a true worshipper.
- Deflections are numerous and every intending worshipper must avoid and clearly focus on the master in order to keep their obligation.
- Worship has the two major components, which both are important and must-haves: the ritual and the life.
- In spirit and truth means faithfully in life and in ritual, and that is the only acceptable worship.
God bless you all.