When Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman at the water well, (John 4), he made a curious statement which is most profound. Unfortunately, it has been overlooked in most of our Bible studies. Its significance is what Jesus said in these words that were delivered early in his ministry to a non-Jew. He gave a foreshadow for all who would worship him from there on. He said, “the hour is come, and now is when true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” (14:23)
The woman acknowledged that there would be a divine prophet sent from God. She also drew a comparison between the Jewish sacred place of Jerusalem and the sacred place for the Samaritans at Mount Gerizim. She supposed at first that she was having an intellectual discussion with Jesus. However, he brushed aside the place of worship versus the person of worship. This leads to a better understanding for us of what true worship is.
Rituals, sacred items, religious practices, and significant functions are of little interest to Jesus. He wants us to escape from the confines of our own humanity into that part of ourselves that is spirit. If we are to have a genuine worship experience with God, it must be that area of ourselves that is not carnal, that is not satisfied only by human effort or intuition. We must be in touch with our own spirits that God put in our physical shell. We must reach out from our indivisible self to the invisible majesty of the Almighty. Our worship must not be routine. It must be an awareness that the eternal part of the human person can only truly be in contact to the Eternal Godhead. We might say that it must be heartfelt. But it must be more than that! It must be the outgrowth of our own existence that is destined for an everlasting location.
This is not to say that our worship must be emotional. In fact, this could likely be the opposite. To worship God is to concentrate on his magnitude. To be in touch with him is to present our small selves to be subject to his greatness. Worship is not a location or time or place even though we are instructed to gather together with fellow believers. It is a practice for all hours of all days. It is an awareness that through Christ we are invited into the very presence of the Great Creator of all things. To worship God is to call out from our very interbeing as a means to be in contact with him.
Not only is our worship to be significantly from our spirits but is to be truthful. It is to admit our own finality. It is to brush aside anything that interferes with our relationship alongside him. In doing so, we are avoiding any falsehood contained in the practice of religion. To worship in truth is the worship in honesty so that we hold back nothing in our thoughts, plans, opinions, prejudices, ideas, or suggestions. Truth is simplistic. There is no middle ground. It is the basis on which we stand. It is the high point of what we can become in the shadow of the Almighty. Being truthful, is to avoid withholding anything from God. It is an ambition for frail human to be in contact with the eternal spirit that is God.
For us to worship is not to concentrate on what we do. It is to say to him, “Here am I.” As we seek his presence, we must do it through that spirit part of ourselves that is not hampered by anything created by man or any form of falsehood to impress God. We cannot physically go into the presence of God. Too often we presume that our physical presence in church counts as worship. But we bring our spirits before him in admiration and appreciation. Our worship of God can only follow what Jesus said to that wayward woman who was a Samaritan. This short scene in the conversation with her, as for any of us, is a result that brings forth fruit of other person’s spirits, of other souls who likewise will worship him. Our worship is not an exercise in futility as done by our usual weekly schedule. Our worship is to be a continual reaching of our spirit up to heaven.
Christian Writer 