A New Worship (Part 1)
John 4:5-24
5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar,
near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well
was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the
well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her,
“Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that
You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no
dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of
God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked
Him, and He would have given you living water.”
1.
Last week we talked about archeology, and the
cool fact that not a single biblical reference has been disproved by archeology
(pretty good record!)
a.
Well there’s another interesting fact that
archeology has unearthed: Every ancient civilization that has been discovered/unearthed
worshiped something.
b.
Whether its the Aztec’s worship of the sun God
(Huitzilopochtli), the Roman gods, Stonehenge, apparently there were no
atheists in the ancient world!
c.
Some would say the reason is that “humans have
always needed a crutch,” they need something to explain the world around them,
why it exists, how it come to be.
d.
(which I
find to be interesting in that even ancient, supposedly “ignorant” people
understood that our world couldn’t have just sprung up from nothing, there had
to be a creator. Apparently we needed to
become much smarter to determine that there isn’t a creator!).
2.
Here’s my theory: “Humans need a relationship with their
creator,” which is why, in the absence of worshipping the true God, they will
worship something.
3.
Unlike the animals, man will search for the
meaning of life, we will scan the stars
a.
Even people that claim to not be religious have
some form of worship:
b.
An atheist will worship at the altar of truth, a
scientist may worship at the altar of knowledge; a businessman may worship his
money.
c.
If you’ve ever been to a rock concert, consider
the parallels:, the rock-stars being the objects of worship, the crowd
expressing their adoration for the musicians, lavishing them with applause and
praise, It is in effect a huge worship service
4.
It is a reality we cannot escape: We yearn for a connection with someone or
something greater than ourselves
a.
Eccl 3:11 tells us that God “has put eternity in
their hearts” –
5.
So, we could say that humans, created in the
image of God, have something programmed into our very being that tells us there
is more to this life than just being born, living and dying.
a.
We will spend our lives searching for something
that Jesus described as “living water” - water that will slake the thirst of our
soul, water that will soothe the dry and empty areas of our heart.
b.
The problem is that the many things that humans
have devised to fill those dry and empty areas do not quench the thirst that we
have.
6.
That is exactly that place that this Samaritan
woman was at. We might look at her and think “just a woman going about her day,
getting some water, she’s fine…”
a.
But as is the case with most people, the reality
of what was going on in her life was not reflected in her outward demeanor...
b.
And on this day, in the midst of her daily
routine, she has an encounter that will change her life forever.
c.
This was not a chance encounter; this was a “God
appointment…”
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that
You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no
dealings with Samaritans.
7.
"Give me drink" - genuinely surprises
the woman by asking her for a drink.
a.
Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans; Samaria
was a mixed up people, mixed up religion -
b.
They were the remnant of the northern Jewish
kingdom (1 Kings 12 – Jeroboam), who had intermarried with foreigners after the
chiefs and nobles were carried into exile in 727 BC (Shalmaneser 2 Kings 17-18)
c.
They had a separate worship place on Mt. Gerizim
and they rejected all of the Old Testament except their version of the first
five books of Moses.
d.
The animosity toward Jews, and the Jews towards
them, was centuries old.
8.
So Jesus' request genuinely surprised the woman,
as a rabbi would not speak with a woman in public, not even with his own wife.
a.
It was also very unusual for a Jewish person of
that time to ask a favor or accept a drink from a Samaritan's cup.
9.
But Jesus isn’t finished surprising this
woman...
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of
God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked
Him, and He would have given you living water.”
10. Jesus
did one of the things one God can do, pull back curtains of heart...
a.
He opened up a conversation about the things of
God (If you knew the gift of God)
b.
He sparked a curiosity taking about living water
c.
He opened a door for her to step outside of her
rote day...
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw
with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You
greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself,
as well as his sons and his livestock?”
11. Natural
response when we get close to the heart, she needed to throw up a defense,
"hey I've got heritage..." RE: "My grandfather was a
preacher... I'm good!”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this
water will thirst again, (Japan - shrines) 14 but whoever drinks of the water
that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him
will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” 15
The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor
come here to draw.”
12. Now
we know that Jesus is speaking in spiritual terms, and we can also see that
this woman is not - she isn’t getting it yet…
a.
She’s thinking “if I don’t have to slog to this
well every day, then I’m all in!”
b.
But before we judge her, is this so different to
how many of us approached God in the beginning?
c.
“I’ve got some problems God, if you could help
me out with them, make my life a little easier, then I’m in…”
13. But
what Jesus is offering is so much more, He doesn’t want to come alongside us
and help her with her chores, He is offering to change her life forever.
a.
He describes giving her water that will “become
in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life”
b.
The effect of the water that Jesus offers does
much more than simply satisfy the thirst of the one who drinks it.
c.
It also creates something that is life-giving in
the heart of the one who drinks it.
d.
It becomes a fountain living water that flows
out and touches every part of our life, springing up into everlasting life,
touching every other life around us.
14. Then
Jesus does something more unexpected...
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come
here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her,
“You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands,
and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
15. (Uh
oh, He got up in her business… one minute he’s talking about water, now He’s
talking about my past!)
a.
On the one hand it may be hard to relate to this
woman’s situation, not everyone’s been married five times.
b.
In truth, many people would avoid this women…
write her off...
16. But
while her exact circumstances may be more extreme than perhaps our own, all of
us should relate to the general place she was in…
a.
This was a woman that had been broken and
bruised by the harshness of a fallen world,
b.
This was someone who’d probably been let down
time and again by broken promises of love and commitment, perhaps from her
family, then by her many husbands,
c.
Perhaps she had children from different men,
some of whom had no relationship with their real father.
d.
She’d apparently given up on the institution of
marriage, and was now just shackin up!
17. In
reality, She's like millions of people who get up each day, do the chores, get
some water, get some food, try and keep the kids in line, doing life.
a.
All the while, deep down, each day is a struggle,
it’s harsh, it’s dry, yet something in her heart tells her “there must be
more.”
b.
But then one day, at the well, she meets a man
like no other man she's ever met, this man doesn't want something from her.
c.
This man touches that part of her heart that
says "there must be more..."
d.
He presents with a picture: Cool, clear water, springing up from a
fountain, cleansing her, refreshing her,
18. Jesus
had tapped into that deep inner thirst in her heart that longed to be
quenched…
a.
Jesus brought her to crisis of belief, He
brought her face-to-face with her real need.
b.
But she's not going down easy...
19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a
prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in
Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
19. The
woman does what most of us do when we’re confronted with something we are
ashamed of, change the topic!
a.
Or, when confronted with an area of our life
that might not be lined up with God, we might try to adjust our worship to fit
our lifestyle.
b.
“Well, I don’t need to go to church, I can
worship on the beach.”
c.
“I know the bible says I shouldn’t be having sex
outside of marriage, but we love each other, and God is all about love…”
20. But
Jesus isn’t going to get into a religious debate with the woman, or berate her
for her “sinful lifestyle”
a.
What He is about to do is lead her to the
heart-felt, spirit-led, worship of the true and living God!
b.
Connection with God...
A New Worship
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming
when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is
of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to
worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit
and truth.”
Something is coming…
21. POINT: Jesus didn’t condemn the woman for her mixed
up religion (although He did point it out),
22. He
didn't condemn her for having five husbands, or shacking up...
a.
What Jesus did was make the point that a time
was coming when worship of the true and living God would fundamentally CHANGE.
b.
It wouldn’t be about WHERE you worship, or WHEN
you worship, or what items were used in worship…
c.
A time was coming, and now IS, when God will be
worshiped in SPIRIT AND TRUTH.
Worship God in SPIRIT
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to
worship Him.
23. "Spirit
and truth," unpack...
24. To
start - “Worship God in Spirit” means that in order to worship God, a person must
FIRST be indwelt with God's Spirit – in other words, be a Christian!
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that
we are children of God. Romans 8:15
a.
If a person who is not indwelt with the Holy
Spirit cannot worship God, that person may participate, but it is only ritual.
b.
(That’s
not to say that an unsaved person has no business being present when worship is
happening, they may not have a worship experience, but they will experience
something authentic.)
25. “Worship
God in Spirit” speaks of a spiritual union that happens between God and man, a
spiritual union made possible through our relationship with Jesus Christ...
Because it’s only through Jesus that we have access to the Spirit and
the Father:
For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to
the Father. Eph 2:18
Just as God delivered the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt,
telling Pharaoh:
“let my people go so that they may worship me…” Gen 8:1
God has redeemed us through His Son Jesus Christ that we may worship
Him and declare His praises:
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him
who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 1 Peter 2:9
“Worship God in Spirit” proclaims that the Holy Spirit has baptized us
into the Body of Christ
...we have all been baptized into one body by one
Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
1 Cor. 12:13
The Spirit brings truth to our worship
And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the
Spirit is truth. 1 John 5:6
We are now the residence – the temple of worship
26. In
the Old Testament one could only worship God in the temple, and only the High Priest
was able to enter in.
a.
But after Jesus died and rose again, He sent His
Spirit to indwell all believers.
b.
Now we no longer need a temple (or a mountain)
to worship God for every person in which the Holy Spirit resides IS the temple
of God.
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple
and that God's Spirit lives in you? 1
Cor 3:16
TRUTH:
27. What
does Jesus mean by truth?
a.
The truth of WHO God is; Not who we make Him out to be, but who He has
described Himself to be, found in His word
Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him
there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and
proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and
abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty... Exodus
34:5-7
28. The
truth of WHO WE ARE to Him. Who are we
to Him?
a.
We are His creation. We are the object of His love His grace, and
His mercy.
b.
And, He loves us with an everlasting love (Jer
31:3)
I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.
With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. Jer 31:3
29. The
truth of what He has DONE for us. What
has He done?
a.
He has redeemed us to Himself through His Son
Jesus Christ, who took the just punishment of God against sin, the full measure
of God’s wrath, on our behalf.
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that
we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor 5:21
30. We
have been saved to see that God’s glory is most clearly revealed to us in the
person and work of His Son Jesus Christ:
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of
darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Cor 4:6
31. When
a person who has the Holy Spirit of God with them comes face-to-face with the
reality of who God is, how much He loves us, and what He’s done for us,
a.
The response will be nothing less than an
outpouring of praise, honor, adoration, and awe.
b.
I like the way Matt Redman describes it:
Breathing in His grace; breathing out His praise!
32. True
worship of God is not revealed in the grandness of the service, nor the intensity
of the music,
a.
It’s not revealed in the how somber we are, nor
how wildly we dance and sing.
b.
True worship revealed in the lives that we live:
a response with every part of our being:
c.
Our mind, our heart, our emotions, our words,
our actions
33. Now,
what about the woman’s lifestyle? Isn’t
Jesus going to correct her? Make sure she breaks up with that guy she’s with?
Make sure she gets her act together?
a.
Interestingly, no. Why?
b.
Because when we worship the Living God in spirit
and truth, all of those things in our life that we used to fill that void...
c.
We realize that they will never fill that part
of our heart that yearns to be filled by God.
d.
They become cheap substitutes for the cleaning,
refreshing, life-giving water of life that Christ gives us.
e.
We willingly lay them down, because they pale in
comparison to the life-giving water that Christ gives us.
34. The
water the springs forth from with us, by the Spirit of God, that flows out and touches
every area of our life, and the lives of those around us -
a.
A FLOOD OF LIFE!
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 34:8
Copyright © 2014 Clay Ritter.
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