Jesus and the Woman of Samaria (5)

Last Lord’s Day we were addressing the nature of the true worship of God. This subject was before us due to our Lord’s words to the woman of Samaria, while they sat at Jacob’s well. In John 4:23 and 24 we read our Lord’s words, “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. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” In passing I mentioned a matter that was not in our notes, but needed to be, and so I purposed to mention it again at the outset of today’s study. It is very significant that the word, “worship”, is most commonly a verb, not an adjective or a noun. In other words, the worship of God is what we do when we gather on the Lord’s Day. Worship should not be understood as chiefly something we derive from God; worship is that which we give God, or offer to God. But all too often “worship” in today’s consumer culture is assumed to be primarily as a means to receive something we need or desire from God. Often churches will have a philosophy of church ministry that makes the person in the pew the center and focus of all that takes place in a worship service. Those churches that are perceived to provide a “worship experience”, are frankly the most appealing to unspiritual and poorly instructed Christians. They do not gather to worship God, although they may say so.