In John 4:1-8 (NIV) we find the familiar story of the Samaritan woman. "The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John,although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, 'Will you give me a drink?' (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)"
Water is life.
Did you notice his question in John 4:7 (NIV), "Will you give me a drink?" This is a most important question of our physical existence. Here are the facts. Water is the most vital nutrient to our existence, perhaps second only to oxygen. Our bodies are two-thirds water. Without water, we can only hope to survive a few days. Every system in your body depends on water. Water is the key to fighting disease. It flushes toxins away from cells. Wateris life.
Here is how one person describes the importance of water."The human body is like an envelope encasingtwenty trillion living cells. Each cell swims in a fluid of salty water. All proteins, minerals, vitamins, fats, and other molecules are suspended in that water. Water is not just present in every cell, it is essential to its survival. Good hydration provides healthy cell repair and regeneration. An improperly hydrated cell is weakened and more susceptible to infection and malignancy.A deficiency of onlyten percentcan lead to chronic health complaints. Subtle dehydration is alleged to afflictthirty to fifty percentof Americans. Water cushions bones and joints, transports nutrients, flushes toxins, regulates body temperature, and empowers the body's natural healing process."(Source: Steve Meyerowitz)
Doctors say that there is a good chance that you are not sick, but that you are dehydrated! Without water, we experience headaches, joint and back pain, increased anxiety and depression, higher blood pressure, higher cholesterol, increased fatigue and insomnia, cravings, allergies and asthma, arthritic pain, and constipation.
Jesus needed water for his physical existence, just as we need water for our physical existence. Thus he said, "Will you give me a drink?"
The Samaritan woman was spiritually dehydrated.
But this is not what the passage is about. Jesus was physically dehydrated, but the Samaritan woman was spiritually dehydrated. John 4:9-15 (NIV) continues, "The Samaritan woman said to him, 'You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?' (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.' 'Sir,' the woman said, 'you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?'Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I 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 won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.' "
Notice Jesus' comment to the Samaritan woman in John 4:13 (NIV)."Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
If we arethirty to fifty percentphysically dehydrated at any given moment, then what percentage do you think we are spiritually dehydrated at any given moment of the day? Could it be that the biggest threat to our lives is our spiritual dehydration?
John 4:16-18 (NIV) continues, "He told her, 'Go, call your husband and come back.''I have no husband,' she replied. Jesus said to her, 'You are right when you say you have no husband.The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.' "
One of the primary symptoms of spiritual dehydration is sin and brokenness. If we can only last a few days without water, how long do you think we can last in eternity without living water? The point is we need to drink Christ in daily because our very life and spiritual vitality depends on it! The essence of true worship is maintaining this vital, life-giving link to Jesus Christ. Worship is loving Christ, serving, trusting, believing, following, obeying, pursuing, glorifying, and drinking in the very life of God!
But there are many false beliefs or myths about worship which are holding us back. These same myths held the Samaritan woman back from drinking in the life of God and from tasting eternal life.
Myth:Worship is a location, not a lifestyle.
As Jesus speaks to the Samartian woman, there is a bizarre twist in the conversation. They go from discussing the woman’s sin to a technical discussion on where aperson should worship! There is an assumption in this question that God is somehow most concerned with the place of true worship. In fact, there was a debate about this in Jesus' day. The Jews had chosen Jerusalem as their place of worship. The Samaritans had chosen the first place where Abram built an altar to God as a place of worship.
John 4:19-22 (NIV) says, " 'Sir,' the woman said, 'I can see that you are a prophet.Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.'Jesus declared, 'Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.' "
Jesus tells the Samaritan woman, "...a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem." What is Jesus talking about here? As long as worship is confined to a physical location or space, there will be these huge gaps in our lives where Christ is not glorified. We will try to be one thing at the sacred location, but will not allow God to transform our homes, workplaces, schools, or relationships. This is what the Samaritan woman did. She worshiped at the sacred mountain presumably, but her relationships were full of brokenness and utter ruin.
Here is the danger. The danger is that we would be holy here, but not there. The danger is that we would serve here, but not there. The danger is that we would want a cross displayed prominently here, the Bible read, Christ proclaimed, the word preached, and sin denounced here in this sacred space, meanwhile not allowing any of these things to infiltrate the places where we live!
No wonder the Samaritan woman was spiritually dehydrated! She only drank in the life of God occaisionally, at some sacred space perhaps. She didn't drink in the life of God everywhere, everyday. Could this also be why we are so spiritually parched? Here are some passages concerning worship.
The Bible speaks about worship.
Read 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 (NIV)."Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
Friends, our bodies are designated as the place of worship. Are you honoring God in your body?
Read Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)."Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Friends, worship is about making a sacrifice in some holy place. Worship is about being a living sacrifice!
Read Romans 8:9-11 (NIV)."You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."
Friends, worship is about yielding to Christ and it is about yielding to his Spirit within us. This concept of worship leaves no area of our lives, no place in our lives, untouched. This kind of worship leaves us spiritually hydrated, refreshed, amd contented.
Jesus also touches on two other worship myths.
Myth:Worship is form over spirit.
In John 4:23-26 (NIV) Jesus continues, "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. The woman said, 'I know that Messiah' (called Christ) 'is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.'Then Jesus declared, 'I who speak to you am he.' "
Jesus says thatthe true worshipers will worship God in spirit. Here is another danger in worship. The danger is that we focus more on forms of worship than on the spiritof worship.I remember frommy first ministry, a number of issues regarding form of worship surfaced. Some felt it imperative to have a lighted picture of Jesus displayed prominently in the middle of the sanctuary. Without this picture turned on, they didn't feel as if they had truly worshiped. Others could not worship unless the United States flag was displayed prominently. For others it was the use of a hymnal, the use of technology, a particular Bible translation, a particular version of the Lord’s Prayer, or a particular order of service (sermon, then communion, not communion, then sermon). Others felt the involvement of lay people instead of the senior pastor distracted them. For others it was a matter of which instruments were used (piano, organ, drums).Which expressions were they comfortable with(clapping, raising hands)? Some felt that the day of worship,Sunday versus Saturday, was critical.What attire should be allowed in church (kids wearing hats, the pastor wearing a suit)?
But what are the real issues of worship? The real issues are love, humility, truth, respect, forgiveness, community, glorifying Christ, witnessing in our community, and the fruit of the Spirit. You see, worship can become about external conformity to forms, styles, traditions, rules, and regulations. Worship can become about ignoring the Spirit and the inner heart matters that give life to worship. I am not suggesting that forms of worship are not neutral. They can have a positive or negative impact. The use of forms must be weighed carefully by church leaders, lest they fail to edify the body. But by far, the key issue is one's Spirit, one's heart, and one's maturity in Christ.
Myth:Worship is appearance over truth.
Notice that second part of John 4:24 (NIV)."God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
True worshipers will worship in spirit and truth. What is this truth? Worship must be consistent with what is revealed in scripture. Our worship should be centered on the word who became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Worship must center on the one who ultimately revealed heavenlyFather to us, that we might know eternal life.
In John 14:6-7 (NIV) Jesus says, "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.' "
The living Christ is the object of our worship, the object of our affection, and the centerpiece of God's glory revealed among men. The Bible says in Matthew 5:6 (NIV), "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." What is it that you hunger and thirst for in worship? Or more pointedly, who do you hunger and thirst for?
Let me conclude with a depiction of worship in Revelation 7:15-17 (NIV)."Therefore, 'they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.' "