DAILY DEVOTIONAL – August 6, 2020

“Worshiping Who?”

Prayer:  Almighty God, You alone are worthy of all our praise.  You created us for a life of worship with You and worship of You, because You are worthy of our worship and it is through that worship that we find true life.  Lord, guard our eyes and keep us focused on You alone.  Amen.

Scripture: John 4:21-24

[Jesus told the woman at the well]  “The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

Devotional – “Worshiping Who?”

What is worship?  Is it traditional or contemporary?  Is it quiet and somber reflection or an ecstatic experience?   Is there a particular place you have to be to worship?  Is there any particular place you shouldn’t be if you want to worship?

The words we just read from Jesus in John 4 are in response to an age-old argument that the Samaritan woman at the well brought up to Jesus.  The Samaritans insisted that real, true worship could only happen on Mt. Gerizim instead of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which is where the Jews insisted worship must happen.  So, seeing that Jesus was a prophet, this Samaritan woman asked Jesus to solve the argument once and for all.  What was Jesus’ answer?  Essentially Jesus says, “Neither.  You’re question is wrong because your worship is wrong.”  Lost in a prideful battle over who was right and who was wrong, who was better at worship than the other, both the Jews and Samaritans ended up worshiping a mountain rather than the God who made all mountains.

Gosh, that kind of thing doesn’t still happen today does it?!  Of course it does. The color of the carpet, what refreshments are served after service, which instruments are more holy to use in worship, how this should be done and how that should go…so on and so on.  All of these are real arguments that I have seen churches fractured and ruined by.

Jesus said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”  God is not a color, a hymn, a budget line item, a volunteer effort, a pew seat or a position of prominence.  God is spirit.  God is the Truth.  To worship God is to worship with His character and in accordance with His truth.  What is God’s character?  It is long-suffering, self-sacrificial, always forgiving, seeking the benefit of even those who hate Him and willing to give up His one and only Son, having Him die a sinner’s death on a cross so that those who didn’t deserve a relationship with God would be resorted to God.  Jesus is God’s character and Jesus is God’s Truth.  If it’s not ALL about Jesus, then it is not truly worship.

The Apostle Paul says it this way in Romans 12:1, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”  True spiritual worship has nothing to do with us.  Our part of worship is to die, like a living sacrifice.  True worship, worship of the God who is spirit and truth, is all about what God does to us and for us.  What God wants to give to us is His love and forgiveness in Christ, and what God wants to do to us is make us more like His Son Jesus.  Whether it is in a church, in your car, in a prison cell or in a cubicle; true worship is worship of Christ, in Christ and for Christ.

As he was deeply immersed in meditation during a church service, Italian poet Dante Alighieri failed to kneel at the appropriate moment.  His enemies hurried to the bishop and demanded that Dante be punished for his sacrilege.  Dante defended himself by saying, “If those who accuse me had had their eyes and minds on God, as I had, they too would have failed to notice events around them, and they most certainly would not have noticed what I was doing.”

Friends, Jesus says in Matthew 6:22, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,  but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.”  The more we look at ourselves or look to others as having anything to do with what worship is all about, the more we will miss all of the blessings that God wants to give us in His Son Jesus.  As those who want to see God, let us keep our worship and our eyes focused on the One who is worthy of our praise.

Thanks for joining me for another daily devotional, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow.  Amen.