I love this story
for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the sheer boldness of the
woman Jesus encounters. For starters, she has three strikes against her
at the outset of this dialog. She's a woman - a second-class citizen in
the view of many in the culture of the day. Then, she's a Samaritan -
worse than a second-class citizen. No self-respecting Jewish man would
be caught dead speaking with someone of that lineage. Finally, she's
been married more than a couple of times, and the guy she's living with
now hasn't even tied the knot with her.
Jesus apparently knows all about her and she perceives Him as a prophet.
Immediately she turns the discussion into one about worship;
specifically one about stylistic differences and preferences. Sort of a
precursor to our discussions
today over
the unfortunately-labeled wors
hip wars. "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain," she
says. "But you Jews worship in Jerusalem." (Sound familiar? We
say stained glass, hymnals and a pipe organ; but you say theatre
lighting, projected lyrics and a band.)
Jesus cuts her off at the pass and enlightens her to the fact that
worship isn't about location or atmosphere
or accompaniment or architecture. It's not even about style. It is,
however, about spirit and truth. It is about a
passionate offering of ourselves to the God who had revealed Himself to
us in His Son. And it's all about the God we seek desperately to know.
A
pastor friend of mine says that worship without spirit is dead
orthodoxy. And worship without truth is shallow emotionalism.
You have to have both.
Ultimately, what the Father seeks is really none of the things we
get hung up about. He's not seeking personalities or programs or song
sets. He's seeking worshipers.
That's me and that's you.