Part Two of a Five Part Series on The Samaritan Woman
John 4:16-24 16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." 17 The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" 19 The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
Jesus tells the Samaritan woman who she is - which causes her to believe that he is a prophet.
If you had a moment with a prophet, what would be the one question you would ask them? For me, I would want to immediately get to know them... what they are like on the inside... do they laugh easily, what are they passionate about, what is it like to be a prophet? I'd not take my eyes off of them as I asked them question after question - noting every reaction - trying to catch a glimpse of who they really are. I'd want to know them intimately. But for this woman... she had a theological question: "Where is the correct place to worship?"
Seriously? This is her question? The creator of the universe is sitting next to her and she wants to know the equivalent of where to go to church on Sunday?
This is like having an audience with God and asking "How much should liturgists do in church?" Or "Should women be pastors?" Or "Can you be a republican and still go to heaven when you die?" Things - that even if they could be answered with yes and no precision - really don't matter much except to people who can't see the larger picture - the vast eternalness of God's love that has the ability to transform those on all sides of controversy into his followers. But this is where her mind is stuck. These are the answers she wants.
Thankfully, Jesus takes her beyond herself and her question and tells her that "God is seeking those who worship him in spirit and in truth."
God cannot be confined to a set of rules to follow (never will he use a liturgist, never will he use a woman, never will he use a republican - or democrat) any more than the wind can be confined to a space. God is seeking out those who desire to worship him authentically.
How can your life authentically worship God today? How can you worship God in Spirit and in Truth?
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