Is our worship ignorant?

When we get together at our church locations, do we know why “we do what we do”?  Seems like most, if not all, churches have the same basic steps in a worship service: songs, announcements, a sermon/talk, prayer.  Do we do these things – and typically in the same order each time – just because it’s tradition or is there some other reason?

The Greek word for worship (proskyneo) means to “pay homage or show reverence to someone”.  That would be a pretty open-end definition, if it is all we knew about “worshipping” God.  So, is there a “right way” to worship God – or at least a “better way” of doing it?

During their conversation at the well, the Samaritan woman presented Jesus with the biggest hot-button culture question of her day – and it was about worshipping God.  The Jews and Samaritans took the topic so seriously, that over the centuries, people had even died over it.  While we could brush off their dispute as something that was an issue long ago, Jesus’ answer raises a few questions for us, as well.

John 4:19-20
“Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain [Mt. Gerizim], but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

As we saw last time, Jesus didn’t choose between her Option A or Option B, instead Jesus chose “neither”:

John 4:21-24
Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain [Mt. Gerizim] nor in Jerusalem.  You Samaritans worship what you do not know.  We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.  But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth.  Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him.  God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”

Jesus said the Samaritans worship what [they] do not know or fully understand.  Earlier in their conversation, Jesus point out that she didn’t know the gift of God (John 4:10).  From what Jesus has said, we can see that it is possible for people worship God in religious ignorance.  But why would they do that?

The Samaritans worshipped in ignorance because they acknowledged no prophet after Moses – other than the one spoken of in Deuteronomy 18:18, and they regarded that yet-to-arrive person as the Messiah.  Because of this, they rejected the rest of the Old Testament and had mixed in pagan concepts with their faith.  They stunted their ability to worship and know God fully because they cut themselves off from God’s Word.

In contrast, the Jews accepted all of God’s revelation in the Old Testament, therefore, they “knew” the God whom they worshipped.  What the Jews knew, however, became something all too familiar.  By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, the Jewish worship of God was outwardly religious and extremely formulaic.  Instead of looking to walk with God, the first century religious leaders were much more interested in enforcing “perfect living” according to the 600+ laws of the Old Testament as well as following all Jewish religious traditions.  They would rather debate the fine details of the law, instead of taking action to help their fellow Jew.  Jesus routinely called them out for such behavior.  Even though they knew God’s Law and could recite it line-by-line, they still doubted that Jesus was the promised Messiah.  In their familiarity, they began to focus on themselves rather than God.

Thinking about the times your church family gathers together to worship God or when you worship God on your own:

·       Do you know the God you worship? 
·       Have you looked for God in all His revealed Scriptures, or are you ignoring some parts?
·       If you do know Him, has your worship become stale or formulaic? 
·       Are you just going through the Sunday morning motions, because that’s what your family is expected to do on Sunday morning?

Think about your answers.  Talk to God about your answers.  It’s ok to wrestle with any thoughts or feelings that come up.  If you need help processing, ask a mature believer.  And next time, we’ll look at what Jesus said our worship should look like.

Keep Pressing,
Ken