Series: The New Humanity
Message: Worshippers
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Reflection: Tim Gillespie
Live Wonder: Verity Were
Live Adventure: Zan Long
Live Beyond: Moe Stiles
Live Purpose: Vanessa Rivera
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: John 4:1-26 in The Message (MSG). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: So why would the woman choose to ask a question about where they, the Samaritans, worship and if it was correct or not? Seems like a strange question to ask when Jesus is right there in front of you. Why not ask a question about the meaning of life or a question about heaven?
She asked this question because in her culture worship was deeply connected to identity. Jews and Samaritans were not the best of friends. In fact, their respective places of worship was one of their biggest divisions. The Jews expected everyone to come to Jerusalem to worship, but the Samaritans had other ideas about the appropriate place to worship. This divided them, but it also gave the Samaritans a particular identity within their culture and the surrounding people.
So she asks the question of where they should worship, and Jesus is willing to answer her, and to tell the truth. In Verse 21 He basically says that this is kind of the wrong question because worship is not about process, place, or personality. (Interestingly, He then states that they, the Samaritans, worship “what they do not know,” and the Jews worship “what they do know.” This seems to be an indication that the Jews are right.) However, it is really the wrong question.
The question is not about where but about whom they worship and the attitude with which they approach that person.
We often find our identity in our worship. For Seventh-day Adventists, it seems to be less about place on earth and more about place in time. The Sabbath has become so deeply integrated into our identity that we even included it in our name. That’s pretty important!
Of course, there are scriptures that make it clear that Sabbath observance is biblical and expected; while at the same time we are told that our worship should be less about a day and more about the one whom we are worshipping. If our identity is in our worship rather than the one we are worshipping, we are asking the wrong questions, much like the Samaritan woman.
Understand, none of this diminishes our view of the Sabbath—it just ensures it is put in the right perspective. Tomorrow we will talk about what Jesus meant by “Spirit and Truth.”
Recalibrate: Where do you find your spiritual identity? Is it your worship, your worship process, the day you worship on, or the one whom you worship? How can you make sure that your identity is in Christ, and not in your worship?
Respond: Spend fifteen minutes writing about why God is worthy of worship.
Research: Look into the history of worship in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. What concepts has the church used to guide its practice of worship?
Remember: “God is spirit. Those who worship God must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24, ICB).
Dr. Timothy Gillespie is lead pastor of Crosswalk Church in Redlands, CA. He also teaches at several universities and consults on mission integration for Adventist Health.
Use a container with a selection of smaller things for your child to place inside. Talk about each article with your little one as they place the object in the box. For an older child you could use their backpack and talk about what they would take with them on an adventure. Know that Jesus wants us to bring all that we are to worship Him. This is the best adventure ever!
Do you have rules at your place about what you can do and when? Can you eat dessert before you have had your dinner? We have lots of rules for all sorts of things. When Jesus met the woman at the well, she asked Him about the rules that they had for worshipping God. Do you have any rules about how you worship Jesus? What are they? Jesus explained to the woman that His followers must worship Him in spirit and in truth. This is the rule for worshipping Jesus.
Have you ever been asked about your person—meaning, have you ever been asked to share details about who you are to people you don’t really know? When I first read this story, I remember thinking, “Man, Jesus is asking some really personal questions of this woman.” I think she was taken aback by His forthrightness, but at the same time she finally felt seen—perhaps for the first time! What do I mean by that? Here is this woman who has some serious issues to deal with. She has had her fair share of marriages, and Jesus was able to confront the fact that the guy she was currently with wasn’t her husband. This might have been embarrassing for her, but she’d probably got used to people’s judgement. Yet, there was Jesus, not afraid to ask the hard intimate questions to let her know that someone was genuinely interested in her story. This part of the story gives me warm fuzzies because I can almost feel the woman’s fear and shame. Someone was able to see her for the woman God created her to be—to see the worth and value He had placed on her that she could not see herself.
I don’t know your story and what you may be going through. You may be struggling with your identity. Here’s good news—you are not alone. Adults struggle with the same stuff only with a whole lot more layers! Here is some even better news—God our Creator knows exactly who you are. He knows your story—past, present, and future, and loves you just the same. I pray that today, by the power of the Holy Spirit, our God will speak into your heart His immense love for you, letting you know that you are seen, heard, and loved by God!
When I was in college, I took a class called social psychology. It was a very neat class and I learned so much but I don’t remember a lot from it now. There is one concept that really stuck out from that course: the jigsaw method. The jigsaw method means that if you put two groups of people from different backgrounds together and you have them work towards a common goal you’ll see the groups tend to become one. Identities become less important because the people are now united with a common task. If you read through the conversation that Jesus had with this woman, you will notice that she’s the one mentioning over and over again that she’s a Samaritan woman and He’s a Jew. She seems to be so fixated on this while Jesus is explaining that He can give her salvation. In Verses 19-23, she wants Jesus to explain His views regarding worship because the Samaritans and Jews had different ideas about what worship should be. Beautifully enough, Jesus explains that worship is less about the place and more about how people worship. More on this tomorrow. In the meantime, think about the groups you belong to. Do these groups push you further away from others or bring you closer into community?
Verity Were is a registered nurse at the largest pediatric intensive care unit in Sydney, Australia. She attends Kellyville Adventist church with her husband and two toddlers.
Zan Long is GRC director for faith development for ages 0-17. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and serves at her local church in nearby Kellyville.
Moe Stiles is lead pastor at Oasis Church in Vancouver, WA. She is married to Adrian and is mother to Caleb and Johnny.
Vanessa Rivera is a therapist at a community mental health center in Denver, CO, and serves as the faith engagement pastor at Boulder Church.