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 New International Version (NIV). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: How does our worship spill out over the walls of the church and enter into other aspects of our lives as Christians? How do we create a life where our heads and our hearts are fully invested in the “Spirit and truth” of who God is? Perhaps we have spent too much time separating our experience of worship (faith) from the rest of our lives. Have the sacred and secular in our lives been so bifurcated that they never meet?
When I was younger, I played in a Christian rock band. (Yes, much to the consternation of our more conservative brothers and sisters of the faith!) It was fascinating to play for Seventh-day Adventist audiences as opposed to those of other stripes of the Christian faith. An example: We had just played a show for an Adventist academy, and we were selling some merchandise and CDs (yes, it was that long ago!), and this one kid was excited to purchase the album. When he got it he said, “Great! Another CD I can listen to on Sabbath!”
I was intrigued, so I said to him, “You know, you could listen to that any other day as well!” He was not impressed. He looked at me with consternation and said, “Why would I do that? This is Christian music, right?”
I spent a lot of time trying to exegete what he really meant by that. The only conclusion that I could come to after much reflection was that this young man had separated his faith from his life. They were so bifurcated that he couldn’t imagine listening to spiritual music on any other day than the Sabbath.
Of course, this is just anecdotal and not quantitatively researched by any means, but it was a moment of clarity for me. It is possible to think about faith as something that is so separated from the rest of our lives that ultimately we see worship as wholly other, as having nothing to do with how we experience life. It is merely something that we visit at certain times in our lives.
There is a tragedy in all of this. Jesus, in this text, seems to take worship out of process and into focus. What this means is that Jesus did not seem so interested in the how and the what of worship, what it looks like, sounds like, or where it is done, and was more interested in the why and the who of worship. And those questions transcend time and place, sight and sound. Perhaps this is how we can move worship out of the walls of our churches and into the very corners of our lives, every day.
Recalibrate: Have you been guilty of separating your life from your worship? What can you do to bring those things together?
Respond: Listen to a worship song today, in your car, at your desk, while you cook dinner, or while you exercise. Do some things that bring your life and your worship back together.
Research: Read this book about life as worship: Life as Worship: When Reverence Defines Reality by John Kitchen.
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.
Play the hokey pokey song again. If your child lets you, skip straight to the words, “We put our whole selves in.” Today add the days of the week to the end of the phrase: “We put our whole selves in—on Monday,” and so on. Jesus wants to be in your everyday life.
Put your hand in front of your mouth and nose and feel the breath that comes out. If you have ever had asthma you will be especially thankful for being able to breathe without having to fight for air. We forget sometimes that we are breathing all the time. With every breath that you take, know that God gave you that breath so you can do something good. Make a list of good and kind things you can do. Think about how you are worshipping with every breath as you tick things off your list.
How do you express your emotions? When you are angry or upset what do you do to express your anger? Do you express your anger or explain it? What about joy and happiness? What is your form of expression? When I am sad, I sometimes cry. Other times I sing. When I am angry I also cry, although sometimes I am silent. I might scream and yell (this is usually when I am in the car by myself). Worship is a response and an expression. When Jesus said “Worship in spirit and in truth,” what do you think He meant? If worship is defined as being focused on what or whomever we deem worthy, then the object of our worship is not about the feelings expressed but more about who or what we deem worthy of worship. A worship response can be expressed in a variety of ways, contrary to the beliefs of some traditions. Music is one of our most common expressions and responses. Poetry, the spoken word, the written word, service (yes, service can be an act of worship) are a few others. What forms of expression do you use in worship? It is so fun to explore ways we can respond to God for His goodness.
The Samaritan woman had a full conversation with Jesus about eternal salvation, about true worship, and her actual response was to say that when the Messiah comes, He will explain everything. So we know she was in fact talking to the Messiah, but clearly she hadn’t made that connection yet. She only knew about Him, knew that He would have the answers. When Jesus responded by telling her that He was the Messiah, the passage doesn’t tell us how she reacted. How do you think she responded? A loud gasp, perhaps? Raise of the eyebrow? Do you suppose she reached out to give Him a hug? Soon after their exchange, the disciples showed up. I think they totally ruined the moment, but that didn’t take away from this woman’s excitement; she ran off to tell her whole town about Jesus! If you read a couple verses beyond the passage we focused on this week, you see she went from not realizing she was talking to Jesus to inviting her town to meet Him. What a change.
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.