Speaking of worship…..
John 4- Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in Sychar….
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
She calls Jesus a prophet then seeks answers to why worship is only valid in Jerusalem to the Jews, dismissive of the Samaritans place of worship.
He proceeds to prophesy: “A time is coming when YOU will worship neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”
He further prophesies and reveals the fulfillment in the same breath….. “Yet a time is coming and HAS NOW COME (!) when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks,” moving her mind away from the entire concept of worshipping a god one doesn’t yet know in a physical place toward a conceptual, spiritual way of worshipping the true God in one’s own spirit by means of the Holy Spirit’s presence ….. both of whom , Spirit and Truth, are present to her in that very moment…. the prophecy both spoken and fulfilled in an instant. What happens next is epic!
She cites her knowledge of the Scriptures’ promise of a Messiah who will lead them into all truth.
Christ reveals Himself as the One…. and her whole world is changed….and that of her community. Awe. Reverence. Joy. Gratitude. Hope.
And the manifestation of the Kingdom of God went from being represented in a place, as had been the case for both the Jews and the Samaritans, to being resident in a relationship with a Person, Jesus Christ.
We don’t so much go to church as we bear the church within us. We may choose to confine it to a place and time, inviting others to come. Or we may carry it out into the world looking for thirsting and hungry souls with whom to share it. (CBB 3/22/23)