Worship That Pleases God

 
John 4:19-24
19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
 
Many may ask “how do I know if the way I worship pleases God?” Scriptures can give us guidelines, other that Old Testament regulations for the Mosaic sacrificial system. But remember at all times, God looks at the heart of worshiper.
 
Jesus always emphasized the worshiper’s heart. He felt disgusted by those who displayed their devotion in an attention seeking manner. What did you expect when you came here today? Many people come to church on Sunday for a time of spiritual refreshment. A time when the worries and concerns of the world, the struggle of the other six days of the week can be put aside and sense of peace can be regained. You have come to re-energize yourself, to gain strength from being in the presence of God with other believers and ready to go out into the world for another week.
 
Some may come to church out of a sense of duty. Coming to church is a part of your life and you just don’t feel right if you don’t do it. For some it is the one place in your life where everything does not seem to be in turmoil.
 
Some of you came because you like the feeling of community, of being a part of something bigger and better than yourself. You appreciate being a part of something where you know you will be accepted.
 
Some have come for less noble reasons. Some of you are here because your life is in a mess and you think maybe being here will score points with God. Some of you are here solely due to the insistence of your parents, your spouse or your children.
 
Although some of those reasons have merit, none of them should be our reason to be in a worship service. There is a huge difference between attending church and coming to worship. We should have come here today quite simply to worship. Because you are a worshipper.
 
 
“Everyday… all day long, in every place you worship. It is what you do. It’s who you are…. Should you for some reason choose not to give God what He desires, you’ll worship anyway – simply exchanging the Creator for something He created…. Worship is our response to what we value the most.
 
Whatever is worth the most to you is ….  what you worship…. So how do you know where and what you worship? It’s easy. You simply follow the trail of your time, your affection, your energy, your money and your allegiance. At the end of that trail you’ll find a throne and whatever, or whomever is on that throne is what’s of highest value to you.
 
In countless Churches in our country today congregations struggle with the question of what constitutes appropriate worship. Younger people want something contemporary while the older folks defend the traditional forms. So… who is right?
 
This afternoon, we are looking at a very familiar story about a Samaritan woman. Jesus met the woman at the well in Sychar and reached out to her with a love that was great enough to reach over all the barriers in her life and lead her to faith in Him as her personal Savior. This afternoon lets revisit this story to see what Jesus reveals to her as important truths about worship.
 
First… Worship Begins As A Response To Contact With The Living…
 
John 4:19-20
19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
 
This Samaritan woman by the way she reacted to Jesus helps us to realize that worship has to do with real life. As Jesus talked with the woman she has come under deep conviction of her sinful lifestyle. It is possible that her questions concerning worship are just an attempt to redirect the conversation to something that is not so uncomfortable.
 
But it is also possible that her conviction has led her to realize that she has a need to get right with God. Since she perceives that Jesus is a prophet, it would only be natural to assume that He would be able to help her understand when, where and how she should approach God.
 
The Bible says it this way…
 
Colossians 1:16
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
 
Simply put, you and I were made by Him and made for Him. You exist for one purpose alone – to reflect back to God His matchless glory. If then the entire universe lives to worship God and you were made to worship God, then you need to know something, if you are not worshipping God you cannot be really living.
 
Not Only Does Worship Begin As A Response To Contact With The Living God but…Secondly, Worship Is Not Limited To A Specific Location…
 
John 4:21-22
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
 
Jesus says the time has now come when worship will no longer be associated with a place. Not Only Is Worship Not Limited To A Specific Location but…Worship Is Only As Valuable As Who And What It Is Based.
 
Notice if you will in verse twenty-two that Jesus says, “You worship what you do not know”
It was good that they were worshipping the true God, yet it is tragic that they did not know what they were doing. The Samaritans accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament, and thus cut themselves off from much truth about the God they worshipped.
 
A tragedy of our day is that can also be said that many modern worshippers “worship what you do not know” The demands of truth require that after everything is done to be gentle and sensitive and respectful of other people’s religious beliefs, the time eventually comes when you have to say, Only worship that is based on the Bible is true worship. It does matter what you believe and all roads most certainly do not lead to Heaven.
 
Now the Lord shifts the attention of the Samaritan woman (and the reader) from the place of worship to the manner of worship. Not ‘where’ but ‘how’?
 
John 4:23-24
23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
 
Not Only Is Worship Only As Valuable As Who And What It Is Based On but…Worship Is All About The Attitude Of The Heart…
Jesus is saying that before He arrived on the scene there may have existed some reason for conjecture as to the proper place of worship, but His coming has put an end to the old ways. The coming of Jesus and His death upon the Cross has but an end to all the old ways of worship.
 
When Jesus died on the Cross the veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom and it was at that moment that worship was changed forever. From now on He says, “true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” “Some have thought that “spirit” here refers to the Holy Spirit, but this seems unlikely. It is true that the Holy Spirit is involved in our worship. But this is not what Jesus is speaking of. He is surely referring to the human spirit and saying that true worship can never accomplished in what is merely outward.
 
Verse twenty-four says that acceptable worship is “in spirit and truth.” In-other words Jesus is not saying there are two things we must do, worship in spirit and in truth. Instead it is one complex idea we must worship in spirit and truth. The two go together and make up the one acceptable attitude. What it means is that…you are not doing it for show…to attract attention, to make you look like you are so holy. It is true worship that comes from the heart.
 
When we try to worship God with an attitude that is all about us, we find ourselves coming to the service focused on the music, or the instruments, or on who is doing the preaching. We come like Olympic judges ready to rate the event.
 
Sometimes it can be difficult to not focus on ourselves because we come so broken and worn down by life that we can see only our own need. We feel so empty and so shallow that we look only to how we can be helped by God. But in worship the aim is to so lose ourselves that we will be filled. For it is in worship where we forget ourselves, we will be restored. It is true that we find ourselves re-energized by worship – but it is not the reason that we are there.
 
Lastly:
 
Listen Carefully To What God Is Trying To Say To You Through The Message…
 
The truth is that true worship is not measured by Your level of entertainment. Your personal satisfaction. Or, Your level of comfort. In fact if you walked away from a worship service voicing criticism of what you did and did not like about that particular service it is fair to say you did not experience worship. If on the other hand you walk away from a worship service saying as the Psalmist (48:1) did…
 
Psalm 48:1
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised
In the city of our God, In His holy mountain.
“The perfect church service would be the one we were almost totally unaware of; our attention would have been on God.” (CS Lewis)
 
Nothing escapes the loving and sovereign eye of the Lord. Are you noticing what is important to the Lord? That’s right! Always and ever the heart of the worshipper. Whether praising, praying, giving thanks or singing, the issue always comes down to the matters of the heart.
 
Let us pray….
 
Prepare for the Lords Supper: