grace

The truth about me & the truth about God. Authentic Worship, Part 3

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19The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” John 4:19-26

A Serious Question

Jesus affirms the seriousness of the Samaritan woman’s question even though she is deflecting attention from her soul condition. She brings up the worship wars regarding the geography of worship: Jerusalem or the high places of Samaria. But Jesus highlights a new reality emerging from the Jews: the Messiah has ushered in the age of true worship in which worshippers will worship God in spirit and truth.

Two Truths

First there is the truth about God. Jesus is The Truth and brings people into the Kingdom of God through His messianic work on the cross. He gives His people the Spirit of God and brings them into genuine communion with God. Later Jesus would say, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” John clarifies for the reader: “Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” See John 7:37-39

Second there is the truth about us. The Gospel almost simultaneously brings us into the reality of our sin and the reality of God’s grace. It may seem outrageous that we can regularly confess our neediness for God’s grace for the forgiveness of sin! But when we do confess we also then set our faith on him again for the grace to obey. That’s what happens in authentic worship. The Spirit of God gives us a new spirit and a new heart with a new “want to” for God. In the disciplines of worship, privately and corporately, the Holy Spirit renews our “want to” by showing us the glory of who Jesus is and the reality of His love for us. I’m not sure the Samaritan woman was yet sure of the incredible worth and place of utmost supremacy she would grant to Jesus, but I believe she was on the way.

Authentic Worship

As some of you know, the worship wars continue and likely will as we have have generational preferences and styles. However, authentic worship is not about how lively or calm the music; nor how dramatic the lights or the preaching. Authentic worship has to do with how engaged we are with truth and the Spirit in response to Jesus and the news of His Gospel. Even in our broken world, authentic worship is possible as we are lead by the Spirit to meet Jesus and delight in the Father’s great love for us.

“The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.”

Bless the Lord!

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1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 103:1-5

Worship declares the incredible worth of God. It proceeds from the delight one feels in God.Worship as a discipline requires tending the soul by reminding ourselves of who God is and what He has done. We are forgetful.

God gives us many benefits.
He forgives our iniquity.
God heals our diseases.
God redeems our lives from the pit.
God crowns us with steadfast love and mercy.
God satisfies us with good, renewing our strength.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Our Gospel Realizations: Devastation and Delight

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21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him… Colossians 1:21-22

For those who have received Jesus as Lord two states of mind are held in the same hand.

Once we were alienated from God, hostile in our thinking, and doing evil. That’s devastating!

But now through the very body of Jesus Christ and His crucifixion,

we are presented before Him, the King of Creation,

as reconciled to God, holy, blameless, and above accusation. That’s delightful!

Our motivations are to be progressively shaped by the truth and grace of the Gospel. God wants us to set aside the controlling condemnation that accompanies guilt, shame, and fear in order to live a life in the company of Jesus.

Self-righteousness self-justifies to convince us that we are doing pretty good on our own without God and of course that we are doing better than those “other” people. When this illusion is threatened we become caustic, prickly, and accusatory. Jesus’ righteousness ushers us into a confession of our common condition in sin’s brokenness and into a warm strong humility crafted by His love. Only Jesus’ Gospel-grace can keep devastation and delight together and create abundant life.

What to do with youthful passions contrary to God’s grace

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19But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” 20Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. 22So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.  2 Timothy 2:19-22

Knowing Jesus generates response and the desire to honour Him with our lives. But our passions may seem to get in the way of responding honourably to Jesus and the Gospel. We may be disappointed that passions, our desires, do not automatically align themselves with the purity of the Holy Spirit. This is where we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit for a lifetime.

We can lock onto God’s vision for our lives and return to Him over and over; set apart for Him; holy by His grace; useful to the Master of this house.

We can cleanse ourselves of what is dishonourable to Jesus through confession and deliberate gatekeeping. In His loving presence we learn to recognize our temptations drawing us away from the sincere satisfaction available in His grace and truth.

We can flee youthful passions, deciding not to feed and entertain them.

We can pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, redirecting the energy and youthfulness of our lives into participation in His work.

We can connect with the fellowship of Jesus’ followers who call on the Lord in the promise of a heart forgiven and cleansed by Jesus’ labour of love at the cross, for support and encouragement.

Go with? Discover God’s answer to shame.

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9For in him (Jesus) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.  Colossians 2:9-15

I spent a summer in Iowa working with a church youth ministry. It was a challenging and rewarding experience. I learned lots, met some people who changed the trajectory of my life, and picked up some new english expressions.  The students would hear about a plan or even an errand I was running and they would ask,“Can I go with?”

“Go with?”

It felt familiar with the hopefulness of family; but always expressed a  question, an uncertainty. I have never been able to see and hear the word “with” the same way.

We need inquisitiveness and hope when we read the Scripture’s words “in” and “with.”  When the Apostle Paul uses “in” and “with” he expresses the mystery of the Gospel and the reality of our life with Jesus the Risen King. It is an answer to the question of our longing for God and the humility or shame that wonders, “Would God really want to be close to me?”

To be Christian is to be in Christ Jesus for He is in us. We are with Him now and for eternity participating in His life, death, and resurrection. To be in Christ Jesus is to be immersed into the communion of God without shame for He has fundamentally altered who we are at the heart of who we are. Once we were dead to God, but now we are alive. Once we were outsiders but now we have been included. Once we had a record of failure and sin that stood against us, but now we are pardoned and free.

Jesus wants you to be with Him. His desire for you required a cross. The cross takes the question “go with?” and makes it a reality for now there is no guilt, shame, fear or threat of accusation equal to the glory of being “in Him” by His invitation.