Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 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. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:19-2
We see in verse 24 that the Father is seeking for worshippers. I find this very challenging. Why is God seeking for Worshippers? If I were to write this verse I’d probably say that the Father is seeking for ‘Prayers,’ ‘Evangelists,’ or ‘Tithers.’ Aren’t they high up on God’s wanted list? As I have pondered this I have realised that when the Father has a ‘Worshipper’ then He has all the above thrown in as well. Think about it. You can be a ‘prayer’ and yet not be in love with Jesus. The Muslims pray 3 times a day, maybe more than us and yet they don’t profess to be in love with Jesus. You can also be a very religious Christian who prays a lot and not be walking in grace. You can end up telling everyone how long you prayed this morning to blow your own trumpet. I know because I used to be like that. You can also be an Evangelist telling people about Jesus and yet not be in a good place with God. I have had a so called ‘Evangelist’ in my congregation over the years who were not afraid to tell someone that they were a sinner and needed Jesus, yet I found out later they were having an affair with a woman all during that time. I have realised that you can be over the top because you have a guilty conscience and are trying to compensate maybe hoping that God will overlook what you are doing because you are out there ‘saving souls.’ I have also noticed that those who try and make you feel guilty because you are not witnessing enough never seem to have anyone in the Church from all their efforts. A lot of the times it’s the quiet ones who share the good news that seem to bare the most fruit. In my world travels I have come across Evangelists on street corners who are quite hard and condemning towards others, which I’m sure is not pleasing to the Father. If you are a Worshipper, then out of love and gratitude towards God you will automatically become His Evangelist by accident rather than on purpose. You would think Tithers would be high on the Fathers ‘wanted’ list – right? But you can be a ‘Giver’ for many reasons. Some Christians think that as long as they give money they don’t need to do anything else in the Church. Some think because they give so much money to the Church that they can manipulate others to get their own way. They threaten that if you don’t comply with their view that they will withhold financial support. I agree that tithing is a powerful means of grace but you can still do it and not be a worshipper. Don’t get me wrong, God wants prayerful people, Evangelists and Tithers but when He has a ‘Worshipper’ He has all of the above. I believe this is why Jesus says, the Father is seeking for Worshippers. One meaning for the word worship means ‘worth-ship.’ To worship means to appreciate the worth of God. To worship means to value, treasure and love the presence of God. Where your heart is there will be your treasure be also. You treasure something or someone that you delight in and love. That someone or something is where you spend most of your time. You spend time with the person or thing you value the most. Abraham was told by God that, ‘I am your exceeding great reward’. Is God your exceeding great reward?
“After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." Genesis 15:1
No wonder the Father is seeking for Worshippers. He wants you to be one. He wants you to value what He values. There are many ways of worship. Singing helps to bring you to this place. When we come to Church we should delight in singing songs to Him. It’s a powerful expression of worship. God dwells in the praises of His people. Over the years I have been in services where when it’s time to worship I have seen people texting, writing letters, talking and reading with no idea of the value of worship. They seem to be bored and wanting the praise to end. They put nothing into it and will get nothing out of it. Some folk deliberately come late so they can skip the singing. Maybe it’s just too simple and they’d rather be doing something else that’s ‘Christian’. They are in the service but not present. Maybe they think worship is ‘sissy’. Now days there is a lot of ‘smoke and mirrors’ in modern churches, with emphasis put on atmosphere, with lights, looks and comfort. When I first came into the Church in South Africa in 1971 it was in a hall that was used for parties the night before. You’d have to clean out the beer bottles, cigarette butts and rubbish before the service. It was just a plain hall with no atmosphere at all but there was lots of ‘presence’ during the service. The people worshipped God. I am glad I learnt to practice God’s presence, for it came in very handy when I was in the Rhodesian Army way out in the bush with no Christians or Church. I enjoyed God there too. As a Pastor I was often sent to small isolated Churches since then and managed to remain strong. I have seen some Christians who come from churches in the big cities that are all into atmosphere. When they are sent to a smaller town later they fell away because they didn’t know how to practice the presence of God away from the atmosphere. It would be good though to have both atmosphere and presence. Look at the life of Mary and Martha.
“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42
Martha was a Christian working for Jesus in the Kitchen, while Mary sat at Jesus feet just enjoying the moment, soaking up His presence. Martha took offence to this and wanted Mary to help her in the kitchen, but Jesus said to Martha that Mary had chosen the better thing. How enlightening. Mary had discovered the worth of Jesus and wasn’t going to let this opportunity go. She seized the moment. Jesus said there was only one thing worth being concerned about and Mary had discovered it. How many Christians have discovered the worth of Jesus? How many love His presence more than anything else. We may love working for Him but so few discover the presence of Jesus and just love Him for who He is. It’s not something that can be found that easily, and so few discover it in their lifetime. The presence of Jesus needs to be discovered like gold or diamonds which are not just lying on the surface. They need to be sort after. The Bible shows us that it’s only the presence of God that can truly satisfy us this side of Heaven. Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastics that everything we do is vanity without God. After this book he wrote the Song of Songs and in this we find fulfillment in life. This book is all about worship. Everything about the King delighted the Bride and thrilled her through and through. God has given us this world to enjoy. It’s His gift to us, full of His exuberance. The trouble is man worships the creation rather than the creator. In the Song of Songs, it says that His love is better than wine. Wine speaks of having fun and partying. His love and our response to it is better than this. Every day we see folk having fun. Everyone wants to be happy and there are lots of ways to do this. So much opportunity is offered in NZ for us to have fun and yet there is still a very high suicide rate. Why? It’s because the world and all it offers can’t make you happy, only God can. The bible shows us that we have a God shaped vacuum inside of us, and only God can fill it. The Bible tells us that the only thing that can truly satisfy us is God and His presence. Worshipping Him like Mary encourages His presence and its more effective than just working for Him like Martha did. How many really are worshipping? Most Christians can’t sit still. They don’t want to stop in case He tells them off, so they fill their life with sound and activity to keep themselves busy. He says,
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10
I’ve lived a pretty active life and have really been blessed to do practically everything I’ve wanted. Surfed, fished, explored for oil and for minerals in Oz. I’ve done lots of travel and spent over 20 years in Africa away from New Zealand. But one thing I have learnt from all of this is that nothing compares to the presence of God. I’ve discovered His presence and am now addicted. I’ve been stretched and can’t go back to the way I was before.
“While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Mark 14:3-9
Here we see this woman pouring expensive Spikenard over Jesus. Such an extravagant act of worship. It says that in order for her to do so she needed to break an alabaster box and release the fragrance. One thing I have realised is that true worshippers have allowed themselves to be broken so that God can touch their hearts and release the fragrance. Worship is not just singing a few songs but an expression of love, giving one’s heart without any competition. Jesus is a jealous lover and will not have any rivals. All idols have to go if you really want to worship. This lady had been forgiven much and loved the more. Her heart had been awoken and broken and the beauty of her love came out as a sweet fragrance. There is a divine exchange when we worship. He comes into us and we into Him I was with friends at a restaurant the other day where a plant was in a pot on the table. It had a label that said it had this beautiful fragrance but on sniffing it there was nothing. My wife said that you need to crush the leaf if you want to experience the smell. Like that plant we need to be broken in order for the fragrance of worship to come out. Look at the communion Bread and Wine. The grape and the seed needs to be crushed before their true worth comes out. Look at Olive seeds, they too need to be crushed for olive oil to be released. If our hearts are hard the fragrance can’t come out. The alabaster box of our hearts needs to be broken. Horses are beautiful animals with great power but unless they are broken they are of no use to man. It’s the same with us, we can’t give our true worship until we are broken. Will you allow God to make you into a Worshipper? That’s what we were created for.
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Rev 4:11