Worship in Spirit and Truth part 1

John 4:19-24The woman said to Him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you shall neither worship the Father in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem.
You worship what you do not know, we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him.
God is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.

The Samaritan woman was in the presence of Jesus, who alone was worthy of her worship. What was her reaction? The same sort of response we have too often - asking questions about issues that have no bearing on reality or the fact that JESUS IS HERE.
Some of us ask questions similar to hers ... they sing hymns and old gospel songs at our church, but they sing those modern choruses at (insert church name). Which is best?
Our church uses musical instruments; their church does not. They say the New Testament doesn't mention playing instruments in worship, and we're a New Testament church, so we shouldn't play instruments. Right?
Should we be ritualistic with an order of bowing and standing to worship?
Should we not plan an order of service, but rather "let the Holy Spirit guide our worship" and just do what we feel led to do?
Singing is great. You're not really going to ask me to clap or shout or dance or bow or kneel or any of that other stuff, are you?
Why can't we just be quiet and reverent? I like to come into the sanctuary and meditate without all that commotion.
I'm so bored. We sing those same old hymns; there's no cool rhythms. And how about adding some guitars, keyboards and drums. What's wrong with really rocking out? Is God afraid of noise?
Who knows if I'll ever answer all those questions or when I might do it. But Jesus set the example and, bottom line, established the standard ... the truth. He is the Truth.
Human beings get religious and figure out myriad ways to mess up the things of God.
God established worship. He is the expert to whom we must go to know how to worship. Besides establishing the various methods of worship, He revealed to us that which holds worship together and makes it WORSHIP.
"... worship in spirit and truth ..."
I'm in the flesh, so I will express my worship in a physical way. Thankfully, God wrote down acceptable methods of physically worshipping. When I'm obedient to do things His way, I'm following the Spirit and Truth.
And the acts of worship are not the totality of worship. If I am not being moved by the Spirit of God and led by the truth of scripture, I am not worshipping. I'm just making noise or performing empty religious rites.
Whatever I do ... and more than singing, playing and bowing is in play here ... I must do in the spirit, led by God, directing it to God and not concerned about "how" as much as I am that whatever is done honors God. Do my actions honor Him? Do my words glorify Him? Do my relationships with others snuggle close to my close relationship with Him?
From there, I have a great hope that, from the overflow of the heart of someone worshipping God moment-by-moment, step-by-step, there will be an eruption into song, dance and all other methods of worship as an individual and in the midst of the congregation.