John 4:23-24.
“Doctrine is merely chatter unless deployed to make disciples,” wrote Kevin J. Vanhoozer in his book, Hearers and Doers: A Pastor’s Guide to Making Disciples through Scripture and Doctrine
I think he picked this truth up from Jesus. It was Jesus who had profoundly demonstrated it, for example, at the well near Sychar. There He spoke theology to the five-time rejected nameless Samaritan woman to make her His disciple—and not just a disciple but also the town evangelist. As Snoopy in Peanuts once said, and I agree, “Sound theology has a way of doing that.”
This theology 101 session under the bright noon sun dealt with worship. It drew the curtain to reveal Christ for the first time. It delved into the shift from the centrality of the Temple to the centrality of Christ. Christ was being established as the final destination, the final revelation.
However, this truth comes in layers of wrapping that must not be torn and thrown as children do when they get access to the gifts left under the Christmas tree. For “these wrappers are keepers,” just like Grandma would say.
This passage is often read or referenced during the call to worship just before partaking of the Lord’s Supper. So what does this passage mean as we “remember the Lord and show forth His death”?
It means it is possible to “worship in truth” because of the work of Christ.
And it means it is possible to “worship in spirit” because of the renewal of our spirit.
Moreover, it means that the real estate phrase “location, location, location” does not apply anymore to worship. That worship is no more limited by real estate, location, or geography.
It is no longer Gerizim or Shechem, the place of God’s first promise (Deuteronomy 11:29-30).
It is not limited to Mount Moriah, the place of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, the mount where it was promised, “In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen” (Genesis 22:14).
It is not walled-in, within David’s city of Zion.
We read, “…the hour is coming and is now here…”
IT IS NOW HERE.
We the believers in Jesus Christ are now the temple of God, for His Spirit dwells in us (1 Corinthians 6:19). Our bodies are now the sanctuaries of worship. Having known the truth of redemption, we now worship in our renewed spirits.
IT HAS TO BE BOTH SPIRIT AND TRUTH.
For truth without the spirit is threatening. Knowledge of truth without the ability to make it real in our lives only makes us guilty. Thankfully, God’s truth can now be responded to aptly by a renewed spirit.
Similarly, the spirit without the truth is dangerous. Misplaced zeal in fact causes damage. Unfortunately, many who are passionate are woefully wrong.
WORSHIP IN TRUTH AND SPIRIT
Jesus, through His work on the cross makes true worship possible to rise from our renewed spirits. These are the true worshippers. It is to them the invitation to the Lord’s Supper is open.
Come, remember, partake of the bread and of the wine. For the Lord has made it possible for you to worship Him in truth and in spirit through His death, burial, and resurrection.
Notes: So the essence of true worship is not external, but internal — heart and head, emotion and thought, spirit and truth — whether we’re talking all of life as worship (Romans 12:1) or corporate gatherings for worship
It’s not what we do (or don’t do) with our hands (or what someone else is doing or not doing), but what we do with our hearts and minds — because of the one who has captured our hearts and minds. Worship is in spirit and in truth.
The lifting of our hands without the adoration of the heart is false worship. True worship is the response of our body, including our hands and minds, because of the gratitude and praise in our hearts.
