Spirit and Truth

This weeks worship scripture is John 4:24 “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” This scripture can sometimes be glazed over without truly understanding it. I have spent the morning researching the passage and checking out some commentaries. I feel that it would be good for us all to read these thoughts on this scripture so that we understand our worship theme this week.

Let me start with a different translation of the verse. The Message gives us this version, “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”

How often have we come to a worship service ready to go and worship God and look around to see those who are not raising their hands or showing visible worship and we start to fade back and not be ourselves in worship because we are scared and maybe even ashamed of how people may react to us? If we are called to be ourselves and be truthful in worship, it should not matter what peoples reactions are. We are being truthful in the presence of God and He accepts our praise in truth.

Now lets focus in on the elements of this passage. To get the understanding of what is stated lets go back a verse and read that. Verse 23 says, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” The NIV Application Commentary says that the NIV obscures an important word…”when Jesus says, ‘The hour is coming…’ We met the theological use of this word initially in (JOHN) 2:4 and learned that it refers to ‘the hour’ of Jesus’ glorification (in John, his death and resurrection). Hence a cataclysmic change will occur in worship when Jesus comes to the cross, offering himself as a sacrifice.”

A cataclysmic change will occur in worship when Jesus comes to the cross. Up until this point worship had been limited to the temple and sacrifice. Through the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made it opened to the doors to the streets to wall to worship 24/7.

Now lets focus in on the word spirit in this passage. According to the NIV Application Commentary … “‘worship in spirit’ does not refer to ‘the human spirit’. It is worship that is dynamically animated by God’s Holy Spirit. But it is more. One preposition governs ’spirit and truth’. Such worship ‘in spirit and truth’ means that we do not have a catalogue of two features here, but one inseperable concept…This is worship not tied to holy places but impacted by a holy Person, who through his cross will inaugurate the era in which the Holy Spirit will change everything.”

In the interpreters bible we get another view of what the spirit is in this passage:

“…whether we see and feel it or do not, he is here, in this place now, and we are in his presence, and he is stooping to listen and take action, is taking action upon our behalf, if we will give his gracious purposes toward us a chance to mature.”

This commentary goes on to explain how there are 12 gates into Jerusalem and that they all lead to the city. “But a wise man will choose that one among them which brings him surest and quickest and deepest into the presence of the King. For worship is not worship unless our spirit holds communion with him who is Spirit, face to face…”

So what we see here is that regardless of what we may be feeling or where we are in life, God’s presence is all around us. I have said this before that God is waiting for us to see him. He is always there but our eyes and hearts may be blinded by sin or motives that trip us up. God is ready and waiting for us to come to him. What we need to do is find the gate that will lead us into his presence. We may have tried a gate that someone else has found God in and we expect it to work for us. It probably wont because God has created us all differently, therefore we are to find the way he wants us to take to him in worship. That is why we use different elements in worship. Beyond music, we use lighting, painting, giving, sermon, communion, and fellowship to worship God. Some people may not have any worship while singing a song but can worship God with such a zeal when they are running outside in nature. Our job as worship leaders is not to bring people into worship but rather to be used by God so that people can see his presence flowing through us and the music, lighting, paintings, joy, and our actions. I hope this was as enlightening to you as it was to me. Feel free to share your thoughts.

Jon

The Unnoticed Worshipper

Alright…this topic might kick some of us in the bum (including me), but it is one of the most important, yet basic, elements for a worship leader to have. Yet, too often we overlook it and forget about it. Lets read Matt Redmans thoughts and then share our own in return.

“So much of what we pay attention to in life happens on a stage of some kind. People like to be noticed, and our culture is in love with celebrity…God, on the other hand, has a very different way of looking at things. He might watch the show, but He’s much more concerned with what’s going on backstage. We so often look at the outward appearance, but God goes straight to the heart. We become consumed with the public side of things, but God is always far more interested in the hidden and the private.

Unnoticed worshippers are not looking for attention from this world; their offerings are as private as possible. But because of what they bring and the way they bring it, heaven pays extra special attention. Unnoticed perhaps by those around them, they do not go unnoticed by the heart of God…God first seeks devotion to Him in the hidden place – worship when no one else is watching.

The toughest test for our hearts doesn’t come ‘out in the fields’ when there’s no one else around (like David growing up). The really hard part begins when we start getting trusted with the public stuff. Maybe that means playing in the worship team at church or wherever. God calls us to ruthlessly check the motives of our hearts. Do we still want to be unnoticed worshippers now that we’re on stage? Or is there a part of us that really wants to be noticed worshippers? Are we still happy to serve, or is there even just a tiny part of us wanting to be served? Are our songs still aimed at an audience of one, or deep down are we starting to want wider acclaim?

What are we like when no one else can see us? How much do we throw ourselves into worship at church when we’re not leading or, even more to the point, when someone else is leading worship in a style not quite to our taste?

A worship leader needs as much as possible to be the unnoticed worshipper, simply encouraging the worship of God by setting an example for others to follow. To draw attention to ourselves in moments for a holy beholding is a pretty unbiblical approach. In fact, it’s probably even a dangerous one.

Praise is a contradiction of pride. Pride says ‘look at me,’ but praise longs for people to see Jesus.

If we make sure we’re bowing low in our hearts, chances are that the outward way we lead worship will be more appropriate too. Proverbs 25:6 sums it up: ‘Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence.’

Let’s keep our worship pleasing to the Father, centered around the Son and led by the Spirit, not the flesh.”

WOW! How powerful is this section. Pride comes before the fall is so true and sometimes we forget that. The question that we need to stop and ask ourselves out of this section is : “Are we still happy to serve, or is there even just a tiny part of us wanting to be served?” Let’s honestly take a few minutes and truly ask ourselves that. Pray that our hearts are that of servants. Something a teacher at SAU once said to the class has always stuck with me…it is really corny…but it makes complete sense. He said, “The church is not about serve us, but rather about service.” Once we are able to truly grasp that, there should be no complaints in our midst because we are coming to serve rather than to be served. Share your thoughts please. Lets also prepare ourselves for the next Beyond. I am still praying for a theme and i am getting some encouragement from God in some areas just not completely sure yet.