I like a good worship time, enjoy it immensely, am blessed and happy and feel complete. Good music, good words, joining in with others having the same experience. And there is nothing inherently wrong with that but it is not what Jesus was talking about. It was once pointed out to me that I could have that same feeling, that sense of fullness and joy and happiness from a comedy show simply by forgetting everything else and laughing endlessly. I was offended but found that it was true about re-creating the feeling. More oxygen, dopamine, endorphins will give a similar feeling.
Jesus is talking to a woman who has lived by feelings. She has burned through half a dozen husbands and isn’t done yet. She was at the well at an odd time of day to avoid the feelings that came when other women gossiped about her in her presence. Then she meets Jesus. She was living in Samaria which was the region of those who had broken away from the tribes of Israel centered with Judah in Jerusalem. This remnant was a mixed ethnic group with an eclectic religion that consisted of many beliefs and practices not sanctioned by the LORD. They were shunned by ‘real’ Jews and avoided as unclean. It is in this situation that Jesus asks her for a drink of water and then proceeds to unwrap her life.
The woman keeps deflecting the conversation away from what is most important—Jesus had just been talking about her needs, her relationships—but Jesus keeps turning the conversation back from traditions to God’s reality. His focus is on the truth of God and not worldly perceptions of what is important. Yes, the Samaritans worshiped on this mountain and the Jews worshiped in Jerusalem but the LORD had an even more true reality: God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. Not as much the place as the heart. And no, not wholeheartedly but with a heart tuned to the LORD and not the feelings. Experience is a poor indicator of depth of relationship, intimacy, commitment for it does not measure content or context but rather feelings. ‘Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.’ 2
Being a true disciple of Jesus is not based in a series of activities, forms or even traditions but must be rooted in the work of the Holy Spirit in us and the Truth of the life of God living within us so that all that is expressed comes from that inner wholeness only God can give. Shall we live today worshiping Him with our entire life?