From here on, worshipping the Father will not be a matter of the right place but with the right heart. John 4:23 (TPT)

Samaritan Woman and Water Wells – Worship and Water Series – Part 7

Go to  PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3  |  PART 4  |  PART 5  |  PART 6  |  PART 7  |  PART 8

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

A Samaritan woman who had had five husbands met the Rabbi Jesus at a well – a well steeped in dark and messy stories spanning hundreds of years between her people and his people and more – and they talked about living water, worship, spirit, and truth.

Let that sink in for a minute.

This woman had quite a story. We can assume what “kind” of woman she was. When we read her story recorded in John's book like we would read a newspaper article, we quickly file her away into a box and category without taking any notice of her and her story. But we find out so much about her, and it's key to what we take away from the words of Jesus. We can’t read this story as a rule book, flat and rigid. We must take up the biblical text like a grand and beautiful story, and try and put ourselves in the shoes of its characters and writers. I can picture this Samaritan woman, dark hair flowing down her shoulders, equally as dark eyes full of heartache and loss, her body weary of shame and scandal, her heart longing for family and connectedness… She had had at least 6 relationships (the previous 5 and her current one). Was she brokenhearted? Complicated? Messy? Perhaps. Did her former husbands die? Did she have any children? What did the community think of her? What did she think about as she moved throughout her days? What burdens and joys did she carry on her back as she walked to the well that day?

She was thirsty for love and belonging. We see this in the history of her relationships. She was also seeking something more, something beyond what she had and knew. We can see this in how she interacted with Jesus. Culturally, the two were enemies and had no business speaking to each other in the manner in which they did. Both of them. Jesus asked her for a drink, and she responded. She asked him questions, she wanted to know more. That in and of itself is an incredible picture of worship. Her day (and life) was divinely interrupted, and she embraced that interruption with her spirit, and her truth – heart and story.

Jesus said to her, “From here on, worshipping the Father will not be a matter of the right place but with the right heart. For God is a Spirit, and he longs to have sincere worshippers who worship and adore him in the realm of the Spirit and in truth.”

I so often find myself living outside of the realm of spirit and truth; disconnected from the underlying realities of my life. I go through the motions without sinking my heart into moments, situations and people. Going with the flow. Being carried by a culture that makes my decision for me. But when I worship, when I take this moment and submit it to the awareness of God's presence (even if I don’t feel it), when I consider the truth of my own story connected with Christ’s, I engage in that spirit-truth realm. Sometimes I sing about it, sometimes I pray about it, sometimes I meditate on it, other times I talk about it or write about it. It’s all worship. Everything is sacred, and every decision I make bows before something – a person, an idea, conviction, God himself.

There’s no right place, right time, right person, right words to worshipping. There is just worship.

What if worshipping was “a place where the art encourages us to find meaning, beauty and goodness in our world rather than in something beyond it? This affirmation of life should not in any way be seen as a call to remain in the relationships, jobs or situations we currently find ourselves in. This is not a call for conserving the status quo. For truly affirming our lives often means making important steps in changing them. It is by courageously entering into grace (the act of accepting our life as it is) that we are able to change our lives.” – Peter Rollins.

At the well that day, the Samaritan woman experienced heaven on earth right in the middle, muck and mess of her own life. And she worshipped.

Your turn. How do you turn your focus to worship? Leave us a comment below.

Go to Part 8 – His Presence »

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