Daily Dose of the Word of God - John 4: 21-24

Erin Pacheco, Director of Worship

Transcript

Erin Pacheco 0:00
 
Welcome to Elmhurst CRC’s Daily Dose of the Word of God. It’s Friday, October 11, and Sunday is coming! I’m Erin Pacheco, Director of Worship here at ECRC.   SCRIPTURE: Today’s reading is from John 14:21-24. This is Jesus’ response to the woman he meets by a well in Samaria, after she raises the question of where the people of God should worship: 

Erin Pacheco  0:35 

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Erin Pacheco  1:08 

We often think of worship as music, or singing, or coming to church. But in Jesus’ day, and for the ancient Jewish people, worship usually meant going to the temple and bringing a sacrifice. The Samaritan woman wants Jesus’ opinion about which holy mountain was better. Where should we worship?   Jesus announces a new era where people will worship, not in a specific location, but in spirit and truth – as if spirit and truth is a place.   There’s some debate about what these words mean. I’ve heard people advocate for worshiping with feeling and authenticity, or aligning our worship with right theology, or being Spirit-led and spontaneous. But if, in John’s gospel, there’s a new temple, and it’s Jesus himself. And if Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and if it’s through Jesus’ death and resurrection that “it is finished,” and if it’s the spirit that gives life – the spirit of truth that Jesus breathes on us – then I think the main point is that our worship stands on the foundation of Christ himself.  We can boldly approach the throne of God in worship, not because of some other sacrifice, but through the blood of Christ himself.

Erin Pacheco  2:39 

My calendar reminds me that tonight is Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement. Since the time of the Exodus, the Jewish community has been observing this holy day through fasting and reflection and repentance. God’s instructions for this day included the sacrifice of goats, whose blood atoned for the sins of the nation. It was also the one day a year when the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies—could walk right into the very presence of God.   Jesus says, the time is here now when all of that happens in me and through me. My blood covers your sin. My death tore the veil. I am the great high priest who leads the way to the presence of God. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.   Worship isn’t just what we offer to God. Our worship starts with and ends with and stands on what God has offered for us — namely, his one and only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. We go up to the temple, so to speak, not to bring a sacrifice, but to bring our whole selves—heart, soul, mind, and strength – in gratitude to God.

Erin Pacheco  4:12  

So as we prepare to gather for worship on Sunday, we come to this mountain, to this temple, to Jesus himself– who is at once our high priest, our sacrificial lamb, our atonement forever, and the object of our worship.   Come, let us adore him. Amen.