Worship in Spirit and Truth
The question to Jesus which prompted his response quoted below was
‘WHERE is the proper place to worship?’
Jesus shatters the wall between Jew and Samaritan
and opens the breach wide to admit anyone who will truly worship.
Of course the temptation for us is to list qualifications,
and places, and style to who may be a TRUE worshipper.
Where we worship is a natural. We need shelter, we have traditions. Similarly with style.
Qualifications are a problem. Jesus takes the lead here of course.
His encounter with the Samaritan woman is breathtaking in its challenge
to the religious rules of the day, a challenge which many commentators push aside.
Open and loving hearts and minds are what worship requires.
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.
John 4:23
In Down and Dromore, Northern Ireland, Mothers’ Union organises holidays
for the most vulnerable and isolated in their area.
‘Camps and give-aways simply reflect our heart for the community we are part of …
we hope to share something of the love of Jesus in a practical way’ – and that too is true worship.