Sunday, October 20, 2024
Theme: “Worshiping God in Spirit and Truth”
Text: John 4:20-24
20. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that the place where people ought to worship is in Jerusalem. 21. “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is of the Jews. 23. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father requires such to worship him. 24. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.
Let us remember:
Jesus teaches us that worship cannot be mechanical or a mere formality. It is not the fact of crying, kneeling, raising hands, praying loudly, quoting Bible verses, prostrating ourselves… none of this will make us true worshipers. Let us start by being pure and holy. Going to pray on the mountain or being in church every time does not make us true worshipers. We must love spending time with God, in meditation and the diffusion of his Word, prayer, sanctification and all the other levels of faith. A true worshiper is a servant of God. He puts his goods at the service of God: his money, his time, his gifts and abilities, his work, his faith, his family, his thoughts… Our fathers worshiped on the mountain but we must worship the Father in spirit and in truth; as he asks. Our spirit must connect to the Spirit of God to contemplate and worship him. We must bring the dimension of contemplation, observation and knowledge of what we worship. After having better understood who God is, we will know and worship him in truth. To know God better, we must approach him in contemplation to pierce the web of ignorance and blindness. We must know the holiness, the fidelity, the love of God in all its fullness. Those who succeed in contemplating God, do not resist making a gesture that accompanies worship in spirit and in truth. Worship is not a rhythm or a moment, it is a lifestyle. Excellent Sunday. Amen
Alain Louz.-
Comments