“Worship Community” (July 20, 2014)

“Worship Community” (John 4:13-26)

- Our Core Values I -

Amma, “the Hugging Saint”

One day about three years ago I read a very interesting article. The title was “A hug from Amma.” Amma is from India, and her nickname is “the hugging saint.” She has been hugging more than 26 million people for 30 years. At this time she appeared Alexandra Palace in the UK. Thousands of people came to see her everyday from all over the world. One visitor said, “The time it takes and money it costs to fly over from Australia is worth it for a hug with Amma." He paid $1,000 for a one-way ticket just to see her.

In today’s Scripture we meet one woman whose soul pants for something. She is a Samaritan woman. If we dramatize this text, the story would be in this way: she had an unquenchable thirst. She made every effort to satisfy her thirst through “husband.” She got married with the man who had money. But, she felt something missing. So, she got married a second time with the man who was famous in town. But, she became thirstier. So, she got married a third time with the man who got actively involved in charity work. But it did not help to quench her thirst. So, she got married a fourth time with the man who had a noble character. But soon she got bored with him. So, she got married a fifth time with the man who was in politics. But she was still thirsty. So now, she got divorced and lived together with another man. Her life was just like drinking seawater. The harder she tried to quench her thirst, the more thirsty she became.

“Why Am I Always Thirsty?”

The problem is that she never knew why she was thirsty all the time. This is our problem today. We hunger, we thirst, we feel empty, but we don’t know why! The Samaritan woman thought, “If I had a husband, if I had a happy family, if I made more friends and personal connections, I would satisfy my thirst.” We often think, “If I could just get this job, I’ll be satisfied. If I could buy this house, then life would be grand.” But, Jesus says to us, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again!” (13) Our thirst is not about money, power and sex. The Bible says it is all about “worship.” It is all about “our relationship with God.” We are created to have fellowship with God. We are created to praise and worship God. In Isaiah 43:21 the Lord says, “The people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” The reason why we thirst is because our relationship with God is broken. Pascal said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled by any created thing. It can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ.”

Have you heard “mad cow disease”? We do not know exactly what causes this disease. However, many scientists assume that it might be because we gave a cow animal feed. A cow is created to have grass. But, when the cow ate animal feed, she went wrong. In the same way, we are created to have fellowship with God and worship him only. But, when we try to meet our needs on our own, we become even more thirsty. The Bible says in Jeremiah 2:13, “My people have done two evils: They have turned away from me, the spring of living water. And they have dug their own wells, which are broken wells that cannot hold water” (NCV).

“Is There Any Water That Can Quench My Thirst?”

Now we know the reason why we are thirsty. Now we know our relationship with God is broken. But still, we have another problem. Although we know the cause of thirst, we do not have the power to solve the problem. So, Jesus came to us first. Jesus came to the Samaritan woman first. John 4:4 says, “Now he (Jesus) had to go through Samaria.” But it was not necessary. In Jesus’ time, Jews did not associate with Samaritans. When the Jews wanted to go to Galilee from Judea, they always used a roundabout way instead of passing through Samaria. But the Bible says, “Jesus must go through Samaria.” He had to do it to see this woman. She had no power to come to God. So Jesus came to her. We had no power to come to God. So Jesus came first to our life. Jesus says, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him" (John 7:37-38). Jesus is living water that can permanently quench our thirst.

Earlier this morning I quoted Blaise Pascal. He was a prominent mathematician, physicist, and inventor. At the age of 19 he invented the world’s first mechanical calculator. He achieved both wealth and honor at a young age, but for some reason he felt miserable and empty. He was thirsty. On November 23, 1654 he got a horse carriage accident, but miraculously he was saved. He saw this as a warning directly from God. That night he humbly came to Jesus and encountered him in his room. He kept a record of this experience, and for the rest of his life Pascal carried around it sewn into his coat. It says, "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and scholars...Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy...'This is life eternal that they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.' Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ...May I not fall from him forever...I will not forget your word."

“What Must I Do?”                                       

Are you thirsty? What are you thirsty for? The Samaritan woman was thirsty for love and happiness. But now, she pants for God, the fountain of living water! Jesus, the Word of truth, came to her and opened her eyes. At first, she considered Jesus “a Jewish man” (9). But then, she respected him as “a prophet” (19). And in the end she confessed that Jesus is “the Christ,” “Savior” (29). Many people recognize Jesus and say, “Oh, Jesus is my friend and my teacher.” But, that’s not enough! When we believe in Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord, and when we worship him, he will satisfy our thirst. But the act of worship itself does not quench our soul automatically. There is one condition: We must worship him “in spirit and truth.” Message Bible translates this verse in this way: “God is sheer being itself--Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration." This is an amazing mystery. When we worship God with all our hearts, He satisfies our thirst and our needs.

True worship revives our souls. We worship God because it is one of the Ten Commandments. But worship is more than that. We worship God because it is the only way to quench our thirst. Without worship our soul dies. It is not “we” preserve worship, but “worship” preserves our life! God is looking for true worshippers. Those who pray for Sunday worship service on Saturday evening cannot be the same as those who watch television after midnight Saturday. Those who come to church early and prepare their hearts before worship service cannot be the same as those who run into the sanctuary during the service. True worship starts not from Sunday morning, but from Saturday evening. True worship starts not at the church, but at home when we prepare for worship. Are you true worshippers? Do you worship God in spirit and truth?

 

“Worship Community”

From this Sunday I will share my vision for our church: “5 core values of the church,” and the first core value is “worship.” My prayer for our church is to become a true worship community. My vision for our church is that anyone who is thirsty can freely come to this place, drink living water by worshipping God in spirit and truth, and go out to share it with everyone in the community just as the Samaritan woman did. I want to close the message with a story of one sculptor because this story tells us who is Jesus and what must we do to him. Once there was a sculptor who sculpted a statue of our Lord. And many people came from great distances to see it – Christ in all his strength and tenderness. They walked all round the statue, trying to grasp its splendor, looking at it now from this angle, now from that. Yet still its grandeur eluded them. So finally, they asked the sculptor what would be the best angle to appreciate the statue. The sculptor replied, “There’s only one angle from which this statue can be truly seen. You must kneel.” Amen.