God Dwells in YOU!

Jesus had a lot to say about worship, most notably in a conversation he had with a woman by a well in Samaria. The Samaritans were Jews, of a sort, but they were politically and religiously independent of the main body of Jews. Jesus recognized the leading of God in this seemingly accidental meeting with the Samaritan woman and the conversation veered toward the woman's relationship with God. When you talk with Jesus, He’ll eventually steer the conversation toward the things that really matter. The woman immediately raises various smoke screens, as people often do when a conversation gets a little personal, and attempts to change the subject. She says,

“Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. [flattery] 20 Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” [And Jesus replied] 21 “Woman, believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem (John 4:19-21)."

The main body of Jews in Jesus' day decided that the place God had chosen for worship was Jerusalem. The Samaritans, because they rejected the whole Old Testament except for the first five books of the Bible, decided that the place God wanted to be worshipped was Mt. Gerizim. Jesus is saying a lot when He says, “Believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem.” Negatively, He’s saying that because of His coming, and, in particular, because of His death, resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit, worship will no longer be tied to a particular place — a building, a temple, a mountain. Not on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem.

Jesus is saying there are no longer sacred places that you must go to to meet with God. And I would add, not only is God not tied to certain places, but God is not tied to a certain day of the week, or having your favorite songs played by a worship leader in the style you want that song to be played. God is bigger than buildings. He’s bigger than days of the week. He’s bigger than the style of music. Jesus is saying something new has happened as a result of his coming into the world and it’s a first in the history of religion. God is not linked to a location — an altar, a city, a sacred stone or a temple. Every religion in the world has historically linked God with a place — Jerusalem, Mecca, the Ganges River. New Agers talk about spiritual vortexes, spiritually alive places like Stonehenge in England or Glastonbury or Boulder, Colorado. And every religion has linked God with a day — whether it’s the Sabbath or Friday for Muslims or Sunday for Christians. Even Christians will wrongly talk about church buildings as sacred houses of God. People think they’re going from secular space — from work, the beauty shop or school — into sacred space when they go to church. Or people think certain days are holy days.

Wherever God Is

Jesus is saying a lot when He says a time is coming, and it opens up the whole understanding of worship as a lifestyle. He’s saying a new day is dawning as the result of my work on the earth. No one place, no day, no set of externals, no worship style is going to be recognized as uniquely sacred. But even more important, positively, Jesus says, because God is Spirit, wherever God is, that place is sacred!

This is revolutionary! In the history of religion, what Jesus is saying in this text is absolutely unprecedented. He’s saying that, in the past, people used to go to sacred places to meet with God, but now, because God's Spirit is everywhere, everywhere God is, is sacred! Where is God today? Where is God’s dwelling place on earth? It's not a building. It's not a garden or a golf course or the ballpark. Where is the dwelling place of God on earth? The dwelling place of God on earth is YOU, the follower of Jesus. A little later, in chapter 14, Jesus says,

“Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them (John 14:23)."

Christian believers who love God and have surrendered their lives to live for the glory of the Lord become the dwelling place of the Spirit of God on earth! Do you understand? If you’re a follower of Jesus and you’ve received God's Spirit into your heart, wherever you are IS sacred space. You don't go to sacred space; you bring sacred space with you, the presence of God goes with you wherever you go.

The House of God

Now, there’s a particular thing that happens, a particular dynamic that’s present when we come together as a community of believers. As the apostle Paul wrote, "Don’t you know that you [plural] yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst (1 Corinthians 3:16)?"

He goes on to say, "...God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple (1 Corinthians 3:17b)."

You alone are not the house of God. We, together, are the house of God. When we gather to worship, we’re not sitting in the house of God. We are the house of God assembled. So, how do we practice His presence together? How do we train ourselves to be with God, with others? How do we prepare ourselves to get the most out of our shared experience?

Remember, worship is something we do. You can study it all you want, in the end, you learn to worship by worshipping.