Some passages in the Bible require some background for them to have their true impact.
John chapter 4 documents a remarkable meeting. It’s known in Christian circles as ‘The Woman at the Well’.
In this encounter Jesus meets a woman at a well. She is the only one there and there is a reason for that, she is an outcast from her own society. She was collecting water at noon, something that isn’t a good idea in the searing heat of the day. Anyone walking past would have known she was an outcast, it didn’t require special powers on Jesus’ behalf to know it. It was so obvious that John doesn’t even bother giving any more details. From a Jewish perspective though it was worse than that, this woman was a Samaritan and the Jews hated the Samaritans. The Samaritan believed that the way they worshipped was the right way – the Jews clearly believed the opposite. For me as someone within a western culture, it also has to be noted, that this was a ‘woman’. Men didn’t talk to women outside their immediate family, that was a scandalous thing to do.
So does Jesus treat an outcast Samaritan woman?
Well, he asks her for a drink of water, the woman is astonished and so a conversation ensues. But this is no ordinary conversation over a glass of water this meeting is about to reveal something profound. A conversation in which Jesus opens up the woman’s life and reveals the route to salvation and redemption, but also a conversation in which Jesus proclaims the true place of worship.
“Oh, so you’re a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshipped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?”
“Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.
“It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. 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.”
John 4:19–24
Not only was the circumstances of the conversation shocking, but so was the conversation itself. Jesus proclaims that it doesn’t matter where you worship! It doesn’t matter if you worshipped on the mountain. It doesn’t matter if you worship in Jerusalem. You can worship anywhere.
I have spent much of my Christian life trying to live in the reality of that statement. Another Bible translation puts it like this: “But the time is coming and is already here when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” It’s not about the words, or the music, or the place, or the time, it is about spirit and truth. I’d like to be able to say that I live every moment of my life at the same point on the worship experience quotient but I’d be lying. There are places, times, music and words that have helped me to go deeper in my experience of worship but that’s because those things have touched my spirit. The things that have touched my spirit are regularly not things that people would directly associate with a Christian experience of worship.
I have worshipped while reading psalms at the top of a very windy mountain. I have worshipped while on my morning walk listening to Bob Dylan. I have worshipped eating a meal with friends. I have worshipped driving to work while listening to Radio 4. I have worshipped in a plane while watching a movie. I have worshipped while sat next to a log fire relaxing with my family. I have worshipped in ancient churches where I was the only person present. I have worshipped in modern industrial units with smoke, loud music and lights. I have worshipped on my own. I have worshipped with thousands. I have worshipped in a tent while the rain patters down. I have worshipped on a beach ass the sea roars in. I have worshipped in a train watching the sunset out of the window.
The woman said, “I don’t know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we’ll get the whole story.”
“I am he,” said Jesus. “You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.”
Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn’t believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.
The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, “Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?” And they went out to see for themselves.
John 4:25–30
(I’m focusing on the ‘anywhere’ today, I’m planning an ‘anyhow’)
