Author: missionspaul

Who’s got the right kind of worship? Who’s right?

John 4:19-26 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” ²¹ “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” ²⁵ The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”  ²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Who is right?

There are so many churches and groups of Christianity.

They worship differently, focus their mission differently and some even think they are the best expression of what church should be.

Of course there are obvious similarities. The Bible for example. We all believe that though we can argue about the translations (we are so good at finding things to argue and differ about).

In that context we can understand this passage.

The Jews and Samaritans are different and don’t like each other because of their difference. The one thing they are together on, is the Torah (the first 5 O.T. books).

They each have the centres for their worship: the Mount Gerizim for the Samaritans and the Mount Zion in Jerusalem for the Jews.

However, when buildings, styles, practices, philosophies and mountains become the big deal then we have lost our way.

God is bigger than anything we build for Him, no matter if we build it out of some divine revelation we have had of Him.

You cannot squeeze the fullness of God into any ‘Temple’. The monopoly on truth never exists.

This is the one time when Jesus has an extended conversation about worship and it is with the wrong gender and a Samaritan of all people!

He says it is not about mountains and buildings. But about spirit and truth.

Worship is not about us but about God alone.

Worship is never about the songs we sing but who we sing them to.

Worship is more than the outward, that is only the expression of where worship comes from which is inside of us, born by the Spirit.

Worship engages our mind and our hearts. So we worship with the truth of Jesus’ teachings but also the alertness of our minds, authenticity with no sloppy lip-service.

We don’t necessarily have to come away from our Temples and Mountains so long as we realise that they in themselves don’t make us worshippers of God. Neither can we say because we have come away from the established Mountains of worship that we now are the enlightened ones who have the exclusivity of correct worship.

But we do need to let the streams of living water flow from within us to worship and we do need to be real, engaging our thoughts on Jesus the Truth bringing authentic worship to God.

 

 

 

Why make a judgment on what you don’t know?

John 4: 5-18

⁵ So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. ⁷ When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” ⁸ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) ⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) ¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” ¹¹ “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” ¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” ¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

John is keen to show us where they are on the GPS map.

They are near the bones of Joseph.

In Joshua 24 it records how Joshua called the people and said ‘Choose this day who you will serve’ and he made a covenant with God for himself and his household and the people of God. “And Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver” (v32).

In that same place where Joseph’s bones were placed, a symbol of how one man suffered for the purpose of bringing salvation to others is John’s story.

In that same place where Joseph whose blessing was to be a fruitful vine climbing over a wall (Genesis 49:21) sits Jesus the true vine (15:1).

But there’s another person there. The Samaritan woman. Is she also connected to the story of Joseph and Jesus in that she was a suffering woman who would later lead her village to salvation?

Who was this woman?

Was she immoral going through husbands like no-tomorrow or was she a suffering woman (women were not permitted to initiate divorces)? Did they divorce her or had they died?

Was she a fallen woman or a suffering woman?

Was the man she lived with her boyfriend or was he an uncle or another relative who was looking after her financially?

Is the time of midday (where she was least likely to meet people in the heat of the day) an indicator she was ashamed or depressed?

You can hold to either position. Many do.

But the truth is we don’t fully know.

And so it is in maybe the next conversation you have with someone or the next time you see someone walk towards you.

It is hard to judge people’s stories. So why do we try?

 

Days of courage.

John 4:1-4 “Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— ² although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. ³ So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. ⁴ Now he had to go through Samaria.”

The territories located in the Palestinian National Authority are mostly the region of Samaria in Jesus’ day.

The tensions and disputes don’t seem to have changed for 2,000 years.

The Samaritans and the Jews did all they could to avoid travelling through each other’s domain.

To get to Galilee it would take the Jew nearly 6 days travel having to cross the Jordan River twice.

The alternative was to take the dangerous 3 day trip through Samaria.

Jesus had to go through Samaria.

John doesn’t say why. There is no indication of an appointment. However what is true is that Jesus came to bring reconciliation between mankind, whether Jew or Samaritan.

Some days are dangerous days.

Some days are tough. You have to have that conversation that you don’t want to have. You have to go where others wouldn’t necessarily go. You have to be brave and selfless. But you do it because your Father has sent you.

 

What words will you hear and what words will you use today?

John 3: 31-36

“The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³² He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. ³³ Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. ³⁴ For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

I am not interested in what the earth produces.

The words from the earth, what outcome will they bring?

Do you ever wake up wounded from the words of yesterday?

The words from heaven are without limit, there is no rationing of the exhorting message from Him; they are eternal, continuing. These words are filled with love, authoritative yet sacrificial love. These words are life-affirming.

Oh that His people would learn the language of heaven!

Get you out of the way

John 3: 27-30

²⁷ To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ ²⁹ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ³⁰ He must become greater; I must become less.”

 

The disciples of John the Baptist are complaining that everyone was going to Jesus which actually makes John very successful.

John uses an illustration of the wedding to challenge them on who is the central figure. It is not him and it is not them. It is Jesus.

It is difficult when you used to be top and you are now second. It is hard when you were the centre and now you are side-lined. It doesn’t feel nice not to be noticed anymore.

We spend years centring our world on us and then we are gone, it’s over.

But if we were never centre and if we were never really that important and say if Jesus was truly greater and we were truly less, then we wouldn’t be disappointed would we?

Now of course we all want Jesus to be greater. But where is He? If He is in heaven then all is well, we can do it. But if he is with the beggar on the street or the annoying neighbour or the stubborn church member then we certainly don’t want to become less! They would walk right over us and we certainly don’t want that.

He must become greater; I must become less.

Let’s try again. Draw the line. Start today. See if you can get yourself out of the way.

 

 

Keep to the facts, especially when arguing.

John 3: 22-26

“After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. ²³ Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. ²⁴ (This was before John was put in prison.) ²⁵ An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. ²⁶ They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

The week begins again.

It will be filled, for some, with the same things as last week, arguments.

Certain people seem to be in a constant argument about something or another.

Here was one of those certain people. A certain Jew who managed to get John’s disciples all worked up about something they held to very dear.

It was regarding ceremonial washing which is what John’s baptism fell into the category of. The Jews all understood this baptism as it seemed like everything and everyone was performing a ceremonial washing each day. John’s baptism was a cleansing and preparing baptism.

It is obvious that this certain Jew told John’s disciples that there was another baptism ceremony taking place where the crowds were bigger than theirs. It is hard to be second when you were once first.

In this heated conversation suddenly we are introduced to something we have never seen before, ‘Jesus is baptising’.

And yet, he didn’t baptise. “… (although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptising).” 4:1

In the heat of the argument details became exaggerated. Jesus was clearly instructing his disciples to baptise but he himself wasn’t doing the baptism. People use this to say ‘Look the Bible contradicts itself.’ It doesn’t, it is just that a certain Jew stirred up the disciples of John to get their facts wrong.

Details are important and so for those certain people today who lose their heads here’s a piece of advice, keep hold of the facts. Of course there’s also another piece of advice regarding not losing it in the first place.

Meditative words of the night time conversation

John 3:13-21 ¹³ No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. ¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

 

On my drive home last night I spoke with 2 Pastors who are each facing extremely difficult situations.

One had major health concerns and the other was in a wilderness.

I think and pray for them this morning as I read this part 2 of Jesus conversation with Nicodemus in the night.

Conscious of others who equally may be reading this and facing such challenging circumstances I write down the words I have just been meditating on that have brought strength to my own life this morning. Take a few moments to choose one or two to ponder on for yourself.

• Another world.
• Authority on earth is from and out of heaven.
• Jesus lifted up.
• Believe
• Condemnation unnecessary.
• Jesus is Light.
• Darkness is a choice.
• Hate and fear belong in the darkness.
• Live by the Truth.
• In the sight of God.

Conversations in the night

John 3: 3-12 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” ⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” ⁹ “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. ¹⁰ “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? ¹¹ Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. ¹² I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?

Nicodemus was a powerful Pharisee, a member of the highest Jewish authority. But he was seeking and he eventually found a true conversion experience.

He is a saint in the eyes of the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic believers.

What brought Nicodemus to Jesus that night? He was at the pinnacle of his career, highly respected, what did he want? Why did he seek out this miracle-worker who had just offended the elite by clearing out the Temple?

We don’t often think of him as a person but we hone in on just a couple of things Jesus said to him about being ‘Born again’ and the famous John 3 verse 16 memory verse.

Here are some thoughts for us to ponder:

• Nicodemus must have been around 60 years of age and Jesus was approximately 30 years of age. He knew he didn’t have the monopoly on knowledge. He never stopped learning.

Have we?

• Nicodemus had to learn something new. Most of our learning is a development of previous positions but he had to receive something that was never there. It was the Gentiles who had to be reborn into the faith of Judaism if they wanted to convert. It was them who had to be baptised to remove all the filth of Gentileness off them. That was the conversion. No Jew ever needed conversion. It was a million miles away from their thinking, their belief and their culture. He had to accept correction.

Can we be corrected? Can we be wrong in an area of teaching and practice?

• Nicodemus was born in the right family. He was a child of Abraham. It couldn’t get more perfect. He had achieved a high level education and leadership position. But Jesus told him he needed to start again, to be born-again and importantly born from above.

Are you as thankful as I am for many opportunities to start again with the gift from above?

• Nicodemus had spent his whole life soaked in teaching and knowledge. Jesus said to him that he want going to be his rabbi, giving him more education but He was here to give him life.

Is Jesus still your life-giver today?

• Nicodemus belonged to another kingdom and Jesus spoke of another. Jesus told him there was a culture, a realm, a sphere of life that was poles apart from the kingdom of man that he was part of.

Are we still seekers of that kingdom today?

• Nicodemus belonged on earth and it is a small world even though we think we have advanced in many ways. Jesus spoke to him of heavenly things that were bigger than his experiences. God and His kingdom is huge.

Look up into the sky can you touch a star? Can you count them? The problems in our corner of this small world are small and we need to realise where we are sitting today, in the heavenly places.

Nicodemus

John 3: 1-2

“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.’

 

We don’t often think of him though his conversation with Jesus about being ‘born again’ has formed our theology, discipleship and mission.

His name means ‘victory of the people’ and he was a member of a strict regime, the highest Jewish authority, the governing body of the Jewish nation. He was a powerful Pharisee and a member of the highly educated society of Israel.

But he doesn’t fit into his world.

Do you know that feeling? A bit uncomfortable in the group of people you are with, the society you belong to, that activity group, the circle of friends you enjoy laughs with but inwardly you are not smiling as wide? Maybe even the Church you worship with? Something within you wants to explore outside of that group but you daren’t because you would be in trouble if you did. You want to ask questions that would get you kicked out if you did, so you internalise them and you feel alone.

In the regions where I serve I have had a few conversations with Church leaders who would love to explore a conversation about certain issues without the fear of reprimand. So I am planning to facilitate that without me being there. Maybe these meetings will be held during the night!

• Nicodemus said, ‘we know’ meaning he was not alone, there were some others on the same level who were discussing amongst themselves this man called Jesus.
• Nicodemus called Jesus, ‘Rabbi’ which shows us that this group though acknowledging the slander Jesus was receiving believed that he was indeed someone very important.
• Nicodemus came at night. The majority hold to the thought that this was out of fear. If that is the case then the ‘victory of the people’ certainly didn’t behave very victorious! However, his confidence would grow. In 7:50-52 he would be raising doubts about the legitimacy of Jesus’ arrest and of course at the end in 19:38-40 he is with Joseph of Arimathea, a member of his group, taking down the body of Jesus from the cross, embalming it and placing it in Joseph’s tomb. It’s not how you begin that counts but what happens after that.

You may not feel like you ‘fit’ but this may be the beginning of a wonderful chapter for your life.

There will be others asking the same questions as you.

You may be afraid but as you walk focused on getting to know Jesus more then you will grow in confidence.

This is indeed victory and victory for the people!

 

 

Can Jesus trust you?

John2:23-3:2

“Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name ²⁴ But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. ²⁵ He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person. Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Have you ever said, “I’m not sure I can truth them?” We all have. We know what to do. We keep a distance. With those we trust we close that distance. When we cannot trust we hold back something of ourselves and what we can give that individual. We are waiting to see if we can trust them before we give to them.

Discipleship may not be the maturing towards a deeper trust in God. It may be growing to be the believer God can trust.

John moves straight into a story about a man and Jesus knows all people. Nicodemus believed Jesus had come from God, he was thrilled with his teaching and believed because of the signs. However, Jesus was yet to believe and trust him.

There are those who only have eyes for the spectacular. The crowds followed Jesus around the hills and countryside because of his miracles and the ability to provide food for them if they were hungry. It is important to note there is nothing amiss in believing in Jesus because of the miracles in fact John states that is why he is writing his gospel:

“Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” 20:30-31

These same crowds however would turn from Jesus in chapter 6 because they became unteachable and by the time of the cross they were baying for his blood.

Jesus knew that we are fickle. He knew that “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9.

I am sure we have all read something from Leonard Ravenhill. A classic quote is this, “To the question, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” we answer, “Where He has always been-on the throne!” But where are the Elijahs of God? We know Elijah was “a man of like passions as we are,” but alas! we are not men of like prayer as he was. One praying man stands as a majority with God! Today God is bypassing men – not because they are too ignorant, but because they are too self-sufficient. Brethren, our abilities are our handicaps, and our talents our stumbling blocks!”

Sobering that may be, but true.

When He wants to bring salvation to your neighbourhood, family and friends, can He trust you?

When He wants to heal someone, can He trust you?

When He wants you to be faithful in tithes and offerings, can He trust you?

When He wants you to focus more on Him through prayer and fasting, can He trust you?

When He wants you to be kind and loving, can He trust you?

Can He trust you through suffering?

Can He trust you through the valley of the shadow of death?

Can He trust you at the cross?

Many are waiting on God to move in our nation. There are calls of expectation that God will breathe upon the Church and we will have a harvest of souls and our buildings will be full.

Could it be possible that nothing happens in our generation simply because He didn’t trust us? We had not understood that true discipleship is being a follower that is entrusted with His presence and power.

Will we remain as witnesses of Jesus? Are we tellers?

Will we remain teachable? When was the last time we accepted correction?

Will we love people? Are we genuinely a nice person towards others?

A disciple is not a follower. It is a follower who can be trusted.