John 4:1-26
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know… (v. 22a) It sounds strange even as I am typing this comment, but Jesus is dealing with denominational issues here. There were Judean Jews and Samaritan Jews. Both groups followed the Law (at various levels!), but the Samaritans did not buy into the Prophets. So Samaritans were expecting a Messiah more like Moses whereas the Judean Jews were expecting a political Messiah, more like King David. (Jesus didn’t meet anyone’s expectations!) So the two groups had fundamental differences. I was thinking about our own denominational differences today. We at St. Andrew’s would like to think that …we worship what we know…, and that our historic, traditional understanding of Scripture is a better interpretation than the thinking of our more liberal friends. And I will continue to hold to that feeling – the people with whom I worship at St. Andrew’s seem (to me) to be seeking Jesus at a higher, stronger level than people I have known in other denominations. I’m thinking of the people that I know best – our Men’s Group, the Vestry, Freedom Road, etc. Our parishioners, I believe, are following Jesus’ next sentence: But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. (v. 23) I do believe that we are honoring the Son and seeking the Holy Spirit in our worship of the Triune God. We need to be humble about the God we know, the God we seek, but we also need to remain confident that we at St. Andrew’s are on a path where God is truly leading us.
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