Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:21-24

Dear Faithful Seed-Sowers,

It is my prayer that we all come to know the deep, deep love of God and that we grow in the outrageous grace of Jesus Christ as we persevere through the pandemic and the delay of our election results. What a year 2020 has been!

We are still sitting with Jesus and with the woman at the well.  I encourage you to take some time and read the story of the woman at the well found in John 4:1-26.

Last week, I talked about how blessed I’ve been to travel the world and visit many different places of worship. I have seen idols ranging from crudely carved pieces of wood worshiped in the open air to elegant statues housed in beautiful cathedrals. One time on a church mission trip, we were in Peru. We had gone to build a church in a city in the mountains. I noticed a bull and a cross on the top of a farmhouse.  I asked our guide what that meant.  He laughed. “Oh, Pastor Dave, they are covering their bases.  They have the bull which is the pagan God for fertility for their home and crops.  They have the cross for the Christian faith.  They are covering all of their bases.”

I wonder if sometimes we are like the owners of the farmhouse in Peru.  We cover our bases. We hedge our bet.

You may think you have never made an idol other than God, neither have you worshiped one but….

Are you ready for me to step on your toes?

What exactly do you worship?

Who exactly do you worship?

Stop and think about these two questions for a moment. 

Our intelligence and intellect can become an idol as we sit in judgment upon God, His Word, and His purposes in history. We may also look down on others who are not as smart as we are.  Maybe we worship our education. (Ouch.)

Could your body be an idol? Are you are more concerned about physical appearance and health than you are about your inner, spiritual nature? Do you spend way more time working out than opening up your bible?  (Ouch.)

Could your business, or workplace, or your net worth come before God and be an idol of worship? (Ouch.)

Even another person could be your idol. Do you pattern your life after them rather than after God and His will? Do you worry more about pleasing them than pleasing God? (Ouch.)

Achieving your own goals can become your god if those goals are more important than following God’s plan for your life. Maybe popularity is your idol. Are you more interested in being accepted by other people than by God? Do you work hard to achieve the look, have the house, car, kids and family that would make you look successful? (Ouch.)

Could our phones and electronics become our idols and become what we worship?  I am sure that you get those weekly reminders from your phone that tells you your screen time was up or down 3 or 4 hours this week over last week? (Ouch.)

What is that we worship?  Why do we worship?

To worship is to ascribe worth to someone or something.  Today I want us to take an honest look at what is the thing or person that you ascribe worth to? On all of those grace retreats that I’ve served on since 1987, the first talk, no matter what kind of grace retreat it is, is  a talk about your priorities. You are asked to take a look at your life.  Look at your bank accounts—they might be a reflection of what you worship. Think about this question: What do you think about the most? Where do you spend the most time? What do you spend the most of your money on? Look, there’s no judgment here just thought-provoking questions. The answers might actually help you.

So What?
Jeremiah 33.3 says — “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3

After my wife and I made our first grace-based weekend in 1987, we stopped and spent time together looking at the answers to these thought-provoking questions. Before this season of grace in our lives, we gave to God what we thought we could afford but first…we paid our mortgage, bought our food, provided for our children, and had our two separate, weekly FUN-money accounts for Jac and me. It was clear to us that God was not truly number one. We had not made God our number one priority. Attending the grace-based weekend didn’t make us better people, it made us think. What or who do we worship? Where do we spend our time? Where do we spend our money? Jac and I flipped our priorities upside down after that weekend in 1987. We decided we loved God and we wanted to worship God alone. We started to pray together every day. We became better givers to our home church, the first fruits of our weekly income went to God—we didn’t make 10% tithing right away but we improved on our giving. You know what? Since we put God first in our lives, God has told us great and unsearchable things!

Jeremiah 3:33! Show us great and mighty things.

I have a friend who was on vacation with his wife. They were at a gas station and Wal Mart when my friend heard, “See that guy over there? Go give him $80.” My friend was like, “Really? $80—not $5 or $10 or hey $20??” My friend went over to share with his wife what he was hearing. She said, “Do what you think you should do.” Hey, we’ve all been on vacation. Vacation is ME TIME—the money we’ve saved we are all too happy to blow on ourselves! YOLO—you only live once! And here was God, whom my friend worships with all of his heart, pulling at my buddy’s heartstrings. My friend walked over, struck up a conversation with the man and found out he was trying to get to a sick family member miles away. My friend blessed this man with….$80! Today when he tells the story, we all laugh! $80? Really? You know what I know? My friend and his wife are blessed knowing they did what was asked of them.

Brilliance at the well this week.  The unnamed woman at the well asks Jesus, “Where should I worship? Should I worship here or there?” Jesus replies, “You should worship everywhere!” I think what Christ is saying to the woman, and to us today, “Get your priorities straight. Put God first. Worship God with a humble, surrendered heart. Love God. Love others as you love yourself.”

What Covid-19/2020 has taught me this pandemic is that worship is not somewhere I go. I don’t go to worship at my home church. I don’t go to worship in a building. The church is not a building, the church is the BODY OF CHRIST…and it’s more important to worship GOD in my heart. Period.

Your SO WHAT? Homework questions this week are not easy but they will prove to be worthwhile. Sit down and take an honest look at yourself. Look at what you worship. Look at who you worship. What would happen if you were to put GOD at the number one position of worship? How would this one decision change your life?

Two closing stories. Our amazing naturopath prints out every SEED OF FAITH and ponders it all week long.  She journals on the ideas and “so what?” questions. When I stop in to pick something up, she loves to say, “So what? Pastor Dave!” The second story just happened to my wife. After teaching preschool, and having a magnificent day with their volcano pumpkins, one of the little boys broke away from his mom and said, “I have to tell my teacher!” He ran back and said, “I have Jesus in my heart!” Can you only imagine the party that happened in heaven when that little child asked Jesus into his heart? He’s only 4. I imagine it’s kind of like when you or I decide to topple our self-made idols and put GOD back on the throne of our heart. Listen, worship God everywhere. No matter what you do, no matter where you go, no matter who you are: WORSHIP GOD.

I’m praying for you this week. November is the month when we give thanks. In all honesty, we have so very much to be thankful for:
pumpkin volcanoes, guys at gas stations, and all who put God on the throne of their heart. Have a great week.

Let’s pray:
“Jesus, you are the wellspring of my life. Only You can satisfy the deepest needs of my life. If I don’t have you as my number one priority, today I place you there and I worship—I bow down, I humble myself and I surrender to You. Give me my daily bread. I call out to You today. Show me great and mighty things. Amen.”

See you Sunday!

God loves you and so do I,
Pastor Dave
www.theseedchristianfellowship.com

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