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Reality versus Ritual
leader Graham Kendrick. He refers to Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman (John 4). REALITY VERSUS RITUAL In his conversation with the Samaritan woman, Jesus was announcing the arrival of a new age in which worship would no longer be seen to depend on buildings, holy places, ceremonies, rituals and sacrifices, but on a personal relationship with God. All those things had been symbols of what was to come, and now Jesus himself was announcing the reality of the fulfillment of all that Judaistic worship had foreshadowed. The holy of holies was no longer shut off from the common man or woman, but open to all who come by way of Jesus. Yet more astounding, he was introducing God as a personal, loving Father, and one who actively seeks worshippers. In order to worship, this relationship with God our Father must be a reality in our lives, so that our worship is not dependant on the things that can be seen-the buildings, ceremonies, rituals and trappings of religion that can so easily become a substitute for a personal knowledge of God. Worship that depends on the externals for its existence is not real worship at all; true worship is what you have left when the externals are taken away. This does not mean that certain aids to worship are not valid and useful, but they are useless without the internal reality. Worship in truth is worship that arises out of an actual encounter with God, a response to the experience of knowing God's real presence and activity in our daily lives. This has nothing to do with sentiment, thinking religious thoughts or having aesthetic experiences in church buildings; any religion can give you that sort of thing. - Graham Kendrick, from WORSHIP, Kingsway Publications, 1984, p.94. [God, our loving heavenly Father, help us to be real with you. Help us to worship you in spirit and in truth. Amen!] Have a great week, Chip Stam Pastor of Worship and Music Chapel Hill Bible Church Chapel Hill, North Carolina |