As we discussed worshipping in truth the last few weeks, there is a danger. As we have worked through these foundational principles, the message has been that we must avoid being worked into an emotional frenzy devoid of truth. Just because something makes us feel good does not make it right. However, often to avoid this ditch of emotionalism in worship, we end up in another ditch. We become stoic, passive, and hard. We have seen that we must worship God in truth. We must worship the right One the right way. However, in Christ’s answer to the Samaritan Woman in John 4, He also informs us that we are to worship in Spirit. We are to worship the right One, the right way, with the right heart. So we must ask the question, what does it mean to worship God in Spirit? There are three vital things to consider when we discuss worshipping God in Spirit. Last week we looked at the first: Worship in Spirit involves our emotions. This week we will look at the second: Worship in Spirit involves our devotion.
In Matthew 22, as the Sadducees attempted to trap Jesus, they sent a lawyer to ask him about the greatest commandment. In response, Jesus gave a lesson about worship. “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’” (Matthew 22:37). Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:5. And by this, He informs us that worship of God requires devotion. We should note two things about this devotion.
First, we should note that this devotion is complete. God commands that we love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind [might]. To the ancient Hebrews, the heart referred to the core of one’s being. It was the very center of one’s person. Central to their very identity. The term soul is closest to what we would call emotion and was the word Jesus used when he cried out in the garden of Gethsemane. Again this love was not to be a stoic, passive, or hard love, but rather one that resulted in great emotion. When this is the case, everyone knows about this love. It’s the picture in movies where the boy and girl’s eyes meet, fireworks explode, birds sing, music plays, and everyone knows they are in love. It is the picture of the parent sitting up all night in anguish with a sick child, tenderly brushing back their hair as they cool their brow with a cool cloth. It is the picture of the spouse married for decades grieving at the graveside of their departed companion. This is the kind of emotion that we are to have in our love for God. Mind corresponds to what is usually translated might in Deuteronomy 6:5. Mind is used here in the sense of intellectual, willful vigor and determination, carrying the meaning of mental endeavor and strength.
Therefore, Christ says we should love God in every way possible. Love for God and the corresponding worship of God cannot simply be a part of who we are. It must be who we are completely. Love for God cannot be something we accomplish on Sunday. Instead, love for God must be the central aspect of our being that drives everything we do. Note that God says we are to love Him with ALL of our heart, soul, and mind. God is not interested in a part of us. He requires all of us. So worship in Spirit involves our complete devotion to Him – every aspect, every place, every minute devoted to God.
This concept builds then into the second aspect of this devotion. When the devotion is complete, it is also caring. Jesus’ answer to the lawyer did not stop in verse 38. He stated, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:39). When we worship in Spirit with complete devotion to God, it pours out into the way that we interact with others. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Every Sunday, we ask God to help us remember that Cambria Baptist Church does not belong to any one of us. He alone purchased it with the blood of His Son. This means that no matter how long we have been at this church (50 years or one week) and how much we have given to it, it is still not about us. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Some of us struggle with this principle of complete devotion to God. We love ourselves. We have our opinion and don’t like anyone who contradicts that opinion. But to worship God in Spirit, we must get over ourselves. And instead, sacrificially love our neighbor. We cannot say that we love God while we are simultaneously standing in conflict with our neighbor. Worshipping in Spirit means that we love. We love God, and we love our neighbor.