There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”( After conversing with him a little while she said) “Sir… I perceive that you are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”  Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father… the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” John 4:1&19-24

“…what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before?  It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” John 6:62,63

“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water”.”…but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 7:38; 4:14

The Transformation of Religion

This winter in the month of January I was again among Hmong from Laos. Three Hmong Christian students soon to become pastors and teachers in their villages, Bao Her, Chinou and Tong, in their final year of studies, lacked one course to complete their B A degree. This course was the Gospel of John. I agreed to get them over this remaining hump so all day everyday for the last two weeks of January 2016 I took them through the 21 chapters of John, pastor Ben McClure translating.

In this posting at random I have chosen to share a piece of one of our discussions taken from John 4 complemented by two verses in John 6. John 4 records the story of Jesus having a conversation with a Samaritan woman at a well in Samaria. The conversation builds from a simple request by Jesus for a drink of water, to Jesus’ biggest religious ideas – the messianic transformation of religion. The woman, a Samaritan, and Jesus a Jew, male and female, Jew and non-Jew talking alone mid day at Jacob’s well – this behavior in itself was radical. It was like driving a truck through the cultural barriers of the day. But this behavior was not nearly as radical as the teaching he gave her. Well into the conversation, recognizing a propitious opportunity had arrived in this surprise encounter, she seized the moment and put to Jesus the burning hot religious question of the day. No doubt this question had been smoldering for centuries among her people.

Restated in the vernacular the question went something like the following. “Where is the true religion to be found”? “Where do we go to meet God and where does God meet us?” “Who is on the inside circle with God and where is that circle to be found?” “Do you guys in Jerusalem have a corner on God or do we have the corner on God?” “Is our mountain the holy meeting place with God or is your temple mount the place where God is to be worshipped and prayers heard?” “And before you answer I want to remind you we have history on our side.” Our holy mountain predates your mountain becoming holy”. “This well you are drinking from here in Samaria was dug by Jacob”. This was the gist of her question.

Stated in the vernacular Jesus prefaced his answer with bad news before opening up the good news, which he signaled by the word “but”. “Just to be clear”, Jesus says, “be sure of this Salvation comes by way of the Jews, you guys do not really know what you worship any more but”. “But the time is coming and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth for such the Father seeks to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth”. “Holy mountains and holy places are soon to become redundant”.

In a word Jesus is telling her the nature of true religion, is from thence forth, under going change. In the new religion that is now arriving on the scene, our text implies, the question is not who has the inside circle with God (the Jews or Samaritans), or where is it that the true worshipper goes to meet God (which holy mountain, holy city or temple). Nor is religion about where God hears our prayers and receives our worship thereby returning His blessings. Rather it has to do with the way of worship, wherever and from whomever it is given.  Does the worship contains two things – truth and spirit? When it comes to religion (worship) this is all the Father is concerned with from henceforth. This is Jesus’ assertion. Of course truth has form just as it says in Timothy “hold fast the form of sound words”. But quarrying and storing these sound words  inside of ecclesial sanctums does not guarantee their life giving soul regenerating power will make into the field of religious play. Sometimes they become the end of religion instead of a means.

No doubt the woman is attracted by this new simplification of religion and worship and so are we. She no doubt liked the sound of this new worship and we too like it even if we are not quite able to get our heads around it. It sounds good and it sounds right to us. But what does it mean? What does John mean by spirit and truth?  What is invested in this new formula for true religion, “the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth”?

After reading and thinking about John closely, all day everyday for two weeks, chapter 1 to 21, the following is what I believe he is asserting in this new formulation of religion.This is what lies at the heart of his message. God has resourced grace and life, life eternal, for all human beings in and through the Christ. John’s unique doctrine, not formulated in the other Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), in a word, stated over and over again, is that Zoe Aeon, eternal life, is given to us in and through the Christ-messiah. ‘Truth’ formulates this claim in words so that it is proclaimed as gospel (good news), and Spirit refers to the power and presence of God whereby persons take hold of this gift of Life Eternal, believe and trust in it in the sanctuary of their souls, and commence rejoicing in it ( via the Spirit “out their bellies will flow rivers of living water” he writes). ‘Spirit finds the spirituality in the truth, i.e. that element in the truth that cannot be gained by mere attachment to a religious institution claiming religious prerogative and privilege.This truth is not synonymous with orthodoxy, dogma or doctrines which religions hold as alone right and true.  It is not synonymous with displays of charismatic power or emotion, nor is it deductible through cool reason . The truth that John writes of here is embedded in that Gospel word  Zoe Aeon that speaks life to the soul so that from thenceforth the soul rests on it. Zoe Aeon can only be spoken to us and believed. Its reality cannot be seen, touched, felt (felt like physical things are felt and known by the 5 senses), or proven by the existence of any external religious authority or power which we attach ourselves to. It enters us as word or truth via Spirit and awakens conviction and belief in our spirit and with this belief one’s being is refreshed and lightened so that gratitude and praise well up within.

Nothing in Jesus physical and miraculous presentation of himself, nor his presentation of himself as rabbinic genius whose withering wit and wisdom humiliated his enemies, concludes these things. Truth (re) packages the historical Jesus as the source and giver of life eternal*. And spirit refers to that phenomenon that occurs when this presentation of truth is carried past the level of a mere information, beyond rational or doctrinal understanding or displays of charismatic power, beyond the forms and foldings of ritual. Spirit takes this truth to the mind and soul where people believe it and in believing come alive in their spirits with joy and hope and freedom.

Like the woman at the well people continue to clamor for religious certainties, denominational and doctrinal orthodoxies where they can set up their camp and look askance at other encampments on the next mountain over. The religious and historical artifacts of these encampments, these ‘holy mountains’ fill the pages of history and protrude into the present. Jesus transformed true religion – a simple word of life eternal, gracious and free, has been spoken by him, through him, to all and when this truth, that transcends and defies all hard proofs, rational or sensual (empirical), comes alive in the human spirit then doxology (worship) occurs. Wherever spirit and truth embrace in the soul, whether on a mountain top, any mountain, on the busy street or a back alley, in the valley of the shadow or on a ridge with far horizons full of promise, there worship irrupts, like a spring of living water it bubbles up and overflows.  This I believe is true to John’s Gospel. This is what he tells us Jesus is about. This is the transformation of religion he sets into motion.

Then and there, here and now there is a yearning for thee Holy Mountain, for holy places, holy temples, holy rituals and dogmas, holy men, holy times and holy traditions sanctified by the passing of centuries. All of these give women and men and groups a feeling of certainty and authority, and they mark off boundaries within which they enjoy select privilege with God. Rather than pointing people beyond themselves to spirit and truth, such religions become, not the means to a greater end, but the end. Precisely because these ‘holy spheres can be seen, touched, felt and directly experienced by the senses they sponsor dogmatic religion replete with authority, privilege and security most often at the expense of spirit and truth. All too often humans attach themselves to the power and authority that they can see and cease to take the journey where souls hold onto spirited truth in the embrace of faith, truth that speaks life to their souls. Jesus at the well chatting alone with a Samarian woman at noon day, is re-grounding religion in truth and spirit. Indeed the lesson is not ultimately an anarchic one, not withstanding the impending end of the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus is not from henceforth destroying all formal religion and religious institutions. What He is doing, however, is putting religion’s feet to the fire. Do they or do they not serve as pointers and wittnesses to that One who is far and away greater than themselves, the One who alone is the source of grace and life?

* This phrase (found in about the 7^th 0r 8^th paragraph) “Truth (re) packages the historical Jesus as the source and giver of life eternal” is not meant to suggest that the historical Jesus did not possess and broker Zoe Aeon, the power of eternal life, in his trek around Judea and Galilee. According to the Gospels, especially John, He did. But looking at and experiencing this power the people did not get it. They experienced power but not wedded to truth of the Gospel (cf Chapter 6). They parsed the power from the Zoe Aeon truth it testified to. Without spirit and truth the peoples encounter with the power Jesus was brokering went south and worked against Him. In the Gospel representation John is putting these back together – very explicitly. First and foremost John is an evangelist! He has repackaged Jesus demonstrating that his miracles testify to him as the messiah who possessed within Himself Zoe Aeon and offered it to all people.