John 4:23: “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.”
I am working on a book seeking to understanding the means and ways of worship among the ancient Hebrews and then trying to find a modern context. To research this book I am interviewing various worship leaders from different denominations and churches who have various styles of worship. I am beginning to find that many of these worship leaders were hired or given the position to lead worship because of their musical ability. To many worship is simply the musical portion of the service. It is hard for them to imagine a worship service without music. I find few really have a Biblical perspective on worship, as they seem to be just copying what they have seen other worship leaders do. I remember one worship leader who felt sorry for a fellow worship leader in another church who could not find a good drummer. It was hard to imagine that God would not bless this church with a good drummer as they sincerely wanted to worship God but of course without a drummer your worship will suffer. I was going to ask if he felt such empathy for King David who did not have the benefit of electric guitars and keyboards.
My point is this, it seems even our leaders spend little time trying to understand what worship really is. Most just tend to go with what works or what others are doing. We forget that there was a time when music was not allowed in churches and when it was it was only to be singing from the book of Psalms. But who am I to criticize. The woman at the well was under the impression that worship could only take place in a certain geographical location. Her worship leaders said they could only worship on a certain mountain but others said in Jerusalem. Even in those days people questioned what their religious leaders told them to believe and for good reason, because Jesus pointed out how wrong they could sometimes be.
Jesus told this woman that for true worshippers it is not a geographical location but a matter of the heart, that true worshippers worshipped in spirit and truth. In the Greek the word spirit is the word pneuma which is the word used for the Spirit of God, the human spirit, breath or wind. But this woman Jesus was speaking to did not speak Greek, she spoke Aramaic. In the Aramaic the word Jesus used was rucha which is identical to the Hebrew word ruch and has the same meaning as the Greek pneuma meaning the spirit or the Holy Spirit or breath and wind.
However, it is the word for worship that has me spooked. In Greek it is proskyneo. Now watch this. This is a compound word pros for throw or toward and kyneo for the word kiss. Worship is throwing a kiss to God. Well, maybe a little culture background is needed. In the Aramaic the word is segad which comes from a loan word from the Middle Egyptian for an air kiss. When the Egyptians worshipped their gods they would breath through their nostrils onto the idol and that was considered a kiss or an air kiss. Air passing through the nostrils became known as an air kiss or a segad. Later in the Greek it was known as a proskyneo which being interpreted means to worship.
Remember in the book of Genesis 2:7 God breathed into man’s nostrils the breathe or nephesh of life. Yet, here we are not worshipping God with our nephesh, but with rucha which is the word used for the Ruch Kodesh or Holy Spirit. I found the word rucha is preceded by a Beth in John 4:23 which in the Aramaic is the word by. Hence we do not worship in the Holy Spirit but by the Holy Spirit. God breathed the nephesh physical life into us through the nostrils but we breathe His Spirit our spiritual life out of our nostrils to Him. We worship by the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit we cannot worship God. If we allow the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives He will draw out of us our love to God. I read something interesting in Mark 9:39 this morning: “But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me” When I read this I could not help but think of something I read in Jewish literature. It was a story of a student who complained to his rabbi that another student only studied Torah so he could show off his great knowledge and impress everyone with his understanding of Torah. The rabbi replied, “Don’t hinder him for the Torah will purify his motives.”
I sort of blasted worship leaders at the beginning of this study so let me conclude by saying this. Perhaps there are worship leaders out there who are frustrated rock star wannabes, or desire to show off their talents. Perhaps there are worshippers seeking to impress the others with their holiness by loud expressions of worship or performing physical contortions. Don’t hinder them, for if they are expressing the name of Jesus then let the Holy Spirit purify their motives and they will not speak evil of our Lord. For it is only by the Holy Spirit that any of us can truly worship God in truth. In Aramaic that word truth is sharara. Sharar is a word which means to be tightly bound together. It is like the strands of fabric tightly bound together to form a rope. Sharar is the word used to express that tight bonding, a bonding so tight that nothing can break it. When we worship segad that is give God an air kiss breathing or sharing the life of His Spirit with Him we create a bond with Him that can never be broken.
Worship is segad sharara that is allowing the Holy Spirit to bond us tightly with God.
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