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Today’s Scripture ~
John 4.23-24 (NLV)
23 The time is coming, yes, it is here now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father wants that kind of worshipers. 24 God is Spirit. Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Comments
One temptation is to recreate God in our image or in any image. We are surrounded by visible things, which we perceive as solid and with shape. We relate to God, likewise, through images of shape and solidity. There is nothing wrong with this, until we attach to any material representation of God, whether the image is outside ourselves or within our imagination, in mental form.
Spirit is formless: without dimensions of height, depth, length, and width. Spirit is pervasive Presence, unbounded by limits of physicality. Indeed, many persons no longer believe in the localized God-image of past generations. Emerging insight into the nature of matter is presenting a different understanding of reality than we dreamed possible a few generations ago, and with these changes we are challenged to appreciate more fully Jesus saying, “God is Spirit.”
Therefore, we must respond to God “in spirit.” We cannot respond rightly to Spirit from an image of ourselves as only a physical being in space and time. We can limit our relating to Spirit by misperceiving the nature of God or ourselves. We are not, essentially, bodies with spirits; we are spirits with bodies. Indeed, we are spiritual beings in that physicality is only one level of the fullness of spiritual manifestation. We are spiritual, meaning, we are spiritually physical beings.
The anonymous English author of The Cloud of Unknowing (14th Century), a book on mystical prayer, wrote: “God is a spirit. Anyone who wishes to become one with God must live in a depth of spirit.” He continues, “… I am asking you to be careful not to think in a material way about what can be understood only spiritually.”
The way we live will influence the way we worship, and the way we worship will influence the way we live. If we refuse to surrender to the mystery of the Divine as Spirit, we will remain at a lower level of thought, worship, and life. We will remain at a beginner level of spiritual insight, or fail to enjoy spiritual insight altogether. If we surrender to the mystery of God as spiritual Presence, we will open ourselves to a pureness of faith that can relish the inward landscape beyond images, concepts, and acts. Thus, to say “God is transcendent” does not mean “God is above us” but “God is fully Spirit” or “God is Pure Spirit.”
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This faith in God as Spirit is pure faith, and it ushers us into the bliss of enjoyment of a spiritual loving where Spirit interacts with spirit in freedom beyond limitations of language and thought and feeling. We are, so to speak, lifted up into God as God is, not as we think and speak of God. As long as I relate only to God as I image God, I am not relating to God beyond and into God as God is. I am denying the transcendence of the Divine; I am committing a mental form of idolatry.
Of course, we will not abandon all use of images, but use of images will usher us into the spirituality of Divine Presence rather than our being attached to the image as who God is. In this darkness of the intellect shines brightly the Light that arises from the most inward place of the soul and fills mind and body with certainty beyond word and creed, act and intent, and feeling. This is the inner marriage with the Word.
Suggested Reflection
What to you does it mean to say, “God is Spirit”?
How might you worship God more fully as Spirit?
*Quote from The Cloud of Unknowing is from Bernard Bangley. Near to the Heart of God.
Brian is available to respond to requests pertaining to seeking a Spiritual Director, his speaking, doing classes, workshops, or retreats for churches or other spiritual groups. He will inform regarding how to receive his other writings or offer replies to comments or questions.
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*Brian K. Wilcox lives with his wife, Rocio, and their two dogs, St. Francis and Bandit Ty, in Clearwater and Punta Gorda, Florida. He is a United Methodist pastor and vowed member of Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in Georgia. His passion is living a contemplative life and inspiring others to experience a deeper relationship with Christ through contemplative prayer and living.
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