Worship--True and False

WORSHIP--TRUE AND FALSE Spring Valley Mennonite; May 7, 2023; Isaiah 58:1-12 On this day, hundreds of millions of people around the world are gathered in churches. Yesterday, on the Sabbath, millions of Jews gathered in Synagogues. On Friday, all devout Muslims were found in Mosques. If you add to these millions all the followers of other religions I have not mentioned, it can be seen that the vast majority of people on this planet are religious. This fact is not new to you. Every religion has rituals and practices by which its followers may be identified. For example, Islam has its five pillars of practice: the statement of faith about Allah and Mohammed, prayer five times a day, giving alms to the poor, fasting during Ramadan, and the pilgrimage to Mecca. Devotion for a Muslim is measured by adherence to these five things. By what rituals or practices are Christians defined? It would depend upon the particular branch of Christianity examined, but let's take our area. How would people from outside our faith identify us? Maybe they would say something like this: "Well, they usually meet on Sunday. They follow the teachings of Jesus. They also seem to have quite a few activities and programs, and they usually serve food at these. They also are "baptized and take communion, whatever that means." To those outside the church, Christianity is largely defined by its rituals and traditions. A woman once asked Jesus, "Where should we worship God? You Jews say in Jerusalem; our prophets say right here at our mountain. Which is correct?" It was in response to her question that Jesus gave that well known quote, "We should worship God in spirit and in truth." In our Scripture today the subject is "Worship: true and false." Primarily, we will deal with the "why" of worship, the question of our motives when we gather. We will explore the question "Is Christianity more than ritual and tradition?" "Is the genuineness of a Christian measured by how closely he follows such rituals and traditions?" Our study is based upon the 58th chapter of Isaiah. This was written to the nation of Israel to challenge them about their empty religious practices. Although the central subject is true worship, two common religious practices common to Judaism are covered: the practice of fasting in verses 1-5 and that of Sabbath keeping in verses 13-14. The verses in the middle of the chapter are God's description of a true worshipper. I am choosing to focus on the first 12 verses, leaving consideration of the Sabbath for another time. Follow along as we begin in verse 1. (Read v. 1, then the last of verse 14) I. GOD HAS SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY TO US "The mouth of the Lord has spoken." Like bookends, the statements of verse 1 and 14 frame this fundamental truth. God tells Isaiah to shout out the message, to cry loudly, to speak with the power and attention-getting of a trumpet. I thought of bringing a trumpet and blowing it loudly this morning! God has something of vital importance to say. As I considered this passage this week, I can only conclude that the truth of these verses is every bit as relevant and pertinent today as it was 2700 years ago, for the exact same problem exists in many churches today. This problem was a very visible expression of the deep sin causing God's judgment to fall on Israel. It is the same problem of the church in Laodicea spoken of in Revelation 3:15: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." This condition exists in American churches, and it may exist in your life today. Listen, for God is speaking. Mankind loves to control things. The animist in the highlands of Papua New Guinea offers a chicken to the spirits of the forest. Animism is based on the belief that spirits indwell all things and control all events. Animism is considered the most primitive of religions, but the sacrifices present a clear picture of man's attempt to manipulate the forces that surround him. For a long time, I believed that these sacrifices were either acts of devotion or fear of the spirits-and that may be true in part-but primarily sacrifices are attempts to manipulate the spirits to act in certain ways. The chicken or pig is supposed to satisfy the demon spirit who then does what the offeror desires, be it to make his garden productive, or to heal his child, or to curse his enemy. More sophisticated cultures and religions have come up with more complicated rituals and pathways which serve the purpose of forcing their gods to action in their behalf. The Jews of Isaiah's time were not much different, in that they tried to manipulate the One True God. Their situation was somewhat different, however; in the first place, they were dealing with the One True God. Also, God had spoken to them and given them the Law of Moses which specified certain rituals and practices, including the whole sacrificial system. The problem came as they put their trust in the ritual instead of the God behind the ritual. Every day the sacrifices were offered in the Jerusalem Temple. The religious holidays were observed faithfully. Yet, judgement was about to fall upon the nation of Judah. And the people were asking, "Why, God? We are doing our part with all the correct ceremonies and offerings: why are You not performing for us? Why are we surrounded by enemies? Why are we experiencing problems? No fair, God!!" This problem, which I will call "religious formalism" was still present when Jesus walked the earth. In Jesus' day, the religious leaders were convinced they were following God's instructions for proper worship and righteous living. They followed the Old Testament rituals of sacrifice to a "T". Yet it was for the Pharisees and Scribes that He reserved His harshest criticism. He called them "whitewashed tombs," clean looking on the outside but filled with rot and corruption inside. And, it was the most religious people of the day who were responsible for nailing Jesus to the Cross! Listen again to Jesus' words to these religious people, as recorded in Mark 7:6: "And He said to them, 'Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, THIS PEOPLE HONOR ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES ATHE PRECEPTS OF MEN. Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men." After Jesus' resurrection, the disciples of Jesus took the gospel message all over the known word with astounding results. As people put their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior, their lives were changed from within. They saw the fulfillment of Jesus' words that true worship was in spirit and in truth. The young church was vibrant and alive, and Christianity was the teaching "Which turned the world upside down." Christianity spread like wildfire. But it was not very long before the vitality of Christianity began to be stifled by-can you guess-religious formalism! Ritual began to replace relationship. Ceremonies were created, and men came to believe that if they practiced the right rituals at the right times in the right ways, God-pleasing worship was occurring. Elaborate ritual was all that God required. The problem has existed down through history, and it exists today in the church. Many people believe that if they show up in church on Sunday; as long as they take communion, and have been baptized, confirmed and members of a church, then God owes them eternal life, as well as wealth, heath and happiness. "I've done my part, God; now You do Yours. I've jumped through the proper hoops, Lord; You owe me salvation and a good life free from problems." And then-when God doesn't perform, answering our prayers as we desire, we cry out to God, "No fair, God!" Am I making anyone feel uncomfortable yet? If you are trusting in the rituals of the church to get you to heaven, I pray you are feeling uncomfortable! Can you see why this truth is so important that God wants it to be proclaimed loudly? To anyone trusting in religious ritual, I hope these thoughts wake you up like blowing a trumpet in your ear! This is why God's is speaking! Let's examine now, II. THE PARTICULAR EXAMPLE OF FASTING (Read vv. 2-3a) Fasting, the refraining from eating or drinking, is a common Biblical practice. It was a very common practice among the Jews, although the only day of the year on which fasting was required was on the Day of Atonement. Isaiah uses this particular practice to illustrate the emptiness and futility of tradition and ritual, IN AND OF ITSELF. Earlier Isaiah had spoken of the futility of insincere sacrifice; Turn back to Isaiah 1:11-15 (Turn and read). God told Judah that He HATED their sacrifices and festival observances; now God speaks of His contempt for insincere fasting. Why was God disgusted with this ritual? It was empty and half-hearted. There was nothing behind it except a selfish desire to try and manipulate God. Let me read these verses from the New Living Translation which puts it very well: "Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Tell my people Israel of their sins! Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to hear my laws. You would almost think this was a righteous nation that would never abandon its God. They love to make a show of coming to me and asking me to take action on their behalf. 'We have fasted before You! They say. 'Why aren't You impressed? We have done much penance, and You don't seem to notice it." But God sees the heart. Their fasting was just an empty ritual. They went through the motions, they put on sackcloth and ashes; they bowed their heads and acted religious, yet they got up from their fasting and went right back to their wicked practices of oppressing cheating their workers. They went right back to fighting and quarreling among themselves. God says in verse 5, "will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?" This is unacceptable! It has absolutely no meaning to Me. Don't expect anything in return for an empty, half-hearted ritual, delivered from a wicked heart. Can you see the application? All our rituals and forms of worship are worthless without a humble believing heart behind them. Church attendance can easily become a ritual, an empty tradition. If one comes to church and simply sits here uninvolved in worship, thinking that somehow being here impresses God and that He will bless your life just because you came, whether or not you really are involved in worship, you are doing the same thing that the pagan does when he offers a chicken to a demon spirit! Let me explain: the pagan makes a sacrifice to manipulate his god; are we not trying to get God Almighty to bless us just because we came to church? Now let me hasten to say that I am glad people go to church. Even those who are insincere are better off here than any other place and perhaps God will speak to them. Their presence probably says that God is somewhat important in life. I trust that our faith is much deeper than simple rituals and traditions. Yet millions of people attend church every Sunday, then spend the rest of the week living just as they please with little, if any, thought about God or any outward expression of Christlikeness in their lifestyle. Most American Christians-even in evangelical circles-are indistinguishable from their non-believing neighbors. Their religion has very little relation to practical living. Proof of this is seen in the state of our culture which grows more wicked every day. The church has lost its ability to be salt in the culture because its members act like everyone else. I believe that the reason that our culture has ceased to reflect Christian values is that for many our religion has become empty formalism. Every one of us can fall prey to this tendency to empty worship and just going through the motions. To avoid any misunderstandings of what true worship is, Isaiah spells it out. III. CHARACTERISTICS OF TRUE WORSHIP The forms of the true worshipper may be the same as the one who is not sincere. True worshippers will attend the same services, sing the same songs, participate in the same rituals like communion and baptism. But his heart will be different. He has an inner motivation. His motives will not primarily be of self-interest. Both his inner life and his outward actions will reflect godliness. He will be generous rather than greedy. When he gives an offering, it will not be given grudgingly, but out of gratitude. He will be humble rather than proud. He approaches God with reverence, awe, and thankfulness rather than demanding, and grumbling then about how God doesn't meet his needs. A true worshipper will be seeking peace with others, seeking to resolve conflicts. He is not stirring up trouble or given to complaining. Beginning in verse 6 we have a beautiful description of a true worshipper. Although it deals with the results of properly motivated fasting, it also describes one with a close relationship with God. Look at verses 6-11 (read.) It cannot be better stated than this beautiful description of an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The only question to be asked is this: How do I measure up? God gives this clear standard, so how do I look in comparison? We must ask ourselves, "Has my worship become little more than ritual? Have I fallen into the idea that I can win God's favor by simply following these proper activities? Am I even subconsciously attempting to manipulate God by participating in the outward expressions of my church, then wondering why God doesn't answer my prayers? James 4:3 warns, "You ask and do not receive because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." Yes, even prayer can become nothing more than an empty ritual. Bible reading can become a ritual. Where is your heart? Our lives should reflect an inner change. True worship comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ, not from rituals and traditions. Christ-honoring traditions are fine, but they should reflect a deep inner faith in Jesus. If we have that, then the services and activities of the church take on meaning. Church attendance, singing hymns, praying, Bible reading, baptism, communion, church membership, giving offerings, teaching Sunday School, preaching, serving on committees-all these things count for nothing unless there is the proper inner spiritual life. Insincere, ritualistic worship becomes one of the most serious of sins. 2