Wednesday, September 16, 2015

LIVING vs. DEAD WORSHIP – Part 1 – True vs. False


AMOS 5:21–22 “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them”.

One devotional reading that I came across this week really touched me to the heart as I sincerely seek true and authentic worship of the sovereign and holy Father Creator God in spirit and truth. It said that under the administration of both the old and the new covenants, “authentic” worship is a burning concern. Jesus, for example, proclaims that “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” - John 4:23–24. The qualifier “true” implies that there are other kinds of worshipers in the world—“false” worshipers whose worship is either not true, not wholehearted, or both. Furthermore, the old covenant prophets also had a lot to say to the people of Israel about true and false worship. Having the Mosaic law, the Israelites should have had little trouble knowing and rendering worship that God would have found acceptable. Today’s Amos 5 passage is but one of many Old Testament texts that shows us how the Lord, at points, actually hated the worship of His old covenant people. The language of God hating worship may seem strong to us, given modern man’s assumption that the Lord can by no means ever hate anyone. Nevertheless, our holy Creator is clear that not everything done in His name is pleasing in His sight. It is easy, of course, to condemn blatantly false acts of worship such as human sacrifice, idolatry in worship, the prosperity gospel and false preaching done in God’s name. However, the Lord may hate worship even when it is conducted according to His regulations. We must draw this conclusion from today’s passage wherein God rejects the feasts, solemn assemblies, songs, and offerings of ancient Israel, all acts that are prescribed in His Word.

Proverbs 21:3 To do righteousness and justice is desired by the Lord more than sacrifice.”

The writer continues that Amos pronounced Israel’s worship despicable, not because none of it conformed to God’s law, but rather because it was dead; meaning that mere formalism had replaced hearts eager to serve the Creator, as evidenced in the prophet’s substitution of justice and righteousness for approved acts of worship (read Amos 5:21–24). Worship was not transforming men and women into people who promoted God’s standards in every sphere; it merely wall-papered over their ill-treatment of the weakest members of society. The false worshipers thereby assured themselves that all was fine when they really were facing the Lord’s judgment. That scars me! Amos 5:25–27 indicates that not all was well regarding even the outer form of Israel’s worship, and the prophet condemned that behavior as well. Still, God’s willingness to reject even worship that outwardly conforms to His rules, but not inwardly, is a lesson for us. If we are unconcerned to make sure justice and righteousness are abounding in our lives, He will hate it when we come before Him in worship.

This is a lot to reflect upon and prayerfully internalize, so we'll conclude this thought-provoking post tomorrow.
In Christ, Brian

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