What God Expects From Worship
Sermon
Sermons on the First Readings
Series III, Cycle C
Object:
I heard it again at a meeting last week ... a comment about the length of the worship service. Somewhere along the way, people in our Christian tradition came up with the idea that worship should last about no more than sixty minutes.
The comment was innocent enough and was being made in reference to recommendations our ministry team would be making regarding the Sunday morning schedule of worship and learning. How much time should there be between the close of the first worship service and the learning hour? How much time should there be between the end of the learning hour and the next service? The comment that worship should be about an hour in length seems like a very practical consideration in the context of decisions like these.
Where do we develop these kinds of expectations about worship? Mass at the neighboring Roman Catholic parish never runs over fifty minutes and that includes communion. Services down the street at the Methodist church commence and dismiss within an hour's time. But our friends at the Apostolic church in town will worship for nearly two hours on any given Sunday, as will those in the multicultural congregation of our own denomination just a few miles away from us.
Was it the advent of the hour-long television show that served to cement our schedules into neat sixty-minute boxes on our calendars? Or was it the eight-hour workday that taught us to think of our days in hour-long increments? Although many of us look at our watches or cell phones several times an hour to gauge process or progress, there are many places in the world where time is measured by daylight and starlight, sunrise and sunset, heat of the day and cool of the evening. In places like this, I have been told, Christian worship services might last several hours. There is no clock on the wall telling anyone to stop singing or preaching or praying. The people's worship begins when all are present, and it draws to a close when there is a sense that all are finished with the rites and prayers and songs.
What do we expect out of worship ... to be entertained? Do we expect to experience a sense of connection with the almighty? Are we expecting to gain wisdom for living or to feel better about ourselves?
Even more important is this question -- what does God expect of us when we gather to worship? What does God desire of us when it comes to worship?
Our reading from the introductory verses of the book of Isaiah offers some rather blunt statements regarding what God won't tolerate when it comes to worship. The massive text ascribed to Isaiah doesn't begin with a story about his birth, childhood, or his call to prophetic ministry. The opening oracle appears to be a summary of the whole of Isaiah's work, spanning nearly forty years. This "word of the Lord" in chapter 1 is particularly hard on Jerusalem, the center of Judah's worship life. His words take close aim at the system of sacrifices maintained at the Jerusalem temple that were central to the worship of the Lord.
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
-- Isaiah 1:11
By the middle of the eighth century BC when Isaiah began his prophetic work, the sacrificial system had been in place for several hundred years. We read about these offerings in detail in the book of Leviticus. Offerings of grain, turtle doves, pigeons, lambs, goats, and bulls all served specific purposes. Some, like the grain offering, were a witness to the Lord's gracious provision for the people. Other offerings expressed gratitude and well-being, while still others served to remove the stain of people's sin from the Lord's sight. Aaron and his descendants were responsible for fulfilling these duties for the sake of the people.
These practices were meant to keep the righteousness and holiness of the Lord in the forefront of the people's minds and hearts. They were established to continually remind God's people of his ready provision and faithfulness. They were intended to remind the people of the Lord's passion for justice and care for the suffering. These sacrifices were meant to restore people to community when they sinned against one another and to reconcile them to the Lord when they forgot his purposes in favor of their own.
So why did the Lord no longer take delight in their prescribed offerings of bulls, lambs, and goats? By the time the prophet Isaiah was called to serve as God's mouthpiece, the priests' work of oversight for the sacrificial process had become corrupt with greed. The priests took advantage of those who brought offerings. They raced through prayers, festivals, and new moons, so that they could get on to more important things. They had developed a "git 'r done" attitude when it came to the worship of the Lord.
When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation -- I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them.
-- Isaiah 1:12-14
By Isaiah's time, the worship life of Judah had disintegrated into a series of rites meant to appease a God whom the people no longer seemed to know. They had lost touch with the God of their ancestors. They had ceased to respect God's core values of justice and mercy, especially toward those who were at risk in their society. Their many worship services and token religiosity were so far from what God intended that God was sickened by all of it.
Psalm 22:3 declares that God is enthroned upon the praises of Israel, but God isn't feeling the love. Worship that is devoid of devotion to God and commitment to God's ways is nothing more than a burden. And God turns away in disgust.
When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
-- Isaiah 1:15-17
God is so appalled by the actions of his people that when they raise their hands in prayer to him, God will not respond. God will not listen. Why? Because his people have hands bloodied by injustice and greed. Isaiah's words shed some light on the nature of their guilt. Their guilt lies in their relationships, especially with those on the fringes of society.
It's been said that the quality of a society is measured by its treatment of the helpless and poor. Here orphans and widows are code words for the poorest and most dependent people in Judah's society. And Judah doesn't fare too well when judged by that standard. Worshipers' hands are bloodied by their tolerance for and participation in oppression. Their indifference toward those who are orphaned angers God. Their failure to care for widows in their distress reveals just how self-absorbed and far from God his people really are.
Isaiah isn't the only prophet who denounces this downward spiral, this departure from the Lord's gracious intent. Amos preaches of justice being an identifying mark of God's people -- and he mourns its absence in the northern kingdom of Israel. Hosea preaches a similar message, appealing to his listeners to live in love and walk with God, who like a gracious husband forgives their infidelities and welcomes relationship with them.
You see, when it comes to worship, God expects people to be transformed. God expects the love and trust they confess to really change the way they live. God expects people to be shaped by his love so that they love one another more and more. God expects that his ways of compassion and justice will be reflected in the people who have been created in God's image and delivered from slavery into freedom. God expects that people will become more deeply aware of God's generosity to them. God expects that they will be generous and gracious to one another, as God is with them. Then, as today, God expects his people to love him and reflect his love in their relationships with others. God is worshiped when God's people live in such a way that God's values shine through their words and deeds.
Isaiah 1:17 identifies some of the characteristics of the way of life and worship God expects. People who truly worship God will seek justice for all people. People who have been shaped by God's deliverance will commit themselves to rescue the oppressed. People whose lives have been defined by God's generosity will protect the orphaned and care for those who have been widowed. In short, people who live in a loving and worshipful relationship with God will do what God does. Their hearts will beat in time with God's heart. Their priorities as individuals, as households, as congregations, and as churches will be oriented toward whoever in their community is counterpart to Judah's widows and orphans -- the homeless, racial and ethnic minorities, or families in crisis.
Instead, what God often finds in our congregations are people who are caught up in wars over the words and music of their worship life, and indifferent to the conflicts that rage in our world.
God finds people complaining about worship that takes more time than they want to give and oblivious to those who wonder if God has any time or love for them.
God finds beautiful sanctuaries and parlors, and people gathered in them who are void of compassion for the broken outside our doors.
Yet, in love and compassion, God invites us away from all that glitters and distracts us from real worship:
Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
-- Isaiah 1:18-20
In imagery that prefigures our baptism into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the guilt that bloodies our hands is washed away. We are reconciled to God. We are invited into God's presence and gifted with God's provision. Like the Israelites before us, we are offered a choice of life or death, of transforming worship or self-absorbed ignorance.
What did you come to worship today expecting? Did you expect to see friends? Did you expect to receive that peace that passes all understanding? Did you expect to go home with one or two life questions answered?
Or did you expect to be loved, forgiven, and refitted by God for the sake of the world? Do you think we might have time for that today? In the name of Jesus. Amen.
The comment was innocent enough and was being made in reference to recommendations our ministry team would be making regarding the Sunday morning schedule of worship and learning. How much time should there be between the close of the first worship service and the learning hour? How much time should there be between the end of the learning hour and the next service? The comment that worship should be about an hour in length seems like a very practical consideration in the context of decisions like these.
Where do we develop these kinds of expectations about worship? Mass at the neighboring Roman Catholic parish never runs over fifty minutes and that includes communion. Services down the street at the Methodist church commence and dismiss within an hour's time. But our friends at the Apostolic church in town will worship for nearly two hours on any given Sunday, as will those in the multicultural congregation of our own denomination just a few miles away from us.
Was it the advent of the hour-long television show that served to cement our schedules into neat sixty-minute boxes on our calendars? Or was it the eight-hour workday that taught us to think of our days in hour-long increments? Although many of us look at our watches or cell phones several times an hour to gauge process or progress, there are many places in the world where time is measured by daylight and starlight, sunrise and sunset, heat of the day and cool of the evening. In places like this, I have been told, Christian worship services might last several hours. There is no clock on the wall telling anyone to stop singing or preaching or praying. The people's worship begins when all are present, and it draws to a close when there is a sense that all are finished with the rites and prayers and songs.
What do we expect out of worship ... to be entertained? Do we expect to experience a sense of connection with the almighty? Are we expecting to gain wisdom for living or to feel better about ourselves?
Even more important is this question -- what does God expect of us when we gather to worship? What does God desire of us when it comes to worship?
Our reading from the introductory verses of the book of Isaiah offers some rather blunt statements regarding what God won't tolerate when it comes to worship. The massive text ascribed to Isaiah doesn't begin with a story about his birth, childhood, or his call to prophetic ministry. The opening oracle appears to be a summary of the whole of Isaiah's work, spanning nearly forty years. This "word of the Lord" in chapter 1 is particularly hard on Jerusalem, the center of Judah's worship life. His words take close aim at the system of sacrifices maintained at the Jerusalem temple that were central to the worship of the Lord.
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
-- Isaiah 1:11
By the middle of the eighth century BC when Isaiah began his prophetic work, the sacrificial system had been in place for several hundred years. We read about these offerings in detail in the book of Leviticus. Offerings of grain, turtle doves, pigeons, lambs, goats, and bulls all served specific purposes. Some, like the grain offering, were a witness to the Lord's gracious provision for the people. Other offerings expressed gratitude and well-being, while still others served to remove the stain of people's sin from the Lord's sight. Aaron and his descendants were responsible for fulfilling these duties for the sake of the people.
These practices were meant to keep the righteousness and holiness of the Lord in the forefront of the people's minds and hearts. They were established to continually remind God's people of his ready provision and faithfulness. They were intended to remind the people of the Lord's passion for justice and care for the suffering. These sacrifices were meant to restore people to community when they sinned against one another and to reconcile them to the Lord when they forgot his purposes in favor of their own.
So why did the Lord no longer take delight in their prescribed offerings of bulls, lambs, and goats? By the time the prophet Isaiah was called to serve as God's mouthpiece, the priests' work of oversight for the sacrificial process had become corrupt with greed. The priests took advantage of those who brought offerings. They raced through prayers, festivals, and new moons, so that they could get on to more important things. They had developed a "git 'r done" attitude when it came to the worship of the Lord.
When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation -- I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them.
-- Isaiah 1:12-14
By Isaiah's time, the worship life of Judah had disintegrated into a series of rites meant to appease a God whom the people no longer seemed to know. They had lost touch with the God of their ancestors. They had ceased to respect God's core values of justice and mercy, especially toward those who were at risk in their society. Their many worship services and token religiosity were so far from what God intended that God was sickened by all of it.
Psalm 22:3 declares that God is enthroned upon the praises of Israel, but God isn't feeling the love. Worship that is devoid of devotion to God and commitment to God's ways is nothing more than a burden. And God turns away in disgust.
When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
-- Isaiah 1:15-17
God is so appalled by the actions of his people that when they raise their hands in prayer to him, God will not respond. God will not listen. Why? Because his people have hands bloodied by injustice and greed. Isaiah's words shed some light on the nature of their guilt. Their guilt lies in their relationships, especially with those on the fringes of society.
It's been said that the quality of a society is measured by its treatment of the helpless and poor. Here orphans and widows are code words for the poorest and most dependent people in Judah's society. And Judah doesn't fare too well when judged by that standard. Worshipers' hands are bloodied by their tolerance for and participation in oppression. Their indifference toward those who are orphaned angers God. Their failure to care for widows in their distress reveals just how self-absorbed and far from God his people really are.
Isaiah isn't the only prophet who denounces this downward spiral, this departure from the Lord's gracious intent. Amos preaches of justice being an identifying mark of God's people -- and he mourns its absence in the northern kingdom of Israel. Hosea preaches a similar message, appealing to his listeners to live in love and walk with God, who like a gracious husband forgives their infidelities and welcomes relationship with them.
You see, when it comes to worship, God expects people to be transformed. God expects the love and trust they confess to really change the way they live. God expects people to be shaped by his love so that they love one another more and more. God expects that his ways of compassion and justice will be reflected in the people who have been created in God's image and delivered from slavery into freedom. God expects that people will become more deeply aware of God's generosity to them. God expects that they will be generous and gracious to one another, as God is with them. Then, as today, God expects his people to love him and reflect his love in their relationships with others. God is worshiped when God's people live in such a way that God's values shine through their words and deeds.
Isaiah 1:17 identifies some of the characteristics of the way of life and worship God expects. People who truly worship God will seek justice for all people. People who have been shaped by God's deliverance will commit themselves to rescue the oppressed. People whose lives have been defined by God's generosity will protect the orphaned and care for those who have been widowed. In short, people who live in a loving and worshipful relationship with God will do what God does. Their hearts will beat in time with God's heart. Their priorities as individuals, as households, as congregations, and as churches will be oriented toward whoever in their community is counterpart to Judah's widows and orphans -- the homeless, racial and ethnic minorities, or families in crisis.
Instead, what God often finds in our congregations are people who are caught up in wars over the words and music of their worship life, and indifferent to the conflicts that rage in our world.
God finds people complaining about worship that takes more time than they want to give and oblivious to those who wonder if God has any time or love for them.
God finds beautiful sanctuaries and parlors, and people gathered in them who are void of compassion for the broken outside our doors.
Yet, in love and compassion, God invites us away from all that glitters and distracts us from real worship:
Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
-- Isaiah 1:18-20
In imagery that prefigures our baptism into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the guilt that bloodies our hands is washed away. We are reconciled to God. We are invited into God's presence and gifted with God's provision. Like the Israelites before us, we are offered a choice of life or death, of transforming worship or self-absorbed ignorance.
What did you come to worship today expecting? Did you expect to see friends? Did you expect to receive that peace that passes all understanding? Did you expect to go home with one or two life questions answered?
Or did you expect to be loved, forgiven, and refitted by God for the sake of the world? Do you think we might have time for that today? In the name of Jesus. Amen.
