“I hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies. Though you offer me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings … But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:21-24).
Almost every taxi in Nepal has Hindu religious decals and icons attached. Many contain battery-powered prayer wheels on the dash. In the Hindu and Buddhist religions, prayers are written on a cylinder or a cloth flag. When the cylinder revolves around its axle or the flag flutters in the breeze, the prayers are believed to go up to their many gods.
Traditionally, the prayer wheels are spun by worshipers who turn them with their hands. In modern times, electrical power has been used to make the task of praying even easier, hence the battery-powered wheels in automobiles.
There is a fine line between making worship accessible and making it so easy or habitual as to be meaningless.
In America, we have seen drive-in churches, televised worship services, and various other methods, which seek to bring religion to the people. If we are talking about handicapped persons, or perhaps even reaching those who would not come to more traditional venues, there may be some merit in at least a few of these methods.
But when ease and convenience becomes the dominant motive for our methods, Scripture is clear – God does not approve and will not accept our effortless rituals.
Automated worship has no place in the life of a true believer.
The problem in Amos’ day was the disparity between faith and life – between religion and ethics. The Israelites were offering sacrifices to God but were also ignoring all moral commandments of the Law. Earlier, the prophet had condemned them for the following sins:
“For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, and pervert the way of the humble. A man and his father go in to the same girl, to defile my holy name” (Amos 3:6-8).
Israel was guilty of injustice, immorality and idolatry, yet they continued to keep the Sabbath and offer burnt offerings, certain that God would accept their rituals and secure them as his chosen people.
Other prophets echo the same message (Cf Isaiah 1:10- 15; Micah 6:6-8). It is not rite (i.e., religious rituals) but righteousness which pleases God. This is not to deny the importance of religious actions, such as sacrifice in Old Testament times, or prayer, the Lord’s Supper, and Baptism in the Christian era. All of these reflect commands of God which were and are to be obeyed.
But one cannot select certain easy commands to obey, then trust that they will cancel out all of the other instructions given by God which are ignored and violated. As James said:
“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law” (James 2:10-11).
Isaiah prescribes the only solution to imperfect
service:
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do good” (Isaiah 1:16-17).
Easy, convenient, non-demanding rituals do not constitute genuine faith or service. Total submission to God is required of everyone.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
by Michael E. Brooks @ www.forthright.net