Devotion versus sacrifice
This week is on Isaiah 66:1-4:
These verses struck me when I read them. They speak of the vastness of God, and his holiness. They talk about how he looks deeper than just surface traits, that behavior alone is not enough to win his favor. God's words through Isaiah talk about the shallow behaviors of religious folks like us, even if the behaviors are expensive and time-consuming.
People build elaborate churches with expensive stonework and such, which are nice, but God is not impressed by those. God's throne is in the heavens and the Earth is his footstool. Nobody has globes anymore, but if they did, one of those would be about the size of a footstool. Imagine sitting on a big comfy chair with your dirty feet resting on that globe. Is something the size of a speck on that globe your feet are resting on going to impress you?
Even if you had a microscope strong enough to see the details of the speck, would it be something you would marvel at? Would you tell your friends about the speck? It's senseless. It doesn't even matter. But people drop a ton of money into things like that under the false pretenses that it will buy God's favor. It's a speck of dust.
People make lots of elaborate sacrifices, donating money and food and various items. They attend lots of Bible studies, church services, prayer meetings, evangelistic crusades, social mixers, soup kitchens, etc. But God lists the expensive devoted activities of the pre-church Israelites as being like abominations. Sacrificing an insanely expensive animal like a bull is as impressive to God as committing an act of murder. Sacrificing a moderately expensive and highly symbolic animal like a lamb is the same as offering up a filthy stray dog carcass.
Why dump money and time into it? Why shell out the cost of a brand new car for something that is no more impressive to God than a manure pile? Is God short on cash? Is he jonesing for a hamburger, desperately impatient for you to kill a cow for him so he can feast? Is your pile of incense, a speck within a speck of a church, going to be enough to mask the stench of the globe-sized corruption of the world? Why do we do it?
Does God have a timesheet to make sure you're at church every Sunday? Does he have a blackboard with your name on it and attendance stats? Is there some kind of cosmic loyalty card you're punching by being at every small group meeting, every prayer meeting, every church service, every church event and service outing, every crusade and outreach and special service offered by your religious community? God exists in eternity. Even if you were busying yourself with religious activities all day every day, monastery-style for a week, what's a week to an eternal God? God is eternally devoted, 24/7/365/eternity.
God says that the people he looks on with favor are humble and contrite in spirit, who tremble at his words. Humility is a quality where a person sees themselves neither more nor less than they actually are. They don't strive to fill in a hole that can't be filled, and they don't puff themselves up bigger than their own actual substance can justify. Is the carcass of a bull going to fill in the chasm of our sin? In the eyes of God, is one speck really going to seem much bigger than another? We should be delighted he even notices us!
Contrition is remorse for sin, an understanding that we can't pay for the damage we've done. If you crashed someone's car and had no money to replace it, and the owner of the car decided not to sue, would you then spend a bunch of money on bling and stuff in front of that person. "I can't pay your debt, but look at these new shoes I bought! And a giant TV!" It's tacky. A contrite person doesn't have a sense of entitlement because they know that everything they have and more could justifiably be handed over to someone else. They're just happy to have something and to not be in court.
What is it like to tremble at someone's word? There's a fear and respect in that. You would give that respect to someone who has power over your life or livelihood. There's a sense that you're just a tiny thing, that this person is so much more powerful than you that they could destroy you with the slightest effort. We don't have that much in the US in modern days. We don't have respect for much of anyone. There are very few people we fear displeasing, and it endangers us in our relationship with God. We don't have a sense of place and perspective.
God has blessed people who didn't do a lot of sacrifices. He's blessed people who never attended a religious service in their lives. He notices character, and the attitude of our hearts. That will sometimes help us to do the right thing, but it's who we are that matters. Are we devoted in our hearts? Is our devotion a devotion to God or to a sense of accomplishment and self-righteousness? Why do we acknowledge God? Why do we go to church? Why do we give money or our time? Is it out of a sense of sacrifice or a sense of devotion?
This is what the Lord says:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
Where will my resting place be?
Has not my hand made all these things,
and so they came into being?”
declares the Lord.
“These are the ones I look on with favor:
those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
and who tremble at my word.
But whoever sacrifices a bull
is like one who kills a person,
and whoever offers a lamb
is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever makes a grain offering
is like one who presents pig’s blood,
and whoever burns memorial incense
is like one who worships an idol.
They have chosen their own ways,
and they delight in their abominations;
so I also will choose harsh treatment for them
and will bring on them what they dread.
For when I called, no one answered,
when I spoke, no one listened.
They did evil in my sight
and chose what displeases me.”
These verses struck me when I read them. They speak of the vastness of God, and his holiness. They talk about how he looks deeper than just surface traits, that behavior alone is not enough to win his favor. God's words through Isaiah talk about the shallow behaviors of religious folks like us, even if the behaviors are expensive and time-consuming.
People build elaborate churches with expensive stonework and such, which are nice, but God is not impressed by those. God's throne is in the heavens and the Earth is his footstool. Nobody has globes anymore, but if they did, one of those would be about the size of a footstool. Imagine sitting on a big comfy chair with your dirty feet resting on that globe. Is something the size of a speck on that globe your feet are resting on going to impress you?
Even if you had a microscope strong enough to see the details of the speck, would it be something you would marvel at? Would you tell your friends about the speck? It's senseless. It doesn't even matter. But people drop a ton of money into things like that under the false pretenses that it will buy God's favor. It's a speck of dust.
People make lots of elaborate sacrifices, donating money and food and various items. They attend lots of Bible studies, church services, prayer meetings, evangelistic crusades, social mixers, soup kitchens, etc. But God lists the expensive devoted activities of the pre-church Israelites as being like abominations. Sacrificing an insanely expensive animal like a bull is as impressive to God as committing an act of murder. Sacrificing a moderately expensive and highly symbolic animal like a lamb is the same as offering up a filthy stray dog carcass.
Why dump money and time into it? Why shell out the cost of a brand new car for something that is no more impressive to God than a manure pile? Is God short on cash? Is he jonesing for a hamburger, desperately impatient for you to kill a cow for him so he can feast? Is your pile of incense, a speck within a speck of a church, going to be enough to mask the stench of the globe-sized corruption of the world? Why do we do it?
Does God have a timesheet to make sure you're at church every Sunday? Does he have a blackboard with your name on it and attendance stats? Is there some kind of cosmic loyalty card you're punching by being at every small group meeting, every prayer meeting, every church service, every church event and service outing, every crusade and outreach and special service offered by your religious community? God exists in eternity. Even if you were busying yourself with religious activities all day every day, monastery-style for a week, what's a week to an eternal God? God is eternally devoted, 24/7/365/eternity.
God says that the people he looks on with favor are humble and contrite in spirit, who tremble at his words. Humility is a quality where a person sees themselves neither more nor less than they actually are. They don't strive to fill in a hole that can't be filled, and they don't puff themselves up bigger than their own actual substance can justify. Is the carcass of a bull going to fill in the chasm of our sin? In the eyes of God, is one speck really going to seem much bigger than another? We should be delighted he even notices us!
Contrition is remorse for sin, an understanding that we can't pay for the damage we've done. If you crashed someone's car and had no money to replace it, and the owner of the car decided not to sue, would you then spend a bunch of money on bling and stuff in front of that person. "I can't pay your debt, but look at these new shoes I bought! And a giant TV!" It's tacky. A contrite person doesn't have a sense of entitlement because they know that everything they have and more could justifiably be handed over to someone else. They're just happy to have something and to not be in court.
What is it like to tremble at someone's word? There's a fear and respect in that. You would give that respect to someone who has power over your life or livelihood. There's a sense that you're just a tiny thing, that this person is so much more powerful than you that they could destroy you with the slightest effort. We don't have that much in the US in modern days. We don't have respect for much of anyone. There are very few people we fear displeasing, and it endangers us in our relationship with God. We don't have a sense of place and perspective.
God has blessed people who didn't do a lot of sacrifices. He's blessed people who never attended a religious service in their lives. He notices character, and the attitude of our hearts. That will sometimes help us to do the right thing, but it's who we are that matters. Are we devoted in our hearts? Is our devotion a devotion to God or to a sense of accomplishment and self-righteousness? Why do we acknowledge God? Why do we go to church? Why do we give money or our time? Is it out of a sense of sacrifice or a sense of devotion?
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