As much as yesterday's passage was the feel-good and lovey-dovey, today's is the back-to-reality, "tell it like it is" instruction. Isaiah was a prophet. Throughout Scripture, prophets tend to present God's Word in a way that's straight-up honest. It's not always easy or comfortable to read, but it can change us today like it transformed people in past generations.
This part of the passage--about what the Message version refers to as "worship charades" really struck a chord with me. Take a look:
"Quit your worship charades.
I can't stand your trivial religious games:
Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—
meetings, meetings, meetings—
I can't stand one more!
Meetings for this, meetings for that.
I hate them!
You've worn me out!
I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion,
while you go right on sinning.
When you put on your next prayer-performance,
I'll be looking the other way.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray,
I'll not be listening.
And do you know why?
Because you've been tearing people to pieces,
and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash up.
Clean up your act.
Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
so I don't have to look at them any longer.
Say no to wrong.
Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
Go to bat for the defenseless..."
Wow--I don't think it's possible to get much more straightforward than that. God was calling His people out on their hypocritical actions. They were praising Him with their mouths and even doing some of the right things (going to church, praying, etc.). But it was absolutely disgusting to Him because their hearts were not in the right place.
When we read this passage, I think it's also important to note that "worship charades" can come in various forms--people put on shows of hypocrisy in settings that look humble in nature (e.g. small churches, stark decor, traditional-style worship, etc.) and they put on shows of hypocrisy at megachurches with lasers, bands and dry ice. On the flip side, I believe that genuine worship can also occur at a small, traditional church and at a megachurch service that resembles a rock concert. "Worship charades" are not created by external factors, but by messed-up hearts and motives.
In this passage, I think God was expressing His frustration at people who "just didn't get it." Loving and serving Him is not about putting on a facade of a picture-perfect life--it's about genuinely loving Him and loving others. Meetings, worship and prayer are absolutely meaningless if they are simply done for looks. It's worthless to check a box that virtually says, "I did my Christian duty for the day," while showing a total disregard for heart issues. Charades involve acting. Genuine worship is submitting to God, giving Him honor. It's serving Him and others by living a life of love.
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