Proper 26 (C)

Sunday, November 1, 1998

To Please God

Isaiah 1:10-18

It was a sobering moment. We were at the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the holiest site in Islam and the site of the ancient Jewish Temple. You can go in the mosque down under the rock and see the hole through which the blood of sacrifices which had been offered up in that place had flowed. In dramatic style, our professor, Dr. Wayne Ward, waxed eloquent about the oceans of blood that had been shed throughout history in an attempt to please God. We gave thanks for the once and for all sacrifice made by Jesus on Calvary.

What does it take to please God?

I. God's Not Pleased by Inauthentic Religion

Throughout history there has been no shortage of people who have tried "religion" in order to try to please God. The ancient Israelites of Isaiah's day were no different. They knew what was required in the sacrificial law of Moses. They had the letter of the law down to a "t" They knew what sacrifices to offer when and for what reason.

What a come-uppance it must have been, then, when the spokesman for God refers to them as inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. While they were adept at offering sacrifices, they were clueless when it came to offering the true sacrifices that really pleased God. God informed them that He did not command them to offer sacrifices because He had a thing for blood. The sacrifices were supposed to be an outward sign of true repentance of the heart. They were not to be offered as some sort of empty ritual as if the ritual itself is what God wants.

God said, "I'm tired of you trampling my courts. I'm sick of your inauthentic practice of religion." Offering sacrifices is religion in the very worst sense of that word. God's not into religion, He's into relationships. He wants a meaningful relationship with people.

God is so turned off by the practice of inauthentic religion that He refuses to listen to their prayers. He blocks his eyes so He can't see the hands folded. God is not interested in empty religious ritual. He is not at all impressed by sacrifices which come from dirty hands and an impure heart. Quite the contrary, He is repulsed by them.

II. God Is Pleased by Authentic Religion

God does not want sacrifices that come from an impure and unclean heart. That's not to say that sacrifices are unimportant. After all, they were what the law prescribed as an atonement for sin. But David said, "You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart...." The sacrifices are to be the sign of a broken and contrite heart. God proposes several things for the Israelites to do to indicate their authenticity -- seek justice, encourage the oppressed, plead the cause of the widow.

Authentic religion serves the least of these in Jesus' name.

III. God Still Wants to Forgive.

In spite of the harsh words, God still is willing to forgive His people. He doesn't berate their inauthentic practice of religion because He wants them to sense condemnation and rejection. He is pleading for them to come into a right relationship with Him. The debt of their sin can be paid if they admit their neediness before Him. The stain of their sin can be removed if they come clean before Him. (Mark A. Johnson)