More than Motions [Proper 14C - Isaiah 1:1, 10-20]
The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
More than Motions
St. Peter’s-by-the-lake, Old Forge
Generally speaking, God likes the idea of incense. Incense was even God’s idea. Back in Exodus, the second book of the Bible,
God commanded the people to build a special altar just for incense. And Aaron, the first priest, was directed to
offer incense on that altar every morning – and not just for a few days, or for
a particular season, but “throughout your generations.” That is a lot of incense, wafting throughout
history. Because God liked it.
But God did not like this incense; God did not like their
incense.
Generally speaking, God likes the idea of festivals. Festivals were even God’s idea. Back in Exodus, the second book of the Bible,
and then in the Leviticus, the third book of the Bible, God moonlighted as a
party planner. God created a calendar of
commemorations and celebrations. And God
commanded the people to block out the dates.
And these were not one-off events; they were established to give sacred
rhythms to each week and each year of each life. They were meant to weave the salvation story
into each individual story. Because God
liked that. Because God wanted that for
the people.
But God did not enjoy these festivals; God did not like their
festivals.
Generally speaking, God likes the idea of offerings. Offerings were even God’s idea. Back in Genesis, the first book of the Bible,
some of the very first people brought offerings to God. Offerings were a way to say, “thank you”;
they were a way to say, “I’m sorry.” It
is hard to know what to give the invisible, immortal, all-powerful creator of
the universe. And so God made a wish
list. And the people offered, in the
best of times, their best to God. Because
God want them to be close, to bless each other with good things.
But God did not enjoy these offerings. God did not like their offerings.
Generally speaking, God likes the idea of prayer. Prayer was even God’s idea. Prayer is everywhere in the Bible. It is in the first book, Genesis. It is in the last book, Revelation. And it is the books in between. The book of Psalms is an entire book of
prayers – 150 of them to be exact. God
wants us to talk to God, listen to God, be with God. Because God loves people. And so, generally speaking, of course, God
likes prayer.
But God did not like these prayers. God would no longer listen to their prayers.
The beginning of the prophetic book of Isaiah is
jarring. It is jarring because of how
upset God is. The people are doing the
things that God likes, that God typically wants: offering incense, offering
prayers, offering offerings, and celebrating festivals. And, frankly, and curiously, it was making
God mad.
God was upset because, even though the things were happening,
the love was lost. The worshiping
community was like an unfaithful spouse who thought that the betrayal could be
papered over with flowers and chocolates.
Flowers and chocolates are nice, but they cannot fix broken trust; they
cannot fix a broken heart.
At some point, while the rituals continued, the distance
grew. The people went through the
motions, but they never listened anymore.
They liked the idea of God but wandered from the God who longed, most of
all, for intimacy and devotion.
See, the people were fine with the things God liked, but they
didn’t care for the things God loved: most of all, God loves people. More than incense and offerings and festivals
and poetic prayers, God loves people.
And that is harder. It
is more difficult to love people than it is to enact religious ritual. Because incense is lovely, and sometimes
humans are unsavory.
And yet that is what God really wanted, more than the
motions. God just wanted the people do
good and seek justice. God wanted the
people to rescue the oppressed, and defend the orphan, and to plead for the
widow. God wanted the people to love the
marginalized and unloved and forgotten ones.
God wanted the people to love them because God loves them. It wasn’t enough to say a prayer; God
expected them to live a prayer in this broken world. It isn’t enough to light up some incense when
there is a big, messy world of people in need of the dazzling light of God’s
love.
The world is still packed with hurting people – even more of
them now than back in Isaiah’s day. People
are being battered out there: hurt, and dehumanized, and abused. People are being mistreated and
dismissed. In the midst of all that
pain, God wants each and every person on this planet to experience the healing
touch of divine love. Love is our mission;
love is the call God is placing on our lives.
The first letter of John, the sixty-second book of the
sixty-six book Bible, so one of the newest books, expresses this clearly: “Beloved,
let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born
of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is
love…. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also
ought to love one another.”
Worship is important.
It is a beautiful gift we share with God. God wants us to worship. But only part of our worship happens within
the walls of a church. The rest of our
worship happens outside of these doors – in this big, messy world, amongst those
hurting people, the ones God loves so very much.
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