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.