The four Gospels record at least 40 instances where Jesus spoke about the treatment of fellow human beings.
For example, Jesus told a parable about a king and eternal reward or punishment. Church attendance, prayer, Bible reading, or many of the things we equate with the worship of God were not mentioned. Instead, this was His criterion:
“Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’
Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink?
And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’
And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.'” (Matthew 25:34-40).
What Jesus said about the “least of these” should not have taken His audience by surprise. Likewise, modern followers of the Lord should not excuse their lack of concern for fellow humans by claiming regular church attendance, frequent prayers, and the like.
Religious activity was prevalent in Isaiah’s day, but they lacked a key element—compassion and care for other
people.
Empty Worship in Isaiah’s Day
Tomorrow’s blog article will enumerate the ways Isaiah’s audience failed to care for the “least of these” among them. Hints of their spiritual problems are in the opening words of Isaiah 58:
Shout out; do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they want God on their side. (Isaiah 58:1-2)
The first two verses present a contrast between professed and actual behavior. The people profess to delight in knowing God’s ways and to practice right behavior.
Their actual behavior includes rebellion against the very principles they claim to observe. The fact is that they have forsaken God’s ordinances to pursue sin.
Because the people believe God is on their side, they feel free to ask for His righteous judgments.
Let’s pause and take a spiritual inventory:
- Do we measure our spiritual life by times of prayer, Bible reading, listening to worship music, and church attendance?
- Do we practice the above, but also have an active interest in the kind of people Jesus mentioned in Matthew 25?
- When was the last time we can say we fulfilled Jesus’ conclusion to the parable: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40)?
Sacrificial Worship Practices
While we are taking a spiritual inventory, let’s create an imaginary Sacrificial Worship Practices scorecard. Below are some categories of potential sacrificial worship practices:
- Daily reading the Bible and having a time of prayer does not count for me, because it provides a great start to my day.
- Sunday morning worship is only sacrificial if the sermon is bad. (I have preached hundreds of bad sermons and provided this opportunity for sacrificial worship to many.)
- I have recently discovered worship music that fits my preferences. By no means will it fit in the sacrificial territory.
- I’ve been tithing and giving money since I started following the Lord at age 18. God has fulfilled His promise to give abundantly in return (Luke 6:38). How can I put this in the category of sacrificial worship?
- What about fasting? I can definitely check the sacrificial worship box with fasting. I participated in an extended fast several years ago. The one thing I learned during that time was how much I think about myself.
How did you do with your sacrificial worship inventory? Are there any items that you consider to be genuinely sacrificial?
Isaiah’s crowd did not shy away from fasting, but nevertheless they failed in their devotion to the Lord:
“Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day
and oppress all your workers.
You fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high. (Isaiah 58:3-4)
They engaged in worship practices that involved fasting, something that most modern worshipers eliminate from their devotional lives. God didn’t respond to their worship because they eliminated compassion and love from the equation.
- Their religious experience served their own interests instead of God’s purposes.
- Rather than fulfilling the second great commandment to love their neighbor, they quarreled and fought with them.
- Instead of caring for the “least of these,” they oppressed their employees.
Tomorrow’s blog article will cover the kind of fast that is pleasing to God. One thing we can do is ask God to probe our hearts like Jesus’ parable and Isaiah’s message are intended to do.
Let’s dare to ask God, “Show me how you see my attitudes and actions with regard to your purposes in the earth.”
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 