Going through the Motions

Amos 5:21-27

21 “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them.

23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

26 You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves,

27 and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.

It is startling and difficult to hear God use the words “I hate”. But that is where He starts in our verses for today. When God hates something, you know that it is really bad. While it is easier to think of God only in terms of love and kindness that is not an accurate picture of Him at all. God does not brush off these things lightly and pretend they don’t happen. Instead, He speaks the truth – the are hateful in the eyes of a holy God.

There are less than a dozen instances in the Bible that speak about what God hates.

(Proverbs 6:16, Isaiah 1:14; 61:8, Hosea 9:15, Amos 5:21; 6:8, Zechariah 8:17, Romans 9:13)

They deal with 3 issues;

1. idolatry

2. false worship

3. injustice on the part of God’s people.

That’s it. These are the things that God hates. And again, it boils down to two things love God (numbers 1 and 2) and love others (number 3). So God doesn’t make the Christian life complicated.

In today’s reading the people are accused of bringing false worship before the Lord. They were keeping all of the festivals and bringing in their tithes but it was all for show. The worship never reached into their hearts. The attitudes of humility, repentance, service, mercy . . . none of this typified their daily lives. So God told them not to bother. He doesn’t need our empty praises. Instead He tells them to go and worship the stars (verse 26) as they won’t care if they receive half-hearted praises from a selfish people.

While it all sounds pretty harsh (and it is) there is a warning inside all of this for us too. Our attention should be turned inward to examine our own motives and practices during worship. Sadly, there are many in our culture who have simply stopped going to worship all together. At least there is no hypocrisy there, I guess. But that is never the answer either. Take up this challenge. A simple attitude check and prayer on the way to church on Sunday morning is all that is needed to bring this aspect of our faith lives back into alignment. Ask God to move through the worship and through you while you are at church. He will answer that prayer with a “yes” and your worship life will change.

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