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Don't get all excited. This is not a rant against anyone or any group. It is simply a call for all of us to examine what we are doing and why we are doing it. When I write, it is usually based on my personal devotions-my time in the Word. Lately, my time has been spent in the Gospel of Matthew. That is where we turn to look at what Jesus calls a farce. When Jesus says "Their worship is a farce," he is actually quoting from the prophet Isaiah-Isaiah 29:13. But first, let's look at what led up to the quotation. Matthew 15:1-2 tells us, "Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, 'Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.'" These religious leaders were very concerned about their "age-old tradition." They were actually judging what they saw based on tradition, not laws or commandments. I sometimes wonder if we are not guilty of the same thing. Especially for those of us who are more mature (older), change is hard. It makes us uncomfortable when things aren't done the "age-old" way. If that is our standard for judging what others are doing, we may be in the same position as these religious leaders who have come to Jesus. We may look at some of the new movements and tend to judge them by the way we have always done things. And maybe, just maybe, our ways weren't the best or the only way. It can be very hard to be open to new ways of presenting the same gospel. It can be very hard to be open to different ways of worship and praise. But, after all, who dances in front of the ark like David did? How many times do we fall on our faces in fear and awe of God? Jesus gave an interesting and scathing reply to those who were questioning him. "Jesus replied, 'And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?'" (Vs. 3) I can almost see their jaws drop. They must have been blown away by his response. Then he even gave them an example. "For instance, God says, 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.' But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, 'Sorry, I can't help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.' In this way, you say they don't need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition." (Vs. 4-6) That last sentence is the part that really gets me. I wonder; what part of the word of God have we canceled with our traditions? And that's not just the old traditions. What new traditions may we be enacting that will cancel the word of God? Are we making changes just for the sake of change? Are we carefully praying and searching God's word to make sure we aren't doing something contrary to his will? If we are not careful, we can destroy things of God, all in the name of change. Traditions, whether old or new, are not bad in and of themselves. But if we make those traditions into law or we cancel out the word of God, then the prophecy in Isaiah is just as true of us as it was of those Jesus was speaking to. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.' (Vs. 7-9)
Live by Faith
Original content at: http://becauseofyeshua.org/?p=92.
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Scott Bartchy is a radical. He believes in a subversive system that embraces those on the fringes of our society and seeks to establish a new way of life that goes against the status quo.