Living in the Spirit
August 1, 2016

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

Hear the word of the Lord,
   you rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the teaching of our God,
   you people of Gomorrah!
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
   says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt-offerings of rams
   and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
   or of lambs, or of goats. –Isaiah 1:10-11

The word “worship” is defined as both a transitive and an intransitive verb. A transitive verb requires a direct object, and intransitive verb does not. What was the object of the sacrifices made by the Israelites? Isaiah intimates that God is not experiencing the Israelites worship as being directed at God because it does not acknowledge what is meaningful to God.

The sacrificial offerings required in the Israelite’s worship were extensive. Some, designed to atone for one’s sins to God, interpreted an individual’s offering as being meaningful to God resulting in cleansing from sins. Other sacrifices brought thanksgiving to God based on a progressive system where someone with more wealth offered a bullock and someone with a lower income, a lamb. Mary and Joseph offered two pigeons in a purification ritual shortly after Jesus’ birth.

While it might be easy to set aside what might be considered outdated, archaic customs, the lesson for us is important even though the acts of worship may be different. If our relationship with God based only on external rituals have no relationship to our inward commitment, it loses all meaning in its transmission to God.

Prayer: Lord, let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you*. Amen.

*Adapted from Psalm 19:14

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.