Worship is an expression of our Faith towards a higher entity. In Christianity, that is none other than God alone. And so how do we worship God? Many of times, we take worship as singing congregational songs with our emotions. And as a musician myself, it often translates to musical excellence which I often attempt to present in order to establish good order for our services.
Well, all these "Practical Aspects" which perhaps I will term it as "Ritualistic Expressions" of worship (just to tie in with the OT), definitely has it's place, and a true worshiper of God will always seek to give his best to God, be it serving as an usher, helper or musician. So what does the bible tells us about "Ritualistic Excellence", is that True Obedience according to the word of God? Why did Malachi wrote that God will smear DUNG on their faces? Let's explore.
I will give this presentation based on 2 Prophets that has influenced by thinking in this area, namely; Malachi and Isaiah.
Malachi recorded his prophecy around 400 BCE, roughly 100 years after the 2nd temple was built. We can imagine, after a great revival in Nehemiah 8:9 when the people of Israel wept as they heard Ezra reading the Law in the re-built temple for the first time, they quickly fell back to spiritual bankruptcy nearly a century later.
In the 1st chapter of Malachi, he recorded prophecy from God against Israel, citing of their sub-standard sacrifices that was offered to him:
"When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts." - Malachi 1:8 (ESV)
It was so bad that he threatened to smear dung on their faces:
"3 Behold, I will rebuke your offspring,[a] and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it." - Malachi 2:3 (ESV)
That truly sounds serious enough, and we definitely know clearly from the text, not to give sub-standard service to God. Hence even when we serve, be it organizing an event or helping to arrange tables, we should be mindful that we should not fall into a complacent attitude of just going through the motion and getting things done haphazardly. And definitely as a musician myself, to ensure that all arrangements are well thought through and rehearsed so as to minimize distractions.
But is that all? Are there more aspects to the word "Obedience" than these practical activities that we render for a church service? Let's back track even further to 400 years earlier when Isaiah started writing his collection of Prophecies for Israel.
Isaiah started writing at about 800 BCE, few generations before the invasion of Israel by the Assyrians about 722 BCE. In his opening Chapter, Isaiah gave us an insight on the state of Israel. Let's have a look:
“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 well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats." - Isaiah 1:11 (ESV)
It is clear in this case, that Israel during the time of Isaiah, did not offer substandard lambs that were lame nor sick. In fact, they sacrificed the "fat of well-fed beasts". In fact, there is reason to believe that Israel did what they thought was excellent as they followed the procedures under the Levitical Sacrifices. But it is also clear, that this was not enough, and in fact their "many prayers" became a burden to God. Why?
"Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood." - Isaiah 1:14-15 (ESV)
Imagine a Christian, who is excellent in providing Graphic Design and Animations for the Church. He might be competent in his craft and often prided himself in his perfection. But in the pursuit for excellence, he neglects and is often out of touch with the community. There is no outflow of love coming out from his life and hence there is no opportunity for him to Love his Neighbor, let alone the very community that he set out to serve. Is he being obedient? Hardly.
That was the problem with Israel:
"Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." - Isaiah 1:16-17
Israel was too engrossed with "Ritualistic Excellence" that they neglected "Moral Excellence" which is an important aspect of the God's requirement for his people. In fact, they made use of "Ritualistic Excellence" as a justification for their lack of Morals, thinking that perfecting the Rituals is sufficient for their Sins to be atoned for anyway.
Roman 6:15-19 tells us that true believers of Christ are Slaves to Righteousness; which means Christians ought to be transformed towards bearing the Character of their master, God. 1 Peter 1:16 tells us “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”.
In fact, Malachi said the same thing:
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. - Malachi 3:5
Malachi's and Isaiah's message were plain and simple. There is no point offering "Ritualistic Excellence" when there is an absence of Moral Excellence. In Mark 7:1-13, Jesus rebuked the pharisees for putting their emphasis on their man made Rituals, thinking that they can please God by implementing their own standards of perfection through these Rituals. But in reality, they forsook the Commandments of God which Jesus summarized as Love your God (Ritual Excellence) and Love your neighbor (Moral Excellence). Jesus quoted form Isaiah 29:13 clearly shows that Israel did not learn from their predecessors written 800 years before their time.
Conclusion:
There is a place for "Ritualistic Excellence". True believers who wants to please God will surely seek to serve God wholeheartedly with their gifts, be it through public service, a specific skill set or administration. But to be a truly obedient believer, that is clearly not enough. While we seek to perfect our crafts through public service, let's not forget the whole point of obedience, which has to do with pursuing Christ-likeness in the community of believers.
“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel." - Malachi 4:4
Malachi is clear, God is not looking for mere outward sacrifice. He is not looking for an outward appearance of Holiness. He is looking for real fruits of righteousness that stems from the Grace which he has provided through the death of Jesus Christ. Just as Paul said:
"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." - Phil 2:3-4
Are we genuinely obedient to God? Or are we putting on an outward performance to impress others? Do we seek to add value to ourselves or to others? Are we sacrificing our time to love others while we pursue excellence and self aggrandizement? I pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal this to our hearts and mind that we may truly bear genuine fruits of love.
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