Cease to do evil, learn to do good
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Last week I was supposed to preach on the scripture readings we just listened to, but I had read the worship calendar wrong and instead preached on what was supposed to be today’s passage found in Hebrews 11 on walking by faith. As a result of my mix-up, you have now heard the same scripture reading two weeks in a row. Not to excuse my lack of attention to detail that I clearly displayed - but the Lord will use everything for his glory and maybe we needed to hear these passages twice. Maybe there is a spiritual truth that we need to contend with, ruminate over, and apply to our lives. Or maybe I’m trying to redeem myself.
Regardless, I will begin with this question for us to ponder:
Is our worship of God reflected in how we conduct our lives - or is there a contradiction between our worship and our daily living?
The honest answer to that question matters. Believe it or not, the welfare of the Church, the welfare of our community, the welfare of our nation hinges on the how aligned our worship is to our personal conduct.
Worship is not for show. It is not for us to feel better. Our worship does not rise into the ether and disappear. It is either received by God as acceptable, or it is rejected as repugnant. And what determines whether or not our worship is received is our heart - and the condition of our heart typically manifest itself in our conduct.
God is a Holy God. That is His moral attribute - he is holy. God is perfect in goodness and righteousness, spiritually pure, untainted by sin. Leviticus 19:1–2 “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”
This command was not just for the Hebrew people. It is for all people called by God and invited into His family - those who accept His gift of grace. That is why Peter repeats this ancient command to the Church in his letter 1 Peter 1:15–16 “but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.””
What happens when God’s children conduct themselves in a way that is wholly unholy?
Well, you get the tale of two cities. Way back in ancient history, as recorded in the book of Genesis, there were two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, inhabited by the people of Canaan, descendants of Ham who was a son of Noah. Living there at the time was also a man named Lot, the nephew of Abraham, along with his family.
Sodom and Gomorrah were vile and wicked cities. So much so, that the Lord and two angels went to check it out for themselves, taking a pitstop at Abraham’s home first.
Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”
Abraham, worried about his nephew Lot and all the people that he knew who lived both of the two cities, pleads for the Lord’s mercy and asks - “what if there are 50 righteous people there - are you going to put them to death with the wicked?” The Lord replies that if he finds 50, he would relent and not sweep them all away. Abraham continues to plead and gets the number down to 10 to which the Lord replies “for the sake of ten I will not destroy.”
The two cities proved to be so corrupt, so unholy, that not even 10 righteous people could be found. The three angelic visitors, appearing as men, visited Lot’s house and that evening, a crowd of local men surrounded the house and demanded Lot send out the visitors so they could rape them. This story is where we get the term sodomize. In ancient cultures, the practice of hospitality was vital for survival - it demanded that a stranger be taken in, cared for, and protected - because it is a reciprocal act - there will be a time when you may be in need of the hospitality of another. This brazen public threat cared out by a mob in the city of Sodom illustrated just how wicked and sin-filled the two cities were - but they were guilty of way more than this. Later on, the prophet Ezekiel would write in Ezekiel 16:49–50 “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.” Wealth had led to excess, which lead to pride and complacency, and when a people become comfortable and self focused, they tend to become apathetic to those who struggle around them - it is the poor and needy who suffer the most.
The Lord and the two angels blinded the mob and dragged Lot, his wife and daughters away from that city and God reigned down sulfur and brimstone on the valley in which the cities were located - completely annihilating them from the face of the earth. God’s judgment and wrath on the two cities has always stood as a reminder of how much God detest sin, and serves as a foreshadow of what is to come on judgement day. There are archeological sites today in the southeast region of the Dead Sea that reveal evidence of bronze age cities that show a burn destruction layer full of melted pottery and bone fragments and sulfur balls are found scattered all along the receded shoreline of the Dead Sea.
I share this tale of the two cities because in his vision, Isaiah warns his fellow Jews, those who live in Jerusalem, in the kingdom of Judah, that they are looking more like those wicked cities than God’s chosen people. In this vision, God is laying out his case against them in his cosmic court. Listen to his opening statement, starting in verse 2, and I’m using the Common English Bible translation:
Hear you heavens, and listen earth, for the Lord has spoken: I reared children; I raised them, and they turned against me! An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master’s feeding trough. But Israel doesn’t know; my people don’t behave intelligently. Doom! Sinful nation, people weighed down with crimes, evildoing offspring, corrupt children! They have abandoned the Lord, despised the holy one of Israel; they turned their backs on God.
As offensive as the behavior of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah was to the Lord, the rulers and people of Jerusalem in Isaiah’s day were involved in conduct and practices just as offensive. And because of their disdain for God, they had already suffered as a nation. You can’t live contrary to God’s commands and expect to prosper. Much of the kingdom of Judah was already desolated by foreign invaders.
The only reason they had not been annihilated themselves was because of God’s grace - there was a remnant of the faithful, those who God had strengthened, who held the line.
If the Lord of heavenly forces had not spared a few of us, we would be like Sodom; we would resemble Gomorrah.
So what were the leaders of Jerusalem guilty of? What had the people of Judah done to receive such a harsh word?
There worship was disconnected from their conduct.
Listen again as the Lord lays out his case, now calling the leaders of Jerusalem rulers of Sodom and the people of Judah the people of Gomorrah.
Hear the Lord’s word, you leaders of Sodom. Listen to our God’s teaching, people of Gomorrah, What should I think about all your sacrifices? says the Lord. I’m fed up with entirely burned offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts. I don’t want the blood of bulls, lambs, and goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked this from you, this trampling of my temple’s courts? Stop bringing worthless offerings. Your incense repulses me. New moon, sabbath, and the calling of an assembly— I can’t stand wickedness with celebration! I hate your new moons and your festivals. They’ve become a burden that I’m tired of bearing. When you extend your hands, I’ll hide my eyes from you. Even when you pray for a long time, I won’t listen. Your hands are stained with blood. Wash! Be clean! Remove your ugly deeds from my sight. Put an end to such evil; learn to do good. Seek justice: help the oppressed; defend the orphan; plead for the widow.
Barry Webb, in his book “The Message of Isaiah: On Eagles’ Wings” writes…
The rulers and people of Jerusalem were involved together in something every bit as offensive to the LORD as what had gone on in those two notorious cities of old.
…worship had been divorced from justice, and the fatherless and the widow had become the chief victims.
God had made known his concern for the poor and the oppressed from the very beginning. The most significant event in the history of the Jewish people was the Exodus, God rescuing the poor and defenseless slaves from under yoke of Egyptian slavery - and establishing a covenant with them to be their Protector and Defender. The laws he commanded them to follow demanded that they always look out for the poor and needy.
As the nation grew and generations passed - we observe the same phenomena that witness today. The people stray from God, the rich get richer, the strong obtain more power, the people become complacent, the poor are treated unjustly.
God sent a series of prophets over time - each one calling the people back to faithfulness and the exercise of justice.
Again Webb comments,
The Message of Isaiah: On Eagles’ Wings Corrupt Worship (1:10–17)
Isaiah is at one with the other eighth-century prophets in insisting that ceremonial worship and even prayer are worthless if they are not accompanied by active concern for justice
Bottom line…
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 3: Isaiah–Malachi a. Judah’s False Worship (1:10–17)
God cannot stand the combination of sin and worship, unless the worship involves sincere repentance.
Which takes me back to the opening question: Is our worship of God reflected in how we conduct our lives - or is there a contradiction between our worship and our daily living?
Are we working to right the wrongs that we see everyday in our world. Or are we contributing to the problems we face either by our active participation in those problems - or our apathy and complacency - our unwillingness to raise our voice or rock the boat?
How we live our lives matters. Our worship matters.
By God’s grace, the Holy Spirit reveals the hidden sin in our hearts and provides the opportunity for us to repent and ask for forgiveness. But we must consent. We must choose our response.
In case it is unclear, God is not pleased with our world today. In so many ways, our culture reflects the sins of those two ancient cities that fell under God’s wrath. The fact that there has not been a reckoning yet is only by the grace of God and the remnant that is holding the line. The Church is that remnant - but our worship must be acceptable.
All is not doom and gloom - God always provides his Word of hope.
Come now, and let’s settle this, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. If they are red as crimson, they will become like wool. If you agree and obey, you will eat the best food of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. The Lord has said this.
The blood of Jesus has cleansed us from our sin. One day he will return and we will join him at His table for a grand feast and celebration - as long as we are found ready when He returns.
From our passage out of Luke today:
Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.
Church - let us make ourselves ready. Let us approach our Lord with true repentance, asking the Spirit to examine our hearts and expose anything that stands in contradiction to true worship. And let us confess.
Will you pray with me.
