Jesus Recognizing Worship
Worship requires God to be present. It sounds simple, but it is possible to miss this very simple thing. Watching and listening to Jesus gives us some important things to consider.
“Some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!’ Jesus replied, ‘And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?’”
“You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men’” Matthew 15:1-3, 7-9 NIV
“Worship in vain.” How sad that this is even possible…that well meaning people might gather and present different songs or actions or emotions without God even showing up! Most tradition in the Church, I believe, was birthed from a place of fire and relationship. But when people become disconnected from a God that loves and connects to individuals and they choose tradition over people and over God, they create traditionalism and God help us.
Later on in Matthew 15 though, we read: “The woman came and knelt before him. ‘Lord, help me!’ she said.” Other versions say, “She worshipped him and said, ‘Lord, help me!’” A very honest plea, a desperate phrase, “Lord, help me.” Jesus recognizes and responds to.
Moving in and out of Tradition
Recently I visited a fellowship in Utah, a community I have been visiting for several years now. It might be described as "conservative and traditional" but they invite me year after year and welcome me as I am. On this trip, the Pastor taught out of Matthew 15 and he confronted the group. "How may of you were offended that Tracy didn't recognize our traditions in worship?...To be honest, that's one of the reasons I keep inviting her back!" The point is not to offend, but the fact is Jesus told us to preach the Kingdom and he never taught religion. I recognized and was responding to the Kingdom aspects of the community and as a visitor, I simply am not aware of much of the groups tradition. It was refreshing that the pastor recognized it as an opportunity to grow and not somethign that needed to be fixed!
“Some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!’ Jesus replied, ‘And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?’”
“You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men’” Matthew 15:1-3, 7-9 NIV
“Worship in vain.” How sad that this is even possible…that well meaning people might gather and present different songs or actions or emotions without God even showing up! Most tradition in the Church, I believe, was birthed from a place of fire and relationship. But when people become disconnected from a God that loves and connects to individuals and they choose tradition over people and over God, they create traditionalism and God help us.
Later on in Matthew 15 though, we read: “The woman came and knelt before him. ‘Lord, help me!’ she said.” Other versions say, “She worshipped him and said, ‘Lord, help me!’” A very honest plea, a desperate phrase, “Lord, help me.” Jesus recognizes and responds to.
Moving in and out of Tradition
Recently I visited a fellowship in Utah, a community I have been visiting for several years now. It might be described as "conservative and traditional" but they invite me year after year and welcome me as I am. On this trip, the Pastor taught out of Matthew 15 and he confronted the group. "How may of you were offended that Tracy didn't recognize our traditions in worship?...To be honest, that's one of the reasons I keep inviting her back!" The point is not to offend, but the fact is Jesus told us to preach the Kingdom and he never taught religion. I recognized and was responding to the Kingdom aspects of the community and as a visitor, I simply am not aware of much of the groups tradition. It was refreshing that the pastor recognized it as an opportunity to grow and not somethign that needed to be fixed!
posted by Tracy Howe at 8:59 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for the article in this blog. It seems that you are maintaining a steady blogging pace. Well done! Looking for more updates from your end. Thanks a lot!
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