I’m sure I could sit here for the next year and wring something out of this discussion everyday. As I said in my former post on this topic, this idea is really the overall “theme” of my blog, and so I don’t know that I will so pointedly address this specific issue again, but I’m not sure I won’t either.
As I continued to ruminate on the discussion generated over at Anne’s blog on this topic, I was also asked by our pastor to share a Scripture meditation for last Sunday night’s Communion and foot washing service. I centered in on Psalm 51, the one where David is crying out to God in confession and repentance after his adultery with Bathsheba was publicly revealed.
I began to think, and shared with our folks that this is where worship really starts. Confession and repentance is one of the foundations stones in our relationship with the Father through Christ. Confession and repentance are acts of worship because they are acts of submission. In fact, I think that true worship may just be impossible if not done either following or in concert with confession and repentance.
This takes us back to the key Scripture of our discussion:
“I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.” Amos 5:21-22
Go take some time and now read through Psalm 51. You will find David crying out to God for Him to do some pretty specific work in his life. “Be gracious to me; wash me thoroughly; cleanse me; purify me with hyssop; wash me; make me to hear joy and gladness; create in me a clean heart; renew a steadfast spirit in me; restore to me the joy of Your salvation; deliver me.”
Those are about half of the works David asks God to perform in his heart, and then you see the actions David says he will perform in turn. Now we get to the acts of worship: “I’ll teach transgressors Your ways; my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness; my mouth will declare Your praise.” These acts, which may seem at first to be centered somewhat around music, are really statements about David being a witness to the world around Him about the goodness and greatness of God. The form is really irrelevant. The key here is the telling.
A natural outflow of confession and repentance will be an act of worship we call “witnessing.” We can hardly contain ourselves and share His love and mercy with all around us. The format for that sharing may be extremely varied.
One last thing directly relating to our Amos passage. You find this in Psalm 51:16-19:
“For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. By Your favor do good to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offering; then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.”
If we relate our congregational worship as a modern day practice of sacrifice [Hebrews 13:15], we know that God really doesn’t care how big, or how loud, or how great it sounds if we do not come with a “broken and contrite heart.” This doesn’t mean sad or depressed, but broken in the sense that we admit we are fallen, and contrite in the sense of total submission to Christ as Lord.
Like David recognized, we must first see that God doesn’t really like our “sacrifices,” regardless of form, if we do not come to Him first in confession, repentance, and submission. If we do those things first, from a heart that is genuinely broken and contrite, then He will “delight in righteous sacrifices.”
