When I re-entered Christianity as an adult, I was at the end of my rope. I told God he could take whatever he wanted if he would somehow rescue me from the miserable life I was living.
Something very unforgettable happened that night, and I decided to dive head-first, like never before, into religion. My first order of business was to try and figure out how to navigate all the rules, especially the ones that allegedly came from the almighty himself. There were many, but I was ready to play the game.
As a young Catholic kid, I believed that God wanted, more than anything else, a deep sense of devotion from his followers. From my very young, somewhat confused perspective, that meant religious observances like saying the rosary, attending mass, taking communion, and many other regular activities intended to show God how serious his people are.
I often wonder how rote religious observance came to dominate the world’s religions. It’s been that way since we first tried to wrap our heads around the concept of God(s). Many assert that it was invented by leaders and people of influence to exert power over the masses, and ultimately get their hands on some money. For sure, religion has lined many a pocket over the millennia, and seated/unseated many an influencer, but I don’t think that’s how it started.
I think, long ago, we were overwhelmed by the power of the cosmos, and couldn’t come up with anything better than “something made this.” Before the advanced sciences came along, few if any believed that the cosmos could create itself. Now that “everything” has received its scientific designation, the magic and wonder that we enjoyed back in the day has taken an unprecedented hit, as did religion.
To the ancient mind however, if something could make the universe, it had the power to do whatever it wanted, and if we didn’t do whatever it wanted, it would get mad. That frightened us. But our world seemed to have a benevolent side to it, providing rain, crops, night, day, life, family, love, life, etc., and that made us thankful. Into this primordial mix of fear, awe, thankfulness, and the very human desire to have life on our terms, religion came into the mix, as did the idea of “devotion” and the rites and rituals that came with it.
It probably wasn’t long after that religion was used by some as a path to power, and religious observances became a tool for control. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Our history is full of good things being twisted into bad things, why should religion be an exception?
But religious observances, even the ones that call for a financial donation, aren’t necessarily a bad thing. If taking an hour to say the rosary focuses you on what truly matters, and/or brings some level of peace to your life, I’m all for it. Bible studies, regular church attendance, tithing, and many others have been a fundamental part of my life for decades, and I don’t intend to stop.
But, according to the Jewish, Catholic, Evangelical, Baptist, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, etc. scriptures, rote, repetitive religious activities aren’t high on God’s list of priorities.
“To what purpose is the multitude of your religious observances?” ~ Isaiah 1:11
“Does the Lord delight in religious observance as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than your offerings.” ~ I Sam 15:22
“To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the LORD than religious observance.” ~ Proverbs 21:3
I know a few people who are deeply religious, i.e., they keep an impressive to-do list of rote, repetitive activities. Some are deeply devoted to things like justice, mercy, and humility – what the bible and most of humanity deeply values. Others are miserable and far too self-focused. For some, religious observance brings life and depth, for others, the opposite.
Too many times, the “things we do for God” simply make us feel good about ourselves, but not always for the right reasons. It’s one thing to go to church every Sunday because it connects us to something good, quite another to do it because we believe that it makes us better than others. There might be a “rush” there, but the death that follows isn’t worth it.
Either way, it’s popular within religious cultures to embrace a list of observances, exalt the adherents, shame the “faithless,” and lose sight of the things God truly wants us to do.
Jesus, addressing this issue with a crowd who was much too smitten with the wrong activities, said,
Well has Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other similar things you do. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions. ~ Mark 7:6-8
We should be wary of religious expressions that exalt rote behavior. Too many times, these end up supplanting everything else.
Instead, we should think of religion in terms of a relationship. The fact that God took on the form of a human, then went around the Judean countryside gathering all of the losers and building a deep friendship with them should tell us something about what God wants.
The New Testament seems to be, over and over again, an invitation into a deep, intimate relationship with God.
If I spend some time thinking about how relationships work, the last thing I think about is rote religion. For example, If I hide out in my closet every day at 6:00 AM and repeat “I love my wife” a thousand times, it will do little to deepen the intimacy in our relationship. If the only activities I commit to are things like buying flowers, writing cards, making sure her home and car are maintained, working hard to make money for the family, etc., nobody would argue that I’m devoted, but our relationship would be thin at best.
But the analogy falls apart when we start talking about having a relationship with a deity. What does that look like?
I’d rather focus, this morning at least, on what a relationship with God doesn’t look like. Burdensome, boring, mundane, rote, and meaningless gestures are seldom part of any relationship.
But what do you do with all of the passages in the Old Testament where God calls his people into a true morass of repetitive, religious, seemingly nonsensical things? Have you ever read the book of Leviticus? It’s insane. How do I reconcile the OT passages that call for rote observance with the ones that seem to condemn it? And if these requirements were so important, and if Jesus was the same God, why didn’t he call his people into the same thing?
The best relationships call for repetitive things, but when those things become the point of the relationship (weird as that sounds), the behaviors, once good, now threaten everything. You don’t have to go far to find a married couple so wrapped up in the peripherals that they’ve forgotten each other. You certainly don’t have to go far to find a religious person who’s done the same. The Old Testament is full of that story.
But for those of us who can’t (understandably) get our heads around having a relationship with God, and would rather pursue religious observance, Jesus’ brother once penned a note about the rote, repetitive things we should commit to:
“True religion, the kind that God accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after people who can’t look after themselves, folks who are so marginalized and forgotten that their lives are in peril, and to keep yourself from being polluted by the world.” ~ James 1:27
Us religious folks love to talk about the “pollution” that comes from the non-religious world. But in Jesus’ teaching, too many times, the real pollution comes from the world of meaningless religion.
Advent is a time to remember that Jesus’ world is full of hope, peace, life, joy, and much comfort. He didn’t burden his followers with rote lists and benign commandments. Instead, he invited anyone interested into something much bigger.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ~ Matthew, 11:28
