What Does God Hate? When Sunday is A lot Different Than Monday!

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The quick answer to the above question is "Fake Worship". People who claim know God, but their worship is empty and in vain as evidenced by how they live their lives.  

This commentator says it well, 

"This is a sobering thought. We can offer God all kinds of religious rituals and ceremonies, all kinds of religious service, and He may hate it and consider it an abomination! Perhaps, in the midst of all their calamity (described in Isaiah 1:5-9), Judah thought the answer was in religious ceremonies, in their ancient version of “church attendance” and a few dollars in the offering. But if their heart wasn’t changed, and humbled, and surrendered to the LORD it made no difference. Without the right heart, God hated their religious ceremony and service." - Guzik

Here is what Isaiah says to the people of Judah speaking on behalf of the Lord, 

“What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?” says the Lord. “I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle. I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to worship me, who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony? Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts; the incense of your offerings disgusts me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting— they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings. I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals. They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them! When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims." Isaiah 1:11-15

We have to be careful not to be too judgmental of these leaders, because all of us have moments when our worship is not as sincere as it should be.  We have unfortunate moments when our "walk" does not match our "talk". Anyone who strives to live their life life like Jesus did knows how far we all fall short of his perfect life. But it seems the people of Judah had reached a low point, where there worship was a sham. Their words were meaningless and their actions betrayed their true hearts. 

So what does God say to them through the prophet? He tells them to wash their hands and come clean. He admonishes them to be honest about who they are really are before Him. They could fool each other, but they couldn't pull one over on God.  They needed to stop spending time in ritualistic religiosity, and take time to care for the poor and needy. 

You see the true measure of the integrity of our worship is how it translates into love for our neighbor. We cannot worship God and then turn our back on a neighbor in need. God cared more about the widows and orphans than their religious ceremonies. 

Finally, we see a promise of how they would be truly washed of their sins. Isaiah says, 

Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. - Isaiah 1:18

This was a foreshadowing of what Jesus would do for us on the cross. What a great visual. Though we had stained our clothes with sin, God has washed us clean through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.  What a visual through the ultimate sacrifice, we have been made white as snow! 

How can your worship life have more alignment with your real relationship with God, and how this translates into how you treat others? As we enter into worship this Sunday we will  hear the Good News preached, we will sing songs of praise or worship, and we will receive the bread and wine as a reminder of what Jesus did for us!  Let's make sure our words and deed on Monday reflect what we professed on Sunday.