Context for Isaiah 29:1-30:17
Ariel is a poetic name for Jerusalem, one that sets the stage for a lament in these passages. Here, God laments through Isaiah that the citizens of Jerusalem have become blind to God’s will because their faith was gone, and as a result brought upon themselves judgment for their faithlessness.
How often does our behavior become so ingrained that we do not even realize we are doing it or why we are doing it if we do realize it? This was the nature of the behavior of the people of Jerusalem that God condemned. They believed they were worshiping God, but what they were really doing was going through the motions of what someone else told them they should do, but the faith had long since passed.
Christians are often guilty of the same thing. How often do we go through the motions of being a Christian- go to church, give our tithe, participate in church activities- without a clear sense of why we are doing any of it? What is the point of activities done by rote if Salvation is only by grace through faith?
The warning God gives us is that His desire is never for us to go through the motions. God wants us to have a live, vibrant, active faith whose actions reflect a sincere desire to do God’s will in thanksgiving for what God has done for us. God does not desire our actions; He desires our faith. Without that faith, our actions are meaningless.
DLH
Could that be a reason why we have several different litergies that we follow – to keep people “on their toes”, so to speak and not just recite the words.
OTOH, sometimes I may start a prayer or church service “by rote,” but find that the words themselves have worked the meaning back into my heart.
Something I never would have managed on my own — that is, being “in the right frame of mind to pray” — is worked in me by the Word in the prayer itself.
Never underestimate the power of the Word. Even when mouthed by distracted, harried, double-minded people it stil manages to be a living and active sword.
Someone once observed that if we waited until we were “ready” to pray or worship, it would never happen; which is precisely why we have a liturgical form to follow rather than allowing a series of unplanned ex corde prayers to represent the best we can offer to God.
It’s kinda like waiting until we feel holy enough to take communion before we take communion. Isn’t gonna happen.
But of course, empty ritual is empty ritual, and we are rightly warned away from that. Just offering the opposing viewpoint, as I am apparantly wont to do.
As with most things, the balance is between comfortable ritual, which certainly helps, and empty ritual, which is done because it has always been done that way.
My measure of comfortable versus empty has always been to ask myself why I am doing whatever is being done. If the answer is there is no answer, to me the ritual is hollow and should be reinvigorated or discarded.
DLH
True. If I’m saying this prayer (by rote) because I want it to be true, then the rote prayer is helping me in my faith life. If I’m saying it because I’m supposed to/I always do/heckifIknowwhy, then I’ve crossed the line.
And speaking of “on our toes”, keba: how did the entire congregation feel on Christmas morning when we used the contemporary words to the Lord’s Prayer? Invigorated? Comfortable? Meaningfully participating? Or just surprised? I admit I”m not sure about the answer, except to think that Christmas morning might not be the time to whip out the new words.
I think that might be one of the examples that illustrates the point.
Thoughts?
I thought the use of the contemporary wording was appropriate given the nature of the rest of the service (that is liturgical but non-hymnal). Besides, like reading different versions of a verse to tease out the whole meaning, saying the Lord’s Prayer in its different vernaculars helps keep the one saying the prayer focused on what the prayer is really about.
DLH
There are things to change for the sake of variety and newness, and there are things to leave alone for the sake of familiarity, uniformity, and comforting tradition. The Lord’s Prayer, that “greatest of marytrs,” paradoxically belongs squarely in both camps.
I actually like the “new” version better, and would support a congregation-wide switch, but I guess what caught me most off guard was the lack of “warning” — usually he says that we’re using the contemporary wording.
I guess that will teach me to pay better attention to the service folder.