By Staff
James wrote in his New Testament epistle, chapter 1, verse 27, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
When James wrote his epistle, widows and orphans represented the poor and the distressed. Compassion to the less fortunate has been and should always be a major mission of the church.
In too many churches today, it is all about the “worship” experience. Music, drama, and dynamic preaching are the tripod on which many congregations are built. The expectation of the average church attendee is to be appropriately soothed as they do their weekly service to God.
Jesus came across people who elevated religious ritual above true religion as He pursued His earthly ministry. They were called Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes. They were the religious leaders.
In Matthew, chapter 9, verses 9-13, Jesus calls a tax collector, Matthew, as one of His disciples. Matthew heeds the call and follows Jesus. Many of Matthew's tax collector friends follow also and Jesus sits down with them. The first question the Pharisees asked was, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:11).
The Pharisees were rich in knowledge, ritual, and tradition. They were certified among themselves as “religious.” These so-called religious people could not eat without a ritual of washing their hands and certainly could not share a table or a piece of bread with one less “holy” than themselves. When they saw Jesus sitting and eating with unwashed tax collectors, they were appalled and questioned the ministry of Jesus.
Jesus challenged the “religious” people with these words in verse 13 of Matthew 9, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'” Jesus sent them on a Bible study assignment. Jesus was practicing true religion. The Pharisees had allowed religious ritual to crowd out true religion.
The Bible study assignment would have taken these Pharisees back to Hosea, chapter 6, verse 6, where God said, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”
In the days of Hosea, there was political peace, material prosperity, and religious ritual coupled with moral corruption and spiritual bankruptcy. God's statement, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice” simply means God desires integrity of heart over outward form and practice.
Nobody knew more about the law than the Pharisees; nobody did more religious practice than the Pharisees, but their zeal for sacrifice produced in them a self-righteous, self-justifying, judgmental attitude toward others.
In the gospel of Luke, chapter 18, verse 10, two men went up to the temple to pray: a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee rehearsed his good practices before God, wrongly thinking he would be justified for his extensive religious practices (Luke 18:11-12). The tax collector came humbly; touted nothing before God, but simply cries for mercy (Luke 18:13-14). The Pharisee loved sacrifice; the tax collector loved mercy. The tax collector touched God's heart; the Pharisee did not.
Religious ritual must not crowd out true religion. If Jesus walked among us today and taught what He taught when He was here, there would be the same response. The “religious” crowd would reject Him.
We need to take the assignment Jesus gave the Pharisees in Matthew 9:13, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,'” lest we miss true religion.