13-17 “Quit your worship charades.
I can’t stand your trivial religious games:
Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—
meetings, meetings, meetings—I can’t stand one more!
Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them!
You’ve worn me out!
I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion,
while you go right on sinning.
When you put on your next prayer-performance,
I’ll be looking the other way.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray,
I’ll not be listening.
And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing
people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash up.
Clean up your act.
Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
so I don’t have to look at them any longer.
Say no to wrong.
Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
Go to bat for the defenseless.
I know this a LOT to copy/paste, but I really like it. It speaks to me in a way that I've been feeling lately. I think people, in general, are sick of religion. We need to get back to relationship with God. Maybe I'm talking to myself here! Sometimes that's hard and it doesn't come easy. It requires a lot more work. But, if you stay in the "religion" camp too long, it becomes hollow.
peace, out
I really like that section too, especially in the Message. I was reading in the NIV and was choosing from a subsection of the verses you grabbed. I even like the title in the Message --Quit your worship charades. He sees right through it and doesn't need it. Instead do right as he has taught--
ReplyDelete17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.[a]
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
This caught my eye in the NIV because of the word learn. It suggests the effort you were talking about. Doing right requires some effort and study, our sinful ways overcome us but maybe there is some hope through study of his word to reduce those actions. I know we can't eliminate and fortunately we have the free gift of his grace to save us from our sins, but we still need to try to do right.
knut