JP18: TRUE RELIGION: TRADING EMPTY RITUALS FOR TRANSFORMING FAITH

As Jesus inaugurated his coming kingdom, it was natural for people to have questions.  His teachings broke from tradition, and he spoke as one with authority but had no official title. He performed life-changing miracles, which validated his message of God’s kingdom coming to earth.  But, questions about particular religious practices are emerging, providing Jesus an opportunity to clarify just how different following him will be.

Empty Rituals Are No Substitute for Transforming Faith

Notice how religious people from two camps come to Jesus with questions about fasting.  John records it this way:

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”  And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.  Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” Matthew 9:14-17

The disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees observed Jesus and his disciples weren't fasting (abstaining from food).  Instituted by the Pharisees, these particular fasts were more regulatory than spiritual - more standing tradition than a life-giving practice of devotion.  

While fasting has its place as a tool for forming our spirit, heart, and will into the image of Christ, ritualistic fasting is a substitute for transforming faith.  

Jesus Came To Relate To Us In A Personal Way

Like John's disciples and the Pharisees, we can create Savior substitutes from our spiritual traditions, diluting our faith and slowing our growth as a disciple.  Jesus came to relate to us in a personal manner based on faith in his love.

Jesus' brother James provides a helpful explanation of true faith when he writes,

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” James 1:27.

James says that following Jesus comes about by serving people as we rely on his grace to grow our faith and shape our character.  Sometimes we confuse true religion with unlikely idols such as favorite worship styles, authors, pastors, meeting places, and church programs.  Jesus wants his followers to avoid making our faith about personal preferences,  leaving us spiritually empty and joyless.

Jesus compares his coming kingdom to unshrunk cloth and new wine.  New garments and new wine signify celebration.  They allude to future wedding supper of the Lamb that John writes about here,

“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—  for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Revelation 19:6-9

Joy And Celebration Flow Through Our Relationship With Jesus - Not Rituals

Jesus invites us to Kingdom life marked by joy and celebration, not false piety tied to empty religious rituals.  Let us preserve the new wine of the kingdom by adopting new life rhythms that bring us into ongoing relationships with people in need of Christ's love.  May we also bring out the new cloth of righteousness and sew it like a garment around our hearts by the grace of Jesus. In this way, our lives will reflect the image of Christ and make us ready for the wedding supper of the Lamb!

PRAYER:

Lord, I am reminded how easy it is for me to create substitutes for you. Please forgive how I make rituals more important than you. Help me to remember that you are all that I need and desire in this world.  Clothe my heart in joyful righteousness that serves those in need and remains devoted to you through each season of life.  Make my heart ready to meet you at the wedding supper of the Lamb!   Amen.

True Religion: Trading Empty Rituals for Transforming Faith

1. Trust that relating to Jesus through faith is enough.  He doesn’t base his love for us on rituals, so why try to earn his love by performing them?

“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,...” Titus 3:5

2. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal idols in your life that substitute for God and reject them.  

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. Colossians 3:5-7

3. Trade religious practices for an abiding relationship with Jesus that results in actively loving neighbors and serving those in need.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:5-8