Is God Listening? part 2

A minor encounter I witnessed should illustrate my question. Following church one Sunday, as we all talked and ate muffins, a woman entered and asked what denomination we belonged to. When the answer wasn't familiar to her, she asked "Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and died for our sins?" Receiving a 'yes' she declined the offer of more information; this was apparently enough information to recommend the church to a friend.

I may be assuming a lot here. This lady may have been in a hurry. Or she may have believed a clearer picture could be had when she actually attended a service. But it's not the first time I've heard "church searching" advice given to those who are in between churches; radio preachers seem especially fond of running down their list of requirements for a "good church." It goes something like the Nicene Creed. If a list of doctrinal standards are met, the church gets the recommendation of the preacher. Orthodoxy is measured by what is found in the handbook or "statement of faith."

But I have been a member of at least one church where the Nicene Creed was recited weekly, and there was no possibility of finding a crack in its orthodoxy. Proper doctrine was dispensed from the pulpit. Yet the freedom for which Christ set that church free was nowhere to be found, even as members and leaders strove dutifully to adhere to Biblically prescribed structure, doctrine, and teaching. Things consequently degenerated into spiritual chaos disguised by external order, hatred disguised by a verbose lip-service to the virtue of love, and graceless behavior that was legitimized by the loud and frequent quotation of Ephesians 2:8 . Is orthodoxy merely a written statement? Or maybe a better question is, is orthodoxy the best indicator, or any indicator, of whether a church is serving God and others?

A peculiar thing happens in the Old Testament. God has spent a tremendous amount of time and effort, written entire books on the Law, and disciplined his people severely, all to establish a system of sacrifice and worship so that a people ravaged by sin can come to a holy and perfect God. He has given the priesthood is given so that people may come near, a kind of filter to ensure that Israel's sins are atoned for before they approach or petition the I AM. And then, with one simple phrase he seems to throw it all on the pile: I desire mercy, not sacrifice.(Hosea 6:6) Holy God has heard heard the cries of the poor and the weak, and those cries, for the time being, have rendered the worship of the Israelites null and void. God will not hear the praise nor accept the burnt offerings of those who have mistreated the poor and withheld justice from the weak. David Ruis asks provocatively of our worship (particularly relevant in the prosperous Church of the western world) "Is God listening?" Forget whether the teens are listening, forget whether the culture is listening, forget whether this or that demographic can relate to our particular idiom of liturgy. Is God listening?

Is this a valid question? Amos seemed to think so, and had strong words for those in Israel who, faithfully and in the prescribed manner, were tithing and sacrificing according to Levitical law. The problem? Justice and mercy were nowhere to be found. I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:21-24)

Ruis says of this verse in The Worship God Is Seeking:

"Even though the choicest of fellowship offerings were brought before Him, something was missing. What was to be a fragrant offering before heaven had become something much less, a sacrifice He could not receive. Our acts of worship divorced from a lifestyle of mercy and justice create the same effect. The liturgy must stop. The music must be quieted. (I haven't seen a Christian bumper sticker made of those verses yet!) God cannot receive the worship of His people until 'justice roll[s] on like a river, [and] righteousness like a never-failing stream'...It is my conviction that we must again regain the fusion of worship and justice. A prudent question for us today would be, is God even listening? 'Away with the noise of your songs' is the last thing that the worshipping church wants to hear from heaven, but do we have courage to listen if that is what God is telling us?"