Meaningless Offerings

OFFERINGS & SACRIFICES

Isaiah 1:13 “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me.”

I have watched pagans break 100 coconuts at a stretch or if they are unable to do it themselves, they hire people to do this for them. Everything is done mechanically without heart attached to it. We live in the outskirts of Hyderabad, every house has a small area to grow flowers and plants, most of them have a small garden where they put their hearts to it, pour water it and nurture it. Some ardent idol worshipper in that area, would come very early in the morning, while it is still dark and would pluck (steal) away all the wonderful flowers from his neighbor’s house to use it to do pooja for his ‘idol worship’. Isn’t this hilarious??? This morning very discreetly and wisely I preached this sermon in the Abide School (free school that we run for the underprivileged children in Hyderabad) assembly among muslims, hindus students and teachers. Offerings and sacrifices given to God should cost you something, you cannot do all your personal expenses and give the dregs to God, anybody listening???

I gave Ruth as an example of how in the midst of chaos, death and emptiness, she looked at her mother-in-law and said “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Ruth 1:16 This is true worship! How you react during period of crisis brings out what is inside of you for all to see! Say Amen. The entire community and the relatives heard Ruth say that, by her words she glorified God. This is worship friend! At the end of the sermon, I had few chocolates in my hand and I conducted a small quiz to reiterate my sermon points, I asked ‘Which part of the words of Ruth you liked?” Class 3 student Ritwick with sparkling eyes said: ‘Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.’ I listened to him with tears in my eyes, I gave him the chocolates. My students listen to me better than the religious crowd who sometimes sleep in the church. Sad.

The pastor fights with his wife; yet, he climbs the pulpit to preach a sermon on worship, the worship leader ignores the traffic lights, uses the wrong one- way –route to come to church and leads the worship with lifted his hands. God says, ‘all this is abomination to me, stop it! Isaiah 1:13 “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me.”

You can be in politics, business, manufacturer whatever your field may be, can you tell today that you have lived in integrity, holiness and faithfulness to God???If not, you have not pleased God, you are in danger zone, read the complete below scriptures, don’t skip:

Micah 6:6–8

What Does the Lord Require?

6 With what shall I come before the Lord,

and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with1 thousands of rams,

with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

8 He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

Quote by David Livingston:

“For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.”

Read, don’t skip reading the below scripture, it is important you read the entire portion to understand my sermon, we would not be ‘wishy-washy’ Christians and hypocrites if we had given importance to the Word of God.

Isaiah 1:11-15

“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.12 “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. ...