"Your Gatherings Stink"

The Lord says,

“I hate your holy feasts.

    I can’t stand them.

    Your gatherings stink.

You bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings.

    But I will not accept them.

You bring your best friendship offerings.

    But I will not even look at them.

Take the noise of your songs away!

    I will not listen to the music of your harps.

I want you to treat others fairly.

    So let fair treatment roll on

    just as a river does!

Always do what is right.

    Let right living flow along

    like a stream that never runs dry!

-Amos 5:21-24, NIrV

In Sunday’s message, I did my best to cast a positive vision for why we gather for worship. What I didn’t take time to address, but is an important Biblical theme is how not to gather for worship. But, this is a big deal if we are going to address gathering for worship. The above passage in Amos is just one very explicit example where God says- “DON’T GATHER LIKE THIS!” Isaiah chapter one is another prominent Old Testament example. But lest we think that the New Testament people of God, the church, have this all figured out, we simply need to call to mind passages like 1 Corinthians 11:17-22, were Paul is pretty straightforward when he states, “Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.  For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter! (CSB, emphasis mine)

Here’s what we ought to be seeing, there is a wrong way to gather. Wrong ways include, but are not limited to, gatherings that emphasize: ritual over meaningful action, showing favoritism/neglecting justice over treating others fairly with love, division over unity, disorder over order, exalting anything above, or in the place of, Christ. Let’s consider each in turn.

Ritual over meaningful action. This is an error easily arrived at and difficult to diagnose. It isn’t a blanket statement against ritual or religious tradition. Rather it is a rebuke to activity in ‘worship’ that is done without the understanding and meaningful participation of those present. God’s rebuke in Amos is to stop sacrifices and rituals He instituted. The reason? They were without real participation. To offer a friendship offering to God while neglecting the clear commands of God is a sham offering. To sing, or pray, or take communion, while you are actively disobeying God is offensive to God. To add insult to injury, you ‘appear’ very religious. Pharisees are really good at getting the right ritual down but checking their heart at the door. Let’s be people who gather on purpose with a purpose and endeavor to always put outward appearance second (or a distant third) to having the right heart in our worship gatherings.

Favoritism/neglecting justice over treating others fairly with love. James gets brutal on this wrong way to gather. “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.” (James 2:1, NIV) He goes on to give a scenario that shows the sort of favoritism that might unfold between the rich and the poor attending the same worship gathering. But, this wouldn’t be the only area into which we can and should exert the principle. Do we tend to favor a person based on age, race, political affiliation? Any such favoritism is not pleasing to God. God wants us to be people who, when gathered for worship, get to be witness to the value and love that Jesus has for each person.

Division over unity. We are one body. There is one Lord. There is one faith. There is one God and Father of all. When our gatherings major on our differences that is problematic. Diversity in unity is the hope of the body of Christ and its design. For that to work, we must not be divided. Not as groups but also not as individuals. If you have a matter between you and a brother or sister, you need to work that issue out (see Matthew 5:23-24) before you can worship properly. All too often when the church gathers there are people who aren’t on good terms with one another. God’s plan for worship is a unified family gathering to celebrate the most important Person in all of their lives.

Disorder over order. God has ordered and designed everything in creation. All of it has boundaries and ‘laws’ that it follows. When the church gathers for worship it should be with a carefully thought out plan that encourages the Holy Spirit to work in and through those gathered. This doesn’t have to mean monotone sameness each week but, it means that it isn’t a free-for-all when we come together. See Paul’s comments on this for the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 14:26-33) and I think you will see it’s a balance. Let’s gather with a plan but leave our plan open to God’s changing or rearranging it as He sees fit.

Exalting anything or anyone over Christ. America loves celebrities. We like to have a charismatic leader (not Holy Spirit filled mind you). We also like certain forms of worship over others. All of that is okay for what it is, but it can easily turn into worshipping our idol (person, style, tradition, preference). This is an abuse at its core of the worship gathering. Worship isn’t ever to be about a pastor, or music leader, or style of music, or building, or personal experience. Worship is about Jesus. When we gather, that has to be the focal point. Everything should point us to Jesus. If we can gather for worship without Him being the whole point, then I would argue we aren’t at a worship gathering at all.

So, what if you think about our worship gatherings or even your personal participation in them. How do you smell? How do we smell? When something starts to rot, it begins to smell. At first it isn’t very noticeable but, give it time and that stench keep everyone at a distance. One of our elders prays regularly that our worship gatherings would be a sweet aroma to God. I hope that they are. Let’s prayerfully think about the scent we give off as we gather for worship.

Application:

Are any of these wrong ways of gathering, areas where you need to repent?

Are any of these wrong ways of gathering, areas where you feel you should express caution to the elders?