On Tanna Island in the nation of Vanuatu in Melanesia the worshippers of the cult of John Frum hold parades. They paint military insignia on their arms. They carve coconuts to resemble radios and headphones. They build life-size replicas of airplanes out of straw. They cut military-style landing strips out of the jungle. They build wooden control towers for them to sit in. They wave landing signals while standing on the runways. They light signal fires to light up runways and lighthouses. They fervently believe that if they can perform these rituals correctly then the airplanes will come again bringing valuable cargo which will enrich them all.
This is what is known as a “cargo cult” and stems from the islanders’ experiences during World War II when, first the Japanese, and then the Americans dropped hitherto unimaginable riches from the sky and then came in airplanes sharing goods like manufactured clothing and chocolate bars and Coca Cola. This went on for four years and then “John from somewhere in America (“John Frum”)" vanished, leaving the islanders yearning for his return. So they go through the motions hoping to have riches parachute in again. If only they could get the right form of the magic spell…
I read that in Phoenix, Arizona, a Roman Catholic priest resigned when it was discovered that for decades he had been baptizing incorrectly. Instead of intoning “I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…” he had been saying “we baptize you…”. According to his denomination this form of the magic spell was invalid and so thousands of congregants who felt assured they were going to heaven had to be told that their baptisms, marriages and last rites were useless and salvation was outside their grasp. The priest who really cared for his people was distraught over the eternal anguish he had unleashed.
750 years before the coming of Jesus, the people of Israel took great pride in being God’s chosen people. They faithfully went through all the liturgy and made sacrifices in all the prescribed manner paying minute attention to the pickiest of details. They lived like the heathens around them except in one detail. They knew that their lives could not be pleasing to God, but they went through motions hoping that God would parachute blessings down on them — if only they could get the magic spells right.
Amos the prophet burst that bubble for them. God gave him words to deliver:
“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. 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 NIV [emphasis mine]
The problem with all three examples I have cited is that we fall into the trap of substituting form for substance. Worshipping God is not about saying the right words in the right order or adhering to a specific liturgy or order of service.
The prophet Hosea expresses God’s desire in our worship:
"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings." Hosea 6:6 NIV
Jesus lets us all breathe a sigh of relief when he tells the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:10-14 NIV
God is not concerned with the format of our worship, He is concerned with the motivation of our worship. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” from a sincere heart beats the most elaborate worship service format every time.
As Jesus explained to the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar,
“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:24 NIV
Let’s not worry about getting the words and actions right, let us just worship with a grateful and thankful sincere heart, and that will lead to right words and actions!
Blessings on you and yours, Jim Black
P.S. if you’d like to read previous ruminations of mine they can be found at https://www.salvationarmyconcordca.org/chronicle/?category=Bible%20Study