Friday, August 9
Read Ellen G. White, “Isaiah 58—A Divine Prescription”, pp. 29-34, in Welfare Ministry; “Woes on the Pharisees”, pp. 610-620, in The Desire of Ages.
“In urging the value of practical godliness, the prophet was only repeating the counsel given Israel centuries before … From age to age these counsels were repeated by the servants of Jehovah to those who were in danger of falling into habits of formalism and of forgetting to show mercy”. – Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pp. 326, 327.
“I have been instructed to refer our people to the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah. Read this chapter carefully and understand the kind of ministry that will bring life into the churches. The work of the gospel is to be carried by means of our liberality as well as by our labors. When you meet suffering souls who need help, give it to them. When you find those who are hungry, feed them. In doing this you will be working in lines of Christ’s ministry. The Master’s holy work was a benevolent work. Let our people everywhere be encouraged to have a part in it”. – Ellen G. White, Welfare Ministry, p. 29.
Discussion Questions:
Have you ever thought about doing justice and loving mercy as acts of worship? How might this change your approach to caring for others? How might this change your approach to worship?
How can we guard against neglecting the “weightier matters of the law” (Matthew 23:23) in our Christian lives, both individually and as a church community? Can you recognize some examples in your own experience where you might have “strain[ed] out a gnat but swallow[ed] a camel” (Matthew 23:24)?
Why is hypocrisy considered such a sin? Isn’t it better at least to try to look like we are doing good?
How does God’s vision and passion for the poor and needy, as expressed through the prophets, change how you view the world? How might you read or hear your local news reports in a different way if you saw and heard with the eyes and ears of a prophet?
Summary: While the prophets were concerned about evil in the land, they were particularly focused on the evil committed by people who claimed and worshiped God as their own. For the prophets and for Jesus, worship is inconsistent with injustice, and such religion is hypocrisy. The real worship God is seeking includes working against oppression and caring for the poor and needy.
