The Lutheran Hour
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"Empty Religion"
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Text: Amos 5:21-24
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PRAYER: Almighty God, we live in an era when it is easier to talk the talk of religion than to walk the walk of Biblical and Christ-centered spirituality. Our religion, O Lord, is often hypocritical and empty. Without the power of Christ’s resurrection, we are nothing. Heavenly Father, by Your Word and Spirit, bring us alive. Make our lives living plants, grafted to Christ, the Divine vine, resulting in fruits of worship for You and love for all those around us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Take a trip, my friends, and go across the United States. As you move, the terrain will change from hills to valleys, and from mountains to plains, and back and forth, and back and forth. One feature, however, will always stay the same. In every state, and even in many counties, you will see numerous “houses of worship.” Statistics tell us that an incredible 500,000 churches, synagogues and mosques dot the landscape of our nation. Canada is very similar. The Princeton Religion Research Center recently stated: The United States is clearly a “churched” nation. Surveys reveal that the number of people in our country who claim to be religious is, “extraordinarily high.”
But there is also another side to the story. Recent studies have raised spiritual red flags. Well-documented research shows, “large numbers of Americans are Biblically illiterate.” They “lack any awareness of the basic teachings of the Bible.”
But even more alarming is a growing “disconnect” between what many people nowadays claim to believe, and what they actually practice in their religion. Many of us claim to be deeply spiritual. Yet our lives reflect no respect for the Ten Commandments. Nor do we give the slightest evidence of being motivated by God’s Gospel of love and mercy in Jesus Christ.
Increasingly, our religion seems empty and often hypocritical. We participate in all forms of religion but frequently there are no fruits. We talk loudly about revival but live in religious reversal. We claim to confess Christ but live like a child of godless indifference, often acting as if we are probably even related to the devil.
Seven hundred years before Christ came to be born, Isaiah spoke of the very same thing. Isaiah wrote, “These people draw near with their words. They honor Me with lip service. However, their hearts are far from Me. Their reverence for Me,” the Lord says, “consists of tradition learned and practiced only by rote.”
This is precisely why our Bible selection for today is so important. These words are from the Old Testament book of Amos. Seven hundred years B.C., God raised up the prophet Amos. God then sent Amos to the Northern Kingdom with a scathing message, explaining that He, the Lord God Almighty, intensely hates casual religion, faithless indifference, and religious hypocrisy. This message God sent Amos to speak centuries ago is the very same message God is now speaking to us at this hour. God is indeed long suffering. However, religious hypocrisy is one thing our Lord will not long tolerate. Our blessed heavenly Father will not have — He will not accept and will not tolerate — half-hearted worship. Listen to the Lord as He speaks through His prophet Amos: “I hate,” the Lord says, “and I despise your festivals and I take no delight in your meetings. Even if you bring Me burnt offerings and food offerings, I will not accept them; or your fat animals or shared offerings. I won’t look at them. Take away from Me the noise of your songs and your worship. I will not listen to the music of your harps” (Amos 5:21-23).
This section of the Bible is frightening in its clarity and haunting in its relevance to today. We are reminded of the warning in the book of Revelation, chapter 3. Jesus tells the Church of Sardis, “I know you have a name and a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” Individuals, just like congregations, can look alive on the outside yet be spiritually dead on the inside.
Therefore, friends, unless you and I are attached to the Lord Jesus Christ, unless we are grafted to the living Vine, we might appear alive on the outside but can still be dead spiritually on the inside. And this attachment, this grafting of ourselves to the Vine, is something only God can do. And God does this. Yes, God grafts us to the Lord Jesus Christ, through His miraculous power of Baptism. In Romans, chapter 6, we read that, through Baptism, God works miracles. He unites us with Christ “in the likeness of His death” and the Bible says, “in the likeness of His resurrection.”
It is this death of Christ that takes away our sin. It is the resurrection of Christ that gives us new life. Unless you and I are grafted to Christ, we may indeed appear alive on the outside, but we are dead on the inside.
Now, in the days of Amos the prophet, people claimed to be Godly, but their lives were decidedly secular. Their churches had great music. They offered expensive sacrifices. Yet, their hearts were not in it. It’s like today where people sit in church, but their minds are focused on other things: national events or the latest TV show or thoughts of friends or relatives, or anything else except God and His grace! Friends, you cannot fool God — you cannot do it! Just like we can look into a glass jar and see spoiled food inside, so also God can look into my heart and yours and can recognize spiritual phoniness, hypocrisy, and half-hearted religion. In the Gospel of John, chapter 2, we read: “Jesus did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man. Jesus, Himself, knew exactly what was in man” (John 2:24-25). Like a spiritual x-ray machine, God sees not only the sins we do, but also the evil thoughts in our hearts.
In his message of centuries ago, Amos painted a powerful picture of God’s judgment against all religious hypocrisy. There are no exceptions. Nevertheless, just as Amos speaks God’s judgment, he also speaks of God’s mercy. “Thus, says the Lord, ‘Seek Me that you may live'” (Amos 5:4). Again, Amos says, “Seek the Lord that you may live” (Amos 5:6). Again, he says, “Seek good and not evil that you may live” (Amos 5:14).
From the many letters we have received over the years, I can well imagine what some of you are saying or probably thinking. Some of you, in sincerity and humility, may be saying to yourself, “I would like to be more Godly. I would like to be more committed but I don’t know what to do. I feel so helpless.” Just as a plant cannot grow without food and water, and just as you and I need food several times a day, so also if we are going to become spiritually alive and stronger, we need to receive through our eyes and ears the life-giving Word of God. Jesus said, “Man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Jesus said, “My words are Spirit and they are life.”
Now, let’s be honest. Maybe you are one of those who feel the words of Amos don’t apply to you and your life. Based on people around you, you may be convinced you are doing pretty well, thank you. Well, you know it’s always amazingly easy, extremely convenient, and sinfully self-satisfying, to hypocritically look around and compare oneself with other people. At this hour God is not interested in your evaluation of those around you. At this hour, God is asking — pleading with you — to evaluate your own life. Examine your heart, not by your standards, but by God’s standards.
For example, in His first of Ten Commandments God is saying, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Now, let me honestly ask you. Does television watching replace your family or personal devotions? Do you find time to study food recipes or sports rules or woodworking projects, etc., but you have no time for studying the Bible? If you are doing this, or if you are permitting any other activity in your life to be the most important or most “preferred” activity, then you are transgressing. You are sinning against God and His commandments. Whenever anything — ANYTHING — becomes more important than God, this is a sin!
Or, take God’s third Commandment. How does your life look when you hear God say to you, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” Martin Luther points out in this commandment, God is asking you not to “despise” listening to His Word as it is preached and as His Word is taught. Now, you might say, “But I don’t despise God’s Word. I don’t hate God’s Word. I am not against God’s Word!” Well, friends, this is not really what God is saying. We may not exactly be against God’s Word, per se, but neither are we eager to hear it. This is the terrible sin. You see, this is like when parents try to talk to their teenagers, but these teenagers simply ignore their parents or quietly walk the other way. This is like not attending church regularly; or if you do, skipping Bible class. And when you give God this treatment, you are making Him very angry. Because, you see, in His grace and mercy, it is only through His cleansing and life-giving Word that God can reach you and heal you from sin, and save you from the curse of your own mistakes and your own failures.
If you are frustrated today, if you are wondering how you could be more committed or more “Godly,” don’t try to earn God’s mercy. Instead, begin by looking at what God has already done for you in Jesus Christ.
In the Bible, in the book of Ephesians, chapter one, St. Paul tells us, “In Christ, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of God’s grace, which God lavished on us” (Ephesians 1:7-8). Again, St. Paul writes, “But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love, with which He loved us even when we were dead in our sins, has made us alive together with Christ (for by grace, the Bible says, by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:4-5).
My friends, if your life is to be turned around, it is going to have to be on the basis of what God has already done for you in Jesus Christ and not on what you can do for yourself. First of all, make sure you are baptized into the name and into the power of Christ’s resurrection. And then, each day, live with this resurrection power by receiving strength from God’s Word and Spirit. As God in His Word and Spirit brings you alive and keeps you alive, you will no longer have a guilt trip of feeling like a religious failure, even though you may be trying to live a Godly life.
When you are grafted into Christ, you are also enabled to live in daily forgiveness and in the power of Christ’s resurrection. Begin today. Yes, begin today. Reject all phony religious hypocrisy. Trust alone in what God has so graciously done for you in Jesus Christ. Reject despair and live in hope. Say “no” to the past and live in the future. Live in the Grace of God in Jesus Christ. And then, confess with great joy each day the words of the apostle Paul, “I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come; nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing will be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ my Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
O Lord, we pray, plant this new life of hope into the hearts of all our listeners today. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for November 4, 2001 69-08
ANNOUNCER: I’m Mark Eischer for The Lutheran Hour with Dr. Schulz, Associate Speaker. Dr. Schulz, in today’s message, you spoke about various research studies and surveys that show there is quite a “disconnect” between what people claim to believe and the life they actually live. Do you suppose this information is at all correct?
SCHULZ: Well, Mark, I think it is definitely very reliable. You see, this data is the direct result of peoples’ own “confessions” and statements. By this, these words show that people do confess one thing but practice another.
ANNOUNCER: How can this situation be changed? And how will it be accomplished?
SCHULZ: From time to time, we hear a lot of “calls for revival” or “calls for greater commitment.” But the problem with these appeals is they are very law-centered or man-centered, asking us to do something spiritual that we simply cannot do. The law of God cannot bring us life. The Scriptures say the law can only kill. Nor can it enable us to do anything positive.
ANNOUNCER: So, what is the answer?
SCHULZ: Well, the answer is in the power of the Gospel and the power of God’s Word and His Spirit. You see, in John 6:63, Jesus says, “My Words are Spirit and they are life.” And the Apostle Paul says in the book of Thessalonians that the Word of God is different from the word of man, because the Word of God is “at work” in people.
ANNOUNCER: So, Dr. Schulz, you’re saying if there is going to be a closer connection between what we confess and the way in which we live, it has to be stimulated, empowered, and even carried out through the life-giving power of the Word of God in Jesus Christ?
SCHULZ: Exactly. Jesus says in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, “Man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” The Apostle Peter says, “Like newborn babies longing for the pure milk of the word, so that by it, you may grow in respect to salvation.”
ANNOUNCER: But, Dr. Schulz, is it fair to expect Christians to live the perfect Christian life?
SCHULZ: Absolutely not, of course. As each of us struggles through life, we must always keep before us the humble and sincere confession of the Apostle Paul when he says, “I know that nothing good dwells in me. The good I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil I do not want” (Romans 7:18-19).
ANNOUNCER: How does that translate into everyday life?
SCHULZ: What this man tells us is that life is a struggle even for Christian leaders, clergymen, and missionaries. Christian teachers are all included. Each of us may be very sincere in our desire to live the Christian life. However, the devil is constantly beside us-tripping us up, diverting our attention, and sometimes even inflicting damage as we move along in our pilgrimage here on this earth.
ANNOUNCER: What is the bottom line?
SCHULZ: The answer, of course, and the bottom line are in the words of the Apostle Paul. After he confesses his frustration, he says, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” Then he says, “Thanks be to God, through our Lord Jesus Christ!” You see, to ask the average person to be more committed or be “more Christian” is often like talking to a stone or a tree. The Bible says we are by nature dead. We need Jesus and His Word. We need the Spirit to bring us alive. And then we need, every day, the same living Word and the same Spirit to keep our spiritual life nourished. In addition to giving us this strength, this new life gives us a hope that is eternal. The Word of God assures us that Jesus laid down His life on the altar of the cross in order to pay for all of our sins. This GOOD NEWS of the Gospel is not only a message. It is more. It is a divine power. The Apostle Paul says it’s the same power that God puts in us that He used to raise Jesus Christ from the dead.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Dr. Schulz. With that, we come to the end of our broadcast for another week. The next message for “The Lutheran Hour” is titled, “The Cost of Real Love.”