Today's reading: Isaiah 66; Matthew 5
God is primarily interested in the alignment of our hearts with Him, rather than in our compliance with or avoidance of a certain set of actions or activities.
It is really common to hear people processing their relationship with God (or lack thereof) through what they are doing, or what they are failing to do. We feel like God is pleased with us when we are avoiding certain sins, or when we are performing certain actions, like going to church or giving money to charity, and we feel like He is displeased with us when we fall into sin (or just fully choose to live in it unabashedly), or when we fail to do the things we feel like we should probably be doing. And when I say "we," I'm not just referring to Christians, as this tends to be the standard way of thinking about God's view of us in general. You hear people make flippant comments like, "Oh, I'm going to Hell for sure. After the things I've done, I'll give the devil a run for his money when I get there," or, "I think I'll probably go to heaven when I die, I've been a pretty good person, and I've always tried not to hurt anyone." But even among Christians, who know their sins are forgiven by faith in Jesus, this kind of thinking hangs on. There are even entire "Christian" denominations that teach that there are various levels of sin, such that a small sin is okay and doesn't stop you from going to heaven, but if you sin too big, that action alone is enough to ensure you are going to Hell unless you get it straightened out properly before you die.
But is this what God is concerned about? I love these two chapters we are reading today because, together, they give us a very full answer to that question.
In Isaiah 66, God addresses the person who is performing all the right actions, but their heart does not belong to the Lord. To that person God equates all of their "good" actions with heinous sin. God says their sacrificing a bull is like murdering a man, their grain offering is like offering pig's blood, etc. These sacrifices and offerings were exactly what God had called for, and exactly what Israel was supposed to be doing, but when they were merely done as lip service, no matter how faithfully they may have been carried out, they were disgusting to the Lord.
While God, in Isaiah 66, addresses heartless compliance, Jesus, in Matthew 5, speaks to the opposite side, addressing those who would be justified by their avoidance of sin. He gives a number of examples, but they essentially boil down to, "You think you are avoiding sin because you aren't performing this particular action, but in the eyes of God, what you are doing is just as bad." I've always thought the example of adultery Jesus uses is the most poignant of them all. Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." It is not merely the physical act of adultery that God takes issue with, but the heart and intent behind even our internal thoughts that are sinful before the Lord.
My point today is this: If our hearts are not right before the Lord, no good actions will ever be pleasing to Him, nor will the avoidance of sin ever please Him. The religious observance of external forms while our hearts do not belong to the Lord is odious to Him, and to think we are successfully sinless by our own will or effort is nothing but self-deception, artificially lowering the bar enough to step over it.
God cares first and foremost about our heart alignment with Him. If we, in Christ, are looking to and trusting in Him above all else, that is what is pleasing to our heavenly Father. It is completely true, and should not be missed, that the pursuit of good/righteous actions and the avoidance of sin should certainly be an outworking of our heart alignment with the Lord, but they, in isolation, will never be sufficient.
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