Going Through the Motions

“Holding the form of religion, but denying the power of it.”

2 Timothy 3:5

          All religion is laden with rituals.  These customs express outwardly what people experience inwardly.  They are created to be a physical reminder of a spiritual encounter.  Marriage ceremonies and Baptisms, Holy Communion and Christmas Eve candlelight services call us to remember and relive that moment when God transformed our lives.

          In his second letter to his protégé Timothy, the Apostle Paul warned of a time when people would practice the form of religion, but deny its power.  They will go through the motions but the meaning will have faded.  They will settle for the rituals of lifeless worship and empty prayer.

          Now, that can’t appeal to anyone, so why would anyone be content with such anemic faith.  There are many reasons I suppose, but I think many of them will boil down to control.  We can control the rituals, but we cannot control the power of God they point to.  It is the same reason the children of Israel shaped a golden calf in the shadow of Sinai.  While the idol could not feed them manna in the wilderness, neither could it make any demands nor require any real change.  So, they practiced the form of religion while denying its power and as a result wandered aimlessly for the next forty years, seeing but never quite arriving at the Promised Land.

          Paul said when that happens you’re in the end times, the last days.  Though the world may still spin on it axis, and life still goes on, the Spirit of God that gives life color will be washed out. You can see, but never quite arrive at the Promised Land.  Rituals are an important outward expression, but they can never replace the inward power of God.