uh, if that line didn’t obviously include Halden’s tradition I don’t know what would. That sums up the passage, really. If anything there are a lot of Christians who would see the passaged as not indicting them because they don’t observe a Christian calendar (probably a neo-pagan assimilation of all those not-really-churches) and (in their minds) have “no liturgy”. The paraphrase-commentary is useful in bringing to light that contemporary groups of believers need to understand the nature of the warning. Looking to Egypt for refuge these dayd might look more like looking to the Republican or Democratic parties to prevail and obtain the justice you seek but that’s another, slightly different way of applying the warnings of prophets for our time.

Like Paul said: Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord. This is your spiritual form of worship.

In reading Isaiah it was just striking how the Lord is just tearing to shreds all these liturgical forms of worship that he mandated explicitly in Scripture. And yet, I feel like there’s a lot of trepidation (or even scorn) in certain circles these days towards even considering similar critiques of Christian liturgy (which certainly was not mandated by God in the same way as Israel’s liturgy was).

So this is a fine reminder that our worship is meaningless if we don’t participate in the divine life, the mission of restoration. Thanks, Halden.

But thanks for unreflectively assuming the worst about me.