Form and Substance – Proverbs 21:3

When I saw my surgeon he tried to establish rapport by asking what I did.  I said I was a pastor and he responded that his grandfather was a Methodist pastor and, I think, an uncle was, also.  Interestingly, he didn’t say what he was.  I don’t know if, for him, as for many, belonging to a particular denomination or church meant he was identifying or not, as the case might be, as a Christian or substituted that for a genuine relationship with Christ.  There is always a challenge to meet form with substance.

To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. (Proverbs 21:3, ESV)

You may recall Israel’s first king, Saul, and his waiting for Samuel to come and make sacrifice before he went into battle with the armies of Israel against the Philistines (1 Samuel 13).  He believed he needed Yahweh’s favor for them to be successful and victorious, but when Samuel failed to show on time to make this sacrifice to Yahweh he took it upon himself to offer the sacrifice.  Right as he finished Samuel arrived and told him that he had failed to obey Yahweh and would therefore not hold the kingship in perpetuity.

The point of this Proverb is not that God doesn’t care about the sacrifices He has required of Israel.  He does.  They are pictures of the need for the death of an innocent to take the place of the sinful.  But you can sacrifice all the animals you want and if you remain rebellious in your heart against Yahweh they will avail you nothing.  It is the doing of righteousness and justice that matters the most.

We too may find ourselves doing ritualistically what we believe God wants from us, attending church, paying tithes, doing a daily devotional, etc.  But if we are not seeing our lives transformed to be like Christ, if we are not genuinely loving others and pursuing the goals of the kingdom, seeking first God and His righteousness, those rituals are meaningless.

If, on the other hand, we are pursuing those rituals as a means of personal heart change, we are doing exactly what the ritual was designed to accomplish.