Massaging God

I love massages. Massage loosens a person up. It relaxes them. It makes them pliable and able to move more freely. You come in all tense and leave happy. Man can get very up-tight and tense. Stress builds up in our muscles. We need some soothing music, some incense, some dimmed lighting, some special aromatic oil, a nice bed with the donut hole for our face, some strong warm hands that know where and how to manipulate soft tissue. About an hour later we are good. Are you ready for where this is going?

The text is Mark 7:7, "But in vain (maten from masso) do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men." The word "vain" is from the root word "masso" from which we get massage. It means manipulation, to handle or squeeze, to knead like in kneading bread, even to chew or gnaw (See Rev.16:10). This is serious stuff. Do we really want to try to manipulate God? We often talk about "massaging" difficult people. When we need to get something from someone who is difficult we have to schmooze them. We have to "work" them to loosen them up so they will be willing to comply with our wishes. We butter folks up like a massage therapist does by slathering oil on our sore backs. We look for people to say, "Oh that really feels so good. Don't stop." You get more favors from people who feel good than from those who are cranky.

Is this how we look at God, i.e. that he is cranky and needs to be buttered up, loosened up, manipulated, kneaded like bread, shaped and formed so he will be more willing to help us. Do we put into place forms and rituals and precepts and rules that will cause God to say, "That feels good. Don't stop. I'll give you what you want?" Jesus calls this vain worship. The word worship here is sebomai meaning to revere, adore or fear God. It is used most often of God-fearing Gentiles or Greeks (Acts 13:43,50; 16:14; 17:17; 18:7,13). Reverence for God must be sincere or it is not reverence, it is manipulation. This is what was missing from these Jewish folks. They did not honor God from the heart. They counted on "going through the motions" to satisfy a cranky God so he would bless them for another few days. They were no better than the idol worshippers who placated their so-called gods. Many Gentiles broke free of this game and became genuine God-fearers. Jesus is hoping his own people will do the same. God does not need a massage. He is not tense nor cranky. He wants a sincere and pure relationship, worship characterized by spirit and truth, not ritual and rules.