The Simplicity of Christian Ritual.
The simplicity of worship in the Christian Church is a sign of spiritual advancement
I. Inasmuch as it arises, in some measure, from the fact that the Gospel rites are commemorative, whilst those of the former dispensation were anticipative.
II. Inasmuch as it arises from the fact that, whilst the rites of Judaism were mainly disciplinary, those of Christianity are spontaneous and expressive.
III. The simplicity of the Christian rites affords a safeguard against those obvious dangers which are incident to all ritual worship. (1) The first of these is the tendency of the unspiritual mind to stop short at the symbol; (2) the next is the too common tendency to mistake aesthetic emotion for religious feeling.
J. Caird, Sermons,p. 272.