pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: idol


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Stories

Readings: Exodus 32: 1-6 and Psalm 106: 19-23

Key Verses:

Exodus 32:6 – He made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf.

Psalm 106:20 – They exchanged their Glory for the image of a bull.

In both passages, we have the story of the people departing from God to worship an idol made of gold.  True, Moses has been gone up the mountain a long time.  But the people did not worship Moses.  While Moses is up on the mountain, clearly the presence of God remains on the mountain.  The presence of God is right there in plain sight when the people and Aaron make another “god” to worship.

This is not a pretty story about what happened in the life of the chosen people and their relationship with God.  Yet it is recounted and retold over and over by these people and generations to follow.  Why?  For the same reason they tell and tell about the Passover, the parting of the sea, the fall of Jericho, the defeat of Goliath…  We remember and retell good and bad stories for the same reason: to remind us of God’s love and grace.  In the stories where we (corporate) are not faithful or where we have sinned, they remind us of God’s love in spite if our fleshy weakness.  In the stories where God provides or guides or redeems… we are reminded of God’s constant love and care for each of us.

There is great value in the telling and retelling of these stories where God is active and present in the lives of the people, always bringing comfort, guidance, peace, and, of course, love and grace.  But these stories are not just found in the pages of the Bible.  They are also found in the day to day living of our lives.  We each have stories to tell of when God rescued us, when God forgave us, when God redeemed us, when God loved us…  These too are powerful stories of God’s continuing presence and activity in the lives of His people.  They are stories we need to hear over and over.  They are also stories others need to hear.  Our faith is communal.  Our faith is a shared faith.  Today, who will we share our story with?


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One True God

Reading: Exodus 32: 1-6

Verse One: When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming…

Over and over and over again, God has provided for and protected the Israelites.  Whether it was opposing armies or food or water or which way to go, God has been there.  Moses has been their leader through it all.  He has led by example and has always been faithful to the Lord God.

As we grow and mature in our faith, we come to trust in God and His presence and protection.  Our experiences when God had been there over and over builds our trust in Him and we come to believe that God will be there again and again.  But this can be such a fragile balance.  Something happens and doubt or fear or anxiety creeps in.  We turn to something other than God to curb our doubt…  we ignore what is going on… we cope in some unhealthy way.

We can relate to the Israelites’ choice in our passage today.  Moses has been gone a long time.  A LONG time.  They fear going into the presence of God.  They look up and see the “thick darkness” that Moses disappeared into.  We too can feel that our lives have slipped into such a place.  We can feel as if God were absent during these times.  But God is always present.  Like the Israelites, it is we who turn away.

In Moses’ absence, the people turn to Aaron.  He is #2 in command.  Aaron is a little less steady, a little less assured, a little less connected to God.  He wants to be a pleaser.  He fashions a golden calf to soothe the people’s fears and doubts.  The people willingly worship this idol – they are glad to be rid of their feelings of discomfort.  Our inner self can relate well.  Like Aaron, our inner self is willing to take over, to just do something to solve or at least alleviate our situation.  Like the people, our inner self is willing to do whatever to not feel those bad feelings.  We turn to other or self instead of turning to God and trusting in Him.

In our lives, when the storm clouds rise or when worry or doubt or… well up, may we turn to the only One who can save and protect – our One true God.  May we trust in God alone.


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Repent of Ye Idols!

Reading: Acts 17: 29-31

Verse 29: We should not think the divine being is an image…

Paul tackles the prevalent religion of the local people in today’s passage: polytheism.  For many, many years the Athenians have worshipped many different gods.  Each god was limited, confined basically to its own area of expertise.  Paul takes the local faith head on when he states that we are God’s offspring.  His logic is that if we are created by God, then we should only worship the one true God and not any creation of our human hands.  For Paul, God is limitless.  All is under God’s control as God was and is the creator of all things.  This is in striking contrast to the popular stance on many gods held be the Athenians.  Paul goes on to proclaim God’s judgment on them and to call them to repentance.

On the surface level it is hard to imagine worshipping a god for this and another god for that and yet another god for this need or concern.  On the surface level, it runs so counter to basic understanding of God.  Yet if we delve in a little deeper, if we look a little more intently into the mirror, we realize that we too are more like the Athenians than we’d like to admit.  We shy away from calling them ‘gods’ but at times w definitely have lots of idols.  We might recoil at the idea of worshipping money or possessions or status or beauty, but when we get honest and get right down to it, anything we place above or before God becomes an idol we worship.

Like Paul called the Athenians, his words call us to repentance as well.  What are the things we chase after, the idols we worship?  Verse 31 reads, “for He has set a day…”.  Judgment will come.  Paul reminds us that God calls us to repent.  This day, may we look deep within, repent of all that draws our love away from God, and begin to live the lives we are called to – lives that love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.


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Reflecting His Glory

Reading: Acts 17: 22-28

Verse 24: … the Lord of heaven and earth​… does not live in temples built by human hands.

Today’s passage finds Paul in Athens.  He is there doing what he always did: sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.  But Athens is not Jerusalem.  It is the center of the Greek world and has overlays of the Roman world as well.  Centuries of philosophers have sat in the Aeropagus and argued and debated all aspects and facets of life.  They have covered mortality and religion, ethics and justice, their own existence and the meaning of life.  Paul observes that the culture is very polytheistic.  They worship many different gods.  Paul takes all of this into account as he begins his sermon this day.  He begins by sharing the observation that they are very religious and then turns to the “unknown god” statue.  Paul goes on to proclaim the unknown god to be the God of all creation.  He even quotes a couple of Greek philosophers to help his case.  Paul is using a piece of the dominant culture to win over his audience.  We too have an opportunity to do this as well.

Where will you find yourself coming up against non-believers today?  Will it be at work?  At lunch?  Out on your walk?  And will they be worshipping an unknown god?  As we consider all of this, we also must how we could do that Paul did – use some of today’s popular culture to tie back into our God and our faith.  Maybe it is by working with integrity and honor and finding success on God’s terms.  Maybe it is by being gracious and by practicing Good listening skills while at lunch.  Maybe it is by noticing the person on the street and by taking a moment to be the hands and feet of Jesus for them.  There are many ways to meet people where they are at and to bring our faith into the situation.  Allow the Holy Spirit to lead!

But maybe you are not quite here yet.  Maybe today’s passage speaks to your own ‘unknown god’.  Is it parked in the garage?  Does it sit on a large lot?  Is it kept safe in a vault?  Or is it fragile and rests upon the opinions of others?  At times it can be easy to worship idols.  So maybe our challenge today is to identify our idol and to begin to let it go.  Paul stated, “the Lord of heaven and earth​… does not live in temples built by human hands”.  Are we living or acting as if God did live here?

Wherever we find ourselves in today’s passage, may we strive for our life to reflect His glory, “for in Him we live and move and have our being”.


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Idols

Is there a commandment we struggle with more than the commandment against idols? Today the idea of an idol has grown to represent a wide variety of things: money, possessions, job, position or status, physical beauty, authority, time…  Our own ‘idol’ can really be anything we place before or above God.

It is a fine line sometimes between providing for our families and accumulating wealth or between doing a good job at work and pouring oneself into the job in the pursuit of a promotion.  But when one is in a right relationship with God, then one knows in their hearts when they are nearing or have crossed that imaginary line.

The command against idols is the only command that also has a punishment attached.  Perhaps God knew people would wrestle with this one!  God warns that He will punish out to a person’s fourth generation if one bows down to idols.  However, God also promises that He will love your family for a thousand years if you love Him and follow His commands.  Quite a difference!  Must be important.

In this holy season of Lent, may we spend a little extra time looking at the idols we have in our lives.  May we seek God’s strength and presence so that our idols become less and He becomes more.

Scripture reference: Genesis 20: 4-6