Tag Archives: Idol Worship

Idol Worship

Ordinary Time

February 6, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Deuteronomy 30:15-20
See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

We may no longer bow down to statues of gods, but we still have idols. Greed and lust for power are two at the top of my list that I have observed. I am seeing more and more instances where we are creating and fostering gods made in our image that fit our desired outcomes for life rather than following the God in whose image we are made and whose foundation for life is love. The prosperity Gospel is a good example of that, as is Christian nationalism. We substitute cultural attributes for how and who we love. The story in Matthew 19:16-26 tells of the rich young man who came to Jesus to find out what more he could do; since he was already following all the commandments, Jesus said ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Somehow our culture has been caught up in the need for individuals to be better than other individuals to be of worth. That did not come from God. God created all people in God’s image and saw that they were good. We tend to cluster with people who are like us and ignore or even discriminate against those who differ from us even though they, too, were created in the same image as the rest of us.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we see you as we want to see you and not as who you are.  Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

God Is Love

Discipleship

February 8, 2021

Scripture Reading:
2 Kings 2:1-1

Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.’ But Elisha said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So they went down to Bethel. The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, ‘Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?’ And he said, ‘Yes, I know; keep silent.’

Elijah said to him, ‘Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.’ But he said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So they came to Jericho. The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, ‘Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?’ And he answered, ‘Yes, I know; be silent.’

Then Elijah said to him, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.’ But he said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground. –2 Kings1-8

Hebrews 12:1-3 tells us as Christ-followers to run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Elisha modeled that practice as he followed his mentor. We must be cautious about who we choose to be our mentors. The world is full of want-to-be mentors, even those who claim allegiance to Jesus Christ that entice followers by pulling them into false promises that lead nowhere. We are seeing that in the cultic alliances that arise around us. I track all the way back to Jim Jones, who led 909 people to commit “revolutionary” suicide in the name of Jesus. He, too, killed himself. Most cult leaders love power more than they love the people they enchant. David Koresh, a Branch Davidian leader, inspired the Oklahoma City Federal building bomber, Timothy McVeigh. McVeigh also had ties to the Michigan Militia Group that recently threaten the life of the Michigan Governor. Some of the participants at the January 6 insurrection at our nation’s capital were related to such groups. People can be led astray to assuage someone else’s need for power.

There is only one God who is Love if any action is done in God’s name that is not loving in nature, that action is targeted at one or more idols, not offered in worship to the One God.

Prayer: Lord, help us incorporate into our very being the ways of your Love so that your Love drives any decision we make and act that we take. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Faith and Trust

Living in the Spirit

October 7, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23

Both we and our ancestors have sinned;
   we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly.
They made a calf at Horeb
   and worshipped a cast image.
They exchanged the glory of God
   for the image of an ox that eats grass.
They forgot God, their Savior,
   who had done great things in Egypt,
wondrous works in the land of Ham,
   and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
Therefore he said he would destroy them—
   had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
   to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
–Psalm 106:6, 19-23

Faith and trust are always required in any relationship, particularly with God. None of us is perfect, and all of us must face the consequences of our actions or lack of action and work to rebuild broken relationships with God and others.

I do not know why, but I love that the Psalmist includes the information that the Israelites created an idol from the model of an ox, an animal that eats grass. I am not sure what the author is trying to say there, but to me, the statement seems to suggest that we are all capable of hypocrisy. Turning away from the God who created the earth to worship the image of an animal God created that is dependent for life on one of the most common and simplest forms of nutrition God also created is ironic.

In this telling, God also sent Moses who intercedes with God to turn away his wrath from destroying them. Now, if that is not love, I do not know what is.

Prayer: God, we, your people, get so caught up in the ways of the world that we lose sight of the power and wonder of your love. Forgive us. Help us turn around to find and follow your path of righteousness. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Seeing the World as it Shapes Us

Living in the Spirit

September 28, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Then God spoke all these words:

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work. — Exodus

What idols do we worship? The Hebrew Bible prophets write a lot about idol worship. I think most of us perceive idols as objects, and thus classify them as something from the distant past worshiped by people who did not know any better than to put their faith in inanimate statues. Idols are anything we treasure more than God. What idols do we worship?

N. T. Wright, in his online Bible study, Worldviews, the Bible, and the Believer, discusses the worldviews that impacted the writing of the Bible and its interpretation today. He explores four areas of worldview: story, symbols, practices, and questions. The real issue is how much worldviews impact our ways of being. Jesus talked about being of the world. For example, in Matthew 13.22: As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.

Problems arise when those worldview stories, symbols, practices, and questions cross that line of being more important to us than God. We see that all the time with wealth and the accumulation of things. We also see it in lust for power when people put themselves above God or worship someone else more than God. Sometimes we may even place our Christian symbols above God. There is nothing innately wrong or right about our worldviews. We just need to recognize them for what they are. If we find they are taking a higher place in our lives than God, we need to realign our priorities.

Prayer: God, who is Love, guide us to see ourselves more clearly and understand the influences that may be pulling us away from you and correct our courses. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

God’s Vision

Living in the Spirit

August 19, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 124
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
   —let Israel now say—
if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
   when our enemies attacked us,
then they would have swallowed us up alive,
   when their anger was kindled against us;
then the flood would have swept us away,
   the torrent would have gone over us;
then over us would have gone
   the raging waters.

Blessed be the Lord,
   who has not given us
   as prey to their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird
   from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
   and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
   who made heaven and earth.

God created the world and all that is in it and saw that it was good—good for our wellbeing. God prepared a place for us as parents create a nursery for an expected child. Humans were the last of God’s creations. Made in God’s image, we are tasked with caring for and using these resources wisely.

We are not provided information regarding the calamity from which God saved Israel. The New Interpreter’s Study Bible suggests that it might have been the attacks on Nehemiah and those who were trying to rebuild the Temple walls after their return from Babylon. The floods become a metaphor for the residents of the area who were angry about this intrusion in their lives. Of course, many stories could have been followed by this poem, even in our world today.

One of the things we miss when reading thanksgiving for God’s intervention is that the people involved were called to do a lot of work and face a lot of danger as a part of God’s salvation. The word help is critical. God expects us to utilize the resources provided and build a better world. When we are in sync with God’s vision of the possible, we are assured that the Lord helps us every step of the way.

Prayer: God of Mercy and Justice, we face a life-threatening virus, destructive storms, fires, and rampant racism in a divided nation that cannot find common ground for the Common Good. Forgive us for being overcome by gods of greed and lust for power. Help us find our way back to you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Perseverance

Living in the Spirit

August 5, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b

When he summoned famine against the land,
   and broke every staff of bread,
he had sent a man ahead of them,
   Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
His feet were hurt with fetters,
   his neck was put in a collar of iron;
until what he had said came to pass,
   the word of the Lord kept testing him.
The king sent and released him;
   the ruler of the peoples set him free.
He made him lord of his house,
   and ruler of all his possessions,
to instruct his officials at his pleasure,
   and to teach his elders wisdom. –Psalm 105:16-22

God is perseverant. Paul encourages all of us to be perseverant as we work in God’s service. The Psalmist today tells us that perseverance is part of being made in God’s image. Whatever numskull thing we do as individuals or as communities of faith or as nations, God does not give up on us.

Joseph was arrogant about his skills and abilities and particularly his place in his father’s heart. His brothers overreacted in their response. First threatening to kill him and later selling him into slavery. I doubt that neither Joseph nor his brother’s behavior, pleased God. Yet, God continues to strive with them. Joseph grew in wisdom in how to quell his abilities to address specific situations. His brothers had to live with the sorrow of their father until he was reunited with Joseph. But God persevered seeing the potential in this family, hanging with them through all the ups and downs of Israel from Egypt to Mt. Sinai to Jerusalem under David to exile and back again. God still perseveres with all God’s followers to this day.

That brings us to the question, do we give up on God? Throughout the history of God, humans have turned away from God and shaped gods in images they prefer. While walking through the ruins of Ephesus and several museums in Turkey a few years ago, I viewed the statues of the gods of antiquity. Today they are weather-worn and damaged. I could not help wondering why anyone would bow down and worship large carved pieces of rock? Today we worship fewer statuary things preferring the idols of money and power.

 Jesus saw that even in his time on earth. No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Matthew 6:24)

1 Timothy 6:10 words it this way, For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

And Paul addresses the various challenges of the world that beset us in following in Ephesians 6:12, For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

If God does not give up on us, we must not give up on God and fall into the traps of the world.

Prayer: Lord, as we look back over history, we recognized that you have saved your people from far worse than we are facing right now, but these trying times are the difficulty we face. Strengthen our perseverance in your services in the living of these days. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Where has our Consciences Gone?

Eastertide

May 15, 2020

Scripture Reading:
1 Peter 3:13-22

For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. –1 Peter 3:18-22

I wonder if we still have consciences—the sense of knowing the difference between right and wrong. The Greek word, syneídēsis*, translated conscience in the above scripture has a deeper meaning than knowing the difference between right and wrong. It combines the moral and spiritual consciousness as part of being created in the divine image. Accordingly, all people have this God-given capacity to know right from wrong because each is a free moral agent (cf. Jn 1:4,7,9; Gen 1:26,27). In being created in the image of God, we are all equipped with the knowledge of righteousness and justice.  So, what separates our knowing from our actions—idol worship?

Many stories in the Hebrew Bible include warnings about idol worshiping from the Golden Calf at Mount Sinai to Elijah’s attack on the prophets of Baal. Some may think those were just the ways of ancient pagans bowing down to real statues. We would never do that. While idols have evolved over time within cultures, we remain dedicated to worshiping something upon which we can project our personal desires and call it our gods, such as wealth or privilege or power. 

Worshiping the gods of wealth, privilege, and power fosters greed, bigotry, and violence. People of faith face as great a challenge now as our ancestors in faith did in helping all people to understand that there is nothing worth having more than the Love of God and living in the light of that love, which is broad enough to include all of God’s children.

Prayer: God, who is love, forgive us for creating our own gods to the detriment of your other children. Guide us as we return to living in your light. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/4893.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Day by Day with God

Eastertide

May 29, 2019

Scripture Reading: Psalm 97
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
   righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him,
   and consumes his adversaries on every side.

7 All worshippers of images are put to shame,
   those who make their boast in worthless idols;
   all gods bow down before him.
10 The Lord loves those who hate evil;
   he guards the lives of his faithful;
   he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light dawns for the righteous,
   and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
   and give thanks to his holy name!

I encourage you to read Psalm 97 in its totality. I have selected three grouping from it to highlight here.

Righteousness and justice are words most often related to God. The image of the righteous God being surrounded by thick darkness resonates with me as my locale is inundated with bad, dangerous weather. Flooding is occurring from ever stream and river. Tornado clusters crop up in bands that stretch for miles. All exacerbated by climate change. God’s world is ruled by righteousness and justice and with God present in our lives we are empowered to enable righteousness and justice across our lands for future generations.

When our lives are led by our love for God, we can set right priorities and let go of those things of the world that promise false hope and false love. Idols do not feel or think; they are driven by the evil that benefits from their enticement of us that enriches them at our expense.

Finally, we never ever are alone when we work for righteousness and justice. God is faithful.

Day by day, day by day,
O, dear Lord, three things I pray:
to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly,
follow thee more nearly, day by day*.

Prayer: God of Justice, grant us the strength to withstand the storms of evil, the faith to trust you first in all we do, and the will always to seek your presence. Amen.

*Day by Day attributed to Richard of Chichester see at https://hymnary.org/text/day_by_day_dear_lord

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Who Do We Serve?

Living in the Spirit
November 6, 2017

Scripture Reading: Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25

‘Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’

 Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.’ –Joshua 24:14-18

We, of course, are far too sophisticated to worship idols, graven images; or are we?  Cities are passing laws to make it illegal to cross a street while texting or otherwise accessing an electronic device. An opioid epidemic is killing people of all ages across our land. Greed is rampant as we want more and more and seem never to be satisfied. Gaining power over others entices many to sell their souls to the highest bidder.

We are called to Choose this day whom [we] will serve and get our priorities in order as individuals, as communities of faith, as the whole Body of Christ.

As frustrated as I become with the functioning of our government both at the state and federal level, I sincerely believe our government reflects well the desires of our population. We have turned away from our most basic values of assuring the Common Good and are pursuing self-serving gain at the expense of our neighbors. We seem to have grown collectively out of touch with reality apparently similarly to what was happening in Joshua’s day and time.

Joshua’s recommitment to the values that got him and his people to the Promised Land is a good place for us to start rebuilding our states and nation.

Prayer: Create in us clean hearts and right spirits so that we can truly declare but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord, for he is God. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

No gods at all?

Dust bowl 2Living in the Spirit
August 23, 2016

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 2:4-13

Has a nation changed its gods,
   even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
   for something that does not profit.
Be appalled, O heavens, at this,
   be shocked, be utterly desolate,  

says the Lord,
for my people have committed two evils:
   they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living water,
   and dug out cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns
   that can hold no water. –Jeremiah 2:11-13

Have we traded in God for other gods which mean for no god at all? Jeremiah is not only condemning the people for changing gods but trading God, the source of living water, for a god they created that could not hold water at all.

The Dust Bowl in the Great Plains during the 1930’s was to a great extent created by humans. Plowing every inch of available ground in flat, straight rows for grain planting with no concern for the top soil resulted in disaster. Greed is often the idol that we humans replace for God. Oklahoma is a windy state at any time. The relentless wind coupled with no rain for days on end caused the earth to became dryer than dry resulting in precious, necessary topsoil blowing away. We learned from that mistake and in the recovery introduced new and better methods of plowing.

It is sad that we cannot take what we learn from one experience and apply it to similar ones. We do not even retain lessons learned if enough time has elapsed. The prophets of the Hebrew Bible warned the Israelites of coming disaster as the result of their misdirected choices of gods. They did not apply them any better in their time than we do today when we know the disaster that came when the Israelites ignored the prophets.

Following the oil bust of the 1980’s Oklahoma’s economy had to be diversified and proper funding for necessary governmental services allocated and steps were taken to do just that. Now we find ourselves in the same or worse situation because we revoked many of those steps that set our state on stable footing. While the current downturn would have still been challenging, it did not have to become a disaster that will take years to overcome.

Prayer: God forgive us when we create gods of our own making and turn away from you. In our repentance, guide us to your way. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.