Tag Archives: Idols

God is God of All

Discipleship

Scripture Reading:
Isaiah 40:21-31

February 1, 2021

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
   Has it not been told you from the beginning?
   Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
   and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
   and spreads them like a tent to live in;
who brings princes to naught,
   and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
   scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows upon them, and they wither,
   and the tempest carries them off like stubble. –Isaiah 40:21-24

Israel’s big problem seems to have been that they got so caught up in worshipping gods made in to meet their desires that they reduced the Omnipotent God to a lower state. In this poem, Isaiah reminds the people that God is God and that there is no other even close competition. I am sure this issue has been with people from the beginning and that it rises and falls in degrees of influence over time. Just before the Exile, the replacement of the Omnipotent God with lesser gods was out of control. Sound familiar?

We find ourselves in a similar situation. While we may not worship images made of stone or metal, lust after power and greed abounds in our society. Our challenge as Christ-followers is to cleanse ourselves of such transference of faith, reconnect to the God who is manifested in love, and go into the world to help others find the God who is love who created us and loves us completely. As we follow our diverse gods, we become more and more separated from heal love that binds us together. Heal our divisions; make us one.

Prayer: Creator God, forgive us for being tempted by the ways of the world that have no substance and can be carried off like stubble. Rekindle our love relationship with you and reunited us in your love with one another. 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.

Idols of our Own Making

Living in the Spirit

August 4, 2020

Scripture Reading: Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28

The man said, ‘They have gone away, for I heard them say, “Let us go to Dothan.” ’ So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.’ But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, ‘Let us not take his life.’ Reuben said to them, ‘Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him’—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.’ And his brothers agreed. When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. Genesis 37:17-28

Being born into a family results in having to deal with one another, whether we like each other, or we do not. Clearly, Joseph’s brothers were not fond of the one they saw as their father’s pet. Their reaction took them to the extreme, selling him into slavery. I guess that was better than killing him. I am a member of a family, have worked with troubled families, and have observed all manner of families as they interacted. My father’s family was a yours, mine, and our family as were most of the families in the time of Jacob. In that case, they had the same father but several different mothers. The thing about families is that their intrinsic connectedness can never be changed. We must learn to co-exist in love or face the consequences.

The Greek language has at least three descriptions of love: eros, which is erotic love, Philadelphia –sibling love (also the source word of philanthropy), and agape—divine love, which is Godlike love goodwill for all.  Agape love is what Jesus calls us to practices, which I believe is woven into every kind of love when we accept the ways of Christ. It requires us to invest ourselves in learning to love our spouses, siblings, and our neighbors as God loves us. That requires an investment of time and energy and self-examination, helping us to understand our relationships and ourselves better. Once we can love ourselves as God loves us, we can more easily learn to love others.

Prayer: Lord, teach us to love like you as we work to build a world ruled by your love. 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.

Reaching for God

Eastertide

Scripture Reading:
Acts 17:22-31

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, “To an unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. –Acts 17:22-27

God desires communion with each of us and all of us. Thus God is present, available to share in every aspect of our being. God does not force Godself on us but allows us to open those lines of communication. Through his grace, God maintains those lines even when we have turned away.

Bowing down to a well-carved statue in worship seems archaic to me as it probably does to most of us living in modernity. Our idols are more abstract. What do we worship? What do we place before or ahead of God in our lives? People are groping for something they are not able to find. Searching in all the wrong places for something to worship? People who read these devotions regularly probably get tired of my dealing with greed and power. I do think they would be high on a survey of idols if such a thing were even possible and if people actually realized what their idols are. Neither power nor greed is helpful in a pandemic that does not discriminate. The line from Shakespeare’s Richard III comes to mind. “A horse, a horse my kingdom for a horse.” Uttered as he stands on a battlefield with no way to escape.

The Lords’s peace is there for all who reach out to God. We, as God’s servants, need to be more outgoing in sharing this wonder-filled good news.

Prayer: Lord of Creation who was and is and is to come, renew in us a new spirit to share the wonder of your love. 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.

Glorified

Eastertide

May 19, 2019

Scripture Reading: John 13:31-35

When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

So what does it mean when this scripture says that the Son of Man has been glorified? The Greek word doksázō* translated glorify ascribes weight by recognizing real substance or value. Glorifying God thus means valuing God for who God really is. Jesus’ glorification thus amplifies the glory of God helping us understand the full value of God in our lives. Do our acts as God’s disciples amplify the glory of God?

Joshua understood this concept when he noted among all the idols available for people in his culture to worship that Yahwah was the one with real substance and value. He said in Joshua 24:15:

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.’

What do we put above God? What are the 21st Century idols we choose over God? We are far too sophisticated to bow down to golden calves or mammoth carved stones. I fear our idols are more sinister. Certainly, wealth and power are more important to some than God. Politics and nationalism seem to push God aside or even worse use God as a steppingstone to their own ends. We, like the people Joshua led, need to carefully consider who we serve and reevaluate how our way of being is influencing others toward God or away from God.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we claim to be your disciples and do not have love for one another or any others. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/1392.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.

Idols of Our Own Making

Eastertide

May 2, 2019

Scripture Reading: Revelation 5:11-14

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice,
‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!’
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,
‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might
for ever and ever!’
And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the elders fell down and worshipped.

Part of this scripture has been set to music and I now cannot read it without singing it in my head if not out loud. It is indeed poetic. I am also just finishing N. T. Wright’s book The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus’s Crucifixion. In the final chapter he describes, perhaps laments, how humans can get so caught up in the quest for wealth and power and sex that we lose sight of what real power and wealth and love of all kinds has been gifted to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Our worldly sources of power and wealth are always and ultimately nothing but worthless idols. I must admit I experienced a bit of astonishment moving from this section of Wright’s book and reading this segment of Revelation. A friend of mine would call it a God thing.

I do get discouraged at times about the knuckleheaded things we humans do in search of what? Fulfillment perhaps? We all are guilty at times of short circuiting our relationship with God, the source of true power and wealth and wisdom and might. We prefer to reach out to gods of our own creation. Evil can make everything look good with its false facades.

So, let the words of this scripture sink deeply into your souls. God is always near and always powerful and always loving.

Prayer:
To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might
for ever and ever!’ 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.

Walking with God

Living in the Spirit
November 15, 2017

Scripture Reading: Psalm 123
To you I lift up my eyes,
   O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
As the eyes of servants
   look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
   to the hand of her mistress,
   until he has mercy upon us.

 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
   for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than its fill
   of the scorn of those who are at ease,
   of the contempt of the proud.

Have we as people who identify as God followers lost the ability to walk humbly with our Lord? Have we relegated God to just another strategy to apply as needed to win a political campaign?

I was stunned when I heard someone defending a politician accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl by saying his actions were no different than the actions of Mary and Joseph. The assumption is that God approves the alleged action of the politician. Apparently, the speaker is not well acquainted with the story of the birth of Jesus recorded in Matthew. To the contrary, Joseph went beyond the call of duty by standing by Mary when he had had no sexual relations with Mary saving her from being stoned for becoming pregnant outside of marriage.

It is time for all the people of God to let God be God and for all of us to become the people God created us to be. For most of us that will require repentance and return to God’s leadership.

Prayer: Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
   for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than its fill
   of the scorn of those who are at ease,
   of the contempt of the proud.

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.

Images of our Making

Living in the Spirit
October 9, 2017

Scripture Reading: Exodus 32:1-14

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, ‘Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ Aaron said to them, ‘Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mould, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.’ They rose early the next day, and offered burnt-offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel. –Exodus 32:1-6

We probably do not think we are as fickle as these folks who escaped from slavery. We need to think about that again. Ours is a society that demands instant gratification. I get upset if my computer buffers at all and even more out of sorts if it continues for any length of time. We are so caught up in instant gratification that car accidents have increased markedly over the past few years because distracted drivers are trying to do too many things at once. If this god doesn’t work the way we want it to, we go in search of one that will. They are called idols.

Idols are not real; they are images of our making. They are like the chocolate bunnies we got as children, hollow on the inside. A paradox exists concerning God having substance we cannot see and idols we can see that have no substance. We experience God in the depths of our being as the very image of God was implanted in us at our beginning. As I stand before a mirror and view my image, I can lift my hand and view the reality of the source of my image. I can see the reality of God in myself and the souls of all God’s other children. We must be open to God’s presence in ourselves and others to relate to God through the depth of our being.

The Israelites were in the infancy of their journey with God, although this certainly was not their first instance of doubt nor the last. We are not different from them today. We try to create God in the image we want God to be. Communing with God requires a life commitment with intentionality of purpose. Such practice is well worth the effort as we draw from the well that never grows dry. (See John 4:14)

Prayer: God, anchor us so deeply in your love that we are not drawn to substitute images of our making for 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.

Diversions for Gain

Living in the Spirit
October 2, 2017

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. –Exodus 20:1-4

I would be remiss in writing anything about the Ten Commandments if I did not recognize the importance of Joan Chittister’s book and study The Ten Commandments: Laws of the Heart, which gave me a new appreciation for the Commandments as a way of being rather than rules to follow.

The concept of the Commandments as a way of being has heightened my concern for our ages’ constricting idol worship to pagans happening centuries ago. While we may have outgrown carved objects as gods or not, we have created a multitude of ready replacements. Money and power perhaps top the list.

I have an even greater concern that we are being divided intentionally by principalities and powers who play our interests against each other dividing us to conquer us. Diversions for gain is nothing new it is at least as old as the oldest prophetic book in the Bible, Amos. The similarities between the people of Israel before their fall to Assyria and the United States today are chilling. The Israelites were investing their time and energies in short-term rewards without concern for long-term consequences.

Prayer: Lord, open our minds and hearts to your will for our lives. 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.

Taking a Knee

Living in the Spirit
September 5, 2017

Scripture Reading: Exodus 12:1-14

For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

 This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance. –Exodus 12:12-14

We cannot imagine worshiping a carved image or even a natural phenomenon ascribed sacred status like the gods of Egypt. Much of the Hebrew Bible deals with the challenge of idols mostly those of other nations distracting the Hebrew people from their monotheistic commitment to God. The interesting thing about idols is that one can project onto them whatever properties one desires of a god as idols are void of purpose or meaning.

I fear, idols, by other names, are just as confounding for us today.The collection of things, materialism, is a current idol that has existed for some time and is easy to identify. We must have the latest phone, TV, shoes, etc. We tsk, tsk ourselves about it as we hand our credit cards to pay for our latest “Just gotta have it.” What about the idols that are so much a part of our lives, we do not recognize them?

I was surprised by the NFL’s position and much of the public’s response to the football player, Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee during the national anthem in protest of the rampant racism in our land. Taking a knee in most cases is a sign of humility, not an insult. Could Mr. Kaepernick have been saying in his action that racism goes against everything for which our country stands? All [people] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness*. When we do not subscribe to the basic values of our country we are dishonoring it. Have we reduced the flag of our country to an idol, an empty shell with only the meaning we chose to give it rather than our country’s defined identity?

Racism might not be an epidemic, had faith communities followed the tenets of God recognizing that God created all humans in God’s own image and all humans are thus God’s people. God who commanded us to love God and to love one another set the standard for living within the framework of our creation.

Do we imagine Joshua doing the ancient equivalent of taking a knee when he spoke these words recorded in Joshua 24:15:

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.’

Perhaps we all need to take a knee whether in the stadium to support the defined identity of our country or in our houses of worship regarding our relationship with God as we decide who we serve.

Prayer: Lord, open the windows of our hearts and help us to see that which is so ingrained we accept it as normal. Forgive us of our sins of commission, when we discriminated against any other. Forgive us of our sins of omission when we stand idly by allowing racism to exist. Empower us to do justice. Amen.

*From the US Declaration of Independence

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.

Graven Images

Ark of the CovenantLiving in the Spirit
July 6, 2015

Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19

David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. –2 Samuel 6:1-5

I was raised in a faith tradition that took very seriously the second commandment: 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. (Exodus 20)  We used the term “graven image” from the King James translation. For some reason it sounds more ominous than idol to me. A simple empty cross was about the only art in the sanctuary. We did have pictures of events in the Bible. This was, I believe, my church’s attempt to live the second commandment.

David’s exuberance over the return of the Ark of the Covenant was about stability returning to Israel, which had been at war for some time. It was actually a rare event to see the Ark for most of its existence it was tucked away in the Holy of Holies where only the High Priest saw it at special times.

A carved monument displaying the Ten Commandments was donated for use at the Oklahoma State Capitol a few years ago and has been the source of controversy ever since. In response a satanic group has applied to erect a statue of Satan near the Ten Commandment monument. The decision to allow the satanic statue was put on hold awaiting an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the Ten Commandment monument. Recently they ruled the display of the Ten Commandment stone was unconstitutional. Now a group is talking about a vote of the people to change the constitution.

Because there are so many critical issues facing our state, I tend to agree with the prophet Joel when he said: rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. (Joel 2:13) Rather than displaying the Ten Commandments like an idol, we need to live them.

Prayer: O Lord, create in us clean hearts and right spirits for the facing of this hour. 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.