Bowing at the Wrong Altar
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The Altars Where We Worship
The Altars Where We Worship
This morning our text is the story of the Golden Calf from . And because that’s our text, it makes sense that we look examine our own idols this morning. Idols have stood as barriers between people and God for as long as there have been people. They don’t always look the same through the ages, whether the thing worshiped is ourselves, the desires of our heart, or some cast image. And while the existence of very real, physical, hand-made images to be worshipped has been a very real problem for followers of God at various points along the way, as I said last week, the vast majority of those in our culture are never going to be tempted to bow down in reverent worship of a golden animal-shaped statue, it would be foolish to think that only that is the definition of an idol. Some 500 years ago, a guy named Martin Luther gave what I think is a pretty good working definition of an idol. He said:
A “god” is the term for that to which we are to look for all good and in which we are to find refuge in all need. Therefore, to have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in that one with your whole heart.
As I have often said, it is the trust and faith of the heart alone that make both God and an idol. If your faith and trust are right, then your God is the true one. Conversely, where your trust is false and wrong, there you do not have the true God. For these two belong together, faith and God.
Anything on which your heart relies and depends, I say, that is really your God.
Not that long ago a purchased a book entitled “The Altars Where we Worship.” The general direction the book takes is to examine the things that we Americans treat as gods without realizing it. I’ll admit up front that I haven’t finished it yet, though thus far I’d definitely say that if you’re a reader, its worth a spin. The authors write the book by examining our culture and identifying the things that people give their lives to with the same dedication and energy that the worship of God should warrant. Perhaps better said, the authors examine anything and everything people treat with religious reverence, which is no short list. I want to share with you a short quotes that I think do a pretty good job of defining the idolatrous nature of us as people.
“The objects of our desire have become our God, and fulfilling our desires have become our religion… Though we claim to serve things that are sacred, in actuality we deem sacred those things that serve us.”
Floyd-Thomas, Juan M.; Floyd-Thomas, Stacey M.; Toulouse, Mark G.. The Altars Where We Worship: The Religious Significance of Popular Culture (Kindle Location 212). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition.
I think that’s a pretty accurate statement that doesn’t just apply to those who choose not to attend church. There’s not a person in this room who hasn’t, knowingly or unknowingly, been tempted to give religious treatment and significance to things that aren’t God. And though the worship those things isn’t as absurd as bowing and feasting around golden animal, that perhaps makes them more insidious. Let’s dive into the text and then work from there. .
Common English Bible Chapter 32
The people saw that Moses was taking a long time to come down from the mountain. They gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come on! Make us gods who can lead us. As for this man Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t have a clue what has happened to him.”
2 Aaron said to them, “All right, take out the gold rings from the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took out the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 He collected them and tied them up in a cloth. Then he made a metal image of a bull calf, and the people declared, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf. Then Aaron announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the LORD!” 6 They got up early the next day and offered up entirely burned offerings and brought well-being sacrifices. The people sat down to eat and drink and then got up to celebrate.
So, they’ve been freed from Egypt, crossed the sea on dry land, received food from above and water from a rock, God has consistently provided for God’s people every step of the way. They’ve been led by fire and cloud, day and night. The Lord’s presence has never been far from them. They’ve heard the thunderous sound of God’s voice and instantly recognized the power of God. And yet the beginning of this passage tells us that its who that they’ve come to rely on? Moses! And the problem here isn’t in their mind their own impatience- who has ever done a good job at recognizing their own impatience. Instead, the problem is that Moses was a human. They need something more powerful, something not mortal to be God’s representative so they create what they’ve had in the past in Egypt- an image representative of their god. Aaron stands over this calf, attaches God’s work in Egypt to it, and then essentially, calls it The LORD, announcing a feast to The LORD as the dedication of the Calf. This isn’t a foreign god. This is a safe, controllable, comfortable version of the God lighting up the mountain that they’re so afraid of. They have, in essence, decided to domesticate God. What makes this all the more apparent is that just before this incident in the text is the instructions for how to build the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, the altar to God, the washbasin, the priestly vestments. There’s plenty of opportunity coming for carving and crafting, plenty of opportunity for the gold they just wasted on this calf to be used for God and instead they waste their resources, energy, and passion on their own safe, comfortable version of God. They’ve traded the throne of the all-powerful, unimaginable God for something they could understand, see, and grasp. They’ve set aside the intangible for the touchable, the Holy for the Earthly. No matter which way you slice it and no matter what approach you take to it, they were too afraid of God to trust God. To bring back last week’s image, they had pledged themselves to God, made their vows to God, and are now cheating on God while on the Honeymoon. They haven’t even left the mountain yet, and yet because they don’t trust God, because they trust their own wisdom and understanding far more than they do The LORD, they’ve dedicated themselves to something that pales in comparison, and yet in their eyes is equated to God. To say that God is less than thrilled with this result is an understatement.
Common English Bible Chapter 32
7 The LORD spoke to Moses: “Hurry up and go down! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, are ruining everything! 8 They’ve already abandoned the path that I commanded. They have made a metal bull calf for themselves. They’ve bowed down to it and offered sacrifices to it and declared, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ” 9 The LORD said to Moses, “I’ve been watching these people, and I’ve seen how stubborn they are. 10 Now leave me alone! Let my fury burn and devour them. Then I’ll make a great nation out of you.”
11 But Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, “LORD, why does your fury burn against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and amazing force? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He had an evil plan to take the people out and kill them in the mountains and so wipe them off the earth’? Calm down your fierce anger. Change your mind about doing terrible things to your own people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, whom you yourself promised, ‘I’ll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky. And I’ve promised to give your descendants this whole land to possess for all time.’ ” 14 Then the LORD changed his mind about the terrible things he said he would do to his people.
11 But Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, “LORD, why does your fury burn against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and amazing force? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He had an evil plan to take the people out and kill them in the mountains and so wipe them off the earth’? Calm down your fierce anger. Change your mind about doing terrible things to your own people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, whom you yourself promised, ‘I’ll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky. And I’ve promised to give your descendants this whole land to possess for all time.’ ” 14 Then the LORD changed his mind about the terrible things he said he would do to his people.
11 But Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, “LORD, why does your fury burn against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and amazing force? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He had an evil plan to take the people out and kill them in the mountains and so wipe them off the earth’? Calm down your fierce anger. Change your mind about doing terrible things to your own people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, whom you yourself promised, ‘I’ll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky. And I’ve promised to give your descendants this whole land to possess for all time.’ ” 14 Then the LORD changed his mind about the terrible things he said he would do to his people.
Lets just start by remembering everything that Israel has said and done against God since they were brought out of Egypt. They are afraid each and every step of the way that God will abandon, that God won’t be able, that God won’t hold up to the promise. Every single time something goes wrong they cry out, wondering why God bothered to bring them out of Egypt just to die in the desert. And each and every time, God responds to their complains and accusations with patience, providing for them, meeting their needs, reassuring them of God’s own dedication to them. That’s not the direction of this passage. God essentially tells Moses, “That’s it, I’m done with them. I’ve tried and tried and tried and now I’m done trying. This is too far. How unclear was “don’t make images of any kind and call them gods, call the me? Did I stutter? You’ve been great Moses, I’ll take care of you don’t worry, just step out of my way and let me wipe them off the face of the earth.” And part of me feels like this has to be tempting for Moses, because these same people that God’s threatening to destroy are the ones who have fought against him constantly, so bad in fact that he fears for his life. And yet Moses defends the people and defends God’s own name for God’s sake.
And this passage can be a hard passage. In the end, God has to change his mind about wiping the people out- that’s how serious God was. The NIV says relented, but that doesn’t really do it justice. The KJV says God “repented". God completely changes the course of action. That’s how serious God takes their unfaithfulness to the covenant. But this passage also tells us about the importance of mediation, of prayer. Moses stands between God and the people. The way the text reads, it’s clear that if Moses doesn’t talk with God, if Moses doesn’t offer some push back, if Moses doesn’t speak up, our Old Testament ends up reading differently. Throw out whatever you’ve been told, the future is not set in stone. Moses intercedes on behalf of the people and instead of a story about divine Judgement what we have is a story about God continuing with the people in spite of their chronic unfaithfulness, in spite of their ignorance. There’s consequences sure, and you can read about it in the following verses, but there’s not mass destruction and its because Moses ignore’s God’s instruction in verse 10 to “leave me alone.”
Common English Bible (Nashville, TN: Common English Bible, 2011), .
Common English Bible (Nashville, TN: Common English Bible, 2011), .
Now, if this depiction of God is a bit unsettling, join the club. There are, I think, some significant theological implications in this story that a sermon-format does not have time to unpack, nor will I pretend that I have all the answers. I’ll be more than happy to have that conversation with anyone who wants to after church or throughout the week. However, there are a couple of things here that I see that are worth pointing out. One- God is a passionate God who is not interested in sharing our attention with other Gods, nor is God interested in being subjected to our version of what God’s supposed to do, say, and be. For everything that God puts up with from the people during their journey, this one isn’t it. And the other thing I think this story reminds us of is that prayer, that conversation with God, is important. Moses voice and words to God make a difference. I believe that ours do to.
I want to close by making this as applicable as I can.
To avoid worshipping others, its worth asking ourselves how much power we are giving another over our mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. Putting a person in place of God is downright dangerous for all involved.
To avoid worshipping things, its worth asking ourselves why we want something and what we think it will do for us. Don’t give “things” power.
To avoid worshipping ourselves, our own understanding, its worth asking ourselves this question- Would I rather be “Right” or Holy? Those two things are seldom the same.
Pay attention to the people, things, groups, and ideas you invest yourself in. If those things have any sort of power over you, you have identified an idol- put it away.
Finally, pay attention to how you speak and treat God. If God is something you fully understand and have figured out, if you’ve made a formula out of the Holy, then your version of “God” is a god. You’ve created a golden calf and called it The LORD
The authors of “The Altars Where we Worship” identified these major altars in American culture - Body and Sex, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Sports, and Science and Technology. Those can be incredibly attractive, powerful gods. It is important that we recognize when we are more dedicated to any of those things than we are to God. So its worth asking- Do you spend more time thinking, reading, and talking about body and image than you do God? Do you spend more time thinking, reading, and talking about business than you do God? Do you spend more time thinking, reading, and talking about entertainment, music, movies, theatre, celebrities, etc. than you do God? Do you spend more time thinking, reading, and talking about sports than you do God? Do you spend more time thinking , reading, talking about science and tech than you do God? Do you spend more time thinking, reading, or talking about yourself than you do God?
Identify the altars you bow and and stop sacrificing to those Gods. God is a passionate God who wants far more than a part of you and your attention.