Immediate Word

Dear fellow preachers,

With all the talk of war, is it possible that relying on our country's military might is a form of idolatry? If it seems an odd question, you should read this week's installment of The Immediate Word, written by TIW team member Charles Aaron, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Bowie, Texas. We think you'll see what a timely and important topic this is.

As usual, we've also included responses from other TIW team members as well as some related illustrations, worship resources by Larry Hard, and a children's sermon by Wesley Runk. Also this week, you'll find some comments from other pastors who responded to our e-mail survey about idolatry.


Military Might and National Idols
By Charles Aaron
Exodus 32:1-14

The news story that has dominated the headlines for the last several weeks is the insistence by President Bush that the United States should lead an invasion of Iraq. The goals of this invasion would be to destroy Iraq's stockpiles of weapons, especially what have come to be called "weapons of mass-destruction," and to remove Saddam from power. No one doubts that the United States has sufficient military muscle to prevail in such an invasion.

The invasion raises a number of ethical questions, however. Among these questions are whether such an invasion meets the criteria for a "just war" [for an enumeration of the criteria for just war, see the comments by other team members below], and whether the invasion would set the world on a slippery slope of other "pre-emptive" invasions by other countries. A theological issue for preachers is whether it is possible that Americans could turn our military weapons into an idol.

To begin to reflect on that question, we can turn to one of the lectionary texts for October 13 -- Exodus 32:1-14. This pericope is the classic narrative about idolatry, and serves as a paradigm for the biblical admonitions against idolatry. The story is much more subtle than a surface reading indicates. A careful analysis of the story reveals the nuances of the temptation toward idolatry.

The story takes place during the wandering through the wilderness following the Exodus event, in which the people of Israel were led out of Egypt and through the Sea of Reeds to freedom. Even though this journey has, by this point, been relatively brief, the people have complained, shown fear, and generally distrusted that their sojourn is a good idea. They have been hungry and thirsty (Exodus 15:22-17:7), and now they feel abandoned by Moses, who is out of sight on Mt. Sinai.

The preacher should resist the temptation to stereotype the people in the narrative as "whiners." Prior to the Exodus they knew nothing but oppression and slavery. Frustration, a feeling of lack of control over one's own circumstances, and a strategy of deception by the oppressors are ingredients in such an existence. One recalls the incident in chapter 5, where Pharaoh requires the Israelites to find their own straw, but make the same number of bricks as before, and the repeated unfulfilled promises of Pharaoh to let the people leave. These episodes, and others like them, make the people wary of leaders. In addition, the people are now in unfamiliar territory, with only a hazy understanding of where they are going, and what they should be doing. Fear and anxiety are the context of all that happens in this episode.

In response to their fear and anxiety, the people ask Moses' brother, Aaron, to create idols for them. What happens next is quite subtle. The people say to Aaron, "Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us." The people want at least two things of these gods. They want something tangible and concrete, likely in order to reassure them. They also want gods who will do what they want them to do: "go before them." These elements are part of the temptation to idolatry. We want something secure, because God seems so far off and inaccessible. Our most direct contact with God is through prayer and internal feeling. These subjective "feelings" can be blocked by any number of things, such as fatigue, irritation, etc. So we want something tangible. We also want a god who will give us what we want, who will do our bidding, what someone has called a "cosmic bellhop." We want a god who will ensure our success and prosperity.

Verse 5 of this passage is crucial to the understanding of idolatry in this text. Aaron declares that on the following day they shall celebrate a "festival to the Lord (YHWH)." The formation of the golden calves was not a rejection of YHWH; it was not a deliberate turn to another religion. The idolatry in the passage is the attempt to worship YHWH and the golden calf. The "festival to the Lord" which followed was apparently a wild bash (see v. 18). The frenzy of the party was likely fueled by the anxiety of the people. In their fear, they needed to blow off steam.

The material used to make the golden calf came from ordinary objects: the people's gold earrings. The earrings themselves were not inherently evil, so long as they were used correctly. Simply having the gold was not itself an act of idolatry.

These insights from Exodus 32 help us to reflect on the contemporary situation. Despite our differences, some important analogies exist. Certainly, after September 11, 2001, Americans are fearful and anxious. We face an uncertain future, vulnerable to stealthy, unpredictable enemies. We may want God to ensure our safety, but we must recognize that God did not protect us from the terrorist attack (it may well be that God prevented the attack from doing any more damage than it did, but God did not prevent the attack itself). Many of us affirm that God was present to comfort and to heal, but are we tempted to want a god who will "go before us"? Do we want to dictate how God will act?

Undoubtedly, we are in a different social and political situation than the children of Israel in the wilderness. America is an economically and militarily powerful nation, whereas the people of Israel were a poor, powerless band of former slaves. Nevertheless, this story from Exodus sheds light on our temptations to idolatry. Idolatry is not essentially a conscious rejection of the Christian faith. It arises out of fear and anxiety and leads the idolater to seek security. Furthermore, as the story indicates, idolatry is not just an individual sin, but can be a group endeavor. The people speak and act as one character in the narrative, displaying a group mentality.

In summary, the text of Exodus 32 teaches that idolatry arises out of fear and uncertainty; leads idolaters to seek security; can be a collective phenomenon; and is a distortion of one's faith, not an outright rejection of faith.

Without question, all Christians are tempted to idolatry. We do not consciously reject our faith and worship a graven image. However, out of anxiety, we do place our trust in things rather than in God. We often find God inaccessible, and so seek out the security of something concrete. We allow something else to command our allegiance, then declare a "feast to YHWH."

As Psalm 20:7-8 indicates, it is certainly possible to make weapons of war and military might an idol. People can trust in their own creation rather than in God, who created them. The question of whether Americans have made our weapons of war an idol is complex. America, the political entity, is not the church. Only the church can be accused of idolatry. Our leaders, especially President Bush, are church members, and so must juggle the responsibilities of the state and the church. The political entity of the United States has the responsibility to ensure the safety of its citizens. The church has the responsibility to bear witness to God. Part of that role ought to be to serve as the conscience of the state. The church has the prophetic role of exposing injustice and providing an alternative to the values of the world.

Christians who hold to a strict pacifist understanding of the use of military force would consider the mere existence of nuclear weapons to be an act of idolatry. Just-war theorists acknowledge that weapons are a necessary evil. The question for just-war theorists is: When should the weapons be used? Many just-war theorists remain unconvinced that the threat posed by Saddam Hussein meets the criteria for a just war.1 One role of the church in preventing idolatry is to hold the nation accountable for meeting these criteria. In our witness to the world, we proclaim that justice places restrictions on the use of military force, that might does not make right.

Beyond that, part of the role of the church in this crisis is to remember its distinctiveness from the state. The church proclaims and models the act of faith of continuing to trust in God, even in times of anxiety and fear, even when the future is uncertain. The faith of the church recognizes that we are often vulnerable, and must trust God, even when the way seems unclear. We can offer no guarantee that God will protect us from further terrorist attacks. We offer only the less tangible promise that the future and the creation beyond history are in God's hands. The threat posed by terrorists and by Saddam Hussein is real and serious. The deeper threat, however, is that fear will lead us to distort our faith and abandon our trust in God.

I don't think the American people as a whole can be accused of making our weapons of war into an idol yet. Some within the country may have done just that. If we begin to think that we can dictate other countries' actions, if we claim that only two sides to the issue exist, if we believe that we are above critique, we begin to fall into that danger. The tasks of the church in the United States are to model vulnerability and trust in the face of uncertainty, to proclaim the just use of all weapons (I'm revealing my stance on the pacifism-just war debate here), to pray for peace, and to serve as the conscience of the country. Our Lord did indeed "go before us," but he went to a cross, and told us that in seeking to save our lives, we may well lose them.

Notes

1 See the recent column by Miroslav Volf in Christian Century 119.20, September 25-October 8, 2002, 35.

Team Comments

George Murphy responds: I think that one problem throughout your piece is that it's never said that idolatry is the most fundamental sin. There is a reason why the first commandment is first. Putting the creature in place of the Creator underlies all other sins, as Romans 1 (which is the classic text, though perhaps not the classic "narrative," about idolatry).

Idolatry may not be a conscious rejection of the Christian faith. Then again, it may be. It may also be -- especially in a post-Christian setting -- an expression of people's real religion.

You say, "One role of the church in preventing idolatry is to hold the nation accountable for meeting these [just war] criteria." What's the connection? How is this to be done?

For a sermon on golden calf/idolatry/military power etc. Psalm 20:7 and Isaiah 31:1 are very pointed about reliance on military technology and power. Yet it should also be remembered that idolatry is placing trust in other things ahead of God, not trusting in them in some secondary degree. There is nothing wrong with trusting your doctor to heal you if you believe that God acts through the doctor as a second cause, and in fact, it's presumptuous to insist that if God is really going to heal you it must be done miraculously and not through second causes. Similar things can be said about military power, at least for those who hold something like a justifiable war position.

The connection of the calf episode in Exodus with 1 Kings 12:26-30 is important. (Note Exodus 32:4 = 1 King 12:28b.) The fact that these representations of YHWH in the Northern Kingdom served a political purpose is significant.

Wesley Runk responds: I have several thoughts:
A. If we American Christians are on the way to making the American military an idol, does the idol make us feel secure knowing that we can within days destroy the source of evil-terror? We are a fearful people when we find our enemies within our neighborhoods, working side by side in our workplaces while training for suicide missions. We mourn our dead and pray at our funerals, but where do we rally? Are we like the psalmist seeking revenge against an evil empire? Or do we look to political and military leaders to reduce the fanatically religious to ashes? Would we trust our God to defend us, or would we rather put our hope in a "smart bomb" while building our "star wars" technology? Is this social order, while not perfect, as close to heaven as many have ever thought possible? Our church leadership has not declared nations of Islam infidels, but rather we are being told that a few radicals do not speak for one of the world's great religions. It is not within our churches where people are stirred with emotional fervor but rather in the halls of Congress where President Bush declares that we will hunt down the terrorists and the sources of terrorism until they are vanquished.

B. What happened to the ideas of having our children collect food and clothing for Afghanis? Would a crusade of kindness stir many American hearts? What kind of an effect would a preemptory strike of food, agricultural technology, medical missionaries with training hospitals, well builders and electrical power plants have? Imagine building coalitions of Christian denominations or nations of Christian people dedicated to the eradication of hunger and disease. Would that be an idol?

C. Did the golden calf make the Hebrew people feel more like other people? Were they now more like the Egyptians whom they fled? Would the golden calf give them protection, prosperity, and prestige, or was it simply a reminder that they were now free? Slaves could worship the unseen God and feel safe that they were not detected as believing in something other than the Egyptian gods.

D. Our nation takes great pride in the accuracy of a military weapon that can be fired from a location hundreds of miles from the target. It hits the target with precision and all of the statistics represent the injured and dead of the enemy. But we react in fear when our security is so lax that it allows six or more men trained as pilots in a Florida city to bring down the greatest images of our national and international wealth. What good is our military strength against a 13-year-old woman armed as a bomb in a cafe or shopping center?

E. What is the cure for idol worship? Where can a church turn when it is consumed by problems of leadership, denominational jealousy, moral bankruptcy, and financial distress?

F. I am reminded of the story about a congregation in the 1940s. The people were all German, their services were in German, and their closest relatives still lived in the Old Country. But they did not want Americans to suspect or think less of them. They convinced the preacher that he must only have one service and the baptismal and burial services said in the mother tongue. Otherwise they were to be Americans. The American flag, which had been kept in an insignificant place prior to the war, was now moved to center stage and often appeared near the pulpit on Sunday mornings. The pastor consistently removed it from his side and put it in a location with the Christian flag. But the people of the congregation were nervous about this slight and urged the pastor to move it back where others would see it and know of the congregation's loyalty to America.

G. Think of people like Simon the Zealot and others in the ranks of Jesus who tried to drive Jesus into being a national messiah. Think of the church in the 14th and 15th centuries exploring the new worlds behind the military might of the European military.

Chuck Cammarata responds: You helped me to see that the Israelites weren't just a bunch of whiners, but were in a very anxiety-provoking situation. Their desire for security is natural and very human. Just as our similar desires are today as we face economic uncertainty, the possibility of terrorist attack, and the specter of war with Iraq. Where do we turn? What do we rely on? You remind me how often I am tempted to grasp at something -- or someone -- other than God in seeking security. While I still believe, I want more than God is currently giving me. (I like the stuff about idolatry not always being a rejection of God but a distortion of faith -- it is much easier for me to identify with that than with an outright rejection of God.) Instead of truth on which to stand, I want to "feel" safe. I don't know that I want a "cosmic bellhop" -- it tends to make light of the legitimate anxiety of both the Israelites and us -- but I do want something to anesthetize me or move me to feel the peace that God is supposed to give me.

So the question is: Are we American Christians and our leaders -- especially our president who is a confessed Christian -- distorting our faith? How does a Christian rely on God in a world where there are evil men who are ruthless? What ought our response to a madman who has weapons of mass destruction be?

In World War II Germany, many godly Christians struggled with this issue as they watched Hitler's megalomania plunge Germany toward destruction and his anti-Semitism coldly murder millions of Jews. Christians came to different conclusions as to how to respond. Some prayed for God's intervention. Some undertook the path of non-violent civil disobedience. And others, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, chose to attempt to assassinate Hitler. There is no definitive guidance in scripture on this issue. But for the Christian, the core of the matter is to turn to Yahweh. The Israelites' sin was in turning from Yahweh. Christians may come to different conclusions on difficult issues like our response to Saddam Hussein, but we cannot turn from God and put our trust in horses and chariots -- or missiles and bombs -- just because we don't "feel" the peace of God right now. Anxiety is a test, an opportunity to learn to trust God even when emotions deceive us. It is a wilderness where we must learn to rely on God to sustain us when we don't feel his presence.

Just one other note, Charles - I would leave out the parenthetical statement about God maybe having prevented the 9/11 attack from doing more damage. It doesn't really help your piece. It just seems like an attempt to soften the impact of 9/11. Trying to seek security in a more comforting image of God.

Carter Shelley responds: You say, "A theological issue for preachers is whether it is possible that the United States could turn our military weapons into an idol." Considering the amount of our government's budget dedicated to military buildup and also the fact that we are one of the primary sources of military equipment and weapons to other countries of the world, we've already been on this road a long time. For us to become the aggressor, rather than merely the profiteers is a new step into a way of being in the world different from our former image as defender of democracy, or as protector or ally of weaker nations. In other words, I think we've already made the military an idol, but most of the citizenry, including myself, have been passive about letting it happen.

On the other side, the Gulf War in 1991 demonstrated that spending all that money on really neat equipment seemed to save American soldiers' lives because of all those "smart bombs."

The bigger idolatry as I see it, is believing in our own righteousness. Reinhold Niebuhr in The Irony of American History says that has been our biggest flaw as a nation. Because we understand ourselves as a Christian nation (historically and in perception) and a democracy, we think we're always the good guys. We ignore the reality that we too act out of self-interest as both a nation and as individuals. That our own self-interest (like gas-guzzling SUVs and two and three cars per family) may have as much to do with our desire to go to war with oil-rich Iraq as anything else.

You also say, "We want something secure, because God seems so far off and inaccessible." I suggest you hold on to this thought a little longer before you jump to prayer. Especially this week with snipers loose in Virginia, we want our children safe, our marriages solid, and our futures secure.

When you ask, "Do we want to dictate how God will act?" you are asking an excellent question. "Do we think we can do a better job than God?"

I have been frustrated with American naiveté and self-centeredness post 9/11. Many of us have been blessed as Americans to be sheltered from much of the suffering and hardships the rest of the world face daily. It's as though we thought nothing bad would/should ever happen to us, so we're upset and questioning God when it does.

About two months ago Frontline did a piece on our betrayal of the Kuwaitis during the 1991 war. It was graphic enough in the damage Saddam Hussein has wrought to convince my conscientious-objector spouse to determine something had to be done about Hussein because he really is without care or compassion for anyone. Reminds me of Stalin in terms of the unreality about who dies so long as he survives.

When we invaded Afghanistan last October, I so wanted us to shower them with food, supplies, and relief, not bombs. To convert through love and kindness without strings attached. In some ways that perspective was naïve, because many Afghani people truly have been liberated by the Taliban's dispersal. Still, I wish we'd tried it.

Jonathan Smith responds: It came to my mind that the issue of idolatory -- using our military might -- can actually be extended to a broader entity, and that is our vision of ourselves/country as being the best at a whole range of abilities. Put another way, our arrogance, whether warranted or not. In my readings of foreign publications and conversations with non-Americans, even our supposed friends in Germany and Japan, I think what grates on most of them is our sheer arrogance that America knows what is best and that we in many ways try to force our views on others. That includes our legal system, our business methods, our culture (music/movies/morals/etc.). Sometimes it even comes across like: "Look, I know you (America) are right, but you don't have to shove it down my throat, do you?" Yet, it is kind of schizophrenic since the first place many of them want to vacation in or immigrate to is America.

Carlos Wilton responds: Charles, I very much appreciate what you've done here ... an extremely thorough treatment of the subject. What I have to say, in response, is not to question anything you've said, but rather to add to it.

Someone once said that "idolatry is worshiping anything that ought to be used, and using anything that ought to be worshiped." Aaron's casting of the golden calf certainly crosses that boundary.

Yet, as you say, it's a bit more subtle than some sermons on this text have suggested. When many of us think of Aaron and the golden calf, the image that comes to mind may come straight out of the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille film, The Ten Commandments. There's Edward G. Robinson, trading his gangster's fedora for a burnoose, playing Dathan -- a minor character in the Old Testament (Numbers 16:12; Deuteronomy 11:6) whom ol' Cecil B whomps up into a composite bad guy, the chief foil for Moses. Dathan embodies everything that's wrong with Israel in the wilderness: the short memory, the complaining, the yearning for the fleshpots of Egypt. In the film, he pretty much single-handedly incites the crowd to demand a golden calf, then revels in the wild, bangle-jangling dance that's 1950s Hollywood's idea of biblical decadence.

DeMille doesn't do us preachers any favors. Any fool could peg his version of idolatry for what it is. Israel's revelry looks more like a frat party that's gotten out of hand ("To-ga! To-ga! To-ga!") than a rival object of devotion.

The problem is, idolatry is rarely so obvious. As you correctly point out, Aaron says, "Let's make a golden calf so we can better worship Yahweh." He's not trying to set up a rival deity, nor is he trying to send the tired troops into town for some R-and-R; he's just accommodating to the culture, trying to make the faith a little more intelligible.

As do we Christians, all too often in our daily lives. Let's domesticate God a little, we think to ourselves. Let's transform the Lord of heaven and earth into our "co-pilot," our buddy, our chum. Well, of course our good buddy must be an American like us. Of course God will be on our side, in a war against Iraq or anybody else. That's because God thinks just like we do ... ain't it so? ("For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord" --Isaiah 55:8.)

The genius of Israel's worship lies in its utter abandonment of any and all aids to worship -- including Aaron's golden calf. God is to be experienced directly, without mediation. God cannot be confined -- not any time, not anywhere. God is utterly sovereign and free.

The danger of our present national situation is that we seem to be well on the way to confusing something not merely incidental to God (like the golden calf), but something utterly unholy -- war -- with that which is holy. The church's classic doctrine of the "just war" does not say war can ever be just, in and of itself -- only that it can be less unjust than the other alternatives. Thomas Aquinas originally laid out this doctrine. He set up three criteria for a just war:

1. The war must be started and controlled by a state or ruler. (No civil wars, no riots, no insurrections.)
2. There must be a just cause. (Not greed or revenge, but something like self-defense or the prevention of an even worse evil.)
3. The war must be for good, or against evil. Law and order must always be restored. ("Taking out Saddam" is not enough; some order has got to rise in his place.)

Subsequent thinkers in the Roman Catholic Church added two more criteria:

4. The war must be a last resort. (Those UN inspectors must be truly fed up, their bags packed, ready to return home.)
5. The war must be fought proportionally. (No more force than necessary to accomplish the war's just aims.)

The "just war" theory assumes conventional war. When weapons of mass destruction are involved -- or weapons such as our nation now has, the "smart bombs" that permit war to be waged from a sanitary distance -- a case can be made that classic "just war" theory no longer applies.

The Rev. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury-designate, makes this latter point. He told the BBC recently that a just war cannot be fought "from a distance":

The terrorist, the suicide bomber, is someone who's got to the point where they can only see from a distance: the sort of distance from which you can't see a face, meet the eyes of someone, hear who they are, imagine who and what they love. All violence works with that sort of distance; it depends on not seeing certain things. No one would ever have been able to carry on as a soldier in earlier days without the training not to see or think about an enemy in personal terms. Sometimes what made soldiers break down in an environment like the trenches of the First World War was some moment when they became aware of the humanity of a particular enemy. And one of the disturbing things about religious faith is that it tells us that God never sees at a distance, never sees things only in general. There are no lives that are superfluous, no lives you can forget about.... With the high-tech military methods we've gotten used to in recent years, there's a greater temptation to take for granted the view from a distance. And this means that we should see the military option as something to be considered a lot further down the road than it would have been even 50 years ago. If we don't see the point of this caution, which isn't at all a matter of squeamishness or cowardice, the nearer the terrorist comes to winning, because it means we're getting used to the view from outside as the normal perspective -- the distant view that spares us the real cost to our own humanity. [Quoted in Sojomail, 9/25/02]
Walter Wink of Union Seminary in New York has thought a lot about violence, and he's come to see it as a kind of idolatry -- although most who practice this alternative religion, he says, would not admit it:

Violence is so successful as a myth precisely because it does not seem to be mythic in the least. Violence appears to be the nature of things. It is what works.

It is inevitable, the last and, often, the first resort in conflicts. It is embraced with equal alacrity by people on the left and on the right, by religious liberals as well as religious conservatives. The threat of violence, it is believed, is alone able to deter aggressors. It secured us forty-five years of a balance of terror. We learned to trust the Bomb to grant us peace....

The roots of this devotion to violence are deep, and we will be well rewarded if we trace them to their source. When we do, we will discover that the religion of Babylon -- one of the world's oldest, continuously surviving religions -- is thriving as never before in every sector of contemporary American life, even in our synagogues and churches.

It, and not Christianity, is the real religion of America. I will suggest that this myth of redemptive violence undergirds American popular culture, civil religion, nationalism and foreign policy, and that it lies coiled like an ancient serpent at the root of the system of domination that has characterized human existence since well before Babylon ruled supreme. (Walter Wink, Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination [Fortress Press, 1992], 13.)

George Murphy responds to Carlos Wilton: I believe the connection between idolatry and the just war concept would have to be worked out in more detail. I'm not sure that that could be done within the limits of a sermon in such a way that either could be explored adequately.

But I do want to say that I think that the statement here -- that weapons of mass destruction have made the just war concept obsolete -- is quite wrong. It is precisely the "proportionality" criterion of the just war doctrine that rules out, e.g., the use of nuclear weapons against cities. (Of course it rules out a lot of other things as well.) The RC bishops in their pastoral letter of 1983, "The Challenge of Peace," used the just war doctrine to rule out virtually all military uses of nuclear weapons.

Of course this doesn't mean that the just war position is correct. But a principled argument for a pacifist position needs to be made independently of the types of weapons that might be used.

I think one of the more helpful statements of the criteria for a just (or justifiable) war is in John Howard Yoder's When War is Unjust (Augsburg, 1984).

1. The authority waging the war must be legitimate.
2. The cause being fought for must be just.
3. The ultimate goal ("intention") must be peace.
4. The subjective motivation ("intention") must not be hatred or vengefulness.
5. War must be the last resort.
6. Success must be probable.
7. The means used must be indispensable to achieve the end.
8. The means used must be discriminating, both (a) quantitatively, in order not to do more harm than the harm they prevent ("proportionality"), and (b) qualitatively, to avoid use against the innocent ("immunity").
9. The means used must respect the provisions of international law.

The first 6 are the conditions for going to war (jus ad bellum) and the last three the rules governing conduct of war (jus in bello). The distinction is worth making.


Related Illustrations

The following from Luther's explanation of the first commandment in The Large Catechism (in The Book of Concord, ed. Theodore G. Tappert [Fortress, 1959], pp.365-366) may be helpful:

Question: What is it to have a god? What is God?
Answer: A god is that to which we look for all good, and in which we find refuge in every time of need. To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in him with our whole heart. As I have often said, the trust and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol. If your faith and trust are right, then your God is the true God. On the other hand, if your trust is false and wrong, then you have not the true God.

This I must explain a little more plainly, so that it may be understood and remembered, by citing some common examples of failure to observe this commandment. Many a person thinks he has God and everything he needs when he has money and property; in them he trusts and of them he boasts so stubbornly and securely that he cares for no one. Such a man also has a god -- mammon by name, that is, money and possessions -- on which he fixes his whole heart. It is the most common idol on earth. He who has money and property feels secure, happy, fearless, as if he were sitting in the midst of paradise. On the other hand, he who has nothing doubts and despairs as if he had never heard of God. Very few there are who are cheerful, who do not fret and complain, if they do not have mammon. This desire for wealth clings and cleaves to our nature all the way to the grave."

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There is so much frustration in the world because we have relied on gods rather than God. We have genuflected before the god of science only to find that it has given us the atomic bomb, producing fears and anxieties that science can never mitigate. We have worshiped the god of pleasure only to discover that thrills play out and sensations are short-lived. We have bowed before the god of money only to learn that there are such things as love and friendship that money cannot buy -- money is a rather uncertain deity. These transitory gods are not able to save or bring happiness to the human heart. Only God is able. It is faith in Him that we must rediscover. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

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A recent cartoon showed a man and wife sitting in church. Down front, the pastor was vigorously preaching, and a sign on the wall behind him said, "Today's Sermon: The Ten Commandments." The wife was glaring at her husband, and the husband, looking guilty, was saying to her, "Well, at least I haven't made any graven images." (from Stan Purdum)

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Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the radio psychologist, had a call one day from a young woman who was debating about having a baby shower for her pregnant sister-in-law. The woman and her brother were Jewish, but her brother had married a Methodist woman. The thing that made the woman hesitate about the baby shower was an ancient Jewish superstition about not having baby showers until after the baby was born. But it was only a superstition and there was nothing in Jewish law prohibiting a pre-birth baby shower. And besides, as a Methodist, the sister-in-law didn't share that heritage anyway. Dr. Laura asked the woman if she and her brother practiced their religion and the woman said no. Then Dr. Laura asked just the right question: Why are you enthralled and concerned about superstition but not about religion? They had substituted an idol for the real thing. (Laura Schlessinger and Stewart Vogel, The Ten Commandments: The Significance of God's Laws in Everyday Life, 35.)

Things like superstition and astrology are at root attempts to find some cause for things that happen so we can control them -- rather than looking to God as the Lord of the universe.

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You know that in the last 30 years or so there has been a shakeup in how we talk about God. Some have raised the issue about God being called "Father" because it implies God is masculine, which is to make him too small. Some are merely trying to promote feminist agendas, but the best thinkers on the matter aren't trying to say God should be called Mother instead, because that too would be to make God too small. They are simply raising the issue that language itself confines our understanding of God. We continue to use "Father" as a term for God, but we're better to follow the example of the Bible, which is to use many terms for God, knowing that none of them is adequate, but that by using more than one, we at least acknowledge that he is larger than any name or term for him can be. The hymn today, "Source and Sovereign, Rock and Cloud," contains 39 different biblical terms for God, and the songwriter started with a list of over 200, all drawn from the Bible. No one of them is adequate for all that God is, but by using several, we avoid idolatry.

You see, any idea or notion that tries to limit God to one place or time or one way of doing things, or one definition is a modern form of idolatry -- an image that makes God too small. The effect of this second commandment was to awaken people to a cosmic view of God, to help them grasp that God is more than anything they could conceive of. Idolatry occurs today when we make God too small. (from Stan Purdum)


Worship Resources

CALL TO WORSHIP
L. From a world where many gods are served,
P. We come to worship God our Creator and Redeemer.
L. From a world where many goals are pursued,
P. We come to know again the One we are to follow.
L. From a world where many trust only in human power,
P. We come to put our trust in the power of God's Spirit.

HYMNS
"Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise"
"God of Many Names"
"The God of Abraham Praise"
"God of Grace and God of Glory"

CONFESSION
(Before the confession, the pastor could go to the front pew and invite persons to name gods we are tempted to serve. Someone could be asked in advance to begin the process by naming something in which we put our trust or hope. Another way of naming other gods would be to place on a board in the chancel the names of other gods we worship, such as "success," "money," "power," "popularity," "possessions," etc.)

I confess to God and to you, my sisters and brothers, that I have failed to love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. In this time of silent confession, I name the gods that I have loved and served, and pray for grace to offer myself anew to a life of faith, hope, and love.

SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

PRAYER FOR PARDON
God of grace, give us a clear sense of being forgiven. Through Your Spirit, turn us again to the path you have shown us through our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

LITANY OF AWARENESS
L. We want to command and control.
P. God wants of us compassion and caring.
L. We want power and possessions.
P. God wants of us peace and patience.
L. We want success and status.
P. God wants of us sacrifice and service.
L. We want dominance and dominion
P. God wants of us devotion and dedication.
L. We just want other gods.
P. God wants to be our one and only God.

CHORUSES
"Lord, God, Almighty" (words and music: Gary Alan Smith)
"What a Mighty God We Serve" (words and music: Jack Schrader
"As the Deer" (words and music: Martin Nystrom)

OTHER SUGGESTIONS
1. Find a prayer partner in the congregation who will pray each day together either by telephone or email. Set a time that is mutually agreeable. More than one family member could participate. The prayers for this week could be around:
Monday-Pray for spiritual success rather than material success.
Tuesday-Pray for spiritual leadership in our nation.
Wednesday-Pray for spiritual leadership in the world.
Thursday-Pray for generosity among those who have been blessed with wealth.
Friday-Pray for a family who are members of our congregation that they may be blessed with spiritual greatness.
Saturday-Pray for a family in our congregation who are presently inactive.
Sunday-Pray for the pastor and the spiritual leades of our congregation.

2. Find a prayer partner in another part of the world. Use email to locate a congregation outside of the USA and ask the pastor to establish prayer partners with members of your congregation.


A Related Children's Sermon
Exodus 32:1-14

Text: "They have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!" (v. 8)

Objects: a lucky coin, a rabbit's foot, and a cross

Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever had something so special that you kept it with you wherever you went? (let them answer) Does anyone have a lucky coin or something special they keep in their pocket or purse? (let them answer) I have a friend who believes that a rabbit's foot that he keeps in his pocket is very special. You can always tell when my friend is afraid that something bad will happen to him. He rubs his rabbit foot over and over again. Sometimes another friend of mine puts this special coin in his hand when he thinks he needs a special power. (rub the rabbit's foot and flip the coin up and down) Do any of you do things like my friends do?

If you were in real trouble or really afraid, do you think it might be a good idea to have something special for you to rub or hold or even kiss to show how important this thing is to you? Maybe a cross or a Bible would work. I want God to know how much I love him, so I take my cross and hold it up where everyone can see it and wish that this holy cross would bring me good luck. What do you think? Will the Bible or cross bring me good luck if I treat it special? What if I hold it close to me, kiss it with my lips and my eyes closed, and make a special promise that I will wear it forever if something good happens to me? (let them answer)

The answer is NO! God says that people should not make up images to worship or to pray to in these strange ways. God calls these graven images and they make God feel really bad. When the people of Israel wanted something special to represent them, they had a golden calf made for them. The worshiped that golden calf and they offered it special gifts like it was God. This made God very angry.

There are no substitutes for God. We can't see God, smell God, taste God, feel God, or hear him speak words. God is present with us all of the time. God is a spirit, a loving spirit. We can't replace God with a coin or a lucky rabbit's foot. We can't even worship a Bible or a cross.

We worship the same God Jesus worshiped. We pray to the same God Jesus prayed to when he was filled with joy and when he was sad. But Jesus never carried around a lucky coin or a rabbit's foot. Jesus never held a cross or worshiped the scriptures. Jesus worshiped the Father who is taught in the Bible. We worship Jesus who died on the cross.

The next time someone asks you to rub their rabbit's foot or hold their lucky coin, tell them that you don't need luck when you believe in God. You can also tell them that you do not believe in any graven image. You believe in God and you believe that God will care for you.


Responses from Our E-mail Survey

In preparation for this topic, we sent a brief e-mail survey to thousands of pastors, asking about modern expressions of idolatry in America and about military might. Here are a few of the responses.

Wesley Sullivan responds: There are times that the use of overwhelming force is necessary to save lives and preserve the peace for the larger numbers of people.... Obviously, you have in mind something that you have termed as "idol" to which Christians are turning in today's society.... I am assuming that you are wanting to set the tone for response to be "military might." I am sure you remember that the Israelites had no weapons but sticks and stones as they entered the Promised Land. Even under Saul there was only one set of armor in all of Israel, and it was too big for David. But notice that David and his successors were not afraid of totally relying on God and using the latest "technology" to do earthly battle.

"Idol" in our society is not a negative word. Witness the recent summer television series: American Idol. In religious terms an "idol" is any thing that is held in higher regard than God Himself. I don't think you have to look very far to recognize that God has less regard than most things and people in our society. That can range from how we treat, preserve, manipulate, and worship our own bodies, to the weight we give to the personal words of actors or other people of media interest over the word and commandments of God. Sometimes, even the denomination we attend is more important than God.

Danny Von Kanel responds: Christians turn to idolatry because of curiosity, perceived failure of their own faith, deceit, and false teachers. Satan is the master of disguise. What are those idols today? Sports, pursuit of wealth, sexual gratification, power, and prestige. Fortunately, my church and community is making strides toward God. We recently made national news with our citizens placing signs in their yards stating, "Jesus Is Lord Over Franklinton" after the ACLU threatened a lawsuit over similar signs placed on government property. Still, idolatry is present in some of our people's pursuit of wealth, entertainment, sports, and power.

David W. Edwards responds: The number 1 idol in today's society is entertainment. We love to be entertained and we will go anywhere or do just about anything to be entertained. Sadly, this has crept into the church. We want our so-called "worship" to be entertaining, so we have given up on hymns with their theological depth and adopted "worship" choruses that are light and airy, fun to sing, and that appeal to our emotions. We want sermons to be short and happy, letting us go from "church" feeling all warm and fuzzy and loved. We don't want to hear about God's holiness, God's justice, sin and death and hell. We want the crucifixion to be a golden cross without blood and agony. We want our pastors to do all the work of ministry while we sit on the sidelines being entertained. We want church to be fun and sociable. And we want worship to be "disposable." By that, I mean that we would rather watch three hours of televised football than sit in church for one hour.

We shuttle our children to Sunday Little League games, Sunday children's leagues of football, softball, soccer, and whatever, rather than take them to Sunday School. If schedules conflict, we choose sports over church. To me, the most depressing days in the church year are Super Bowl Sunday, the World Series, and the NBA playoffs. Our people would rather talk about their favorite team and sports hero than to talk about Jesus. We would rather wear an "I Like Mike" t-shirt than a WWJD bracelet....

Jerry Bimber responds: In partial answer to the question, "Do we as Americans make weapons of war and military might idols?" the answer is both yes and no. And you could insert any other country into the question and the answer would be the same. The question is not whether military might can become an idol ... of course it can, just as much as anything else. What is at issue is a heart that does not put God first in everything. Any other heart is idolatrous. But, please ... spare us an insipid sermonizing against the United States' use of military power at this time. It cannot be a coincidence that you choose this topic at a time of war. There are times when military force is appropriate, and many Christians think that now is such a time. It's true that some disagree as well. My point is that it is disingenuous to use the current situation to preach a political point of view. Why don't you change the question and say rather: "Do Americans who oppose the use of military might in Iraq and therefore blindly consign the Iraqi people to life under a tyrant when we have the power to free them make an idol out of their desire to sit on the sidelines and do nothing?" That should make for some thoughtful sermon preparation!

Willie Carver Scott responds: Some examples of idolatry: (a) lottery (b) dog tracks (c) zodiac signs (d) fortune tellers (e) new cars (f) new homes and(g) charismatic preachers. These are only a few but they are some that people worship and idolize.

Claude English responds: The primary things that cause Christians to turn to idolatry are: (1) lack of clear biblical preaching and teaching, (2) their own lack of understanding the Word of God because they don't read it, (3) their failure to believe in the all-sufficiency of Christ.

What are those idols today? The list is huge: self, money, power, material possessions, greed, etc, etc. Along with these there are all of the false religions ...

Kent Claussen Gubrud responds: Do we as spiritual leaders need to resist giving people what they want in times of fear and anxiety, namely an idol they can control to assuage them, and give them instead what they need, namely an experience of the presence of God in Jesus Christ, which in itself is a fearful proposition? ... it seems that we must first look at ourselves as leaders, to our own fears and idolatries, and ways of behaving to become idols and idol makers ourselves, before we can hope to preach Christ and him crucified.

James W. Duncan responds: What can cause Christians to turn to idolatry? Lack of a personal relationship [with Jesus]. Idols today include convenience, money, selfishness, arrogance, rush and hurry robs a lot of people with good intentions to "rob" God ... with their tithe of time with him, their intimacy with the WORD of God. An example of idolatry: Our congregation does not want to "follow," they want to have fun, they want their weekly dose of God to take place on Sunday morning....

The pastor of St.Tim's Lutheran Church responds: Idols include:
Food -- instead of food being what it should be to sustain and nourish our bodies for health, it becomes an obsession to relieve anxiety and fears or a calming effect from alarm, an escape. Food replaces God in our lives as it becomes the overwhelming attraction and desire all day, every day.

Materialism -- accumulating more and more without regard to debt accumulation, thinking the more we have the better off we will be, thinking "I've got to have ______" in order to be happy. We are buying into the lies of the enemy thinking things will satisfy our longings. When the only thing that will satisfy our longings is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pleasure & Leisure -- when this is all we live for and long for -- this idol also replaces the Living God who is our real joy and pleasure.

Comfort & Peace -- "All that matters is my comfort & peace." Shutting out everything that is not comfortable or peaceful and not addressing conflict or disharmony in a biblical manner.

Control -- A big idol in the church -- Trying to control your children, your environment, your family, your job, your friends -- becoming obsessed with orchestrating circumstances for your own benefit -- becoming exceedingly angry and anxious when the people or environment does not fall into your plans for control. Not realizing there is absolutely nothing we can control -- putting our idol of control on the throne and saying to God come down from your throne. Not understanding the sovereignty of God and His marvelous control over the course of history and in your life.

Children -- being obsessed with worry and anxiety over your children's health, welfare, schooling, playmates or peers, rebellion, sin, etc. Not trusting God to work all things according to His will in the lives of our children. Realizing that these children are only on loan to us for us to raise for the Kingdom of God. We need to rededicate our children to the Lord Jesus Christ for His honor and glory.


The Immediate Word, October 13, 2002, issue.

Copyright 2002 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.

All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.