The Golden Calf
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series I, Cycle A
Have you ever waited for someone or something until you just didn't think you could wait anymore? Whether we are waiting for a letter, waiting for a repairman to arrive, or we are the repairman waiting to be paid, waiting gets to us. Waiting is a miserable experience. If we are waiting for a phone call, we pace the floor, wring our hands, and end up taking our frustrations out on the phone itself: "Ring, you stupid phone!" The more important the thing we are waiting for, and the longer we have to wait, the worse it gets.
Parents often have the miserable job of waiting up on a weekend night for a child to come home. The agreed upon hour arrives, but the child doesn't. No need to worry, I'm sure she will be here soon. After a few more ticks of the clock, the imagination kicks in. For some reason, parents always think their child is lying in a ditch somewhere. How many children actually end up in ditches? No matter, that's where our child is when he or she is late. Anger and worry arm--wrestle each other for control of our brains, until finally, the headlights appear in the driveway.
For the sake of fairness, we have to say that youth do their share of waiting, as well. "Wait until you're older!" "Wait until next year!" The months right before the big driver's license test drag by; the day never seems to get here. Waiting to get to college, to be out on your own, seems to take forever. Whatever our age, we are just no good at waiting.
The people of Israel were not much good at waiting, either. Moses, their leader, the one who had gotten them this far, was up on the mountain. The people at the foot of the mountain were twiddling their thumbs, pacing the floor, checking their sundials. Where was Moses, anyway? What was taking so long? What are we supposed to do while we are waiting? Are we sure he is even coming back down?
Maybe their minds started playing tricks on them. They probably knew the story of Enoch - it was an ancient story. Enoch was one of the descendants of Adam through Seth. In a puzzling verse, the narrator tells us, "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him" (Genesis 5:24). If that story means that Enoch just disappeared, maybe Moses just disappeared. If Moses went up the mountain to be with God, maybe God just "took" him. If so, he wasn't coming back.
The people of Israel might not have quite trusted Moses. Early on, before the confrontations with Pharaoh even started, Moses tried to break up a fight between two Hebrews. One of them snarled at Moses, "Who made you a ruler and judge over us?" (Exodus 2:14). The story indicates more than a little sassiness among the people, and suggests that some of the Hebrews might have resented Moses. After all, despite the efforts to hide it (Exodus 2:10), Moses was an Egyptian name, and he had been raised in Pharaoh's house. Surely the thought crossed their minds, "Is he really one of us?"
Certainly, the people were used to being jerked around and lied to. Their taskmasters were cruel, and Pharaoh had issued his order to have all of the newborn male Hebrew babies killed (Exodus 1). When the pressure was on, Pharaoh ordered the taskmasters to require the Hebrew slaves to make just as many bricks as before, but without giving them straw (Exodus 5). They had to gather straw and make bricks. Pharaoh lied about letting them go. None of this put them in much of a trusting mood.
Even after they escaped from Egypt and crossed the Sea of Reeds, things had been far from easy. They had been hungry and thirsty (Exodus 16--17). They had fought nip and tuck battles (Exodus 17). They had questioned whether the Lord was really in this whole mess or not. To say they were stressed out would be an understatement.
Moses' trip up the mountain had actually been a high point in the journey. Reaching Mount Sinai was an important milestone. Just before Moses left, the people were consecrated in a big ceremony. Everyone was in a worshipful mood, assuring Moses that "everything the Lord has spoken, we will do" (Exodus 19:8). Things were going well when Moses went up the mountain.
Then Moses stayed longer than anyone expected. The waiting got to the people. They seem to have fed each other's fears. They all got anxious at once. When they went to Aaron, they went together, as one body. No voice of reason seems to have emerged to try to calm them down. If a voice of reason had tried to speak up, they likely would have shouted it down. This was an angry group here. In the waiting, in the frustration, all of the old insecurities seem to have popped back up. The spirit that had agreed to do what the Lord said when Moses went up the mountain seems to have wilted away. The people were scared, anxious, restless, and angry. They wanted some reassurance, some security, something they could hold on to. If Moses was gone, that must make Aaron, his brother, the new leader. So, the people go to Aaron.
What the people wanted was for Aaron to make gods for them. They did not so much want to change religions, but they wanted some security. They told Aaron, "Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us" (32:1). Their past had been full of betrayal, deprivation, and neediness. What was ahead of them was uncertain. They wanted gods who would help them deal with their anxiety. They wanted a god to go ahead of them into the unknown. Notice that they are not turning their backs on the Lord. In verse 5, Aaron declares, "Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord." They convince themselves that they are still worshiping the Lord, but they want something more. The problem with the Lord is that the Lord isn't tangible, isn't available on demand. Anxiety can make people do funny things, and what it makes the people of Israel do is worship their earrings. Aaron tells the people to take off their earrings and he makes a calf out of the gold in the earrings. Even the most primitive people should know better than to believe that their earrings led them out of Egypt. Nevertheless, they could see the calf; the calf was right there among them. Somehow, that made them feel better.
The problem with worshiping the real God is that God is so free. We can't always see God's hand in our lives right when we want to. God is not under our control. That was the problem the people of Israel had. God wasn't immediately accessible, at their beck and call. In their fear and anxiety they did not abandon the Lord; they distorted their worship of the Lord. That's so much subtler. They didn't think they were doing anything wrong. Life had been tough, and who knew what was around the next corner? They wanted some security. Wanting security is not bad in itself, and their earrings were not inherently evil. What made this episode so bad was that the people of Israel were trying to take away God's freedom, trying to control God, to make God do what they wanted.
What do we want from God? Certainly, we live in uncertain times, with lots of anxiety and very little security. After September 11, 2001, we never know what to expect. In the back of our minds is the question of whether today will be the day the terrorists strike again. The last few years have seen economic problems that we haven't seen since the Great Depression of the '30s. How safe are our jobs? Will our life savings evaporate like the morning mist? How do we protect our children from society's preoccupation with sex and infatuation with drugs? Will some clever scum steal our identity from our trash?
We could go on and on with our list of anxieties, but that would just make us more anxious! With all of the threats hovering around us, God can seem far away. We don't stop believing in God. We don't change religions. We just want something we can hold on to. We want some security, something to go before us into the unknown. That's when we open the door to idolatry. Idolatry isn't bowing down to a statue; it's not being secure enough to trust the unseen God with an uncertain future. Idolatry is being afraid to make ourselves vulnerable to God's future, even if we don't quite know where we are going. Our temptation to idolatry is not that we will cease to believe in God; it is doubting that God alone is enough. It is wanting to control God, to bend God to our wishes. We respond to our anxiety by creating idols. We turn the wisdom of investing money into the idol of trusting our money. We turn the responsibility of doing our best into the idol of success. We turn the call to understand our faith into the idol of demanding that everyone agree with our theology.
This passage makes clear that idolatry is not always an individual thing. The people of Israel go to Aaron together. Their anxiety was a community anxiety. Their idolatry involved the whole group. The United States as a whole experiences anxiety. We worry about the security of the whole nation. That worry can open the door to idolatry. If an innocent earring can become an idol, so can the necessity of national defense. We can place our trust more in our strength, our military might, our weapons of mass destruction than we do in God. We can become arrogant about our status in the world, rather than grateful to God for it. As Psalm 20 says, "Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses." Our military muscle can become a kind of idol. I know how hard it is for some of us to hear that. Our military protects us; soldiers risk their lives for our safety and freedom. I understand that, but anything can become an idol, and we always have to be careful. As needful as our military is, we cannot allow it to become an idol. We have to trust in God more than in our fighting ability.
God knows our anxiety. With Moses' persuasion, God forgave the people of Israel for the golden calf. Eventually, the people set out on their journey again, walking into the unknown. God forgives our acts of unfaith, when we clutch to some idol because of our insecurity. Not only does God forgive our idolatry, but also God gives us courage for our anxiety. We do not know the future, but we trust that God holds the future in divine hands. The people of Israel wanted gods who would go before them. We have a Savior who went before us. Our Lord Jesus went before us to the cross. Christ not only provides for our salvation, but also teaches us how to be vulnerable. In Christ we can trust in God's future, even if it seems hazy to us. We get no guarantees that everything will work out the way we want it to; we only get the assurance that God is with us in the journey. God has shown us grace in Jesus Christ. God is with us through the Holy Spirit. In this time of anxiety, in our fears, let us not seek God and a golden calf. Let us seek only God. All of history and what lies beyond history are in God's hands. God is faithful; let us trust in God.
Parents often have the miserable job of waiting up on a weekend night for a child to come home. The agreed upon hour arrives, but the child doesn't. No need to worry, I'm sure she will be here soon. After a few more ticks of the clock, the imagination kicks in. For some reason, parents always think their child is lying in a ditch somewhere. How many children actually end up in ditches? No matter, that's where our child is when he or she is late. Anger and worry arm--wrestle each other for control of our brains, until finally, the headlights appear in the driveway.
For the sake of fairness, we have to say that youth do their share of waiting, as well. "Wait until you're older!" "Wait until next year!" The months right before the big driver's license test drag by; the day never seems to get here. Waiting to get to college, to be out on your own, seems to take forever. Whatever our age, we are just no good at waiting.
The people of Israel were not much good at waiting, either. Moses, their leader, the one who had gotten them this far, was up on the mountain. The people at the foot of the mountain were twiddling their thumbs, pacing the floor, checking their sundials. Where was Moses, anyway? What was taking so long? What are we supposed to do while we are waiting? Are we sure he is even coming back down?
Maybe their minds started playing tricks on them. They probably knew the story of Enoch - it was an ancient story. Enoch was one of the descendants of Adam through Seth. In a puzzling verse, the narrator tells us, "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him" (Genesis 5:24). If that story means that Enoch just disappeared, maybe Moses just disappeared. If Moses went up the mountain to be with God, maybe God just "took" him. If so, he wasn't coming back.
The people of Israel might not have quite trusted Moses. Early on, before the confrontations with Pharaoh even started, Moses tried to break up a fight between two Hebrews. One of them snarled at Moses, "Who made you a ruler and judge over us?" (Exodus 2:14). The story indicates more than a little sassiness among the people, and suggests that some of the Hebrews might have resented Moses. After all, despite the efforts to hide it (Exodus 2:10), Moses was an Egyptian name, and he had been raised in Pharaoh's house. Surely the thought crossed their minds, "Is he really one of us?"
Certainly, the people were used to being jerked around and lied to. Their taskmasters were cruel, and Pharaoh had issued his order to have all of the newborn male Hebrew babies killed (Exodus 1). When the pressure was on, Pharaoh ordered the taskmasters to require the Hebrew slaves to make just as many bricks as before, but without giving them straw (Exodus 5). They had to gather straw and make bricks. Pharaoh lied about letting them go. None of this put them in much of a trusting mood.
Even after they escaped from Egypt and crossed the Sea of Reeds, things had been far from easy. They had been hungry and thirsty (Exodus 16--17). They had fought nip and tuck battles (Exodus 17). They had questioned whether the Lord was really in this whole mess or not. To say they were stressed out would be an understatement.
Moses' trip up the mountain had actually been a high point in the journey. Reaching Mount Sinai was an important milestone. Just before Moses left, the people were consecrated in a big ceremony. Everyone was in a worshipful mood, assuring Moses that "everything the Lord has spoken, we will do" (Exodus 19:8). Things were going well when Moses went up the mountain.
Then Moses stayed longer than anyone expected. The waiting got to the people. They seem to have fed each other's fears. They all got anxious at once. When they went to Aaron, they went together, as one body. No voice of reason seems to have emerged to try to calm them down. If a voice of reason had tried to speak up, they likely would have shouted it down. This was an angry group here. In the waiting, in the frustration, all of the old insecurities seem to have popped back up. The spirit that had agreed to do what the Lord said when Moses went up the mountain seems to have wilted away. The people were scared, anxious, restless, and angry. They wanted some reassurance, some security, something they could hold on to. If Moses was gone, that must make Aaron, his brother, the new leader. So, the people go to Aaron.
What the people wanted was for Aaron to make gods for them. They did not so much want to change religions, but they wanted some security. They told Aaron, "Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us" (32:1). Their past had been full of betrayal, deprivation, and neediness. What was ahead of them was uncertain. They wanted gods who would help them deal with their anxiety. They wanted a god to go ahead of them into the unknown. Notice that they are not turning their backs on the Lord. In verse 5, Aaron declares, "Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord." They convince themselves that they are still worshiping the Lord, but they want something more. The problem with the Lord is that the Lord isn't tangible, isn't available on demand. Anxiety can make people do funny things, and what it makes the people of Israel do is worship their earrings. Aaron tells the people to take off their earrings and he makes a calf out of the gold in the earrings. Even the most primitive people should know better than to believe that their earrings led them out of Egypt. Nevertheless, they could see the calf; the calf was right there among them. Somehow, that made them feel better.
The problem with worshiping the real God is that God is so free. We can't always see God's hand in our lives right when we want to. God is not under our control. That was the problem the people of Israel had. God wasn't immediately accessible, at their beck and call. In their fear and anxiety they did not abandon the Lord; they distorted their worship of the Lord. That's so much subtler. They didn't think they were doing anything wrong. Life had been tough, and who knew what was around the next corner? They wanted some security. Wanting security is not bad in itself, and their earrings were not inherently evil. What made this episode so bad was that the people of Israel were trying to take away God's freedom, trying to control God, to make God do what they wanted.
What do we want from God? Certainly, we live in uncertain times, with lots of anxiety and very little security. After September 11, 2001, we never know what to expect. In the back of our minds is the question of whether today will be the day the terrorists strike again. The last few years have seen economic problems that we haven't seen since the Great Depression of the '30s. How safe are our jobs? Will our life savings evaporate like the morning mist? How do we protect our children from society's preoccupation with sex and infatuation with drugs? Will some clever scum steal our identity from our trash?
We could go on and on with our list of anxieties, but that would just make us more anxious! With all of the threats hovering around us, God can seem far away. We don't stop believing in God. We don't change religions. We just want something we can hold on to. We want some security, something to go before us into the unknown. That's when we open the door to idolatry. Idolatry isn't bowing down to a statue; it's not being secure enough to trust the unseen God with an uncertain future. Idolatry is being afraid to make ourselves vulnerable to God's future, even if we don't quite know where we are going. Our temptation to idolatry is not that we will cease to believe in God; it is doubting that God alone is enough. It is wanting to control God, to bend God to our wishes. We respond to our anxiety by creating idols. We turn the wisdom of investing money into the idol of trusting our money. We turn the responsibility of doing our best into the idol of success. We turn the call to understand our faith into the idol of demanding that everyone agree with our theology.
This passage makes clear that idolatry is not always an individual thing. The people of Israel go to Aaron together. Their anxiety was a community anxiety. Their idolatry involved the whole group. The United States as a whole experiences anxiety. We worry about the security of the whole nation. That worry can open the door to idolatry. If an innocent earring can become an idol, so can the necessity of national defense. We can place our trust more in our strength, our military might, our weapons of mass destruction than we do in God. We can become arrogant about our status in the world, rather than grateful to God for it. As Psalm 20 says, "Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses." Our military muscle can become a kind of idol. I know how hard it is for some of us to hear that. Our military protects us; soldiers risk their lives for our safety and freedom. I understand that, but anything can become an idol, and we always have to be careful. As needful as our military is, we cannot allow it to become an idol. We have to trust in God more than in our fighting ability.
God knows our anxiety. With Moses' persuasion, God forgave the people of Israel for the golden calf. Eventually, the people set out on their journey again, walking into the unknown. God forgives our acts of unfaith, when we clutch to some idol because of our insecurity. Not only does God forgive our idolatry, but also God gives us courage for our anxiety. We do not know the future, but we trust that God holds the future in divine hands. The people of Israel wanted gods who would go before them. We have a Savior who went before us. Our Lord Jesus went before us to the cross. Christ not only provides for our salvation, but also teaches us how to be vulnerable. In Christ we can trust in God's future, even if it seems hazy to us. We get no guarantees that everything will work out the way we want it to; we only get the assurance that God is with us in the journey. God has shown us grace in Jesus Christ. God is with us through the Holy Spirit. In this time of anxiety, in our fears, let us not seek God and a golden calf. Let us seek only God. All of history and what lies beyond history are in God's hands. God is faithful; let us trust in God.
