Know God

In the fall of 1986 I was a first year student at Boston University School of Theology. Some of my classes were required for all first years including Old Testament and Philosophy of Religion. In the fall of 1986 I was also passionately following the Red Sox and it just so happened the night before my Philosophy of Religion midterm exam that the Sox beat the Angels in the 7^th game of the American League Championship Series to advance to the World Series for the first time since 1975. I was at the four ALCS games at Fenway Park including Game 7 and I came back to the theological student’s dorm just off Kenmore Square feeling euphoric. There was the little matter of the midterm exam and when I came in a little before midnight, there was a group of about ten of my classmates who had spent the evening studying together for the exam. I got several looks of disbelief and scorn that I was out at a baseball game instead of studying Philosophy of Religion. I had a quick conversation with my friend Todd and then studied until about 4:00 am, got two hours of sleep, got up, studied a little more and then went to class.

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April 3, 2011
Exodus 20:4-6, Acts 17:16-31, Know God
Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
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The midyear consisted of just two questions, one of which I no longer remember, the other I recall vividly. It was, “State Paul Tillich’s definition of religion and then explain and illustrate why you agree or disagree.” Well I knew that Paul Tillich’s definition of religion was basically, “Ultimate concern with that which is Ultimate.” After I wrote that I wrote a beautiful essay about how there are many forms of idolatry which is giving ultimate concern to that which is not ultimate and that perhaps there was no greater example than sports. I then proceeded to describe how following a sports team is like a religion. There are the players who are worshiped like gods, there is a cathedral where the faithful gather, music – both modern and on an organ, there are ushers who help people find seats, people wear special colors and vestments and know when to sit and when to stand, when to clap, raise their hands, and express praise in loud shouts just like the Psalms say, they even eat special foods. And all of this involves giving significant offerings to the team which people do freely and without ever complaining that all the team ever asks for is money. All of this happens in the service of something that is not of ultimate concern so it is important to recognize the distinction. I got an A – on the midterm. J  We never want to give ultimate concern to something which isn’t of ultimate importance. That is the heart of 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. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, ⁶ but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:4-6

Those words about God punishing children for the iniquity of parents need to be addressed immediately before I go on to talk about idols and knowing the real God. I don’t think the text is saying God is vindictive, punishing children for things they didn’t do, so much as it is describing the domino effect that sin has in which the sins of parents frequently have a negative impact on their children and their family. Anyone who grew up with a parent who was abusive or an alcoholic probably understands how “the iniquity of parents” ends up hurting their kids, not because God wills that but because that is what happens. Ezekiel 18 is clear that God is not into unfairly punishing us for someone else’s sins. We all are personally responsible for ourselves. God’s desire is that all people turn from their sin and live. Ezekiel 18:20, 23, and 32, “²⁰ The person who sins shall die. A child shall not suffer for the iniquity of a parent, nor a parent suffer for the iniquity of a child; the righteousness of the righteous shall be his own, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be his own. ²³ Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live? ³² For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live.”

It is important to understand the character of God reflected in those verses from Ezekiel as we talk about idolatry – which is a focus of the second commandment. It is ironic that while God was giving the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai the Israelites were engaged in the very activity, which the second Commandment forbids (see Exodus 32)! They wanted a visible representation of the living God, but God said “No!” The image they made of a golden calf hindered, rather then helped true worship.

There are more references to this commandment in the Bible than any other of the Ten Commandments.[1] God longs for our love and an idol is something that distracts us from knowing God or giving God the proper place in our life. Many things can serve as an idol. In Biblical times, as we heard earlier in Jeremiah 10:1-10, it could be something made by a craftsman or an artisan out of wood or stone and covered with precious metals. In our culture, there are many things that can serve as idols – things like money, material things, outward appearances, sports, nationalism, political parties, war, even ourselves – all can be idols. Paul Tillich wrote that anything that achieves ultimate concern for us is elevated to the status of a god. However, when things become elevated to the level of ultimacy, they are idolatrous symbols of ultimate concern. Anything that we put above God, we’ve made into an idol. Dealing with idolatry is not a new problem for Christians.

In the first century Paul had to address issues around idol worship and eating food sacrificed to idols. One such incident arose when Paul was in the Greek city of Athens which is described in Acts 17:16-31.  “While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and also in the marketplace  every day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸ Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.” (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ¹⁹ So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰ It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means.” ²¹ Now all the Athenians & the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.

²² Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. ²³ 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. ²⁴ 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, ²⁵ 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. ²⁶ 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, ²⁷ 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. ²⁸ For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we too are his offspring.’ ²⁹ Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. ³⁰ While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

A simple way to think about idolatry is this – if you are or were married, how would you feel if your spouse carried someone else’s picture in his wallet or her purse? Idolatry in one sense is a love issue. Spouses want and have a right to expect exclusive love and God is the same way. An idol is a substitute for the real thing and God’s response to our idolatry is jealousy. In the Old Testament, idolatry is called adultery to God, because idolatry is unfaithfulness.

Not only that, we also could never shape, paint, or chisel anything that would be an adequate representation of who God is. That’s why Isaiah (40:18), Jeremiah (10) and Paul (Acts 17) all say the same thing, “We shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold, silver or stone.” Acts 17:29

Some people ask how can we describe God? God’s best description is Jesus Christ. Jesus (Colossians 1:15), “Is the image of the invisible God.”

Jesus came to make God, visible. The good news is that Jesus Christ wants to be known and you can know Him today. The turning point in our lives is when we stop seeking the God we want and start seeking the God who is.

God’s desire is to shape us into the image of Jesus Christ. The media says, ‘Image is everything.’ The only image that is important to have stamped on our heart and mind is the image of Jesus Christ. Christ is calling us to a loyalty to Himself that supersedes all other loyalties. Have you ever been on a tour of a castle? If you have been to the throne room and seen the throne, I can guarantee it is always a seat for one. You will never find a ‘throne-pew.’ Thrones come in all shapes, sizes and styles but one thing they all have in common – they are made for one occupant. Each of us needs to decide on having Jesus on the throne of our life. There’s only room for one God, in our heart. His name is Jesus. Jesus dwells wherever people let Him in.

There was a great preacher in the Bible called John the Baptist. He would say things like, “You bloodsuckers!” That’s not my style; I’m gentler. John was radical, in between sermons he’d eat grasshoppers, however without publicity thousands of people were compelled to go out into the desert and hear him preach a message of repentance and turning from sin that kept us from God. In other words turn from what you’re doing wrong, turn around and get baptized.

Can you imagine with all this going on at the Jordan River that a man shows up who has graduated from business school with an MBA. He’s looking at the throng of people and is amazed. All these people! How do they get here? No marketing department, no mass text messaging, no Facebook or YouTube. Obviously John the Baptist has got a message that is incredibly transforming and powerful. But its chaos! It’s disorganized.

So this man goes up to John and says, ‘This is amazing, I’m impressed. But it’s chaotic. How about if I help you, I’ve got some business skills, I could help. What I’ll do is, I’ll train some people, and set up some booths with some desks. People will have to line up behind one of these desks. My people will ask ‘What’s your name?’ they’ll write their name on the card. Then they’ll ask what’s the biggest sin you’ve ever committed? They’ll write it on the card, and slap it on there. [Hit chest] They come out to you in the river, you look at the name, look at the sin, and you do the baptism.

John the Baptist says, “I like your idea, let’s give it a try.” So the training takes place the desks are in positioned, thousands of people are lining up. First person. What’s your name? Gary, What’s the biggest sin you’ve ever committed Gary?  I like what other people have got. Coveting

What’s your name? Kathy, Kathy, what’s the biggest sin you’ve ever committed Kathy? I can’t help lying. Liar.

Name? Alan, Alan. What’s the biggest sin you’ve ever committed Alan? I’ve stolen. Thief.

What’s your name? Julie. Julie. What’s the biggest sin you’ve ever committed Julie? I had an affair. Adulterer.

What’s your name? John, John. What’s the biggest sin you’ve ever committed John? I’ve taken someone’s life. Murderer.

Name? Ruth, Ruth. What’s the biggest sin you’ve ever committed Ruth? I’ve dishonoured my parents. Dishonoured parents.

What’s your name? Kevin, Kevin. What’s the biggest sin you’ve ever committed? I ignore the Sabbath. Sabbath breaker.

What’s your name? Samantha. Samantha. What’s the biggest sin you’ve ever committed Samantha? I misused the name of the Lord. Blasphemer,

What’s your name? Terry, Terry. What’s the biggest sin you’ve ever committed Terry? I like Idols. Idol Worshiper.

Name? Jesus. What’s the biggest sin you’ve ever committed Jesus? None.

Biggest sin you’ve ever committed Jesus? None.

Littlest sin you’ve ever committed Jesus? None. None

Then Jesus says, “Garry give me your badge, Kathy give me your badge,

Alan give me your badge, Julie give me your badge, John give me your badge,

Ruth Give me your badge, Kevin, Samantha, Terry give me your badges,

Give me yours Give me yours Give me yours, Give me yours.

Come everyone give me yours.”

Then Jesus goes to John and says you can baptize me now.

That’s what Jesus did. That symbolizes what Jesus did.

According to Hebrews 1:3, Jesus is, “the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

We’ve all broken the commandments of God, all of us. There’s no one here who hasn’t broken the commandments of God. And Jesus came into this world to liberate us from these badges whether we’ve broken one or whether we’ve broken them all, so that we can be totally free and forgiven and liberated from the past. As the runaway prophet Jonah learned the hard way Jonah (2:8), “Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty.” On the other hand when Paul wanted to praise the church in Thessalonica he complimented them describing (1 Thessalonians 1:9), ‘how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,”

That is what the Lord is looking for from us: a radical change of allegiance from idols to the living God. The old hymn Jesus Calls Us O’er the Tumult has a verse; Jesus calls us from the worship of the vain world’s golden store,

from each idol that would keep us, saying, “Christian, love me more!”

In our joys and in our sorrows, days of toil and hours of ease,

still he calls, in cares and pleasures, “Christian, love me more than these!”

Is there something in your life right now, which you need to turn away from, so that you can really turn to God? Do it now as we pray:

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ forgive me for turning to idols that are really no solutions at all. Forgive me for embracing idols. Today, I choose to turn away from idols and serve you Jesus – the true and living God. I invite your Holy Spirit into my life. Illuminate my mind and heart with your Light, Life and Truth.

Help me to build my life on you. Amen.