Idolatry

Think of idolatry and your mind probably jumps to visions of half naked, thoughtless, heathen savages dancing around a pole, or falling to their knees in front of some molten metal object..  When I heard the word as a kid, I got it mixed up with adultery, and although I knew both were bad, I didn't know what either meant.  Idolatry is a big topic in the Bible, and it was and continues to be a big deal to God, such a big deal that he begins the Ten Commandments like this:  "I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of bondage.  You shall not have any other gods before me."  But as an American living in the 21st century I have trouble relating to idolatry.  When I read about the Jewish people in the desert at Mount Sinai, I become dumbfounded that they could so quickly forget the shaking of the mountain, the darkness, the lightning and all the scary events associated with the presence of God come down from heaven, and then beg Aaron to make a calf out of their jewelry.  Then they hit their knees and worshiped it, partying, and having a good time and thanking that calf for freeing them from the tyranny of Egypt.

I have to admit that I don't get it.  I don't get them.  I have the same trouble with Buddhists, and Catholics and people who dance around a maypole.  I don't get the fixation with images at all.  I remember watching as Catholic faithful reverently walked up to a statue of the Virgin Mary and whispered prayers, or hung a wreath around her neck.  It was creepy to me.  Of course Catholics would claim that they do not worship these statues.  They claim that these statues represent real people who now live in heaven and can pray for them.  I understand that, but  I still never grew accustomed to these statues, and for me it seemed downright silly to kneel in front of one to pray to it.  I do understand that humans are creatures who rely heavily on their senses, so it is probably easier to pray to a statue then to pray to a God who is unseen.  Even so, I can't fathom the use of a statue as an aid to worship when it seems so much preferable to worship God as he is.

I often felt quite superior to all those Catholics who pray to statues.  After all, I reasoned, I don't do that.  I worship the one true living God.  That's what I say at least.  I have Jewish friends who regularly point out to me that they worship the one true God, and that I worship three gods, which Christians call the Trinity.  But I'm not going to discuss the Trinity or who is worshiping the true God; rather I want to discuss idolatry.

In the book of Isaiah and Jeremiah, God tells his people that he is disgusted with their worship of idols.  He repeatedly makes pleas to his people, appealing to their common sense.  Why, after everything I have done for you and all the signs and wonders, why would you turn to a stupid idol?  Idols are made by men of materials we find on earth...wood, stone, and jewels.  God made the earth and all that is in it.  What would cause people to give up the real God for some lousy fake, and a fake made out of the materials that the true and living God made?

But as I, feeling superior, read stories of ancient idol worship, I am left to wonder how it is that we worship idols today?  How do we engage in idol worship?  Today I was reading in Colossians, and Paul writes that greed is a form of idol worship.  Ouch.  Now, as an American that hits close to home.  Nearly everything we do in modern America has a root in greed.  In the past year I have read news stories about the greedy "one percenters", those evil big corporations---those filthy rich people that have it all, didn't earn it, and are stealing from the poor 99 percent.  And I laugh because the people protesting the greed of the "one percenters" are by their demonstrations illustrating that very same greed in themselves.  Those "99 percent" badly want what they think the "one percent" have, and they are willing to destroy, maim, steal and hurt in order to satisfy their own greed.

You see, rich people are greedy, and poor people are greedy.  Rich people want big profits, that is true, but just watch and see what happens if any politician even talks about reducing or cutting Social Security or welfare.  Poor people want their portion of the "Obama stash", their "Obama phones", and their EBT cards.  The rich and the poor equally want to hang on to their fair share.  Greed drives the American elections, pitting neighbor against neighbor, rich against poor, and at the very center of it all is a giant idol called "Greed" who looks a lot like the golden calf at the base of Mount Sinai.

I can't easily relate to idolatry the in the way it was practiced by the ancients, but greed is something with which I can identify.  I hold on tightly to the things I have.  I love my house, my car, my dogs, my bed, and the things I like to eat.  I love it when there's a little extra cash in my pocket, and I can shop without thought of how much I may be spending.  I work hard to maintain and keep all the things I have acquired, and at the core of my frantic grasping at things is a fear of losing them all and that ugly idol called greed.  I am like the rich man who approached Jesus and said, "I have kept the law from my youth.  What else do I need to do to be saved?"  Jesus answered him by telling him to sell all that he had and give it to the poor, leave it all and come follow him.  That man left with a broken heart.  He loved his things more than he loved God.  I fear that this is where I also fall, and most of America with me.

Idol worship has to do with who and what you love.  It has to do with who and what you believe will save you.  It has to do with to whom and what you turn when times are good and when times are bad.  It is much easier to turn to a golden calf you can see than a rather scary God whose very presence causes the mountain to quake.  It is easy to stand up in church and say all the right things.  It is easy to move the lips.  It is much harder to lasso the heart, give up what it is that we really love and trade all that for the true living God, the God who has eyes to see, ears to hear and a mouth to speak--the God who has arms to save.  He is the God to whom we all should turn.