THE SECOND OF THE BIG TEN: TRUE WORSHIP
Exodus 20:3-5b
Rev. Paul Wrightman 8/27/23
WE CONTINUE OUR SERMON SERIES ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
FOLLOWING THE LEAD OF THE JEWISH TRADITION,
WHICH SEES THEM AS TEN FOUNDATIONAL WORDS OF LIFE,
RATHER THAN AS TEN FOUNDATIONAL LAWS.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN APPROACHES
TO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IS ESPECIALLY SIGNIFICANT
CONCERNING TODAY’S SCRIPTURE LESSON.
HISTORICALLY, THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION
HAS SEEN TODAY'S BIBLE READING
AS COMPRISING THE FIRST TWO COMMANDMENTS.
THUS, CHRISTIANITY REGARDS THE FIRST SENTENCE
OF TODAY’S TEXT AS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT:
“YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME,”
(Exodus 20:3)
AND THE SECOND SENTENCE OF TODAY’S TEXT
AS THE SECOND COMMANDMENT:
“YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FOR YOURSELF A GRAVEN IMAGE…”
(Exodus 20:4)
JUDAISM, WITH ITS EMPHASIS ON LIFE-GIVING WORDS
RATHER THAN COMMANDMENTS,
UNDERSTANDS TODAY’S READING FROM EXODUS
AS A SINGLE INSTRUCTION FROM GOD,
THAT SINGLE INSTRUCTION BEING
TO PUT GOD FIRST.
THE JEWISH TRADITION ASSUMES THAT PUTTING GOD FIRST
PRESUPPOSES NOT MAKING GRAVEN IMAGES, OR IDOLS,
OF OTHER GODS AND WORSHIPING OR SERVING THEM.
FOR JUDAISM, THE FIRST, ALL-IMPORTANT COMMANDMENT,
THE FIRST WORD OF LIFE FROM GOD,
THE WORD FROM WHICH ALL THE REST OF GOD’S WORDS FLOW,
IS GOD’S SELF-DESCRIPTION IN EXODUS 20:2,
“I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD,
WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT,
OUT OF THE HOUSE OF SLAVERY.”
THUS, WHAT FOR CHRISTIANITY UNTIL RECENTLY
WAS CONSIDERED TO BE MERELY
AN INTRODUCTORY PREFACE TO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS --
THE COMMANDMENTS THEMSELVES
BEING MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN THEIR INTRODUCTION --
IS IN JUDAISM THE HEART OF THE MATTER.
IT IS THE HEART OF THE MATTER
BECAUSE IT SHOWS THAT GOD GIVES GOD’S VERY SELF
AS THE FIRST LIFE-GIVING WORD.
“I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD,
WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT,
OUT OF THE HOUSE OF SLAVERY,”
IS THE PRIMAL, ALL-IMPORTANT WORD,
FROM WHICH ALL THE REST OF GOD’S WORDS FOLLOW.
MANY CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN
BIBLICAL SCHOLARS AND THEOLOGIANS
AGREE WITH THE JEWISH TRADITION ON THIS POINT,
AND ARGUE THAT TURNING THE FIRST WORD
INTO A MERE INTRODUCTION
HAS SEVERELY WEAKENED THE MORAL FORCE
OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
BY CUTTING THEM OFF FROM THEIR SOURCE IN GOD.
IN HEBREW, THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT ECHO
FROM EXODUS 20:2,
WHICH MENTIONS GOD BRINGING THE PEOPLE
OUT OF THE HOUSE OF SLAVERY,
AND EXODUS 20:5,
PART OF THE TEXT WE ARE LOOKING AT TODAY,
WHICH FORBIDS US TO WORSHIP OR SERVE OTHER GODS.
IN HEBREW THE WORDS SLAVERY AND SERVE
SHARE THE SAME ROOT.
THE IMPLICATION IS THAT SERVING OTHER GODS
CAN ONLY LEAD TO SLAVERY.
MOST OF US KNOW THE STORY OF HOW THE PEOPLE OF THE EXODUS,
WHILE MOSES WAS UP ON MT. SINAI COMMUNING WITH GOD
AND RECEIVING FROM GOD THE TEN LIFE-GIVING WORDS,
WHICH WE KNOW AS THE TEN COMMANDMENTS;
GREW WEARY OF WAITING
AND HAD MOSES’ BROTHER, AARON,
MAKE FOR THEM A CALF OUT OF GOLD.
THEY THEN PROCEEDED TO PROCLAIM THIS GOLDEN CALF
THE GOD WHO HAD LED THEM FORTH FROM EGYPT
AND WORSHIPPED IT IN A FRENZY OF BOOZE AND SEX.
THE HUGE AND TRAGIC IRONY TAKING PLACE HERE
IS THAT THIS GOLDEN CALF IS MERELY A COPY
OF ONE OF THE MANY FERTILITY GODS WORSHIPPED IN EGYPT.
BARELY A COUPLE OF MONTHS HAD PASSED
SINCE THEIR LIBERATION FROM SLAVERY IN EGYPT
BEFORE THE PEOPLE ARE BUSY RE-ENSLAVING THEMSELVES,
BOWING DOWN TO AND SERVING A GOD,
NAMELY SEX AND FERTILITY,
WHO IS MUCH MORE CONCRETE, TOUCHABLE,
AND SEEMINGLY “REAL,”
THAN THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB, AND MOSES,
WHO FLAT-OUT REFUSES TO ALLOW
ANY IMAGES OF “HIMSELF” TO BE MADE.
THE PEOPLE SIMPLY CANNOT HANDLE
THIS UNREPRESENTABLE GOD OF LIBERATION
AND THE RADICAL FREEDOM AND WHOLENESS
OF THIS GOD’S TEN LIFE-GIVING WORDS.
THERE IS SOMETHING IN HUMAN NATURE
THAT, LEFT TO ITSELF, WINDS UP IN SELF-DESTRUCTION.
MUCH OF THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL,
AND MUCH OF OUR OWN HISTORY AS WELL,
CAN BE READ AS THE REJECTION OF THIS GOD OF LIBERATION
AND THE MAKING OF VARIOUS IDOLS TO TAKE THE PLACE OF,
TO STAND-IN FOR THIS GOD WHO DEMANDS
NOTHING LESS THAN BEING FIRST IN ALL ASPECTS OF LIFE.
WE THINK OF IDOLS
MADE OUT OF GOLD OR SILVER OR WOOD OR CLAY
TO BE HOPELESSLY PRIMITIVE AND BENEATH CONTEMPT.
CERTAINLY WE ARE NOT TO BE CAUGHT-OUT
WORSHIPPING SUCH SIMPLE-MINDED SUPERSTITUTIONS.
IN THINKING THIS WAY,
WE FAIL TO TAKE IDOLATRY SERIOUSLY ENOUGH.
ANCIENT PEOPLES WERE NOT, AFTER ALL,
STUPID OR SIMPLE-MINDED.
THE GOLD OR SILVER OR WOOD OR CLAY CARVING
WAS SIMPLY THE OUTWARD REPRESENTATION
OF AN UNDERLYING REALITY, AN UNDERLYING POWER
THAT CRIED OUT TO BE APPEASED,
THAT CRIED OUT TO BE WORSHIPPED.
THUS, IT WAS NOT SO MUCH THE GOLDEN CALF AS OBJECT
THAT WAS WORSHIPPED,
BUT THE GOLDEN CALF AS SYMBOL OF SEX AND FERTILITY
THAT WAS WORSHIPPED.
THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY ISRAEL DEVELOPED
A HUGE INVENTORY OF IDOLS,
ALL OF THEM BORROWED FROM ITS NEIGHBORS.
IN ADDITION TO SEX AND FERTILITY,
WE FIND IDOLS TO WEALTH, HEALTH, BEAUTY,
GOOD WEATHER, INTOXICATION, AND MILITARY MIGHT.
DOESN’T THIS LIST SOUND DISQUIETINGLY FAMILIAR?
WE MAY BE TOO SOPHISTICATED TO MAKE
ACTUAL OUTWARD REPRESENTATIONS
OF THE UNDERLYING REALITIES WE WORSHIP,
BUT THE LIST OF UNDERLYING REALITIES
REMAINS BASICALLY THE SAME,
EXCEPT THAT OUR LIST HAS GOTTEN BIGGER.
IN ADDITION TO THE BASICS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD,
WE HAVE ADDED EDUCATION, SPORTS, CAREERS,
FAMILY, COUNTRY, CONTROL, AND COMFORT INTO THE MIX.
WHILE NONE OF THESE THINGS IS BAD IN AND OF ITSELF –
INDEED, ALL ARE BLESSINGS IN THEIR PROPER PLACE –
EACH OF THESE THINGS CAN BECAME AN IDOL, AN END-IN-ITSELF
USURPING THE RIGHTFUL PLACE OF GOD.
ONE OF THE BASIC REALITIES OF LIFE
IS THAT WE PUT IN FIRST PLACE
SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE SECOND, THIRD, OR EVEN FOURTH,
WE UNLEASH POWERFUL FORCES
OF SELF-DESTRUCTION UPON OURSELVES.
A WISE PERSON HAS WRITTEN:
“I THINK THAT PART OF THE ATTRACTION OF IDOLS
IS THAT WE KNOW THEY ARE NOT GOD.
SO WE COME UP WITH SOMETHING
WE ARE WILLING TO GIVE OURSELVES TO
AS A MEANS TO DEAL WITH THE PAIN, INSECURITY, AND FEAR
THAT WE LIVE WITH,
BUT WHICH WE THINK WE CAN STILL CONTROL.”
(Sean Gladding, Ten, p. 216.)
LET’S LOOK AT ONE COMMON-ENOUGH EXAMPLE: ALCOHOL.
HERE IS ONE PERSON’S FIRST-PERSON ACCOUNT:
“LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT AN IDOL I USED TO HAVE.
OH, I DIDN’T CALL IT THAT, BUT THAT’S WHAT IT WAS.
I STARTED DRINKING [WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL]
AS A WAY TO COPE WITH THE PAIN I FELT
BECAUSE OF SOME THINGS THAT HAPPENED WHEN I WAS A KID.
ALCOHOL KEPT ME COMFORTABLY NUMB
AND GOT ME THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE.
THEN WHEN I BEGAN TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS,
I BUILT AN ALTAR TO THAT IDOL – A LITTLE HOME FOR HIM –
A REALLY NICE WET BAR.
AND I WORSHIPED AT THAT ALTAR EVERY NIGHT.
I BECAME WILLING TO MAKE SACRIFICES TO AND FOR THAT IDOL –
AS LONG AS IT DEALT WITH MY PAIN,
I WAS WILLING TO GIVE UP ANYTHING FOR IT.
ALCOHOL BECAME MORE IMPORTANT TO ME
THAN FRIENDSHIPS, FAMILY, EMPLOYMENT, EVEN MY HEALTH.
…I THOUGHT I COULD CONTROL MY LITTLE GOD,
BUT EVENTUALLY IT TOOK CONTROL OF ME.”
(Sean Gladding, Ten, p. 216.)
ALCOHOL, OF COURSE, IS SIMPLY ONE OF A MULTITUDE
OF SUBSTANCES, ATTITUDES, ACCOMPLISHMENTS, HOBBIES,
GOALS, SPORTS, CAREERS, CELEBRITIES, AND FEELING-STATES
THAT WE CAN TURN INTO IDOLS AND BECOME ADDICTED TO.
GIVEN THE PRESSURE THAT CONTEMPORARY WESTERN CULTURE,
BOTH AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN,
PUTS ON PEOPLE TO BECOME ADDICTS IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER,
SOME VERY WISE SPIRITUAL DIRECTORS,
SUCH AS HENRI NOUWEN AND RICHARD ROHR,
CLAIM THAT ALL OF US,
SIMPLY BY LIVING IN A SOCIETY
THAT IS INSATIABLE IN ITS DEMAND FOR PEOPLE
TO WORSHIP ITS IDOLS;
CLAIM THAT ALL OF US ARE, IF NOT ACTUAL ADDICTS,
HAVE, AT THE VERY LEAST, ADDICTIVE TENDENCIES.
I’D LIKE TO CLOSE THIS SERMON WITH AN EXTENDED METAPHOR,
OR ILLUSTRATION, WHICH I'VE USED BEFORE,
BUT IN A DIFFERENT CONTEXT FROM THAT IN WHICH
I'M USING IT TODAY.
AT A FAMOUS BUSINESS SCHOOL
A PROFESSOR DELIVERED AN EXTRAORDINARY LECTURE
ON SOCIAL ECONOMICS TO HIS GRADUATE CLASS.
WITHOUT EXPLAINING WHAT HE WAS DOING,
THE PROFESSOR CAREFULLY PLACED A LARGE GLASS JAR ON HIS DESK.
THEN, IN VIEW OF HIS STUDENTS,
HE BROUGHT OUT A BAG FULL OF STONES
AND PLACED THEM ONE BY ONE IN THE JAR,
BEGINNING WITH THE LARGEST,
UNTIL NO MORE STONES WOULD FIT IN.
HE ASKED HIS STUDENTS, “IS THE JAR FULL?”
“YES,” THEY RESPONDED.
THE PROFESSOR SMILED.
FROM BENEATH HIS DESK, HE PRODUCED A SECOND BAG,
THIS ONE FULL OF GRAVEL.
HE THEN MANAGED TO SHAKE THE GRAVEL
BETWEEN THE BIGGER STONES IN THE JAR.
A SECOND TIME, HE ASKED THE STUDENTS, “IS THE JAR FULL?”
“NO,” THEY ANSWERED.
THEY WERE ON TO HIM BY NOW.
THEY WERE CORRECT, OF COURSE,
FOR THE PROFESSOR THEN PRODUCED A BAG OF FINE SAND.
HE MANAGED TO COAX MUCH OF THE SAND INTO THE SPACES
BETWEEN THE STONES AND THE GRAVEL IN THE JAR.
AGAIN HE ASKED, “IS THE JAR FULL?”
“PROBABLY NOT,” PROFESSOR, KNOWING YOU,”
THE STUDENTS REPLIED.
SMILING AT THEIR ANSWER,
THE PROFESSOR BROUGHT OUT A SMALL JUG OF WATER,
WHICH HE POURED INTO THE JAR
FULL OF STONES, GRAVEL, AND SAND.
WHEN NO MORE WATER WOULD FIT INTO THE JAR,
HE PUT DOWN THE JUG AND LOOKED AT THE CLASS.
“SO, WHAT DOES THIS TEACH YOU?” HE ASKED THE STUDENTS.
“THAT NO MATTER HOW BUSY YOUR SCHEDULE,”
OFFERED ONE OF THE STUDENTS,
“YOU CAN ALWAYS FIT IN ONE MORE THING!”
IT WAS A FAMOUS BUSINESS SCHOOL, AFTER ALL.
“NO!” THUNDERED THE PROFESSOR EMPHATICALLY.
“WHAT IS SHOWS
IS THAT IF YOU WANT TO GET THE BIGGEST STONE IN,
YOU HAVE TO GET IT IN FIRST.”
IT WAS A LESSON IN PRIORITIES.
(Adapted from an illustration in Ajahn Brahm,
Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung?, pp. 190-191.)
THIS BUSINESS SCHOOL ILLUSTRATION
IS A POWERFUL METAPHOR FOR TODAY’S COMMANDMENT,
OR LIFE-GIVING WORD,
“YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME.”
IF WE ARE TO HONOR THIS COMMANDMENT,
IF WE ARE TO RECEIVE LIFE FROM THIS WORD FROM GOD,
WE MUST PUT THE GOD WHO FREES FROM SLAVERY
INTO THE JAR OF OUR LIFE FIRST.
WE MUST PUT THE GOD WHO FREES FROM SLAVERY
INTO THE JAR OF OUR LIFE FIRST
IF GOD IS GOING TO FIT INTO OUR LIFE
AS ANYTHING BEYOND A DECORATIVE APPENDAGE.
WE MUST PUT THE GOD WHO FREES FROM SLAVERY
INTO THE JAR OF OUR LIFE FIRST
IF GOD IS GOING TO FIT INTO OUR LIFE AT ALL.
WE MUST MAKE THE GOD WHO FREES FROM SLAVERY
FIRST IN OUR THOUGHTS AND FIRST IN OUR ACTIONS.
ONLY IF THE GOD WHO FREES FROM SLAVERY IS ALLOWED TO BE
FIRST IN TERMS OF FAMILY;
FIRST IN TERMS OF COUNTRY;
FIRST IN TERMS OF THE ECONONY;
FIRST IN TERMS OF MY ECONOMY;
FIRST IN TERMS OF CAREER;
FIRST IN TERMS OF HEALTH;
FIRST IN TERMS OF EVERYTHING,
WILL GOD REALLY BE ALLOWED TO BE GOD.
ONLY IF THE GOD WHO FREES FROM SLAVERY
IS FIRST IN ALL ASPECTS OF OUR LIVES
WILL THE FREEDOM AND WHOLENESS THAT GOD OFFERS
BECOME REAL FOR US.
AMEN.