"Re-Envisioning The Gospel" Sermon

Video of "Re-Envisioning The Gospel" sermon based on Exodus 13: 17-22, Psalm 8, and Luke 4:14-30 for EF/TH4100.

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Sermon for Oct. 9, 2011

Main Scripture: Exodus 32:1-14

            It can be easy for people to forget how weird Bible stories are. And these are two stories are weird. The first sounds like fraternity pledge week gone religious, and the second is oddly violent. Both of these stories deal with how people act after they’ve been labeled “chosen”… a bit shocking to those of us in the Reformed tradition where the word “chosen” gets thrown around a lot. Maybe we’d like to think that being chosen by God gives someone a free pass. Maybe we’d prefer to think of ourselves in the second round of guests in the parable or as a new Moses standing high above the noise and seeing everything clearly. And if being chosen means acting like this, I don’t think I want to be chosen.

            So let’s focus in on the Golden Calf incident. I’m not sure I can blame the Israelites for wanting to party. But don’t call in Kevin Bacon, we’re not going to outlaw dancing. Because it’s not the party that’s the problem; but the calf made of gold that according to Aaron represents the God who brought them out of Egypt. Instead of waiting for Moses and the real God who led them out of Egypt the Israelites turn quickly to a false-god, a thing that they worship as a god but that is light-years away from the God who led them out of slavery. They might have known God’s name, but their lives claimed they didn’t know God at all. (PAUSE)

            It’s hard for me to get past the anger God expresses at the Israelites. But God has every right to be angry. Right? The Israelites saw the power of God in the plagues sent to Egypt. They have seen God as a pillar of fire. They heard God’s voice delivering the 10 Commandments and were so terrified they begged Moses to talk to God for them. They’ve been told directly that graven images are a really bad idea! They have been filled in on all sorts of things as Moses and Joshua and Aaron have traveled back and forth, up and down the mountain. Check the entire story out in Exodus. It’s well worth a read.

            So it’s not like the Israelites didn’t know it’s a bad idea to worship the Golden Calf. It’s a little bit tricky to figure out if they’re worshiping the Calf as a separate god or as a physical representation of the LORD. Aaron uses the direct name of God when he says after building the golden calf “Tomorrow will be a festival for the LORD.” That “LORD” is the stand-in for the name of God that we learned earlier in the Exodus story as Yahweh, but because they don’t want to say God’s name directly the writers used shorthand. That shorthand was translated into the English as “LORD” in all capitals. So my best guess is that this Calf wasn’t supposed to be a different god but was supposed to be the real God. So the idolatry is not worshiping another so-called god but in forming the one true God into a shape they could build and touch and manipulate. They were trying to build God as their image of what God “should” be.

            It was very normal at this time in history to shape gods as animals and humans. The Egyptians had a very popular deity named Apis who was a bull known as the “renewer of life.” The bull is a religious symbol the Israelites understood. The calf or bull is not confusing. There’s no waiting when you’ve got a statue you can easily sacrifice or pray to. You can do what you need to do, you know, god-wise, and then get on with your life. Isn’t it easier to point to a tangible item and have faith in it than to act like your chosen-ness is actually transforming you? The Israelites already waited 400 years to be liberated from slavery. They spent so long crying and praying in Egypt before God chose Moses and liberated them…They want to go to the Promised Land. Their biggest mistake isn’t building the Golden Calf. Their biggest mistake is who they thought the Golden Calf represented. They’re not worshiping the God who brought them out of Egypt. They’re worshiping a god literally crafted in their image of what God “should be”! It was not for the Israelites to choose a god for themselves. It is God who does the choosing. They knew God’s name, but their actions claimed they didn’t know God at all. How could anyone who experienced what the Israelites experienced think that the Lord God could be conceptualized as a bull? How could the Israelites physically craft a representation like this?

            Last week I attended a chapel service at the seminary that was led by my classmate Jacob who is fluent in American Sign Language, his deaf brother Noah, and several others who knew sign language. The Scripture was the story of God’s working through Moses to liberate the Israelites. As Jacob told the story of how the Israelites were freed from slavery, his brother Noah signed the story. The congregation joined in as the Israelites with a refrain. But instead of singing together, we signed it together. We signed to “praise the Lord.” I was captivated by the story in a new way because of how Noah told the story. Noah fully embodied the story of the Exodus—each character and each event. His face got flushed. His excitement drew us in. But what astounded me most was that each and every movement had a specific meaning. Even if Jacob had not been vocally narrating the story, I would have understood quite a lot just by watching Noah. For the rest of the day I realized how much I talk with my hands. Not sign language but body language. How when someone shared good news I smiled and hugged them. How I waved “hello” to people. How when a person I don’t feel comfortable with sat at my table at lunch and I clasped my hands together and sat back in my chair. Each movement had a specific meaning. And I wonder what a neutral party would think about my religion or spirituality if they had just watched what I did. I might have learned how to sign “Lord” and “God,” but were my actions saying I knew God at all?

            It’s easy to get caught up in saying one thing and doing another, especially in a culture where people often say they know God or what God wants but their actions leave room for questions. I like being able to touch things. Personally, I like being able to control things from the TV remote to my car to running a meeting. But as C.S. Lewis said, “God is not a tame lion.” We don’t control God. It’s not easy to admit to ourselves that we’ve somewhat crafted God into an image or idea that we want God to be. It’s not easy to admit that some actions may not match our words and faith. The Israelites learned the hard way. And as we read in the Old Testament they kept learning over and over again. We learn the hard way and keep learning over and over. There were repercussions for the Israelite’s actions, just as there are for our actions. We have to live with the bad decisions we make. But the beautiful thing about this story is that it is not just a cautionary tale of what not to do. God does get angry and plans some huge disaster to bring upon the people, and after being reminded about how choosing the Israelites was indeed God’s choice God overturned the first decision. That day and every day mercy outweighed anger. Thanks be to God.

Hymns: "God You Spin the Whirling Planets" (Presbyterian Hymnal 285); "Called as Partners in Christ's Service" (PH 343); "Today We are All Called to Be" (PH 434)

Post-Hurricane

I live in Jersey and have for two full years. This past weekend was the first hurricane watch I have been through. I was stuck inside for three days more or less, although yesterday I walked to the grocery store. Then today I got up, put on jeans for the first time in months, and went to class. I got cold and put on my hoodie. Sometime, somehow it's that time between summer and fall when you can be freezing one minute and baking the next. The fall semester books are in at the bookstore, and in two and a half weeks school starts. My summer reading list is... no smaller. Thanks, Hebrew class.
Yeah, I got all reflect-y when I was stuck inside.

Expectations

I recently heard a friend telling a story about a friend if theirs who decided he didn't want to take other people's word about what was in the Bible. Though not a traditionally faithful person he read through the entire Bible then told my friend, "It's nothing like I expected! There's so much sex and stuff!"
My expectations often ruin experiences for me. I get upset when something isn't like I expected instead of enjoying what's happening as what it is. In the fourth week of summer language many people are saying that seminary and summer language is nothing like they expected. Some are relieved, some are upset, and some are confused. I'm enjoying Hebrew a lot more than Greek because my expectations have been adjusted and because I have a group of friends already. We can't let our expectations hold us back from experiencing, and we can't let other's expectations weigh us down. Following Christ is a marathon, not a sprint. You don't always know what's around the next corner or when the next water station is coming up. We can worry and stress over how we expected the race to go or we can meet the new challenges as they arise. There's always time to put off worrying.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book The Cost of Discipleship spends a lot of time talking about "costly grace." God's grace is a very complicated thing, but we as humans respond through faith and action. Cheap grace is grace without obedience to God; costly grace is the kind of grace that transforms our lives, our actions, and our words. Obedience has a negative connotation, but it's an act of free will. Transformation is a process. It takes time. Obedience to many at seminary is the act of going to seminary to empower them for lifelong ministry. We expect certain things. We're the "good ones." We're the older brother diligently working the fields who gets angry when our Parent shows great love and grace to that prodigal sibling. Going to seminary is one long lesson in humility. We have the honor to work closely with our Parent. The work is hard. We expect something for our hard work.
Don't we?
We expect the good grades, the financially stable job, the relationship that doesn't need work. Well, maybe some of us expect those things.
God has made some big promises. Do our expectations match those promises? Did God promise I would receive good grades when I decided to live a life of discipleship? No. Is the path always straight? No. Are we blessed by a community who supports and uplifts us? Yes.
Expect God. It's a lot less stressful that way.

Hebrew Part 3

Second week of Hebrew, and now the grammar rules are really getting complex. We even get to learn about verbs on Friday! That'll be... difficult. For now we're figuring out roots and the fancy dictionary.

Hebrew Part 2

I have survived the first week of summer Hebrew. They say if you do that, you'll be fine the rest of the summer. At least, that's what I hope they say. Today I'm only going over vocab. Will spend the time tomorrow doing the homework and learning the new grammar rules from yesterday's lecture. Now, I need a nap...

Also, Harry Potter 7B is awesome.

Adventures in Hebrew Part 1

As a Presbyterian on the path to ordination I am required to pass both Koine Greek and Biblical Hebrew. Two summers ago I took Greek, and this summer I am taking Hebrew. Now I took Hebrew in my senior year of college, but it's a different level at seminary. Everything's a different level at seminary...
You may be thinking "why are the biblical languages such a big deal?" I'm glad you asked. And, yes, the answer does go back to John Calvin. Calvin and many others of his time were Humanists, and one of the Humanists' main emphases was learning original languages to better understand a text. This idea has trickled down through Reformed history to make itself known in current Presbyterian systems by having all potential pastors learn the original languages well enough to inform our preaching. Before ordination I will have to pass an exam where I translate, exegete, and write a sermon on an assigned passage. Don't worry, we get almost a week to do it. But that's later on. For now, I need to go quiz myself on vocabulary.