This is September 11, a date we are unlikely to forget for a long time. Pray for the families of the dead, and pray that we continue to provide care and support for the survivors. Pray for our nation and pray for all of God’s creation.
I was reading something the other day that caught me off guard. It concerned our tendency to turn things into idols. We do that all the time. In this particular case it had to do with the way we declare some things as sacred. We often look at patriotic memorials and call them sacred.
Of the definitions of “sacred” that I found were the following: devoted or dedicated to a deity; entitled to veneration or religious respect by association with a divinity or divine things; pertaining to or connected with religion; reverently dedicated to some person or object. Arguably the last of these casts a broad shadow, but still I have to wonder about the way we use that word. We tend to use the antonym of that word loosely as well: sacrilege. We often refer to any apparent disrespect for a variety of national symbols as being sacrilegious.
Are we simply referring to things that inspire reverence, or are we constructing idols, even gods?
In the epistle reading for today we see the timeless human propensity to declare things other than God to be gods. Paul and Barnabas were preaching in a land that today would be a part of Turkey. We are told that Paul recognized that a man who was crippled, sitting before them, had the faith necessary to be healed by God. Paul invited him to express his faith and walk: and he did! Despite what Paul and Barnabas were preaching about – the Lord Jesus - the local pagan temple priests thought that they were Zeus and Hermes come to earth. The priest wanted to make a sacrifice to them. Paul said to them: “Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things [the idols] to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.”
Alternatively, in today’s Gospel reading we see once again that the religious leaders were offended that Jesus referred to himself as the “Son of God.” They wanted to stone him!
We – myself included – have a tendency to want to affirm our successes and our sorrows as sacred. We have a tendency to want to redefine God as a being whom we can manipulate and who serves our ambitions and desires. We would like a god who served us! We – myself included – need to remember and practice the words that form the core of every Jewish prayer, words which Christ himself taught us as well: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. [Deuteronomy 6:4-1]”
Prayer: Lord God, it is You alone who are God. It is You alone who are sacred, who created us, loves us, forgives us, and leads us into the light. Forgive us again and again when we make idols and treat them as “gods.” Accept our praise and worship, and accept our lives as a worthy sacrifice to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Today’s readings are Job 29:1-20; Acts 14:1-18; John 10:31-42; Psalm 45, 47 & 48.
Blessings.
Pastor Jim
I was reading something the other day that caught me off guard. It concerned our tendency to turn things into idols. We do that all the time. In this particular case it had to do with the way we declare some things as sacred. We often look at patriotic memorials and call them sacred.
Of the definitions of “sacred” that I found were the following: devoted or dedicated to a deity; entitled to veneration or religious respect by association with a divinity or divine things; pertaining to or connected with religion; reverently dedicated to some person or object. Arguably the last of these casts a broad shadow, but still I have to wonder about the way we use that word. We tend to use the antonym of that word loosely as well: sacrilege. We often refer to any apparent disrespect for a variety of national symbols as being sacrilegious.
Are we simply referring to things that inspire reverence, or are we constructing idols, even gods?
In the epistle reading for today we see the timeless human propensity to declare things other than God to be gods. Paul and Barnabas were preaching in a land that today would be a part of Turkey. We are told that Paul recognized that a man who was crippled, sitting before them, had the faith necessary to be healed by God. Paul invited him to express his faith and walk: and he did! Despite what Paul and Barnabas were preaching about – the Lord Jesus - the local pagan temple priests thought that they were Zeus and Hermes come to earth. The priest wanted to make a sacrifice to them. Paul said to them: “Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things [the idols] to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.”
Alternatively, in today’s Gospel reading we see once again that the religious leaders were offended that Jesus referred to himself as the “Son of God.” They wanted to stone him!
We – myself included – have a tendency to want to affirm our successes and our sorrows as sacred. We have a tendency to want to redefine God as a being whom we can manipulate and who serves our ambitions and desires. We would like a god who served us! We – myself included – need to remember and practice the words that form the core of every Jewish prayer, words which Christ himself taught us as well: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. [Deuteronomy 6:4-1]”
Prayer: Lord God, it is You alone who are God. It is You alone who are sacred, who created us, loves us, forgives us, and leads us into the light. Forgive us again and again when we make idols and treat them as “gods.” Accept our praise and worship, and accept our lives as a worthy sacrifice to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Today’s readings are Job 29:1-20; Acts 14:1-18; John 10:31-42; Psalm 45, 47 & 48.
Blessings.
Pastor Jim
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