It wasn’t me!
Exodus 32:15-26
Introduction
Dorthy Sayer wrote in “The divine ‘scheme of things,” as Christianity understands it, is at once extremely elastic and extremely rigid. It is elastic, in that it includes a large measure of liberty for the creature; it is rigid in that it includes the proviso that, however created beings choose to behave, they must accept responsibility of their own actions and endure the consequences. (Dorthy L. Sayer, “Dorthy L. Sayer: A Rage for Life” at
http://www.sermon illustrations.com/a-z/responsibility.htm)
Last week we looked at how people sometimes feel entitled to receive things from God. But, in the end, it’s through His mercy and His grace that we’re able to receive all the gifts we’re blessed with.
This week, we’ll continue with a similar and related theme. Through the Exodus passage, we can see that people can easily stray away from the simple direction that God gives us. They often choose to go their own way and do their own thing. They’ll continue to do this until they’re caught. And when they’re caught, it isn’t just a matter of saying I’m sorry, repenting, and accepting the forgiveness of a gracious Father, many times it’s failing to take responsibility for what’s been done. We see stories like this throughout scripture. But, it’s not all the problem of people in the past. We’re often those people as well.
Listening to God’s Direction
It all starts with our listening skills. Listening is one of the biggest overlooked skills. It’s one of the easier things to learn, but one of the more difficult things to master.
Listening is not something people are naturally good at. Franklin D. Roosevelt did his own test which proved this point. He often endured long receiving lines at the White House while serving as the President of the United States. It’s said that he complained that no one really paid attention to anything that was said. One day, during a reception, he decided to try an experiment. To each person who passed down the line and shook his hand, he murmured, "I murdered my grandmother this morning," in a cheerful voice. The guests responded with phrases like, "Marvelous! Keep up the good work.” “We are so proud of you.” “God bless you, sir." It was not till the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. When addressed, the ambassador leaned over and whispered, "I’m sure she had it coming." (http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/l/listening.htm)
It’s pretty common for people to ignore what is really being said. As a group, we just don’t listen. If we don’t listen to the people who are standing right in front of us, how many more fail to listen to God who has a stronger message, but less of a physical appearance?
In our first reading this evening, we see where the Israelites chose to put an inanimate cow in front of the living God. They chose to create a god with no power rather than continue to worship the God that had just rescued them from Egypt. They couldn’t wait for Moses to come down from the mountain and present them with the Ten Commandments.
There’s a fine line between not listening, and not caring. We often cross that line depending on how we feel and the importance we place on following directions.
When we do cross that line, we’re aware that we’re going against the grain. We’re aware that we’re not doing the right thing, but we do it anyway. The Apostle Paul struggled with doing the things he knew were wrong, and we do too.
Demanding our own timeline
So, it all came down to a lack of patience. Aaron and the Israelites struggled with their lack of a leader. Moses disappeared for only 40 days, but that was too long for them to bear. Instead of patiently waiting for his return, they moved to take some sort of action. It was their lack of patience that led the Israelites to create the golden figure. They rebelled against the God that saved them from Egypt and instead tried to re-create the sacred cows of the Nile.
Sometimes, we need to wait for God to lead us. Sometimes the answers don’t come when we expect them. Sometimes, the answers may not be what we want to hear, but the direction is still there.
Often, instead of listening to the direction God gives us, we decide to do our own thing on our own timeline. We choose to take an action that we know is against His wishes. But when we do, we need to be take responsibility for our own actions.
Taking Responsibility for Your Actions
Look at how our society attempts to shift blame from the individual. In 1980 a Boston court acquitted Michael Tindall of flying illegal drugs into the United States. Tindall’s attorneys argued that he was a victim of “action addict syndrome,” an emotional disorder that makes a person crave dangerous, thrilling situations. Tindall was not a drug dealer, merely a thrill seeker.
An Oregon man who tried to kill his ex-wife was acquitted on the grounds that he suffered from “depression-suicide syndrome,” whose victims deliberately commit poorly planned crimes with the unconscious goal of being caught or killed. He didn’t really want to shoot his wife; he wanted the police to shoot him.
Then there’s the famous “Twinkie syndrome.” Attorneys for Dan White, who murdered San Francisco mayor George Moscone, blamed the crime on emotional stress linked to White’s junk food binges. White was acquitted of murder and convicted on a lesser charge of manslaughter.
Nowadays, nobody’s at fault for anything. We are a nation of victims. (Louis Lotz, Sioux City, Iowa, Leadership, Winter Quarter, 1992, p. 57 as shows in “Nobody’s at Fault” http://www.bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=1268)
When it comes to diverting responsibility from ourselves, we’re really good at it. Instead of blaming ourselves, we’d rather blame someone else, something else or even “the system.” Abdicating responsibility is at the heart of all sin.
People often explain away their actions by saying that no-one can judge them. They compound this by dismissing the God given scriptures. In doing this, they’ve dismissed all standards that could be used to determine right from wrong and replaced them with a ‘do as you wish’ attitude.
If we’re not at fault for our own actions, we don’t have to repent and change our ways. We may feel that we won’t be held accountable for something that ‘just happened.’ Aaron used this defense. He failed to take responsibility for his own actions and instead blamed it on the rest of the Israelites. It wasn’t me! Don’t blame me; blame them! It’s not my fault!
We could use the same defense today. Don’t blame me! It’s not my fault my friends pressured me into sinning. I didn’t want to steal that CD anyway! Blame them, not me. Hanging out with the wrong crowd can lead to our own wrong actions. Pushing the blame onto others doesn’t change our responsibility. It just changes our attitude.
An unrepentant heart is not a forgiven heart. Only by being truly sorry for our mistakes, and making every attempt to change our lives, are we forgiven from our trespasses.
Conclusion
We’re all sinners, each and every one of us. We all need to recognized that we need forgiveness just like all the other people before us. The stories in the Bible are not just nice to know facts from old. They’re history lessons that show us how to act and how to obey. They show us how we can learn from the mistakes of others and correct ourselves where we may be wrong.
Where Aaron built a golden calf, we have our own idols to deal with. Whether it’s the car we drive, the rock star we idolize or the wealth we acquire, we can’t let these things come in the midst of our relationship with God. We can’t block our access to God by getting bogged down with earthly things.
Just as the Israelites chose to move on their own timeline and follow their own desires, we can’t let our lack of patience and lack of obedience pull us away from God’s presence. We need to follow His examples, His direction, and His will rather than our own carnal desires and fears.
Ultimately, a lack of patience and a focus on self rather God leads to disobedience and sin. As sinful men and women, we will be tempted and may stumble from time to time. It’s happened with the best of people, and it can happen with us as well. When this happens, we need to take responsibility for our own actions. Taking responsibility for our actions leads to repentance, repentance leads to forgiveness, and through that blessing, we will be greatly blessed with eternal life.
Listen to what God has to say. Through the reading of His word, listening to His messages and direct communication through prayer, God has a lot to say to us. But, he doesn’t always follow our time table. Be patient for the answers God wants to give you. He often has a different schedule than you do.
Amen.
