“Law & Order: SPU – Where Does God Fit In?”
Exodus 20:3; 1 Corinthians 10:5-14
A man purchased a statue of Christ and placed it on his desk in his den. A few days later his wife moved the statue to a table in the living room. Their five-year-old daughter, noticing the change of location, asked “Where are you going to put God?” Now there’s a question each of us needs to answer. In your life, just where does God fit in?
God, in his first commandment, makes it very clear where He wants to fit in: “You shall have no other gods before me.” He wants to be #1. We understand that God wants us to take Him seriously, but what does that mean? What does putting God first look like? What does it involve?
To get an accurate picture we need to start with THE CONTEXT OF THE COMMANDMENT. Only a few generations previous, Israel’s forefathers had worshiped idols and now Israel had just been rescued from Egypt. For years she had lived in a pagan land where people worshiped multiple gods. THERE WAS A GOD FOR EVERY SITUATION AND FOR EVERY NEED. The Egyptians worshiped the sun, the moon, wind, fire, insects, and animals, to mention a few. They had gods of the mountain, the river, the spring season, fall planting, and the forest. Perhaps their biggest and best known idol was Baal, the fertility or sex idol. And there were many more. Each god had a concrete idol or delineated ritual through which to focus upon it.
With all these idols religious life consisted of SACRIFICING TO THESE GODS IN ORDER TO APPEASE AND PLEASE THEM and to gain their protection or provisions for themselves. It was a person’s responsibility to keep each god happy. It’s no wonder God wanted not only to get His people out of Egypt but to get Egypt out of His people. So He commanded them to place Him above all gods. He, after all, made all the stuff these other idols were made of. He is, as we have seen, the God who had acted dramatically in their lives and offered them the opportunity to be His treasure, a special unit of persons.
In light of this context we can clearly DEFINE IDOLATRY. The Heidelberg Catechism puts it succinctly (Q&A #95): Idolatry “…is TO IMAGINE, CLING TO, OR TRUST IN SOMETHING OTHER THAN OR IN ADDITION TO THE ONE TRUE GOD WHO HAS BEEN REVEALED IN GOD’S WORD.” Notice that this definition strikes where most of us are – we like to worship ‘God and…” God and country, God and prosperity, God and peace, God and family, God and church, God and…you can fill in the blank. Anything we do not make captive to God and bring into His service has become our idol.
Harley Swiggum, author of the tremendous Bethel Bible Series, wrote a study on the Ten Commandments. I appreciate how he defined an idol. He wrote that an idol may be anyone or anything which REPLACES GOD AS THE SOURCE OF OUR ULTIMATE TRUST, which STANDS IN THE WAY of the Creator Father having His way in our lives, which MAKES OF GOD ‘A SECONDARY INTEREST’ and thereby leaves Him with nothing more than “our left-over loyalties”, or which leads us to such AN OVERPOWERING PREOCCUPATION with the present world that we forget our place in the next. Let’s say an idol is WHATEVER CONTROLS AND MOTIVATES YOU; it is anything more important and non-negotiable than God.
With this in mind we can begin to IDENTIFY MODERN IDOLATRY. While I could preach a sermon on all the idols I’m about to name, my purpose this morning is just to lift up suggestions that will focus your thinking as you contemplate the commandment this week. Baal worship, for instance, still exists today in those who revere sex and sexuality as the main thrust of life. Mars, the god of power, exists as nations build more and more war machines and weapons in attempts to keep the peace. Vulcan still exists for those whose main purpose in life is acquiring possessions. Venus lingers around every time an ad promotes personal beauty as something to be coveted above all else. (I read recently that, if current trends continue, today’s 10 year old girl, by the time she reaches 50, will have spent $450,000.00 on hair, make-up, elective surgeries, manicures, and pedicures.)
Or think about all the things people put faith in. Some put faith in faith – “If I have enough faith this will happen.” Some put faith in their experience by believing their experience is normative for everyone – if I have not had their experience I’m not really a full-blooded Christian. Others put faith in love – “Jesus was all about love. Just love everybody.” Some put faith in happiness believing happiness is the goal of life.
Many have made gods of military might and power, of technology, of equality, or of politics. Joy Davidman has suggested that there are four categories of idols – sex, the State, science, and society where the mantra is ‘for the common good.’ Ideologies can also become our gods – pluralism, traditionalism, political parties, worship orders and styles to mention a few.
And let’s not forget the gods of personal achievement or success, the drive to be number one ourselves. Some even make an idol of their circumstances or ailments. Still others worship and serve their ‘hero’ as god. Idolatry: to imagine, cling to, or trust in something other than or in addition to the one true God who has been revealed in God’s word; anything that replaces God as the source of our ultimate trust, which stands in the way of the Creator Father having his way in our lives, which makes of God ‘a secondary interest” and thereby leaves Him with nothing more than “our left-over loyalties”, or which leads us to such an overpowering preoccupation with the present world that we forget our place in the next; whatever controls and motivates you – anything more important and non-negotiable than God.
But why is this commandment the first commandment? What is the real CONCERN OF THE COMMANDMENT? Why is it so important? First of all, IT’S IMPORTANT TO GOD. The prophet Jeremiah wrote (9:12-16 MSG) “12I asked, "Is there anyone around bright enough to tell us what's going on here? Anyone who has the inside story from God and can let us in on it? "Why is the country wasted? "Why no travelers in this desert?" 13-15God's answer: "Because they abandoned my plain teaching. They wouldn't listen to anything I said, refused to live the way I told them to. Instead they lived any way they wanted and took up with the Baal gods, who they thought would give them what they wanted—following the example of their parents." And this is the consequence. God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so: "I'll feed them with pig slop. I'll give them poison to drink. 16"Then I'll scatter them far and wide among godless peoples that neither they nor their parents have ever heard of, and I'll send Death in pursuit until there's nothing left of them."” As we read a few moments ago (1 Cor. 10:5-6), Paul wrote “Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.” It is so important to God that He compares those who worship idols to prostitutes; they have committed spiritual adultery against God since they once stood at the foot of the mountain and promised that they would do all that God commanded them.
A second concern is that WE BECOME LIKE WHAT WE WORSHIP. Romans 1 spells it out. So does Ps. 115:8 (NLT): “And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them.” Eric Ritz pointed to one of James Michener’s novels. In it people were digging up the ruins of an ancient civilization. They began to see how the influence of the gods they worshipped shaped their identity as a people. One is heard to say, “You know, if they had had a different god, they would have been a different people.’ We become like what we worship – and then we are not the unique special persons God has called us to be.
Third, God understood that worshipping idols LEADS TO MORAL DEGRADATION. Read Romans 1:18-32. Paul poignantly wrote that because people turned to other gods, to idols, God gave them over to their desires and lusts. The result? (29) “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity.”
The fourth reason for the concern about idolatry is that IDOLS OBSCURE THE VISION OF GOD. “You shall have no other gods before me.” ‘Before’ me has a double meaning: before in the sense of priority and of place. In terms of priority, the issue is giving a higher importance to something other than God in our time, money, and energy. In terms of place, it means putting something in front of God; covering up God. It’s like putting pictures in a frame. Often when we add the new picture we simply put it on top of the old ones. Then one day we take the frame apart and rediscover all the previous pictures. They had been obscured from our view. Or let this door represent other gods. Now that I’m behind it, can you see me? As long as it is in front of me, before me, you cannot see me. You don’t even know for sure where I am… If I stayed here for the next few weeks, said and did nothing, you’d soon forget I was here. Some, who are not here today, would never know – out of sight, out of mind. It’s true of our vision of God as well. We soon lose sight of Him. Then we devote ourselves even more fully to these lesser gods that obscured our vision in the first place.
There is so much more that could be said, but here’s the bottom line, THE CORE OF THE COMMANDMENT. God is concerned about our worshipping other gods because He is CONCERNED WITH THE INTENSITY OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. Unlike worship of idols, we do not worship or serve God for what we can get or for what He can do for us, but to give to Him and to show Him the seriousness of our love for Him. Are you serious enough about God that you are willing to be possessed by Him? Can you say with the Heidelberg Catechism (Q & A #94) that you would give up anything “rather … than do the least thing contrary to God’s will?” That’s intensity. Remember Jesus’ summary of the commandments (Mk. 12:30)? “Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind and with ALL your strength.” All – all – all – all! That’s intensity. Look at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He prayed for the strength to do God’s will and go to the cross: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” While praying He sweat drops of blood. That’s intensity.
The truth is we will always live in submission to and worship someone or something. The exodus from Egypt did not free Israel from submission – it was just an exchange of masters. Who will be your master? Are you willing to go wherever God sends you, to do whatever God asks you, whenever God asks you? That’s intensity. That’s what God wants. God ‘and’ does not work. Jesus said (Mt. 6:24) “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” That’s the truth – and that’s intensity.
So how can you DEVELOP THIS INTENSITY – how can you put God in His proper place – at #1? First, DISCOVER YOUR IDOLS. Ask yourself what you desire and love the most. For what or whom are you willing to suffer? For what or whom are you willing to give your life? How do you respond to unanswered prayers or frustrated hopes? Do they send you into turmoil and cause you to question or blame God? What do you think about when nothing is demanding your attention – what fills your imagination – what are your fondest dreams? How and where do you spend your time and money? What do you fear the most? What, if you lost it, would cause you to sink into despair? In asking these questions you will discover what you cling to, or trust in other than or in addition to the one true God who has been revealed in God’s Word; what replaces God as the source of your ultimate trust, what stands in the way of the Creator Father having His way in your life which makes of God ‘a secondary interest” and thereby leaves Him with nothing more than “your left-over loyalties”; or what leads you to such an overpowering preoccupation with the present world that you forget your place in the next, In asking and answering these questions you will find what controls and motivates you, what is more important and non-negotiable to you than God.
Second, LEARN ALL YOU CAN ABOUT GOD. Focus on Jesus who is God. And while doing so, obey what you already know. I’m convinced that our problem is not always that we do not know enough – it’s that we do not obey what we do know enough. It may include giving up what obscures your vision of God.
Third, you can develop intensity by MAKING GOD THE SOLE AIM OF YOUR LIFE. (Dt. 6:5-8 MSG) “Love GOD, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got! Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.” As Paul later taught, do all you do, whatever it is, to the glory of God.
Fourth, DEVELOP TRUST IN GOD. Live with the reality that life depends, every moment, on our Sovereign God. Paul wrote in Colossians 1 that in Jesus all things hold together. Trust Him, therefore, to hold your life together. Remember that the God who gave the commandments to His people is the God who first and foremost loved and saved His people. He will continue to save you. The reason the Israelites built the golden calf was because they tired of waiting for Moses to come back down the mountain; they lacked trust. As the Heidelberg Catechism urges, “…humbly and patiently expect all good from God alone.” Believe and obey the Word of God – (Ps. 118:8-9) “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man…than to trust in princes.” (27:14) “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” (Heb. 10:36) “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”
Fifth, PRAY FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT. When we dig up weeds, they grow back unless there is something to replace them. When we get rid of idols they will come back unless we replace them. Steps 1-4 are good, but impossible without the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised God will give the Holy Spirit to all who ask Him (Lk. 11:13). So ask for help – God is more ready to give then you are to receive.
I can think of no better way to conclude than by ending with the words John used to close his first letter (1 Jn. 5:18-21): “We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them. We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.”
