Introduction- As an introduction I show the congregation a picture (on power point) of me holding a box of ready mix biscuit mix in my hand. State: Ready mix biscuit mix can be a wonderful thing. It accommodates people who have busy schedules. It accommodates people (like me) who do not know how to cook.
I find a tendency in the human heart to do the same thing with our faith. We sometimes try to formulate a god who will accommodate us. I want to examine an occasion when a group of people created a ready mix god. They wanted a god who would accommodate them. “Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, ‘Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.‘ (Exodus 32:1 NKJV) Verses 9 & 10 contain God’s assessment of the situation. “And the Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them.“ God’s assessment of this episode was not a good one. Why was God unhappy with the ready mix god? I want to show three reasons why God is upset when we formulate a ready mix god.
I. The first reason God is upset with ready mix gods is because a ready mix god is built on the wrong inspiration (look at verse 1). Moses had left the Israelite people and traveled to the top of Mt. Sinai to receive a word from God. Moses was slow in coming down from his mountain retreat. His absence caused these people to struggle. Their struggle motivated them to do a foolish thing, build and worship an idol. What motivated them to do this? You will see that they made two common mistakes. Notice two phrases in verse 1: “When the people saw” and “we don’t know”. These are two negative motivators. You and I have the same tendencies in our hearts.
First, we read the phrase “when the people saw.“ Think of the motivating power of what you see.
Ill- When Eve was tempted to commit the first sin we find God’s description of the event. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.” (Gen. 3:6 NKJV)
Ill- One of the popular advertisements on television is the bowflex conditioning machine. They always appeal to you through your eyes. I am thinking of two of their commercials. In one they show a muscular man who has bulging muscles. In another they show this great looking “fifty year old grand-mother” who looks like a swim-suit model. Who, in their right mind, would not want to look like those two people.
We need to be reminded that our eyes will lead us astray. Our eyes will rob us.
Ill- A.W. Tozer in “I Talk Back to the Devil” said “you can take two small ten-cent pieces, just two dimes, and shut out the view of a panoramic landscape. Go to the mountains and just hold two coins closely in front of your eyes--the mountains are still there, but you cannot see them at all because there is a dime shutting off the vision in each eye." (Contributed to Sermon Central by: Troy Borst)
Next, we read the phrase “we don’t know”. That phrase reflects an insecurity in the voices of the people. William Shakespeare once said “ Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we often might win by fearing to attempt.”
Ill- A read about a three year old girl who was frightened by a burst of thunder. She called out to her mother “mommy, I’m scared”. Her sleepy mother responded by saying, “Go back to your bed. God will be there with you.” The little girl stopped at the doorway, turned and said, “mommy, why don’t I sleep here with Daddy, and you go in there with God.” (Adapted from illustration #1258 in Something to Think About)
Insecurity often drives people to make foolish decisions. The athlete that is unsure about his strength or ability may turn to steroids. An insecure teenager may turn to permissive sex or drugs to pacify their friends. An unbelieving adult may withhold his tithe because he does not think he can afford to give it. A lady who is insecure may dress in improper clothing to get men’s attention.
II. We will build a ready mix god if we are following the wrong inspiration. There is a second reason God is upset with ready mix gods. They are built around the wrong focus (look at the text). Notice a couple of phrases that reveal the focus of these people.
In verse 1 we read “Come, make us gods who will go before us.” They wanted a god who was convenient, comfortable and they could control. They wanted to worship as they pleased, when they pleased and where they pleased.
Ill- When we lived in Pensacola there was a church that advertised a 30 minute worship service. They promised to get you in and out fast. They promised convenience.
We need to be reminded that faithfully following Jesus Christ is not always easy, convenient or comfortable. Yesterday I was reading in Revelation about the thousands of people who have been and will be martyred for their faith. If you think faith is supposed to be convenient, comfortable and something you can control then God owes those people an apology for all the suffering they experienced.
Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Church in Chicago said “Every single day we make choices that show whether we are courageous or cowardly. We choose between the right thing and the convenient thing, sticking to a conviction or caving in for the sake of comfort, greed or approval. We choose either to take a carefully thought-out risk or to crawl into a shrinking shell of safety, security and inactivity. We choose either to believe in God and trust him, even when we do not always understand his ways, or to second-guess him and cower in the corners of doubt and fear.” (SOURCE: Bill Hybels, Who Are You When No One’s Looking)
This thing of building a faith based on comfort, convenience and control is reflected in our convictions and beliefs. J. P. Moreland, in his book Apologetic Reasoning and the Christian Mind, tells of an experience that illustrates the importance of truth: “One afternoon I was sharing the gospel in a student’s dorm room at the University of Vermont. The
student began to espouse ethical relativism: ‘Whatever is true for you is true for you and whatever is true for me is true for me. . . . But no one should force his or her views on other people since everything is relative.’” Moreland says, “I knew that if I allowed him to get away with ethical relativism, there could be for him no such thing as real, objective sin measured against the objective moral command of God, and thus no need of a Savior. I thanked the student for his time and began to leave his room. On the way out, I picked up his small stereo and started out the door with it. ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ he shouted. . . . ‘I am leaving your room with your stereo.’ ‘You can’t do that,’ he gushed.” But Moreland said, “I happen to think it is permissible to steal stereos if it will help a person’s religious devotions, and I myself could use a stereo to listen to Christian music in my morning devotions. Now I would never try to force you to accept my moral beliefs in this regard because, as you said, everything is relative and we shouldn’t force our ideas on others. But surely you aren’t going to force on me your belief that it is wrong to steal your stereo, are you?” Moreland looked at him and continued: “You know what I think? I think that you espouse relativism in areas of your life where it’s convenient , say in sexual morality, or in areas about which you do not care, but when it comes to someone stealing your stereo or criticizing your own moral hobbyhorses, I suspect that you become a moral absolutist pretty quickly, don’t you?” The story has a happy ending, for Moreland says, “Believe it or not, the student honestly saw the inconsistency of his behavior and, a few weeks later, I was able to lead him to Jesus Christ.” (Contributed to Sermon Central by: Rodney Buchanan)
Some people want a faith that only requires one hour a week.
Some people want a faith that does not require them to give any of their money.
Some people want a faith that does not require them to change their behavior.
Some people want a faith that does not require them to do anything but come and sit on Sunday.
Notice the use of the plural personal pronoun “us“. Notice what the people said “make us gods who will go before us”; “this fellow Moses who brought us”; “These are your gods”. (NIV) These people wanted a comfortable, convenient god they could control because they were self focused. Many people want a faith that caters to them.
Ill- In the Christmas classic, Scrooge, what was Ebeneezer’s basic problem He was selfish. He was focused on himself and no one else.
Ill- Two friends were walking in the forest one day when suddenly they stumbled upon a large grizzly bear who decided that they looked like a good snack. The two started running away when all of the sudden one of them stopped. The other said, "What are you stopping for? Don’t you know the grizzly bear is right behind us?" His friend replied, "I am tying my shoe so I can run faster." At this he couldn’t help but laugh, "What you think you’ll outrun the grizzly?" The friend replied, "I don’t have to outrun the grizzly, I only have to outrun you." In our selfish society, how often do we act like this "friend." As we try to exist in community, it is essential that we eliminate the self-centered nature that is all too prevalent in our churches today.
(Contributed to Sermon Central by: xavier james ethan moses)
What is the center letter in the word sin. The obvious answer is “I”.
III. We will build a ready mix god if we have the wrong inspiration. We will build a ready mix god if we have the wrong focus. A third reason God is upset with ready mix gods is because they will lead to the wrong outcome (look at verses 6). “Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” (NKJV) Notice the outcome as recorded in our text.
The first wrong outcome is empty worship. Aaron “built an altar in front of the calf” (vs. 5 NKJV). Their worship was cold, dead and lifeless. God created you and I to have a meaningful relationship with Him. He wants to be your friend. He wants you to find your fulfillment in Him. Idol worship is an empty ritual.
That may be true of much of our worship. Gordon Dahl said, “Most middle-class Americans tend to worship their work, work at their play, and play at their worship.” (Contributed to Sermon Central by: Dan Cormie)
The second wrong outcome is an inappropriate lifestyle (vs. 6). True worship of God should be a life changing experience. Napoleon Bonaparte once said “If Socrates would enter the room we should rise and do him honor. But if Jesus Christ came into the room we should fall down on our knees and worship him. “ That is the kind of life change that real worship evokes.
In our text we are told the people could hardly wait until their worship was over so that they could start the party. This was a common theme in the Old Testament.
Ill- Amos faced it. “When will the new moon be over, so that we may sell grain,And the Sabbath, that we may trade our wheat? Making the ephah small and the shekel large, falsifying the balances by deceit, that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals even sell the bad wheat?’’ Amos 8:5-6 NKJV
Ill- Jeremiah faced it. "Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, `We are delivered to do all these abominations’? Jer. 7:9-10 NKJV
Conclusion
Have you been trying to build a ready mix god?
