Summary: Don’t get stuck in your image of God, lest it too become an idol

Title: Pictures Don’t Lie

Text: Exodus 20:4-6

FCF: Don’t get stuck in your image of God

SO:

Intro:

There’s an old saying, “Pictures don’t lie,” and when it comes to my sexy physique, sadly I suppose it’s true. But in this age of images, I wonder how often that is. It wouldn’t really be of much interest except for two things.

On the one hand, we live in a society saturated with images. Indeed, I’ve heard it said we are becoming a post-literate society – one that deals so thoroughly in images that it in some ways it is leaving behind the printed and spoken word. All you need to do to understand the truth of that is to compare the number of hours the average American spends watching television to, oh say, the number of books the average American reads in a year. Even the cultural phenomenon of book clubs shows that words have become a niche hobby rather than a regular pursuit.

That too might just be of passing curiosity except for this second fact. We serve a God who clearly doesn’t like ‘graven images.’ It’s his second commandment.

Now, I want to be clear on a few points. First of all, unlike, say, radical Muslims who riot at the sight of a cartoon depicting Muhammad or blow up statues in Afghanistan, we have no outright prohibition on images.

Furthermore, unlike the Jews, we aren’t even bound by this covenant. As I said last week, the Ten Commandments are a contract, made between God and the Jews of Moses’ day. We aren’t bound them to any more than we are obligated to the terms of Michael Jordan’s contract. But it is worth understanding the covenant Maker, because what this says about God is tremendous.

You see, images have one major flaw. They are static. They don’t change. They’re stuck. And while our God is the same from day to day, our understanding of Him must never be.

Think about your parents for a minute. Can you honestly say that you think about them the exact same way you did when you were five? Of course you don’t! If you did, you’re either only five and a half or incredibly naïve. Neither one of those is a good thing.

As you have grown, and gotten older, your image of your parents has grown. You have gotten more sophisticated. That’s good! So too must it be with our understanding of God. If it hasn’t changed from when we first met him, something must be terribly out of whack. God himself can remain the same from day to day, but he is so incredibly vast and glorious that it takes time to grow in our appreciation of him.

And that, you see, is why graven images are so bad. There are a lot of reasons why pictures are inadequate. I want to take a few minutes and show you what I mean.

The Limits of Pictures

Let me tell you something else images. No matter how wide the lens, the focus is always too narrow. Images are, by definition selective. How often, on the news, do you see pictures of a protest. But, let me ask you this – how many people are at this protest? 10? 100? 1000? 1,000,000? You never really know from the picture. The image will show you the intensity and the fervor, but can it ever show you the breadth?

Or, let me show you this picture of the Himalayas. When Susan & I were there, we used to take pictures like these every day. These mountains are beautiful. I understand why it is that the Psalmist says, “I lift up my eyes unto the hills.” But I’ll tell you something a missionary over there told me. He had some beautiful pictures, too. But one day he said to me, “You know the worst part about these pictures? You’ll bring them home and people will think ‘Wow, that’s beautiful!’ but you’ll know how pale they are in comparison to the real thing.” You know what? He was right.

I remember climbing to the top of the foothills that surround Kathmandu. When you’re in the valley, you can see these snow-covered peaks just slipping above the hills. They look like clouds in a haze. But as you make your way to the top, something happens. The higher you get, the bigger the mountains in back get. It’s as if they grow until the fill the sky. I cannot convey how massive a mountain really is until you have seen it for yourself.

If you’ve ever been to Yellowstone, or Yosemite, or Grand Canyon, you know what I’m getting at. Your pictures are beautiful, but they don’t do the place justice. They’re somehow too small to convey how wonderful the real thing is.

And images aren’t just limited in size and perspective, they’re limited in time too. Images, you see, are stuck. They don’t change. That’s why we take them. But that means that images are a distortion in time too.

If you remember November 22nd, 1963, I’m sure you remember this image. John F. Kennedy, Jr. gave his dad a final fitting farewell. That image is so famous that you still see it in history books. If I say, JFK, Jr., I’m willing to bet this is what you see. But that image only conveys one moment in time. John-John looked like this a lot longer than he that little boy did. Pictures have a way of cementing and making their own reality in ways that words can’t do.

Sometimes that can be a good thing but I wonder, how complete a picture would I have if this were all I remembered. One day, I hope she’ll get married and have children of her own. This can’t be the full story.

I bet you have a picture of your wedding day. What if that were the only image you ever had of your spouse? Would they ever be able to live up to that image?

Please understand me here. I am not saying that all pictures are inherently evil. They’re not. They are simply a technology. And, as an engineer, I can tell you without reservation, any technology – anything made by man – involves limitations and tradeoffs. If technology didn’t have side-effects, we wouldn’t use it. But no side-effect intended by man is exactly right 100% of the time.

Images are limited and they’re stuck. And they can get us stuck if we’re not careful. Our God is too big for that. Sometimes I wonder why Jesus didn’t come into the world when there was television or even photographs. But then, I just imagine his face on ‘People Magazine,’ and it all makes sense.

Our God may be the same today, tomorrow, and forever, but our understanding of him is always evolving. If we get fixed on any one single image of him, we’re stuck. You can see why it is then that he would be so firm about no graven images.

Story of the Suffering Symbol

Israel got an object lesson in this in its own history. There’s an obscure verse in 2 Kings that illustrates this. When King Hezekiah came to be King, he was righteous and he followed the commandments. He broke down idols wherever he found them. Let me read you what he said:

3 [King Hezekiah] did what was right in the sight of the LORD just as his ancestor David had done. 4 He removed the high places, broke down the pillars, and cut down the sacred pole. He broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it; it was called Nehushtan.

When it says, ‘he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made,’ it means that he was break down a part of their own history. In Numbers, the children of Israel were wandering in the desert. And, as always, they started complaining. This is what Numbers says:

4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. 5 The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” 6 Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

You can imagine how important this was in their history. Here was a very powerful symbol. When the people were dying, this saved them. It was a snake on a stick.

And just to give you an idea how powerful that symbol was, think about your Blue Cross card for a minute – it has that same thing on it, doesn’t it? If you’re a vocabulary master, you may know what a caduceus is – it’s the symbol of healing, a snake on a stick.

So, back in the 1500s BC, Moses makes what might very well be the first caduceus. It saved people, and everyone remembered. But nearly nine hundred years later, a new King realizes something. This symbol wasn’t just a reminder or a great artifact any more. People were worshipping it. They weren’t worshipping the God who gave it power, they were worshipping the symbol itself.

That’s an idol. That’s bad. As somebody who loves and reveres history, the idea of breaking down a nine hundred year old artifact would be like tossing out the ark of covenant. But King Hezekiah was right. No history that confuses God’s power with simple black magic is worth keeping.

But you know what? About 2000 years ago, it wasn’t a snake but a man who was set up on a pole. And I’ll tell you this, he healed many. That’s a very powerful symbol too, even if it has been domesticated into mere jewelry.

Tell me this? Do you worship the cross or the man who was hung on it? Honestly, I don’t think anybody in here views it as a magic talisman, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who do.

But again, that doesn’t mean we’re free from making our own images of Jesus. I’m not talking about the mental picture you get when I use his name, but I do have to ask what your image of ‘who he really is’ is.

Is it some fixed notion you learned in Sunday School many years ago? Or is it just the natural sense of a real person you know?

What is your image of God? Do you see just a kindly Good Shepard? Or maybe a radical revolutionary? Do you see some stuffed Son of God complete with his very own halo? Or maybe even a cross?

But I want to challenge you with this – how does that image compare to your father? How does that image compare to your friend? Is Jesus just a picture to you? Or is he real? Is he your best friend? He wants to be. He wants to be your King.

He won’t lie to you. He’s a person who will change you too – he’ll change you if you won’t be stuck. Let him make you in His image, and you’ll never regret it.

Would you pray with me?

Long Branch Baptist Church

Halfway, Virginia; est. 1786

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Enter to Worship

Prelude David Witt

Invocation Michael Hollinger

*Opening Hymn #216

“Great is thy Faithfulness”

Welcome & Announcements

Morning Prayer

*Praise Hymn #157

“At the Cross”

*Offertory Hymn #154

“This is My Father’s World”

Offertory Mr. Witt

*Doxology

Scripture Exodus 20:4-6

Sermon

“Pictures Don’t Lie”

Invitation Hymn #198

“Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”

Benediction

Congregational Response

May the grace of Christ of Savior / And the Father’s boundless love

With the Holy Spirit’s favor / Rest upon us from above. Amen.

* Congregation, please stand.

Depart To Serve

Please remember that Betty Patterson’s son, Marc will be preaching at Middleburg at 11am this morning.

MORNING SCRIPTURES

Numbers 21:6-9

4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. 5 The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” 6 Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

2 Kings 18:3-4

In the third year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, Hezekiah son of King Ahaz of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what was right in the sight of the LORD just as his ancestor David had done. 4 He removed the high places, broke down the pillars, and cut down the sacred pole. He broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it; it was called Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in the LORD the God of Israel; so that there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah after him, or among those who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the LORD; he did not depart from following him but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. 7 The LORD was with him; wherever he went, he prospered.

1 John 5:19-21

19 We know that we are God’s children, and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.