“The Ambiguity of Faith” (Exodus 33:12-23)

Years ago I had a sort of political epiphany.  I don’t remember which it election it was, but I do remember that one of the big themes of the candidates in the election was “family values”.  It seemed that every time a candidate from whichever party expounded on running a campaign on “family values”, there would be a loud cheer from the crowd . . . after all, who doesn’t believe in “family values”.  I know that it caught my attention, but then I started thinking about it . . . “family values”.

Whose “family values” were the candidates running on?

Were the candidates running on the “family values” that my wife and I embraced?  Or were they running on the “family values” of the family down the street that seemed to be constantly in an uproar with yelling and screaming every night spilling out of their house?  Or were they talking about the family down the other side of the street . . . the ones who had been married several times, had kids in each marriage, and a person needed a program just to know which kids belonged to which parents?  Or were they talking about the single mother who was working two jobs and trying her darnedest to keep the family intact?  Which “family values” were they actually running on?

That was my epiphany . . . “family values” does not mean the same thing to every person . . . each person has his or her own understanding of what “family values” means.  Politicians just hope that most people don’t get beyond the impact of the phrase and really think about what it is that they are promising . . . they just want the vote.  They project an image of something you want to believe, but that first moment when they step beyond that image . . . well, we are floored.  We are floored because we thought we knew the individual . . . and, obviously, we did not.  That is the ambiguity of politics.

Ambiguity is at the center of our scripture reading this morning.  One dictionary defined ambiguity as “the quality of being open to more than one interpretation.”  One of the synonyms for ambiguity is “uncertainty” . . . and, I think that is a good understanding of the word.  

God and Moses have been through a lot together.  They have faced Pharaoh and worked the exit of the people from captivity in Egypt.  They have wandered around the wilderness and endured the constant whining of the people.  They have faced a crisis in which the people turned against God . . . angered God . . . and, Moses pleads for their lives.  Together they have seen the highs, and experienced the lows.  They have grown close . . . become friends.  Now, Moses pushes the boundaries of that friendship by wanting to know the core essence of who God is . . . to have God completely open to him . . . to know God in the most intimate way.  Moses says to God: “Now show me your glory.”

Moses wants to know God.

Does this sound familiar . . . a sort of deja vu?  Didn’t Moses want God to tell him God’s name in their earliest encounter?  And, didn’t God answer Moses in a cryptic manner by telling Moses that God’s names was “YHWH” (YahWeh) . . . meaning “I am who I am”?  Sure it does!  But, now Moses thinks that because he and God had been through so much together, that God would be willing to reveal it all.

God’s response?  Ambiguity.

God says to Moses: “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.  When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.  Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”  

As one commentator put it: “The power of the passage is in fact found in its ambiguity.  Moses’ specific requests to see God’s ways and God’s glory are rebuffed, and all he, and we, are allowed to see is God’s . . . whatever!  Wake?  Train? After?  So it is with this God.  YHWH is holy and other and fleet and is not to be seen so easily or readily or clearly.”  In other words, God is who God is . . . whatever glimpse any of us is afforded . . . God is a mystery.  Just when we seem to think that we know and understand God, God goes and throws us a curveball . . . and, we feel as if we are starting all over once again.

I think that it is human nature to think that everyone is the same . . . that we all act and think the same way; but, the truth is we are all different.  We act differently . . . we think differently.  We are all unique and special creations created in the image of God . . . we are different.  Yet, we think that everyone is just like us because we live in the same community, belong to the same clubs, and go to the same church.  But that just isn’t true . . . that is not reality.  Reality is that we are all different . . . if we were all the same . . . well, then . . . we sure wouldn’t have so many arguments, disagreements, and fights.  Life would be pretty harmonious.

I don’t think that it takes a degree in rocket science to look around us and see that there is not too much harmony in our world and existence today.  We are not the same.  We do not act the same.  We do not think the same.  We are all different.  And, when we are honest with ourselves, and take serious stock in our lives, we have to admit that there is a lot of ambiguity in our lives . . . there is a lot of uncertainty.  

When it comes to life there is just a lot of uncertainty.

And, so it is with faith.

What is faith?  For some faith is reading your bible, saying your prayers, and going to church each Sunday morning.  For others it is belonging to a fellowship or bible study group.  For others it is standing up to injustice, seeking peace, and seeking what is believed to be God’s will.  And, for others it is going off to some beautiful place in God’s creation and sitting in the awesomeness of God.  And, the odds are, each of you could add your own understanding of what it means to be a person of faith . . . and, you would all be right.  Faith manifests itself differently in each and every one of us . . . after all, God created us unique and special unto ourselves.

This creates ambiguity.

We all want to believe that every person thinks like we do . . . is going to act like we act . . . is going to be like us.  And, rarely, do we ever experience that.  Instead we experience ambiguity . . . uncertainty, and this creates frustration.  Frustration because we want others to be like us . . . to think like us . . . to act like us.  But, they don’t.

There is no cure for ambiguity.  But, there is a process in dealing with ambiguity . . . of dealing with uncertainty . . . of dealing with the mystery.  That process is dialogue . . . dialogue with that which is creating the ambiguity and uncertainty in our lives.  Think about it . . . through dialogue we are able to ask questions, listen, and come to some sort of understanding that opens up for us new possibilities . . . new relationships . . . and, new understanding of who we are, who God is, and who others are.  Through dialogue we grow.

Ambiguity . . . uncertainty . . . is okay.  It is necessary if we are to fully grow into who we are.  We may never completely know whatever it is that is creating the feelings of ambiguity or uncertainty, but we will be that much closer if we take the time to dialogue.

Moses did not ever come to completely know God in all of God’s glory, but he did come to realize that the presence of God was always with him in ways that he understood . . . and, in ways that were a complete mystery to him.  And, so it is with each of us.

May we bless our fellow sojourners in the journey of faith . . . each on his or her own journey . . . realizing that our paths are towards the same goal, but are not the same.  May we bless our fellow sojourners with dialogue and openness to their experience of God.  May we find peace in the ambiguity of faith . . . in the mystery of what it means to love God completely and to love others.  May we find what we are looking for.  Amen.

"The Stubbornness of Idol Worship” (Exodus 32:1-14)

“I have seen these people, and they are a stiff-necked people.  Now leave me along so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them,” said the Lord to Moses upon catching the people in the act of idol worshipping.  Apparently, it does not pay to make God angry.

According to the dictionary, “idolatry literally means the worship of an idol, also known as a cult image, in the form of a physical image, such as a statue or icon.  In Abrahamic religions, namely Christianity, Islam and Judaism, idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than God as if it were God.”  In more simplistic terms, idolatry “is putting something above God in our affections.”  The people in our reading this morning were caught red-handedly worshipping idols . . . and, this did not make God a happy camper.

You all know the story . . . Moses is up on Mount Sinai talking with God.  He is gone a little too long and the people become anxious in his absence . . . they fear the worse.  They ask for some new leadership . . . some new gods . . . anything that will relieve their anxiety.  Aaron bows down to their demands and builds an altar, creates an idol—a calf made out of gold—offers sacrifices to it and holds a celebration to install this “new god” as their “god”.  Moreover, the people buy it and throw quite a shindig.  God gets wind of it and it does not make God happy . . . no, it makes God quite angry.  Angry enough to want to wipe out each and every one of the people for their corruption . . . their fickleness . . . their stubbornness . . . and, the fact that they were turncoats. 

In the strictest and literal sense of the definition of idolatry, the people were worshipping an idol; in the most simplistic terms, they had put something else before God in their affections.  God’s reaction?  Wipe them out.

I guess we should be thankful that probably none of us is idol worshippers . . . that none of us have constructed idols and strewn them about our yards and homes to worship . . . or at least I hope we are not.  I think that the issue of idolatry and the worshipping of idols is not as “black and white” as it once was.  I think that there has been a gradual expansion of idolatry that radiates outwards into many shades of gray making it difficult to call it what it is . . . it is more subtle . . . and, I think that many of us walk a fine line when it comes to idolatry . . . especially as a society and as the human race.

How is this possible?  Well, as I said, the idolatry we are witnessing is not in the strictest sense of the word, but in the more subtle.  We might not have golden calves, but we have our idols.  Jesus extolled his followers to do two things . . . to love the Lord completely and to love others.  It was all about the relationship between the individual and God, the individual and others.  Upon this, Jesus stated, that all the laws and teachings of the prophets were laid.  Whenever something replaces these relationships . . . whenever something becomes more important than these relationships . . . then we are slipping into the realm of idolatry.  This is idolatry in its simplest form . . .

. . . and, it is all around us.

Popularity, wealth, influence, success, power, sex . . . these are some of the subtle idols we worship in our society today.  We see it in the advertisements . . . we see it in the media. A sociologist once remarked that where the most resources, time, and energies are invested is where you find the heart.  And, where the lies one finds where one’s worship and affection lie.  Remember, where the affection is that is where the loyalty is when it comes to idolatry . . . what comes first.  Whatever it is, it is not God nor others.

Whenever something supplants the relationship with God and others . . . well, God is not happy. 
God was not happy with the people in our scripture reading this morning.  God was quite angry.  Angry enough to want to destroy them all for their stubbornness to worship idols . . . anger is a mask that hides the true feelings of the one who is angry.  I imagine that God was frustrated and hurt by the actions of the people to quickly abandon God and create their own gods to be relationship with.  But, whatever the case, thanks to Moses’ quick thinking and actions, he reasoned with God to spare the people . . . to let them live.  Disappointed, God did not give up on the people . . . and, apparently still hasn’t.

You would think that after all of these thousands of years . . . the human race . . . God’s children, would have gotten it by now.  That they would have figured it out by now, especially after Jesus even told them . . . that it comes down to relationships . . . relationships between the individual and God, the individual and others.  We hear it a lot, but in practice it is seems to be quite the opposite . . . there is a lot of lip service going on.  So, why are we so stubborn?  Why are we such a stiff-necked people?  Why are we so persistent in buying into the worship of idols?

I wonder . . . I wonder in the fact that when it comes to the pursuit of all those other idols--popularity, wealth, influence, success, power, and sex—they have all come up empty in their promises; yet, we stubbornly believe.  We believe that if only we can emulate our idols . . . be like our idols . . . we will have attained all that makes sense and brings purpose to life.  Yet, we know better.
In the meantime, our relationship with God falters . . . our relationship with others falters.  Our affections have shifted away from that which gives life to the hollowness of that which is nothing more than an illusion.  In doing this we fail God, others, and ourselves.

From our reading this morning we should beware . . . we should beware the idols, golden or elusive, that pull us out of our relationships with God and others.  Beware that movement away from loving God and others.  Though the idols of our day are not made of precious metal and seem more elusive, we still have a means of evaluating ourselves when it comes to idol worshipping.  We only have to ask ourselves, where are all the resources of our time, energy, and wealth going?  Are they going to strengthen our relationships with God and others, or are they going to things and people that pull us away from them?  Where we put our investments is where we put our hearts.  This is the question we must constantly be asking ourselves when it comes to idolatry.

From the very beginning, for God it has been about relationships . . . the relationship that God has with each of us as individuals . . . the relationship that we have with others.  This is what matters to God.  This is what Jesus taught.  As we look around our individual lives . . . our corporate lives . . . our lives as a nation . . . and, our lives as the children of God; are our relationships with God and others our number one priority?  If not, what then is the problem?  Have we replaced God with the pursuit of idle idols?

We are not the first to be caught up in this issue, nor will we be the last.  I think that there has not been a generation since the time when our scripture reading took place that God did not have the opportunity to speak those words: “I have seen these people, and they are a stiff-necked people.  Now leave me along so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them.”  Thank goodness, God is a God of grace and love, and not wrath.  Amen.


 

“Follow Through” (Matthew 21:23-32)

If you have played sports or watched sports . . . you have heard the phrase, “follow through.”  Even if you have not played or watched sports, you have probably heard that phrase in association with getting a job or task done.  In sports--especially in throwing and hitting, “follow through” is important because that is where all the power comes from.  In everything else, “follow through” means getting the job or task finished to completion.  In any case, “follow through” is important . . . especially in the context of our scripture reading this morning.

Consider the case of the two brothers who are asked by their father to go and work in the family vineyard.  The first son, refuses . . . but, he later changes his mind and goes to work in the vineyard.  The second son agrees to go and work in the vineyard, but then he sloughs it off and does nothing.  Then Jesus poses the question to his audience, “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

Jesus’ audience at this point probably includes his disciples . . . and, it includes the chief priests and elders who had challenged Jesus prior to this parable.  Remember the challenge?  The chief priests and elders wanted to know “By what authority are you doing these things.  And who gave you this authority?”  Remember that challenge?  Remember how Jesus responded by asking them his own question about where the authority of John the Baptist came . . . was it from heaven or from men?  In responding to their challenge, Jesus tells them that if they can answer his question, he will tell them by whose authority he has to do his ministry, preaching, and teaching.

Of course they can’t . . . they can’t answer the question because it is a “no win” situation for the chief priests and elders.  If they say John’s authority was from heaven . . . well, then, why didn’t they believe him?  If they say it is from men . . . well, that would upset the people because they believed that he was a prophet.  Either way that the chief priests and elders answered Jesus’ question would put them between a rock and a hard place.  Thus it is that they claim ignorance . . . “We don’t know.”

Because they don’t answer the question, neither does Jesus answer theirs . . . but, instead he tells them a parable . . . the parable of the two brothers asked to work by their father.

At the end or the parable, Jesus poses another question to the chief priests and elders . . . remember the question?  “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

This time the chief priests and elders do not hold a confab to determine how they will respond.  No, this time they respond quickly and with great confidence in their answer.  They tell Jesus that it was the first son who did the will of his father.

It always amazes me how Jesus’ foes always seem to step right into a public rebuke.  The chief priests and elders would have fared better if they had claimed ignorance one more time . . . but, no, they were pretty sure that they knew the answer to this question, and that Jesus would give them a gold star for their answer.  Needless to say, they did not get a gold star.  Instead they received a pretty scathing rebuke.

Jesus wants to know . . . why, then, didn’t you follow through?

Therein is the problem with the second son.  Though he answered his father in a way that his father wanted him to answer, he did not do the work.  It was all lip service.  There was no “follow through”.  On the other hand, the son who had refused to work, but then went to the vineyards to work . . . well, his actions spoke volumes to his father.  He “followed through.”

Apparently “follow through” is pretty important in the eyes of Jesus.  In the estimation of Jesus, those in control . . . the chief priests and elders . . . did not “follow through”.  They were all lip service . . . all words, no action.

Jesus doesn’t like lip service when it comes to those who claim to be his followers.  Jesus wants the words that his followers speak to match up to the actions that they take.  Jesus expects “follow through”.  

If a follower of Jesus proclaims that he or she loves all people . . . well, they better love all people . . . and, not just on Sunday morning between ten and eleven o’clock.

If a follower believes that all are welcomed into God’s family . . . well, they better be ready to set up more chairs at the table . . . and, they better be ready to receive people that they never imagined they would ever associate with.

If a follower believes in peace and justice . . . then they better live their lives in such a way that peace and justice is the end product.

If a follower believes that outreach is an important part of one’s faith . . . then he or she better be ready to move beyond mere contributions to the offering plate and to actually put one’s self in the presence of those who need help.

Jesus does not want right answers when it comes to faith . . . Jesus wants right action.  Jesus wants the words of the followers to be congruent with the actions that they take.  Jesus does not want his followers to only say it . . . Jesus wants his followers to do it.  Anything less is not to “follow through”.  

One of the spiritual exercises that helps people understand their own faith comes from a simple question: Who in this reading do you identify with?  The choice we make, when we use this practice, reveals a lot of about our own faith.  In this parable of the two brothers . . . which brother do you identify with?  Now, remember, be honest with your answer.  Are you the one who refuses to work, but ends up working anyways . . . or, are you the brother who says he will work but never does?

No matter what you anwer . . . may you discover the power of “following through”.  In the “follow through” comes the blessing . . . and, the power.  Amen.