Idolatry Is a Subtle Thing
Preparing for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Three Days before Sunday (Year B)
Scripture
Semi-continuous: Psalm 1; Proverbs 30:1-10; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Complementary: Psalm 54; Judges 6:1-10; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
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Prayer
Life-giving God, heal our lives, that we may acknowledge your wonderful deeds and offer you thanks from generation to generation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Revised Common Lectionary)
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Reflection
The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. The hand of Midian prevailed over Israel, and because of Midian the Israelites provided for themselves hiding places in the mountains, caves and strongholds. For whenever the Israelites put in seed, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east would come up against them. They would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the land, as far as the neighborhood of Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, nor any sheep or ox or donkey. For they and their livestock would come up, and they would even bring their tents, as thick as locusts; neither they nor their camels could be counted, so they wasted the land as they came in. Thus Israel was greatly impoverished because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.
When the Israelites cried to the Lord on account of the Midianites, the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites, and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you and drove them out before you and gave you their land, and I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not pay reverence to the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live.’ But you have not given heed to my voice” (Judges 6:1-10).
Idolatry is a subtle thing. Most persons in the midst of worshiping false gods do not know that they are idolaters. Idolatry is sneaky. Idols move up quietly behind us and capture our loyalty before we realize it. Having a hobby is a good thing—playing golf and making furniture—but when it becomes all-consuming even a golf ball can become an idol, a small statue to a false god.
Judges chapter 6 begins with the sentence, “the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Then in verse 10: “God says to them. I am the Lord your God. Do not worship the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live, but you have not listened to me.”
Throughout Israel’s history, the people have shifted between doing what was right in the sight of the Lord and doing evil. It is a reminder that idolatry, worshiping of things other than God is always subtly lurking nearby. We must be on our guard at all times not to fall into such a trap.
What are the subtle idolatries that attract us today? We don’t have to worship idols made of stone and wood to become idolatrous. Theologian Paul Tillich defined faith as that which ultimately concerns us. What is it that ultimately concerns us? If that ultimate concern is not directed toward God, it will be directed toward someone or something else. When that happens, idolatry is upon us.
The human capacity to rationalize is an ever present danger. We construct idols and say they are not. We worship fragile things or give our ultimate concern to other people or political movements and then say we’ve got it under control without realizing we are being controlled. What are the idolatries that attract us today in the 21st century?
PRAYER: Loving God, open our ears to hear your word and draw us closer to you, that the whole world may be one with you as you are one with us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Revised Common Lectionary)
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