what we worship
October 5, 2011
After a lovely ritual we talked some tonight about the Occupy Wall Street protest. Then I came to look at the Lectionary Readings for the week.
Guess what the old testament reading is?
that’s right.
making the golden calf.
and I quote:
So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” — exodus 32:2-4
just to refresh your memory if you have forgotten the story, God and Moses are not at all happy with this and bicker like a pair of exhausted parents:
God says those are “Your people who YOU brought up out of Egypt.” and tells Moses to stand aside.
But Moses says oh no honey, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
thankfully Moses wins this argument, but the major issues at stake don’t seem to have changed for 4000 years.
What we worship matters.
when we worship what we build with our own gold, we forget about the love of God who frees us from all kinds of slavery. We look to wealth and security as real things, but they have no more power to liberate us than a golden idol.