I have been waiting all summer for today. Not that I thought I had a great sermon to preach, but because the part of the Book Of Exodus we are going over today includes the story of the Israelites and the Golden Calf, a story all of us know and to which, well, at least I can really relate.
We have followed the People of God all summer as we trekked with them through the Book of Exodus. It began with them under extreme hardship as slaves in Egypt. God heard their cries and remembered the covenant that was made with them that God would love and care for them. God appointed Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and after a series of unfortunate events were put upon the Egyptians, namely the plagues, Egypt set them free. Then began a long trek across the desert of Sinai and God and God through Moses cared for them. They crossed the Red Sea unharmed while pharaoh’s army did not fare as well, they were fed manna and quail, and eventually they got to the foot of a mountain where God had God’s people camp while they learned God’s law and formalized their religion. As chapter 32 starts, Moses is on top of Mt Sinai receiving God’s law and the people are on the foothills below under the leadership of Moses’ brother Aaron.
And well…. Moses, it seems has taken too long with the Lord. The people are feeling abandoned by the very person who they count on. Where is Moses and why he is up there for 40 whole days and nights! They want a leader that is there. They want a God that is not up on a mountain and unavailable to them, but gods they can control and who will take care of them if they just create altars and make sacrifices to them. So, they tell Aaron they are upset and Aaron goes along. Nowhere does it say that Aaron reminds them of their part in the covenant with the Lord. They are to be God’s people and have no other god’s but Yahweh; and well, after 40 days they go off the deep end. ‘What Covenant? If Moses can’t be here with us all the time, we need to go another direction.’ So Aaron asks for their jewels and gold rings and makes a golden calf to worship. And in doing so he makes a god they can touch, see, and control through their actions.
And all this while God is talking to Moses. The scripture says God got wind to what was happening with the people at the base of the mountain and got angry. God got very angry. God’s anger was so great, in fact, that God threatened to kill all the Hebrew people. After all, the Lord had been pretty clear that as God’s people, there were to be no idols to false gods and here they were, with Moses gone not even two months and they had committed THE BIG BIG SIN.
Moses spared the lives of the Hebrews and returns down the mountain with the tablets of the covenant. And I don’t know if you have ever climbed a big mountain before, but when I have climbed the White Mountains (which are called that because their peaks are white as they are above the tree line) in New Hampshire, one thing that is part of the hike is the reentry at the end when you begin to hear the sounds of people at the base, their voices, and the surrounding sounds of civilization. You come down from the peaceful sounds of nature, the beauty of the rocks and the trees, and the wonderful way the light dances through the leaves, and you return to civilization. Sometimes I hear the laughter of people first and it gives me joy. But sometimes the traffic and background noise which makes it hard to enter after the peace of the wilderness. And as Moses approached the people at the base, he heard them. He heard what he referred to as the sound of revelers. And as he approached the camp he saw the Israelites dancing around the golden calf and running wild. He lost it….. and in his anger he broke the tablets made by God.
And this is where the preacher usually begins the sermon on the sins of having false idols in our lives and points to the idols in our society and personal lives which keep us from a healthy relationship with God. You know those false idols of money, power, beauty and the rest. They should not become our gods but should be seen as belonging to our God. We here know that and know our tendency to slip into that sin. It is something we fight within ourselves daily. But what I find interesting is the human condition that creates the sin and how we can prevent ourselves from falling victim to it.
Remember the book Lord of the Flies? If not, let me give you a brief synopsis. A group of young boys are stranded on an uninhabited island after surviving in a plane crash which killed all the adult figures. They try and govern themselves with disastrous consequences. The book shows our human impulse towards savagery and that the rules of civilization are put in place to contain and minimize it. The boys, after realizing they need to learn to live on the island, end up forming two groups, one which is governed by fear and violence and the other which maintains rules and conduct of civility much like they lived by before. The book ends with murder and chaos before the boys are finally rescued by a naval officer who basically saves them from themselves. In the dramatic ending, the officer, who represents civility comes before they kill each other.
And it reminds me of this story in Exodus. Up until now, the Hebrew people have been somewhat childlike in their faith. They have been told by their spiritual and political leader that they were to follow their God who would watch out for them. They were God’s chosen and God had made a covenantal relationship with their ancestors of which they greatly benefit. Nothing was expected of them but faithfulness. And they had their times when they did not trust that the care promised would be provided. They whined and cried for food and water and it was given to them and then they cried for more variety in their diet. And now here they are, camped out on the base of a mountain while Moses has gone up to talk to God, and they despair he has been gone too long. Ironically the rules God is giving Moses for the people are the ones that, if followed, will create the structure of their faith and civil laws. Whoops…. Moses got them a day too late. Like the story of those boys left on the deserted island, they form ways to cope with the loss of leadership and no law. The golden calf becomes their focal point and object of comfort. They can control their lives through worship and sacrifice of this human-made idol.
And then Moses comes. And, just like the naval officer showing up on the island to rescue the boys in the book, their base behaviors and instincts are checked and they conform to the laws of God.
There has been an interesting similarity in our world and in our country today. Some believe that the ethical standards by which we prided ourselves have been put on the back burner. Much like the marooned school children in Lord of the Flies, civility has given way to an increase in meanness, concern for the individual over others, and a loss of morality and kindness. Almost as though we have lost our moral compass, we have allowed bigotry and hatred to fester and grow. And with those feelings comes a growing of fear, a worry of a loss of power, violence, and it has become acceptable to push people down who are not like us instead of holding them up. We have built golden calves and other false idols to worship instead of worshipping the God of love, forgiveness, grace, and charity.
And when the Israelites were unfaithful, Moses spoke out in anger. He punished the Israelites and broke the tablets with the commandments on them that were a part God’s covenant with God’s people. He actually crushed the golden calf and made the people eat it. But in the end, God forgave. God loves in a way that is magnificent. In chapter 34, new tablets are made and the Covenant between God and God’s people is indeed renewed. In Chapter 34 verse 10 Yahweh says:
I hereby make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform marvels, such as have not been performed in all the earth or in any nation; and all the people among whom you live shall see the work of the Lord; for it is an awesome things that I will do for you.
Yes, our very nature needs God’s direction. Without it, we falter. We know those golden calves can fill up our homes and our minds. But the good news is that God knows that. God forgives and God offers us grace and love over and over again. God has made a covenant with God’s people. And to follow it, we need only to love God with all our heart and mind, and to love each other as well. That is indeed very good news. Amen.