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*Inscription: Writing God’s Words on Our Hearts & Minds*
*/Part 39: The Stuff of Idolatry/*
*Isaiah 44:16-20*
*/November 21, 2010/*
* *
*Prep: *
· Leftovers, FB Buddhism
*Scripture reading: 2 Chronicles 28:1-5 (peter t.)*
Q How many are excited about the *snow*?
prayer
black friday
This week we celebrate one of our nation’s *biggest* *holidays*.
Perhaps it defines the American spirit more than all the others.
You know which one I am talking about, right?
Black Friday.
· I know it’s not a legal holiday, but for many people, this is the *big* *event*...
I don’t understand.
Black Friday is a day I am very happy to *stay* at *home*.
Go out shopping or stab my hand with a fork, it’s a bit of a toss-up, but the fork won’t put me into debt.
· I’m not saying it’s wrong, some of you’ve planed *strategically* and are being good *stewards* – I’m just saying *I hate it*.
Why aren’t we thankful?
This is a *Thanksgiving* *Day* *sermon* of sorts, but it’s not your *typical* “look at how much stuff you have, shouldn’t you be thankful, you *ungrateful* *lout*” sermons.
· If you use toilet paper instead of *tree* *bark*, you’re in the top 5% of the world, so quit complaining (not really).
Q Does that work for you?
Or does it leave you feeling *guilty* *and* *unthankful*?
Isn’t that like telling the *clinically* *depressed* person they just need to be happier?
We need to first look at why before we can address how to change.
Q How can we live in one of the most *affluent* *countries* in the history of world, but still be ungrateful and want more?
*Buddhism* would say that the problem is with our desires, that by wanting things we create suffering, and through meditation we try to rise above it.
· Given that our *materialism* is so *unsatisfying*, you can see why *Lisa* *Simpson* became a Buddhist.
*Christianity* has a very different response – there is nothing wrong with our desires.
In fact *God* *gave* them to us, you are meant to be *constantly* *driven* by this *desire* for something else.
· If anything, we want too little, not too much.
The purpose is to drive us to satisfy them in him.
“You were born for *infinite* *happiness*...” (The Great Divorce, Chpt.
8) There should be this “*holy* *discontent*,” a *homesickness* (as I described it last week).
· The problem is not with the *desires*, but that we try to *satisfy* them with the *wrong* sort of things.
The Bible has a name for this: *Idolatry*.
Idolatry
In *Chronicles*, which we finished up this week, the central problem is *idolatry* – worshiping something in addition to God.
Not “other than” but “*in* *addition* to” – with rare exception, Israel didn’t stop worshiping God, they just added other gods.
· But God was *cool* with that, just like you would be cool with your *wife* having a *boyfriend*.
Oh, you’re not?
Neither was he.
Throughout this time, God sent *prophet* after prophet telling the to *knock* *it* *off*.
One of the best know was Isaiah, who wrote the longest book of prophecy in the Bible, Isaiah.
It was written during the time of *2 Chr.
26-32*:
· Here is his *searing* *critique* of idolatry:
*Isaiah 44:16-20 *Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says, “Ah!
I am warm; I see the fire.”
17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says, “Save me; you are my god.” 18 ¶ They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
19 No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left?
Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
We read this and find it amusing (God is delightfully *sarcastic*), but also *irrelevant* – this describes a *primitive* religious practices, nothing we see today.
· But let me tell you what I see when I read this: I see *me*, I see *you*, I see *my* *culture*.
How?
Well, let me *unpack* this a little – as I said, the ancient Israelites didn’t start worshiping idols and stop worshiping God.
They started *worship* *both*.
Why?
Because they thought that God *couldn’t* take *care* of all of their *needs*.
· They saw him as a “*desert* *god*,” but now they needed an agricultural god, like Ba’al.
It’s like: Thanks for everything, the *plagues* and *manna* were cool, but we also need *agricultural* god.
The fact we worship him by sleeping with a *prostitute* has nothing to do with it.
· But don’t *laugh* at them – this is exactly what *we* *do*.
We know you *created* us and *saved* us, but we have these *other* *needs* you just can’t meet, because, well, you are invisible.
So we are also going to start worshiping these other gods – *money*, *relationships*, *power*, *religion*, and so on.
· There are *countless* *idols* we have, different things we look to provide what we *think* God is *lacking*.
wrong tools
But this is a *Thanksgiving* *sermon*, and we are talking about how we can live surrounded by such *bounty* yet be *unthankful*, so I want to hone in on the idol of “*stuff*,” *things*, *possessions*.
Q What are the *legitimate*, God-given *needs* that we think God can’t meet, and that we want *stuff* to meet?
Because that is one *key* to our *lack* of *thankfulness*: All too often we look to “*stuff*” to meet a *need* it could *never* *meet*, and then *complain* when it fails.
Do you *catch* that?
One of the main reasons we have a hard time being thankful for all of our stuff is that it is *not* doing the *job* we *expect* of it.
· When I needed to change my *brake* *pads*, I didn’t have the right *tools*, and tried to jerry rig stuff, but didn’t work.
A *sobering* *example*: The same thing happens when we expect our *spouses* to fill what only *God* can, we become *ungrateful* for all they do give us.
Stuff isn’t bad
Q Is the *problem* with the *stuff*?
The *screwdriver* I was using was a perfectly good screwdriver, as a screwdriver.
The problem was with how I was using it.
Q Looking back at *Isaiah*: Was there anything wrong with the *wood*?
Anything wrong with using it to *cook* their food?
· No, the only problem was when the wood was turned into an *idol* and *worshiped*.
*Stuff* *isn’t* *bad* – it’s stuff.
It can be used *correctly* and it can be used *incorrectly*.
Q Is it *wrong* to own *stuff*?
*Nice* stuff?
No.
So long as we use the stuff the *right* *way*, it’s a good thing.
It’s not like God *screwed* *up* when he made the *tree* that they worshiped, or the *raw* *materials* that we have turned into clothes, cars, and houses.
Q So *how* do we commit *idolatry* with *stuff*?
Lots of ways: We try to find *security* in our stuff rather than in God, we try to find our *identity* in our stuff, not in Christ.
But I am going to focus on one: *Fulfillment*.
*Fulfillment*
Q Does stuff make you *happy*?
Of course!
You get a new toy, a new outfit, a new house, it will make you happy.
I just got a *Kindle* for my birthday, and I love it – so many obscure books for free!
Q Is it *bad* that we *enjoy* stuff?
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