You Shall Not Take the Name of the Lord in Vain.

God’s Top Ten List, III:
“You Shall Not Take the Name of the Lord in Vain.”
Exodus 20:7
Rev. Clark Lynn Callender, 9/26/10

What’s in a name? How did Shakespeare put it? “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” What’s in a name? Particularly, what’s the big-deal about GOD’S NAME?
Every week, every single Sunday morning, we all offer one very familiar prayer, arguably the most important prayer of all: the Lord’s Prayer. And what is the FIRST thing we ask for in that prayer? The very first request?
I can see the “wheels turning”...
“Our Father, who art in heaven... HALLOWED BE THY NAME...”
First thing! Before any requests for our needs to be met, or our sins forgiven, or our lives being kept from evil... “hallowed be thy name”! At least, according to the order of the prayer, this is what we claim every week to be most desiring. Do we ever think about that?
What’s in a NAME? Well, this is our topic this morning.
Today we continue our study of the Ten Commandments with the Third Commandment – another command which, as with the first two, is concerned with our RELATIONSHIP TO GOD. Once again, as we’ve noted over the past two weeks: While most people tend to say “I’ll get around to working on my relationship with God as soon as I take care of other things, as soon as I have time”; the Ten Commandments make it clear that this is to have everything BACKWARDS: working out one’s FAITH is first and foremost – everything hinges upon this.
The First Commandment dealt with the issue of RIVALS to God: “You shall have no other gods before me.”
The Second Commandment dealt with the issue of FAULTY UNDERSTANDINGS (or “images”) of God: “You shall not make for yourself an idol.”
And now, the Third Commandment deals specifically with our use of God’s NAME: “You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.” A couple of side-points to mention about this before we really delve into it:
First, note that this commandment is based upon the premise of the IMPORTANCE of our SPEECH. That OUR WORDS MATTER. As we’ve noted in the past: Words are not insignificant things, they can make or break lives. The wise person understands this and uses words carefully.
Remember the old joke about the woman who’s away on a trip and calls home to ask her husband how things are going? “Hi, dear, how are things at home?” the woman asks. “The husband says, “Well, the cat died.” The woman replies, “That’s terrible! Not only that the cat died but the way you told me! You’re always so blunt and unfeeling. Couldn’t you have been a little bit kinder and chosen your words better to break the news to me more gently?” “What do you mean?” inquires the husband. “Well,” the woman answers, “You could have broken the news to me gradually. Say, first, ‘The cat got up on the roof.’ Then, ‘The cat fell off the roof.’ Then, ‘The cat got hurt.” And finally, ‘The cat died.’ Be more compassionate.” “Okay,” replies the husband, “I’ll try to do better.” The wife says, “Any other news from home?” There’s a brief pause and then the husband says, “Well... Your mother got up on the roof.”
The wise person understands the tremendous power of their words and strives to use them carefully! From this then, note also, that, strictly speaking, the Third Commandment does not prohibit the use of VULGAR or OBSCENE language. There’s often some confusion about this; but God says nothing here about the use of foul “four-letter” words. The only issue is God’s NAME. Yet isn’t it interesting how, while most of us get very bothered by foul language we will allow the misuse of God’s name to pass by almost unnoticed. It’s become accepted. But consider that:
In church, let’s say, if someone were to say the “f-word” – If I were to “drop the f-bomb” (as it were) in a sermon, people would flip out! I would never hear the end of it! However, all around the church one continually hears “Oh, God... Oh, my God...”
Technically speaking, according to the Third Commandment, misuse of God’s name is the greater danger! The use of obscenities simply reveals a vulgar person; misuse of God’s name reveals a SINNER! It shows just how lost we have become in our faith! As Jesus once said to the Pharisees (the religious people of his day who thought they were closest to God but who were actually furthest away): “You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” That is, you go crazy over minor issues while you miss the major issues entirely!
Words matter. And God’s name is the key word.
So then, what is the big deal here? What’s the issue with this name thing? The first two commandments seem to deal with very serious issues, while this third seems rather minor and almost petty. What gives?
Well, to the modern American mind, names, of course, do not generally carry any particularly great meaning. As with Shakespeare’s “a rose by any other name” they can be practically anything, it doesn’t really matter. Thus, for example, most parents generally just name their children whatever sounds nice to them; or, at best, what simply has some family connection.
I’m reminded of the old joke about the father in the delivery room at the birth of his first child. Upon the child’s birth, the father takes hold of the newborn baby boy and announces, “We are going to name him Theophilus.” “Theophilus?” the nurse asks. “Why Theophilus?” To which the father replies, “Because... He is Theophilus looking baby I have ever seen!”
Names don’t mean a lot to us. However, as scholars remind us, it wasn’t always this way. In ancient times names had very specific meanings. A person’s name communicated the very ESSENCE of their personality – their soul. Thus, in the Bible, whenever a person’s life changed so did their name: Abram became Abraham. Jacob became Israel. Simon became Peter.
The name contained the person’s ESSENCE. And thus to possess the name of another was to possess some POWER OVER THEM, some GRASP of that essence. As in the creation story: humanity’s DOMINION over the animals involves first our right to NAME them.
A name – it is essence and grasp. All of this playing out most dramatically in one’s relationship to one’s God. Ancient people were extremely cautious in their use of their deities’ names because it was understood that the use of the name, it’s very utterance, was to COMMAND THE DIETY’S PRESENCE. Say the NAME and, in effect, GOD IS THERE!
Now, this may all sound somewhat foreign to us; but really think about it: We all have our experiences of God. But what enables us to IDENTIFY and to LABEL these experiences? By what do we REMEMBER and MAKE SENSE of and SHARE these experiences?
The NAME! That’s the unifying factor in all these activities! Without it, all these experiences are just experiences of______... Abstract, disjointed, possibly even almost meaningless events! Think of it this way:
How do we communicate with God? Through prayer. And what most commonly makes a prayer a prayer? The use of the NAME - spoken or just thought – that is... Saying: “Someone please heal me, I’m sick!” – that’s a wish. Saying, “Doctor, please heal me, I’m sick,” – that’s a request. But saying, “Lord, please heal me, I’m sick.” – that’s a prayer.
The name changes the experience. What’s in a name? EVERYTHING! The NAME OF GOD is the ULTIMATE POINT OF CONCATCT between us and God. The name is the FOCUS of God’s presence. God is always present with us; but the name is where we GRASP that presence. Thus Jesus says, “Whenever two or more are gathered IN MY NAME, I AM THERE.” The name is the presence.
The use of the name forms the relationship. Therefore, MISUSE of the name HARMS the relationship, hinders the presence. In effect: The first commandment asks: “What is God’s place in your life?” The Second Commandment asks, “What is your understanding of God?” And the Third Commandment asks, “How do you TREAT God?” For if the name is the “ultimate point of contact” then how we treat the name is how we treat God. The use of the name defines the relationship.
Notice how God offers a rather ominous warning here: “You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain, for the Lord WILL NOT AQUIT those who misuse his name.” Now that doesn’t mean (God is saying): “Don’t mess with my name - I’m ‘Mister God’ to you – because it really annoys me and I’ll hurt you if you forget that!” Rather it means (God is saying): “Don’t misuse my name because if you do it stands between you and me and it keeps me from being truly present and powerful in your life as I wish to be – and you need me to be!”
God is not threatening; God is imploring! How we use the name of God forms our relationship with God, determines whether we experience God in our lives or fail to do so. To misuse it is to break the relationship, to block the full reality of God’s presence. Notice that God doesn’t say we CANNOT USE his name; but only that we must not MISUSE it.
So, what does it mean to “misuse” the name of God? Well think about this:
Throughout the Bible there can be identified THREE PROPER USES of God’s name – they are: PRAYER – that is, communicating with God. PRAISE – worshipping and thanking God for his greatness and blessing. And PROCLAMATION – telling others of what God means to us.
Prayer, praise, proclamation – the three correct uses of Gods’ name. We can use this as a guide, for what is the FOCUS of each of these three? GOD. Right use of God’s name draws our attention TOWARD GOD. And, as we will observe, wrongful use does the opposite.
God defines wrongful use of his name specifically as (in the older translation): “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God IN VAIN.” The word “VAIN” can have a number of different meanings, each of which can be very instructive to us as to how our attention is being taken from God and what we need to do about it in order to fully experience God’s presence and live better...
(I)
The first possible meaning of the word “vain” is “EMPTY.” This is the most basic definition of the word and the one that basically encapsulates all the others: vain as in empty or void. For instance: “A vain attempt” – meaning useless, pointless. This is the first most common misuse of God’s name: the casual, or EMPTY USE of it.
This, of course, we are all very familiar with (as mentioned previously) in the wide-spread and commonly accepted practice (within our society today), of simply using God’s name as an EXCLAMATION – such as: “Oh, God!’ or “Oh, my God!” (or any of its derivatives). Such is an empty use of the name. One is not even really thinking of God at all, it’s just a figure of speech.
Now, what’s the problem with this? As many would argue: “We don’t mean anything by it, it’s just an expression!”
Well that is precisely the problem: We “don’t mean anything by it”! Essentially we’re saying God “doesn’t mean anything”! God is reduced to nothing, to little more than an article of grammar, an exclamation point in our speech. Our modern era having brought this to its fullest flower in having reduced it to shorthand, just three letters: OMG.
You know, I once saw a bumper-sticker that read: “God’s last name is not Damn!” The Creator of the universe reduced to nothing more than a crude expletive. God effectively made to NOT MATTER. Such a notion is deadly because (as we’ve seen over previous weeks) the path to life is understanding that God matters OVER EVERYTHING ELSE. And thus one’s purpose is to MAKE EVERYTHING MATTER FOR GOD. Our common empty use of God’s name “flips” this upside down and backwards – and our lives with it.
The answer? Well, first of all, obviously, if you’ve fallen into the habit of using such phrases (and it’s easy, they’re so commonly heard) you need to drive them from your vocabulary by whatever means necessary. Realize: they are like a cancer on your soul – continually saying that God doesn’t matter. As we’ve noted so many times in the past, our words make our reality. Say a lie often enough and you come to believe it to be true!
And understand: This is serious stuff! Again, as God warns in this commandment: God “will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.” “Will not acquit” literally means GUILT IN PERPETUITY, for ALL TIME! And this is the only commandment that carries this warning! Not even killing carries such an ominous threat! Think about that. Don’t believe your words matter? God isn’t messing around here!
We need to drive such phrases from our lips because they are a spiritual cancer, and then, even if we don’t tend to say such things, we need to realize that we can still be making the same mistake any time we trivialize God in our lives. Any time we effectively say “God doesn’t matter here”: God doesn’t matter in the workplace. God doesn’t matter in how I conduct my business. God doesn’t matter in how I treat this person.
Jesus once observed: “Why do you say, ‘Lord, Lord;’ but you don’t do what I say?” That is: “Why do you say my name; but the name has no authority over you?” The path to life is knowing that God matters above everything else and making everything matter for God! Basically, it means not just talking about being RELIGIOUS but actually BEING RELIGIOUS: Making every aspect of our lives about God! Giving God complete AUTHORITY over us. What part of your life are you not making about God? Where and how are you refusing God’s authority over you? In the repentance you won’t undertake, the apology you won’t offer, the apology you won’t accept, the selfishness you justify? Preacher King Duncan writes:
“I read about a pastor who was on an airplane on a late night flight going home and sitting behind him in the airplane were two salesmen. They began to lace their conversation with profanity and they were taking God’s name in vain, right and left, and this pastor had all he could take. He raised himself out of his seat, turned around so he was looking down on them and he asked this question, ‘Excuse me gentlemen. Are either one of you in the ministry?’ The one in the aisle seat raised his eyebrows and said, ‘What in the world would ever make you think that?’ The pastor said, ‘Well, I am in the ministry and I am amazed at your communication skills.’ The man said, ‘What do you mean?’ The preacher replied, ‘Well, you just said, “God, damn, hell, and Jesus Christ” in one sentence and I sometimes can’t get all of that into a whole sermon! You must truly be devout people.’ The pastor said they both looked kind of funny and he didn’t hear another word from them the rest of the flight.”
We use the name. Does it have authority over us? You want to find God’s presence in your life? The first step is simple: Do anything that increases the authority of Gods’ name over you.
The first way we often hurt our relationship with God, hinder God’s presence and power in our lives through the misuse of God’ name: The EMPTY USE – whenever God’s name, spoken or unspoken has NO AUTHORITY over us.
(II)
The second possible definition of “vain” is then “lacking in DEPTH.” For example, we sometimes speak of a person who cares only about their appearance, about externals, as being “vain.” This points us to the next common misuse of God’s name: the SUPERFICIAL USE. And I’ll warn you: A lot of good, faithful Christians get past the first misuse okay; but this second one trips them up! It goes like this:
Jesus was once talking about prayer and he said: “When you pray, do not heap up for yourself VAIN REPETITIONS...” That is, don’t just keep on saying a bunch of stuff, just to say it, a bunch of “religious” stuff that you don’t really mean, that’s just EXTERNAL. Speak from your heart, your true inner self.
You see, Jesus was really bugged about people just giving LIP SERVICE to their faith, people whose relationship with the Lord was only about EXTERNALS NOT INTERNALS. As Jesus said, in no uncertain terms, to the religious folk of his day: “You are like white-washed tombs.” In other words: “All clean on the outside, but full of death on the inside!” (By the way: This was not one of his more popular sermons!)
But you see, this is what so often happens in our lives, what so often happens in many religious folks’ lives: We rightly understand God’s supreme authority over us; but this authority always remains an EXTERNAL thing, we never let it really GET IN and work on our HEARTS where it really matters.
A man discovers he has cancer. He wants God to get rid of the cancer; he doesn’t want to discover God’s presence and purpose within the cancer. Yet which is actually the greater gift?
A woman is having trouble in her marriage. She prays to God to fix her marriage but refuses to allow God to change any of the wrongs within her that are contributing to the brokenness. Which would be the true healing?
The real presence and relationship with God is not in what God does FOR US; but in what God does TO US. How often do we say the name of God – in worship and in prayer; but we only want the power of that name to address OUTSIDE things, not reach in and actually change our hearts or very being?! Taking the name “in vain”: SUPERFICIALLY, not wanting it for what it really does? Plainly stated: How, in your life are you speaking God’s name, but not letting him in? One author writes:
“To be filled with the Holy Spirit means that we allow God to occupy and control every area of our lives. How much of you does the Holy Spirit have?
“When teaching this to my seminary students, I bring two glasses of water and two packets of Alka-Seltzer antacid to class. I drop one packet of Alka-Seltzer, with the wrapper still on, into one glass. Then I rip open the other packet and pour the contents into the second glass, and watch it fill with fizz.
“I say to my students, ‘Both glasses have the Alka-Seltzer, just as all Christians have the Holy Spirit. But notice how you can have the Holy Spirit and not his filling. It depends upon whether the package is opened.’ Our goal is to live in such a way as to unwrap the packaging around the presence and power of the Holy Spirit within us.”
The second most common misuse of God’s name: the SUPERFICIAL USE. You want to find God’s presence? Where does God need to reach down into your heart and really change you – but you’re not allowing it? Faith is ultimately not about what God does FOR us; it’s about what God does TO us.
Which leads us into...
(III)
The third possible definition of in vain” which is: “to RUSH OVER.” As I was studying this phrase I discovered that the Hebrew phrase “to take in vain” is based upon a core verb meaning “to rush over.” As in a storm or an army that would “rush over” and destroy, leave desolate. This got me thinking...
How often are we misusing God’s name by “rushing over” it? Think of it like this: Anybody here have anything in this past week for which they are thankful? If you’re having a hard time coming up with something, let me help you get started: How about waking up this morning alive, roof over your head, food on your table!
Now, does anybody here have anything to give thanks for in this past week? Well did you make a point during this week to STOP and RECOGNIZE these things and GIVE THANKS – BY NAME – TO GOD for them? Or did we all just take our blessings for granted, feel they are the results of our own labor, or things we just deserved, not feel they need to be acknowledged?
As much as it is a MISUSE to USE God’s name WRONGLY; so is it a misuse to NOT USE God’s name RIGHTLY! The third wrongful use of God’s name that blocks God’s presence from us, that hurts and breaks down the relationship: the FORGOTTEN USE – ingratitude. Failing to regularly stop and thank God by name for the blessings of life. It’s not enough to just not do what is wrong; we must also do what is right! Author Maureen Tobey reflects:
“My two-year-old daughter Kimberly was at an age when many things were being learned at once - ABC's, new words, numbers, etc. One evening, as we were saying our bedtime prayers, she prayed, ‘Dear God, thank you for my mommy and my daddy and my brother and my dog. And thank-you for the letter j and the numbers 9 and 4.’ I chuckled inside but thought: She’s giving thanks to God for letters and numbers. Do I do the same?”
The third wrongful use of God’s name that hinders God’s presence in our lives: The FORGOTTEN USE. Have you said thank you to God today? Thankful people are always close to God! All of which leads us into...
(IV)
The fourth and final possible meaning of “in vain” – that being: “to DESTROY.” Elsewhere in the Bible, this same phrase “to take in vain” is translated as “to DESOLATE” or “to WIPE OUT.” From this we get the final DESTRUCTIVE USE of God’s name. How does this happen? Well, consider the following...
The story is told that the great military leader ALEXANDER THE GREAT, conqueror of most of the Mediterranean world, during one of his campaigns, one day happened to hear that one of his soldiers was continually and seriously misbehaving. And what made matters worse was that this solder’s name happened to also be Alexander. Alexander the Great didn’t like the reputation his name was thus getting, so he sent this soldier the following very terse message – it read simply: “Soldier, either change your behavior or your name!”
I often wonder if God is trying to send us the same message. Think about it...
What unites as a people? We are CHRISTIANS – that is, we IDENTIFY ourselves by the NAME OF CHRIST. But do our lives properly represent that name?
Make no mistake about it: This very week, every single one of us is going to encounter at least one person for whom, for all intents and purposes, ALL they are going to KNOW ABOUT GOD is HOW YOU AND I LIVE! Wear a cross around your neck, put a “Jesus Loves You” bumper sticker on your car, simply have people know you go to church occasionally; all this (and so much more) CONNECTS OUR ACTIONS WITH GOD’S NAME. And trust me, even if you try to travel SPIRITUALLY “INCOGNITO” (as, sadly, most Christians nowadays do) it doesn’t matter because YOU KNOW you have taken the name of “Christian” and thus your actions are still tied to God’s name!
How will we do?
Will we DESTROY it – misrepresent it, run it through the mud, make it an object of derision? Or will we lift up, honor it, make it an object of respect and love?
As we’ve observed in the past: Have you ever noticed how, 9 times out of 10, when you’re driving on the highway and you get cut off by somebody, they have a “God is Love” bumper sticker on the back of their car (or some such message)? Yeah, “God is love.” Terrific. Too bad he couldn’t teach you how to drive!
It shouldn’t be this way. We finally need to remember that we not only USE God’s name; but also, in a certain respect, we ARE God’s name. How we live is either a use or a misuse. It either creates or destroys. People who constantly find God’s presence in their lives, don’t hinder this, are those who, finally, are constantly aware of their PLACE WITHIN THE NAME – HOW THEY CARRY IT. In their lives they seek to lift up God’s name and in so doing find God profoundly. Christian author Terry Muck writes:
“A man who had no interest in spiritual matters related casually to the Christian who lived next door - they talked over the back fence, borrowed lawn mowers, stuff like that. But they weren’t close. In fact, on his own, the non-Christian man often laughed at what he saw as his neighbor’s ‘quaint beliefs.’ Then the non-Christian’s wife was stricken with cancer, and she died three months later. Here’s part of a letter he wrote afterward:
‘I was in total despair. I went through the funeral preparations and the service like I was in a trance. After the service I went to the path along the river and walked all night. But I didn’t walk alone. My neighbor - afraid for me, I guess - stayed with me all night. He didn’t speak; he didn’t even walk beside me. He just followed me. When the sun finally came up over the river, he came over and said, “Let’s go get some breakfast.”
‘I go to church now. My neighbor’s church. A religion that can produce the kind of love my neighbor showed me is something I want to find out more about. I want to love and be loved like that for the rest of my life.’”
We are God’s name. How are we doing with that?

What’s in a name? Well, when it comes to God, EVERYTHING. The way we treat the name of God is how we treat God. Beware the EMPTY use, the SUPERFICIAL use, the FORGOTTEN use, the DESTRUCTIVE use – that break the relationship.

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.”

You Shall Not Make for Yourself an Idol

God’s Top Ten List, II:
“You Shall Not Make for Yourself an Idol”
Exodus 20:4-6
Rev. Clark Lynn Callender. 9/19/10

When you think of God, what do you see? How do you picture God?
Is God short or tall? Young or old? Male or female? Is God the traditional old man with a long white beard and a flowing white robe seated on a golden chair on top of a cloud? Or do you picture God as just pure light? Or as just a voice? Do you picture one of the standard paintings of Jesus? Is your God more Cecil B. DeMille, George Burns, or Morgan Freeman? How about something as simple as: Is your God generally frowning or smiling? Does your God laugh?
When you think of God, what do you see?
Believe it or not, your answer to this question is far more important than you might think – it’s not a trivial matter. And it’s what I’d like to talk about this morning: HOW WE PICTURE GOD.

This morning we continue our study of the Ten Commandments by looking at the one commandment which most people generally believe they have the LEAST TROUBLE with: “You shall not make for yourself an idol.” Or, in older translations: “You shall not make for yourself a graven image” (that is, an image of God made of wood, or stone, or metal.)
Let’s face it, this is not something most modern people ordinarily think about. I mean, I trust that none of us here goes home every day and bows down to some little idol, some little statute of God, that we keep around the house... That’s a given, right? Right?!
You know, I’m reminded of a little cartoon I once saw that had two sailors, returning from shore leave, standing in front of the Navy chapel. The signboard on the chapel read: “This week’s sermon topic: Thou shalt not make for thyself a graven image.” Looking at this, one sailor is nudging the other, saying, “Well, at least there’s one commandment we didn’t break this weekend!”
None of us here has ever made a “graven image”. This is not something that would generally even come to mind to most people nowadays. So is this commandment unnecessary, obsolete in our modern age? Well, it’s curious...
If you look at the text, you discover that this commandment carries with it the MOST SEVERE WARNING against disobedience (most don’t contain any warning at all), and this is the FIRST commandment that the Israelites BREAK. Remember, the GOLDEN CALF? Could this commandment, in reality, actually be the most easily and commonly – and dangerously – broken one of all? Perhaps, even by modern people?
What gives here?
Well, last week we began our study of the Ten Commandments with the First Commandment, which dealt with the issue of RIVALS to God, REPLACEMENT “gods” we worship instead of God: “You shall have no other gods before me.” And as we noted, this commandment raises the key question: What is the PLACE of God in our lives? Sole focus? No focus? One of many?
This week, we continue our consideration of the importance of God’s “person” in our lives; only now, with the Second Commandment, we make a subtle distinction, a slight “shift”:
In this commandment, we’re not concerned so much with rivals to God, as we are with FLAWED UNDERSTANDINGS of this one God. That is, it’s not so much “others”; as it is our REPRESENTATION (or “image”) of the one true God.
Now, this is a subtle distinction – the first two commandments are very close, they can (and often do) blur into one; but essentially IDOLATRY is this: It is the worship of an IMAGE. The worship of a REPRESENTATION of God, not the true God. That is, at its most basic level, it is the worshipping as God of WHAT IS NOT GOD.
And notice something very important about this: Traditionally, idolatry is understood to involve the worship of some STATUE or something – some physical object. Yet, according to the definition just offered, no tangible object need be present for idolatry to take place. And this is what opens the text up to all of us today: Idolatry, as its most basic level, is “the worshipping as God of what is not God” – even just a FLAWED MENTAL PICTURE.
Now, what’s the big deal in all of this?
The big deal is that the way we picture God is the FOUNDATION for how we see, and understand, EVERYTHING else. As a great scholar once said: “A person’s concept of God creates their entire attitude toward the hour in which they live.” How we “picture” God shapes our lives, decides what we get – either what God wants or something else. Just think about how differently you see yourself and the world around you simply depending upon whether your picture of God is frowning – just waiting to punish; or smiling – eager to forgive and love.
It’s like looking through a piece of COLORED GLASS: If you look through red glass, everything appears red. If you look through blue glass, everything appears blue. Our “picture” of God is the glass through which we see everything. Someone once said: “The worship of the false in any form is idolatry.” We may not be worshipping “other gods”; but is the ONE LORD we are trying to worship who that one Lord REALLY IS? And if not, what’s it doing to our lives?
Our text today raises, I believe, a number of the MOST COMMON FORMS OF IDOLATRY at work within your average person of faith – the most common false concepts of God we worship rather than God; that lead to equally false and destructive living – and what we need to do about it...
(I)
The first most common form of idolatry is the worship of the COMFORTABLE GOD.
In the commandment you’ll notice that the prohibition is specifically against “MAK(ING) FOR YOURSELF an idol...” That is, MAKING GOD FOR US. A direct reversal of the true order of creation. In Genesis, we’re told that we are made “in the image of God”; yet this is what we more often do: Return the favor by making God IN OUR IMAGE.
Now, many may say, “But I don’t do this!” Yet really think about it... Each of us worships a “God” which, according to our minds, FITS who we think God should, and must, be. After all, who on earth would worship a God that doesn’t fit their image of God, their image of perfection and goodness? We all do this...
Have you ever noticed how conservative people seem to know only a very conservative God; while liberal people have a very liberal God? Those who seek judgment and vengeance know a judgmental and vengeful God; while those who want to experience only compassion and mercy see only a compassionate and merciful God.
We even do this as a NATION: God supports freedom of speech, right? God likes democratic governments, right? God is in favor of capitalist economies, right?!
Oh, really?! Where does it say this?! {Bible}
We “MAKE FOR OURSELVES” GOD, not the other way around! The problem with this being two-fold: First, it is simply a LIE – it denies the TRUTH OF CREATION. But secondly, and even more importantly, it results in a falsely UNCHALLENGING GOD. Such a God is very COMFORTABLE – it FITS who we already are, rather than challenging us to FIT who GOD would have us be!
It’s like... I don’t know about you, but whenever I picture God, I always picture God BALD! I know that God is invisible, that God doesn’t have a physical body like we do... But God is bald! I mean, c’mon, after all, what’s the old saying? “God made many heads, and the ones he felt were the most exquisite, he didn’t cover up with hair.”
Not buying it?
Picture Jesus for a moment... If you’re like most white, middle-class Americans, you picture a very northern-European looking, blue-eyed, Jesus. But let’s face it: What’s the odds of that? He was a Jew born in Palestine.
We all do this in one way or another: Making God fit us, comfortable; not challenging as God truly is. As preacher Robb Bell, in his book Velvet Elvis observes: “The moment God is figured out with nice, neat lines and comforting definitions, we are no longer dealing with God.”
The first question of this commandment: Is our God primarily safe and reassuring? Is this all we come to God for, rejecting anything else that might come along – and what’s this doing to us, what’s it keeping us from?
If your life is lousy – particularly, your faith weak, have you ever thought that the problem comes down to your “God” being too comfortable? A “house-broken” God that never leaves a mess?! When was the last time God really challenged you to think a new thought, to do a new thing? Most especially, consider this: Whom don’t you love? Whom do you struggle with? What individual or group? That’s a key. God is love. If we’ve got God, we love. Who is God challenging you to love? It has been said: “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”
Many years ago, during the darkest moments of our nation’s great Civil War, one day President Lincoln met with his advisors to plan strategy. At the close of the meeting, one of the advisors said, “Let us end this meeting in prayer. Let us pray that God is on our side.” To which Lincoln quickly replied, “No, let us pray that we are on God’s side.”
(II)
The first most common form of flawed image of God (that keeps us from life) is the COMFORTABLE GOD. The second is then the PHYSICAL GOD.
When one makes an idol, this is, of course, what one traditionally does: one fashions a PHYSICAL representation of God – a tangible object. But, as we’ve already noted: this is not something most modern people are into. We’re not going around melting down our jewelry to make “Golden Calves – the Home Edition.” We must thus be EXEMPT from this sin. Well, think about this:
What do we all most often come to God for? What are the concerns we most often bring to the Lord? 9 times out of 10, it’s PHYSICAL issues - this is all we come to God for – “O Lord, heal this, give me that...” “O Lord, I’m having a hard time paying my bills... I’ve got this pain in my arm... The car just broke down...” We want a PHYSICAL God!
Even better, think of how often physical concerns DECIDE the very nature of our whole RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD – think of all the common excuses: “I can’t serve, I can’t give, I can’t pray, I can’t help, I can’t change, I can’t come to church...” Why? “Because I’m not feeling well, I don’t have time right now, I’m not good at that, I’m too busy, I’m too young, I’m too old...”
Ruled by the physical. Not that there’s anything wrong with asking for physical things or being concerned about them – they’re a fact of life. It’s just a matter of who is IN CHARGE of whom. In the commandment it says:

In other words, nothing created can represent the Creator. Why? Well, to start with, simply because those things which are created are physical, material things; while God – though present in all physical, material things – is by nature SPIRITUAL. The physical image can’t help but be flawed and insufficient because God is something GREATER: God is SPIRITUAL. And think about that...
If this commandment is telling us that we must always remember that God is by nature SPIRITUAL; and if (as noted earlier) we are created “in the image of God”; what then is this commandment also telling us about OURSELVES?
That we too are by nature SPIRITUAL!
We are SPIRITUAL beings and we have to remember this. But, of course, we generally have a very hard time with this. This is one of the essential arguments of this commandment: Everything FALLS APART when you get the CORE ORDER of life REVERSED: When you put the lesser over the greater, the created over the Creator, the PHYSICAL OVER THE SPIRITUAL.
Yet we do this all the time. We forget that we are spiritual! We allow ourselves to be led around entirely by our physical wants and needs and thus we have all sorts of problems. How often have we unknowingly fallen into the idolatry of worshipping a physical God – in our lives having the physical rule the spiritual – which can only lead to defeat; rather than (rightly) having the spiritual rule the physical - which leads to victory?
This text secondly reminds us to seek the spiritual: In physical hardship to not just see the problem but to seek how God is spiritually at work; in dealing with people to seek the deeper spiritual issues at work within them not just how they’re bugging us; in all things to seek the eternal not the temporal. Author Alan Kraft, in his book Good News for Those Trying Harder, writes:
“Not long ago, I read that a person my age should drink 16 glasses of water a day. The next morning I brought to my office a large pitcher filled with water. Throughout the day that pitcher on my desk frequently reminded me of my need, and I’d pour another glass and drink. Overall, it was a positive experience - other than having to go to the bathroom 27 times in a period of eight hours! Remaining hydrated, I learned from that experience, requires intentionality. I had to stop periodically in the midst of my busyness, become aware of my body’s need for liquid, and take a few moments to drink a glass of water.
“In a similar way, to drink deeply of Jesus is to build into our lives frequent moments in which we intentionally stop and become aware of his presence with us, allowing him to ‘hydrate’ our soul no matter where we are or what we’re doing. This intentionality is often referred to as ‘practicing the presence of Christ.’ We can practice it anytime, anywhere - while standing in a crowded elevator, driving on the highway, working at our cubicle, waiting for some medical test results, taking an exam, or lying awake at night.
“It’s remembering that we are spiritual beings and taking time to hydrate our souls with the Holy Spirit. Which, fortunately, doesn’t make you have to go to the bathroom - it just makes you live better!”
(III)
The second common form of idolatry: the PHYSICAL GOD. Which leads us then to the third most common idol: the OBEDIENT GOD.
This is probably the greatest thing about an idol: It’s doesn’t operate on its own. It’s ONLY there to do WHAT YOU WANT is to do, when you want it to do it! And despite any protests to the contrary, this is exactly the way we generally treat God! Think about it...
What most often causes a problem for a person in their relationship with the Lord? It’s when God fails to come through as expected or requested: “Why hasn’t God answered my prayer? How could a loving God allow such horrible tragedies and injustices to happen?” So on and so forth... We’re always talking about this kind of stuff.
Yes, at times, we may become upset by our OWN FAILURES to “come through” for God; but, have you ever noticed that we tend to devote a great deal more energy to the problem of GOD’S FAILURE to “come through” for us? That’s the real problem in life!
Yet, once again, as this commandment reminds us, this is a REVERSAL of the truth: God is not an idol – that is, meant to be in any way OBEDIENT; God is by nature COMMANDING! If we don’t get this straight, we can’t help but be messed up! Yet this happens all the time: we’re more hung up on God obeying us than our obeying God!
To see if you suffer from this very subtle, often hidden form of idolatry, ask yourself this: Which best describes my prayer life – is it more, “O Lord, do this for me, please”; or “O Lord, please help me do this for you”?
Third question posed by this commandment, simply put: How is God more my servant than my Master? How am I failing to be obey? How am I looking for something from God while I am not being obedient? Erma Bombeck writes:
“I had the meanest parents in all the world. When I was seven years old they dared to punish me just because I told them I would not do what they asked me to do to help around the house. My friend next door never got punished. He didn’t have to help at home. He had nice parents.
“I had the meanest parents. I had to eat all my broccoli and carrots before they would ever let me have dessert. My friend next door never had to eat vegetables. He had fast food brought in with burgers and shakes and brownies with all kinds of ice cream.
“I had the meanest parents. They made me go to church every Sunday as long as I lived under their roof, and sit there with them in that boring worship service. My friend next door could do as he pleased. He never had to go to church. Sunday was a fun day for him.
“I had the meanest parents. When I turned sixteen, they made me earn points before I could drive the family car. My friend next door was given a brand new luxury automobile. My folks had bought an old jalopy for me to get back and forth to school, but you think I’d drive that hunk of junk and park it beside those BMWs and Mercedes? My friend had it made.
“Or so I once thought, but, when we reached age thirty, I had a change in perspective. I had learned that my parents were not so mean after all. I was experiencing: the pleasure of work, the reward of recreation, the strength of a healthy body, the bonds of a strong marriage, and the inward confidence that comes from faith.
“As for my friend, things were not going so well: he was not finding his niche in the workplace, nothing seemed to satisfy him, he was having difficulty getting along with people who were not willing to do everything just as he thought it ought to be done, his marriage had not lasted even two years, his body was in bad health, and he evidenced a cynical outlook without any under-girding that comes from the assurance of faith.”
One set of parents didn’t give everything but rather demanded things. Another set of parents gave everything and demanded nothing. The results are plain. What type of Heavenly Parent would you prefer?
(IV)
The third most common form of idolatry: the OBEDIENT GOD. Which leads us to the final: the REDUCED GOD.
Finally, of course, we live in an age where reduction is king. We gladly pay more for less: “reduced calories, reduced fat, low sodium, caffeine free...” We love reduction, so why not a “reduced God”? Well, this is really the form of idolatry that finally encapsulates all the others...
By definition, this is what one does when one makes an idol, an “image” of God: One REDUCES God in some way. You have to. If God is everything, how do you make an idol of everything? You can’t. In order to make something that we, as humans, can hold on to, you have to pick out just a few qualities of God, focus only on them, and ignore all the rest. Basically, God is made SMALLER than God actually is – you end up with a SMALL GOD. And in the commandment itself, God lets us know just how serious and dangerous this is:
This commandment has what is called a “MOTIVATIONAL CLAUSE.” That is, a part that tells us WHY we should obey. It’s the part of commandment that most upsets people. It goes like this:

“For” – that is, BECAUSE (motivational clause):

By “jealous” that doesn’t mean that God is petty or envious or anything; rather, it comes from the verb meaning “to be RED-FACED.” In other words, to say God is a “jealous God” is to say that God is EMOTIONAL – that God TAKES THINGS VERY MUCH TO HEART, VERY SERIOUSLY. And just what exactly is it that God “takes so seriously”? Well, we’re told:

What God takes extremely seriously is both HUMAN EVIL and HUMAN GOODNESS. Now, this is where we normally run into all sorts of problems. You read this and everybody starts whining, “It’s not fair!” Well, consider a couple of things about this:
First of all, whether it’s fair or not, it is a statement of FACT: the sins of the parents ARE visited upon the children. Just ask any family that has ever tried to break out of cycles of abuse or addiction!
Likewise, note that the goodness of the parents is also visited upon the children; although, curiously, no one ever seems to complain about that being unfair!
Even more importantly, though, note that this very UNFAIRNESS is EXACTLY THE POINT! This is what God is trying to let us know here: that God is these TWO EXTREMES. These two incredibly unfair, illogical, sometimes irrational extremes.
Now, by this does it mean that God is somehow BI-POLAR or something? Like, when God is happy, God is real, real happy; but when God is sad, God is real, real sad? Like God needs a little Prozac or something?
No! What the text is saying is that God is these two extremes; but thus also EVERYTHING IN-BETWEEN. And that we are in serious jeopardy any time we attempt to reduce God down to something manageable by us – anything less than all! This is what many believe all this talk about idolatry is essentially about: That idolatry ultimately is an attempt to TONE DOWN in some way God’s “JEALOUSY” – God less involved, less caring, less powerful, less emotionally-invested, less all-encompassing.
And why? Because such a God is terribly FRIGHTENING. If this truly is who God is, then what I do every day matters. The choices I make can affect the world, generations beyond me. Who I am affects the very heart of God and thus all creation! Which is exactly the final point here:
Our God is a “jealous” God who cares deeply, who loves profoundly, who is intimately involved. This is a God who takes sin seriously and can work wonders with good, and we have a part to play in that – we impact that for blessing or curse. Notice how, in the text, while evil has power to destroy, good has far more power to create. EVIL is visited only to the 3rd or 4th generation; but goodness to the 1,000th. By God’s own accounting, the power of good far outweighs the power of evil – if we will only chose it. Our acts of goodness bring incredible power of God to bear!
We don’t often want this because such a great God demands greatness of us in return. We want an easier, less-demanding faith. We seek to reduce this God, failing to realize that in so doing we reduce ourselves and we reduce life itself – down to nothing of importance. It all collapses on the lie that it is.
The answer is to insist on a GREAT GOD – a God who matters, a God who is active, a God who works wonders, a God who cares deeply. Essentially, know that you matter greatly, that all the power of creation is brought to bear for you, and that the only way you truly take hold of that is by choosing to matter in return. Quit trying to reduce God down to something you can hold on to; and instead expand your understanding of God out to something that GRABS HOLD OF YOU.
Simply put: We’re not just here, killing time. We are inseparably joined to God. Realize that God can change the world today, and you can be part of that. Your life matters to God today! Live that – because that’s where life is! Choose a great big God and get a great big life! One author writes:
“After a traffic accident took both legs of Grayson Rosenberger’s mother, she and her husband formed Standing With Hope - a ministry that reaches out in music and prayer to amputees in Africa. For most of his young life, Grayson saw how greatly his mother struggled – just in ordinary living and the stigma of deformity, and from this perspective he wondered if he could somehow ease his mother’s pain. He also secretly wrestled (having witnessed his mother’s loss) with the fear of how easily the gift of life can be lost. But what could a 15-year-old from Nashville, Tennessee, do about any of this? Well, as it turns out, he could become the grand-prize winner in Sealed Air Corporation’s Bubble Wrap Competition for young inventors!
“Grayson devoted himself to helping amputees, and used Bubble Wrap-brand packing material to develop a low-cost cosmetic skin covering for prosthetic limbs. Through a careful process of using a heat gun to mold sheets of Bubble Wrap to the steel rod of a prosthetic limb, Grayson was able to give it a muscle-like tone and shape.
“Out of the 800 students who entered the contest, Grayson took top prize - a $10,000 and a trip to New York City. He used the money to travel to Ghana to fit patients with low-cost limbs.
“Today many poor people are back to living, without stigma, thanks to Grayson. He has brought tremendous joy to his mother, and he has lost all fear of the dangers life entails – because he has discovered that God can work wonders and he needs only decide to be part of that.”

When you picture God, what do you see?
Beware the Convenient God, the Physical God, the Obedient God, the Reduced God. Seek the true – challenging, spiritual, demanding, great - God and find life.

“You shall not make for yourself an idol.”

You Shall Have No Other God’s Before Me

God’s Top Ten List, I:
“You Shall Have No Other God’s Before Me”
Exodus 20:1-3
Rev. Clark Lynn Callender, 9/12/10

Once upon a time, so the story goes, a young man walked into a photography studio with a framed picture of his girlfriend. He wanted the picture duplicated. This involved removing it from the frame. In doing so, the studio owner noticed an inscription on the back of the photograph – it read: “My dearest Tom, I love you all my heart. I love you more and more each day. I will love you forever and ever. I am yours alone for all eternity.” It was signed “Diane” and it contained a postscript: “P.S. – If we ever break up, I want this picture back.”
A little problem with COMMITMENT. Well, this is something of what I’d like to talk about this morning: Commitment. Specifically, our COMMITMENT TO GOD – GOD’S PLACE IN OUR LIVES.

Today we begin a new sermon series exploring the TEN COMMANDMENTS. The Ten Commandments have been called “the most influential document in all of Western Culture”: The civil law of many lands is rooted in this covenant law given at Sinai; for Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Jews, this is the only formulation of religious principles held in common; in many churches, knowledge of these laws is a requirement for membership... As the great Protestant Reformer Martin Luther said, “Anyone who knows the Ten Commandments perfectly knows the entire Scriptures.”
Whoa! So important, so familiar; but do we really know them? This is what we will consider over the weeks ahead, one commandment at a time: What do they really mean? How does one truly live them? A couple of things to note (before we begin with the first commandment) regarding the commandments in general:
i.
First of all, why are they so UNIQUELY IMPORTANT? A whole bunch of law is given by God at Mount Sinai – it fills the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy – what’s so special about these ten?
Well, according to the text, only these ten are SPOKEN DIRECTLY by God to the people – all the rest are mediated through Moses. So, the text would seem to imply, these ten are especially important TO GOD. And as we’ll see, they are FOUNDATIONAL - everything else is merely derived from these!
And remember also, as in Genesis, whenever God SPEAKS God CREATES. So God CREATES in the Ten Commandments – creates a world. And whenever we give ourselves to them we open ourselves to that world.
ii.
In this, in our study we will observe that the Ten Commandments deal with EVERY ASPECT OF HUMAN LIFE: self to God, self to other, self to self, self to creation. Nothing is left out. God here makes the point that, if we wish to be truly healthy and happy and whole, none of these aspects of life can be neglected. It’s holistic.
iii.
Out of which we will also observe that these laws are unique in that they are ABSOLUTE, rather than CONDITIONAL. Most law is conditional: “If you do this, then I will do this...” And while the Ten Commandments do contain some mention of possible consequences of disobedience; the commandments themselves are absolute and unconditional. It’s NOT “if/then”; but rather, “I am God. Do this.” No room is left for picking and choosing or for incompletion. It’s a “package deal” – all or nothing.
iv.
From this we will then also observe that 8 out of 10 of the commandments are stated NEGATIVELY – that is, “You SHALL NOT...” And this is one of the most common complaints leveled at organized religion. Particularly a charge historically leveled at Christianity (and not without merit): That it’s all negative and restrictive. Just a bunch of rules about what you can’t do, not about what you can; how you’re wrong not right. Much like the old joke about marriage: “You say ‘I do’ once, and then you spend the rest of your life saying, ‘I don’t.’”
Being a Christian often seems like this. We Methodists, of course, being traditionally most notorious for this. You know, all the old, standard Methodist prohibitions against drinking and smoking and gambling and dancing and card playing... It’s like the old saying: “You can always tell a real Methodist – they’re not allowed to do anything!”
Much like this, the Ten Commandments are commonly viewed as negative and restrictive; yet are they really? Think about it...
In a world full of millions of things to do, which is more restrictive: To be told the 8 things which one may not do; or to be told that there are only 8 things which one may? Even better, remember that many negative things are, in reality, positive. It’s like a STOP SIGN. A stop sign is negative but it does a positive thing: It keeps us safe. It helps not hinders us.
In a similar way, the Ten Commandments are ultimately LIBERATING. That’s the point! As God defines God’s self in the prologue to the Commandments: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. God’s self-definition is that of SAVIOR, DELIVERER, LIBERATOR; therefore we can presume that what follows is FURTHER LIBERATION. That is, God is not saying, “I have freed you so that now, by these laws, I might re-enslave you!”; rather, God is saying, “I am by nature liberating, and here is further liberation – these Ten Commandments!”
And even better, remember also: God’s self-identification is thus also that of one who CARES DEEPLY for the people – who acts on their behalf. That is, the Ten Commandments are FOUNDED upon the principle that WE HUMAN beings are of PROFOUND WORTH. And this is very important because it undergirds the entire law – very much of what is trying to be brought about.
v.
All of which leads us to my final introductory point, namely: the PURPOSE – What is the purpose of the Ten Commandments? Are they just a bunch of arbitrary rules that “good people” must obey?
No, putting this all together, the purpose of the Ten Commandments is to present us with a VISION – a vision of the life God wants for us, life at its best, the life led by the person who (through God’s grace) has joined themselves perfectly to God. They are a vision of the life we can and should live – a gift given by a loving God which, if used properly, can clarify what’s really going on in our lives, and to help us to live better – to be part of creating the life God wants for us. Exactly what we’re going to be about in this series.

So, with all of this in mind, let us then turn to consider the First Commandment...

“You shall have not other gods before me.” It has been said that this first commandment is the one upon which all the others HINGE. Indeed, many argue that, in point of fact, all the others that follow are not separate laws unto themselves; but simply differing ways of EXPRESSING – of “living out” – just this first commandment! This is what it is all about!
And notice where things begin: With GOD. In fact, the first three commandments focus solely on God. In other words, contrary to those naysayers who would argue that “all religions are the same and it doesn’t matter what you believe”; in reality, our THEOLOGY matters greatly – our understanding of, and relationship to, God is of utmost importance. As one scholar observes:
“...The Ten Commandments begin with our relationship to God. We wouldn’t prioritize them that way, of course. Ask the average person for the most important commandment, and he or she will likely choose the one forbidding murder, or adultery, or dishonesty. But these commandments are derivative; they have no point of issue except that we settle the first commandment, the matter of God – God’s place in our lives.
“So the commandments begin with God, not because the commandments are religious; but because we are. They begin with God because what we think about God will eventually determine what we think of ourselves, of one another, and of all life. And this means that all the other commandments rest upon this one.”
The commandments begin with God, and essentially, the question posed by the first commandment is the central one: WHO IS GOD TO US? Or, more specifically: WHAT IS GOD’S PLACE IN OUR LIVES? That is:
To begin things, what is the nature, or the level, of our RELATIONSHIP and COMMITMENT to the Lord? Is it complete, absolute, unrivaled, unchallenged? Nothing between us and God? God first and foremost? Or is it something less? The inference being (as with the “Great Commandment” we studied two weeks ago) that anything less than all and everything falls apart, it all becomes a struggle.
This First Commandment, I believe, seeks to draw to our attention a number of the most common ways our COMMITMENT TO GOD – God’s place in our lives – becomes FLAWED and how this ultimately hinders the vision of life God wants for us (right off the top) – and what we need to do about it...
(I)
First, there is the flaw of the DIVIDED COMMITMENT to God. God says, “You shall have no OTHER gods before me.” The text presumes the existence of other “god’s.” This is the premise of the whole commandment.
Now, many dismiss this as simply being part of an ancient mindset in which every primitive people had their own “gods”: god of the mountain, god of the tree, whatever. But in reality, nothing has changed! Again, Martin Luther once remarked: “Whatever thy heart clings to and relies upon, that is properly thy god.”
We may think we serve only the Lord God, or (for some) that they don’t believe in any kind of God at all; but the truth is that whatever in this world is most important to us, whatever most directs our lives, that is our “god”: be it money or security or popularity or pleasure or food... whatever. That’s our “God”! And we bow down to it every single day, whether we know it or not. As Bob Dylan sang: “Everybody serves somebody.” It’s the nature of humanity, and a fundamental Biblical principle: We cannot choose whether or not we will have a god; we can only choose who that god will be.
And understand: There are millions of “gods” out there to choose from. Some refer to the “unholy trinity” of pleasure, possessions and power. For many modern Christians it’s food, family, and flag. You want to know what most scholars believe is the fastest growing religion, fasted growing “god” in America today? It’s not Christianity, or New Age mysticism, or even Islam (the fastest growing of the world’s major religions.)
It’s SPORTS. Many sociologists now refer to “Religosport” as the primary religion in America today. It has all the trappings of religion: Holy Shrines (stadiums), religious vestments (uniforms), services and Sabbaths (games and events), rituals and teachings (chants and stats), high priests (the players), and loyal disciples (the fans.) If you don’t believe this is true, just think about what happens to church attendance on Superbowl Sunday! The game’s at night but still no one can seem to make it to church in the morning!
Now, why do we do this? Why do we choose “other gods”?
We do it because there’s some NEED within us – some fear or insecurity or desire or pain - that this god seems to meet - to either control and overcome, or enable us to avoid and escape. Like sports – they provide for many basic needs: a sense of order and fairness and community.
So what’s the problem with this – needs are being met?
Well, first of all, the problem is simply that many of the things we worship are not exactly good for us – in fact they ultimately lead us away from what is good. This, of course, is how spot your false god, your “competing god”: The need it promises to meet it never really delivers – in fact, you just wind up worse off, more enslaved not less: You keep making money but it’s never enough; you devour “comfort food” but you never feel any comfort; that alcohol promises to take your pain away but drink after drink the pain only gets worse; you hold on to that grudge hoping to hurt the person that hurt you but they never seem to suffer; you endlessly work to look beautiful but every time you look in the mirror you don’t like what you see!
It’s like Oscar Wilde once sarcastically observed regarding the seeking of praise – he said: “The problem with receiving a compliment is always the nagging sense that the person didn’t say enough.”
It’s never enough! Many of the things we choose to worship are just plain bad. They enslave rather than free! Even more subtly though, the problem often is that many of the things we choose to worship – seem very noble and good: family, friendship, loyalty, patriotism, logic, beauty. All are fine in and of themselves; but none of them has the capacity to ENCOMPASS ALL, each is at best PARTIAL, and thus (when we make these our “gods”) our lives can’t help but be this constant COMPETITION (with the one true God) for our attention, with our lives left in the middle disjointed and counterproductive – missing out on God’s richest blessings. As it has been said: “Sin isn’t only doing bad things; it is more fundamentally making good things into ultimate things – that finally keeps us from the only true ultimate thing: God.”
Basically, either way, we wind up with this DIVIDED LOYALTY – these “competing gods” in our lives – little gods versus true God. And as Jesus once said: “A slave cannot serve two masters, for they must invariably hate one and love the other.” This is the problem so often in our lives: We allow these “other gods” to stand between us and the Lord. We want God in our lives we just also want all sorts of other things, and they can’t help but compete and leave us defeated.
There’s an old African proverb that puts it this way: “He who tries to walk down two paths ends up with split pants.” This so often is our condition: Split pants. We try for so much that it gives us nothing; rather than aiming only for the one thing that can give us all. False gods devour us, leaving us with nothing; yet we continually fall into their trap by striving only to meet the drives that push us – the loudest voices.
Have you ever heard of the COWBIRD? The cowbird is a type of blackbird that is unique to North America (often found near cattle) and that is particularly noted for the fact that it always lays its eggs in the nest of other birds. Some birds do this occasionally; but the cowbird does it exclusively, and this is quite a problem:
Cowbirds are prodigious egg layers. Each female commonly deposits 20 to 40 eggs in dozens of other bird’s nests each spring. Cowbird eggs hatch more quickly than the other birds’ eggs, and the chicks grow more quickly. Because mother birds tend to feed the loudest of their young first – because they would usually be the healthiest and have the best chance for survival, the host bird spends inordinate time and energy tending to the cowbird not to its own offspring. As a result, the cowbird is pushing certain rare songbirds to extinction.
The lesson? That exactly the same kind of thing happens in our lives spiritually all the time: When the “nest” is crowded, God just one of many, we spend all our time tending to the loud, secondary voices to the extinction of the one voice that’s it’s all about!
This being the first question this commandment asks of us: Is God just one of many concerns; and, more often than not, do these “other concerns” run God or does God (rightly) run everything? What do you most often “feed”? And is it helping or destroying you? What do you need to stop feeding?!
(II)
The first way God’s place in our lives goes wrong and we miss out on God’s vision of life: the DIVIDED COMMITMENT. Which then leads us to the second danger: the HALF-HEARTED COMMITMENT.
Returning to the text, God says, “You shall have no other gods BEFORE me.” That “before” is literally “In my face”. It means: In front of, or MORE IMPORTANT THAN, GREATER THAN.
This is another way we often fail to place God first in our lives: We want God in our lives; but we not only want other things as well, we want these other things MORE, and so we try to maintain this SECONDARY STATUS of God by keeping God to the MINIMUM in our lives.
Much in the same way that we often disdain the RELIGIOUS FANATIC: Don’t those praise-singing, Bible-thumping arm-waving, “born again” everything kind of nuts get on your nerves? We often put them down as somehow being phony and unreal when in reality the problem is that their devotion SHAMES us. We want God; just not so much of it!
What’s the least amount I can do for God and still keep my name in the running “when the roll is called up yonder”? Least attending, least participating, least giving, least witnessing?
It’s like that familiar old, old joke about the family driving home from church one Sunday and the father is complaining about everything in the service: the organist played too loud, the choir was off-key, the sermon was too long, the prayers were dry. Hearing this, the man’s son, who had observed the offering his father had put in the plate, replied, “Yeah, Dad. But it wasn’t a bad show for a nickel!”
Minimalist Christianity! Lets’ face it, most people only come to church at three times: for baptisms, weddings, and funerals. That’s all we want out of this: Hatch ‘em, match ‘em, dispatch ‘em!
So what’s the problem with this? Isn’t a little bit of God in our lives better than none at all?
Well, the problem is, as mentioned at the outset, that this commandment is (as with all the others) ABSOLUTE – there is no halfway, no maybes, no “kindas”. The absolute language of this text tells us that there is no such thing as “minimally Godly”! It’s all or nothing. If we are half-hearted in our commitment to God, we are as good as no-hearted. If we don’t go ALL OUT we GET NOTHING.
I remember once hearing the (supposedly true) story of a great lay person in a famous church of a century ago, who was known for starting every Administrative Council meeting with the following, rather sarcastic, prayer – he’d say: “Gracious and powerful, Lord God Almighty... Use me. Use me. Use me! In some advisory capacity!”
He’d always get a laugh. But isn’t it a little too close to the truth for how we all try to live every day?
The great concert pianist Paderewski was once approached, following a concert, by a woman who said to him, “Maestro, I would give everything to play as well as you do.” To which Paderewski replied, “I did.”
Greatness – and a great life - only comes through giving all – great devotion and zeal. The second question this commandment should cause us to ask regarding God’s place in our lives: Each day, am I trying to do the least for God – keep God to a minimum; or the most? How can I give more?
If you’re having some sort of difficulty in your life, ask yourself this. It may not seem, at first, to directly relate to your situation; but ask yourself this: How badly do I want God in my life? Just a bit? Or all? Many people suffer in their lives primarily because of just this: the sin of simply not wanting God enough – or, of not wanting enough God. A lack of desire to be driven to real action!
(III)
Divided Commitment, Half-hearted Commitment... All of which brings us to the final way God’s place in our life is often flawed: the IMPERSONAL COMMITMENT.
In this commandment (as with all the others) it’s important to note that the “YOU” (as in “YOU shall have no other gods before me”) - this “you” is in second person SINGULAR. In other words, God is speaking to the ENTIRE NATION of Israel; but the conversation is PERSONAL: to each singular INDIVIDUAL.
This is what the commandments are FOUNDED upon: People who have a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with God. Without this, the commandments are irrelevant. Thus, in our modern world when we read of some “non-believer” somewhere working to remove the Ten Commandments from some civil courtroom; we should not be surprised - it’s logical! The commandments mean nothing to this person! We should not condemn them but rather have compassion for them and reach out to them!
The commandments are founded upon a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with God; and within this, a SPECIFIC personal relationship, a specific EXPERIENCE, namely: SALVATION – Having been rescued by God, delivered out of captivity and death. As noted, in the PROLOGUE to the commandments, this is how God identifies himself: As a SAVIOR. This is the people’s primary experience. We modern Christians tend to ignore the prologue and just get to the commandment; but to the original Jewish audience it was (and is) incorrect, and impossible, to separate the two for the prologue DEFINES WHO WILL BE OUR GOD!
To put it another way: The final point of this First Commandment is that this is the GOAL of life: to have a PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF GOD’S SALVATION; and from this to make this ALL that your life is about – nothing “before” this. From a Christian perspective, of course, we know the fulfillment of God’s saving work to be the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and thus what it finally means to live this commandment: to put nothing in our lives before this. It means continually asking: What does God see in me? What has Christ done for me? And does my life honor that – lift it up above all other things?
Now for each person, each day, this may be a different thing: It may mean going into that doctor’s office trusting not fearful because you know God will see you through anything. It may mean forgiving that person who has hurt you; knowing that this is what Christ has done for you. It may mean leaving that abusive relationship because you know that this is not the worth God sees in you. It may mean reaching out to someone else who needs saving – risking all for this, know that without this there is nothing.
Whatever, it is the constant question: Does everything I am and do proclaim a SAVING GOD? How can I somehow enact God’s personal salvation of me, today? Author John Roth, in his book A Love Stronger than our Fears, writes:
“Late one evening, while attending a conference in the German city of Hamburg, I boarded a commuter train and headed for an outlying suburb. The train car was completely empty at that late hour, and I dozed sleepily as it rattled past the harbor and then through the industrial district. Some minutes into the trip, an elderly man, dressed in rags and clearly suffering from a mental disability, shuffled into the car, closely followed by four teenagers. The young men, entered the car amid raucous laughter and loud talk. Almost immediately their attention focused on the old man who had seated himself near the center doors.
“The four began to taunt him, shouting obscenities and making humiliating references to his mental condition. Then one of the teens shook up a half-filled can of beer and aimed the foamy spray directly into the old man’s face. Without warning they began kicking his legs with their heavy boots and punching him in the arms and face.
“Seated toward the back of the car, I looked on with a mixture of horror and fear as the terrible scene unfolded before me. I am not a big person; I am not trained in any of the martial arts; I have never considered myself particularly brave. Yet as a professing Christian I knew with absolute certainty that I could not simply sit back and watch this helpless old man be mercilessly beaten.
“I whispered a deep prayer: ‘God, calm my fear. Show me the right thing to do. Make me an instrument of your love.’ And then, without really giving my next actions any careful thought, I got out of my seat and walked purposefully toward the old man and his attackers. ‘Hans!’ I called out in my best German, ‘Hans, how are you? It’s been such a long time since we’ve seen each other!’ And then, slipping between two of the surprised men, I embraced him, helped him to his feet and said, ‘Come sit with me, Hans. We have so much to catch up on.’
“The old man followed me toward the rear of the car and slid into the window seat. The teens looked on, not sure how they should respond. For a time they talked among themselves. But when the train pulled into the next stop, they got out. And at the following stop, ‘Hans’ left as well, mumbling a word of thanks.
“I have never felt more alive in the Lord. All of my own troubles washed away. I lived salvation.”

Many years ago, General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, was asked what was the secret to his tremendously powerful faith. He replied simply, “I told the Lord that he could have all there is of William Booth.”
Not divided, not half-hearted, not impersonal; but TOTAL COMMITMENT to God – the first step on the path to true life.

“Then God spoke all these words: ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.’”

Angry With God

The Life of Moses – Act 4, Scene 2:
“Angry With God”
Deuteronomy 34:1-8
Rev. Clark Lynn Callender, 9/5/10

Have you ever been angry with God?
The loved one that was taken far too early. The other who lingered and suffered far too long. The disease that came out of nowhere. The healing that never arrived. The marriage that fell apart. The child not saved. The suffering not eased. Prayers not answered. Promises seemingly not kept. Times when God’s ways in your life seem rotten, wrong, uncaring, uninvolved... lousy!
Have you ever been angry with God? Well, if you have ever felt this feeling, ever thought this thought, know that you are in good company for such marks the close of the great story of Moses...

This morning we conclude our study of the life of Moses, and as the story ends we find it closes (to quote the old saying) “not so much with a bang but with a whimper.” Quite literally a WHIMPER:
Having spent the last 40 years wandering in the wilderness as the first generation of Israelites dies off, Moses and the second generation finally arrive at the Promised Land once again. Here the people renew their covenant with God and prepare to enter the land; however, there’s one last little detail that needs attending to, namely: Moses – What is to become of him?
Answer: God is not going to allow Moses to enter the Promised Land! This is the closing “punch-line” to the story. Moses is to die at the very border of Canaan, never to set foot in it. So close, and yet so far.
Now, earlier on we’re told that Moses has requested that he be allowed to enter the land, in fact we’re told that he has even BEGGED to do so; but God has made it clear that this is not going to happen. And thus the story ends on something of a sour note. With deep poignancy Moses is left to only look out over the land he has worked so hard to get to. The message of victory and triumph of this great servant of God tempered instead, in the closing chapter, with this final nagging aftertaste of disappointment and frustration.
It seems a most unkind move of God’s part. Almost mean-spirited. Yet note: Here it is. This final unpleasant chapter not deleted, not glossed over. And I believe it’s here because it’s crucial in that it means to demonstrate to us the very real human struggle it finally is to really live all of this. That, yes, we have all the pretty words and the promises, but actually living faith in God does not come easily! As last week we heard Moses imploring everyone to “Love God”; so now, we discover, he was saying this at the very moment he himself was struggling most to do so!
The very real difficulty of actually living one’s faith amidst the all too tangible – and frequently quite lousy – realities of life!
What are we to make of this?
Well, I’d like to offer a few thoughts on this – on living our faith amidst the most difficult moments of life – most particularly, those moments when God seems lousy, WHEN WE ARE ANGRY WITH GOD...
(I)
Thought #1: DO NOT GO QUIETLY.
Right off the top, I believe it’s important for us to note that here is the great Moses struggling with issues we all often struggle with, and that, to begin with, should be reassuring to us - that such thoughts are normal and natural even for the greatest people of faith! There is nothing wrong with us when we have such crises of belief. The issue, of course, being what we do with them – this leading us into our first thought here:
As I was considering this closing scene in Moses’ life and how it seems he gets a rather “raw deal” from the Lord... One of the first things that caught my attention is just how Moses DOESN’T TAKE THIS LYING DOWN.
That is, Moses is not at all PASSIVE in what happens to him. He has an opinion, he has major problems with what’s going on, he’s angry – and he lets God know it! A good portion of the book of Deuteronomy being spent in Moses’ final griping! He goes at it with God!
This, of course, having been a pattern between these two throughout their relationship: Whenever Moses has had a problem with God he has not stepped back; he has stepped up. He’s repeatedly gone head-to-head with God – not in arrogance, imagining himself equal to God; but merely in GIVING HIS ALL. And the most amazing thing about this being that God has not been bothered by this but, quite the opposite, always seemed to welcome it, to enjoy it, to almost invite it – and finally to respect Moses most for it! As it says in the final paragraph of the story:

Moses consistently stepped up “face-to-face” with God – and God liked that! And this has two sides to it for us:
First, it’s a reminder that we need to SHARE EVERYTHING we think and feel FULLY with the Lord. You know, so often it seems we believe there are certain thoughts and feelings that we shouldn’t have – especially about God. They’re wrong, they’re bad, so we try to hide them – feel we must push them down within ourselves.
But this is totally wrong! As my father said to me in the only piece of advice he ever gave me about PRAYING; yet the one that has served me best – he said, simply: “Be yourself! If you’re angry with God, be angry with God. If you hate God, hate God. Be yourself, because that’s what God most wants: YOU. And only there can he reach the real you.”
God knows that, as in any relationship, it is only in open, honest sharing that things can be worked through and life found – as with Moses here. This text is first a reminder for us to BRING OUR ALL to God in prayer – the good, the bad, and the ugly – for only there can life be found. And then from this, it’s also a reminder to us to DEMAND OUR ALL. This is the other side of “NOT GOING QUIETLY”:
That is, throughout Moses’ life, it’s not just that he complained – anyone can complain (just hang around any church for awhile!): no, the point is that Moses WRESTLED – he wrestled with God. That is, he gave and he TOOK. As here, in the final chapters leading up to his death:
He’s tossing out different ideas, exploring different possibilities, he’s trying to understand, to grow, he’s using ALL HIS STRENGTH. And that’s the point: He lets the issues that confront him push him, ask a lot of him, totally involve him. And this is another thing that it seems God hopes for all of us: TOTAL INVOLVEMENT – our faith, our understanding, our abilities, pushed to the MAX! That we RISE TO OUR FULL HUMANITY as God created us!
You know, what so often happens when God seems to deal us a bad hand is we take one of two approaches: Either we just give up on, and turn from, God – like: “Well, if this is the way God is, then I will have nothing to do with God!” Or, conversely, in some misguided understanding of righteousness, we just blandly accept everything, spitting out pious platitudes: “If it is God’s will, then it is fine with me. It is not ours to question.”
Yet note, either way we’re completely PASSIVE: we don’t really dig into the issue; we just avoid it, step around it. We won’t get in there and get messy. We won’t allow it to push us and thus we miss the whole thing!
To put it another way: How often is the real problem in our lives, the real reason why we’re so angry with God simply that we expected life to just be HANDED TO US? We didn’t want a lot asked of us, we didn’t want to be really pushed, we didn’t want to really get involved; we just wanted it placed in our laps. We’ve just been “phoning it in” but now something great is being asked of us, a real challenge, a real demand, but we won’t have it?!
We yell at God for not helping our marriage; but we never really work at our marriage ourselves. We shake an angry first at God for not giving us healing; but we don’t want to have to explore the depths of real strength that are within us. We curse God for letting a loved one die; but we don’t want to find out what true faith is. More plainly put: We don’t want to know, and to have to really live, the true GREATNESS that is in us, the greatness God created and sees in us... and we take that out on God!
We’re seeking to have a God who enables us to avoid life; but we’re confronted instead with a God who calls us to fully engage it – that we might discover its greatest riches – and our greatest selves. Are we avoiding or engaging life – and what is it doing to us? Expanding on a reflection we’ve noted in the past, preacher John Ortberg writes:
“Imagine that you have a child, and for five minutes you're given a script of what will be that child’s life. You get an eraser. You can edit it. You can take out whatever you want.
“You read that your child will have a learning disability in grade school. Reading, which comes easily for some kids, will be laborious for yours.
“In high school, your kid will make a great circle of friends; then one of them will die of cancer.
“After high school this child will actually get into the college they wanted to attend. While there, there will be a car crash, and your child will lose a leg and go through a difficult depression.
“A few years later, your child will get a great job - then lose that job in an economic downturn.
“Your child will get married, but then go through the grief of separation.
“You get this script for your child’s life and have five minutes to edit it. What would you erase? Wouldn’t you want to take out all the stuff that would cause them pain?
“I am part of a generation of adults called ‘helicopter parents,’ because we’re constantly trying to swoop into our kid's lives to make sure no one is mistreating them or disappointing them. We want them to experience one unobstructed success after another.
“One Halloween a mom came to our door to trick or treat. Why didn’t she send in her kid? Well, the weather’s a little bad, she said; she was driving so he didn’t have to walk in the mist.
“But why not send him to the door? Well, he had fallen asleep in the car, she said, so she didn’t want him to have to wake up.
“I felt like saying, ‘Why don’t you eat all his candy and get his stomach ache for him, too — then he can be completely protected!’”
“If you could wave a wand, if you could erase every failure, setback, suffering, and pain - are you sure it would be a good idea? Would it cause your child to grow up to be a better, stronger, more generous person? Is it possible that in some way people actually need adversity, setbacks, maybe even something like trauma to reach the fullest level of development and growth?”
The first thought to consider when life seems lousy, when you’re most angry with God: DO NOT GO QUIETLY – give all to God, demand all of yourself. From this, then...
(II)
Thought #2: REMEMBER THIS IS NOT YOUR HOME.
In the New Testament book of Hebrews, the author gives the following interpretation of the death of Moses and others like him, great people of faith who also died having never received the promise they had spent their life working toward – he writes:

This, I believe, is a second crucial message we are meant to take from Moses’ death: That even though Moses never enters the Promised Land, that doesn’t necessarily make it a WRONG ending. That, in effect, this is exactly the whole point: That he died precisely as he lived, and that his is a model of the life of faith for anyone in this world, namely: That is this life we can only JOURNEY – we’re sojourners, travelers, pilgrims – never really reaching home. We live here but THIS IS NOT OUR HOME – there’s more, there’s a real home beyond. There is, and can be, no ending, no settling here.
Yet this is a mistake that we all make and the cause of so much pain and frustration and failure for us: We don’t journey toward our true home. We settle here and seek to make this the end. We view this as everything. We live too much solely for this life, for this moment, for this time only. We want everything wrapped up here with a neat bow. We see things, we decide, we judge, we act only for the here and now, for this world. But there’s so much more than this! This is not our home, this is not our final resting place! And we get ourselves in major trouble whenever we forget this!
We search for happy endings, but even the best of circumstances they are never entirely to be found – because this is not the end, this is not our final home. We long for closure to our places of pain, but it never seems to entirely come – because this is not the end, this is not our home. We consume our lives in a frenzied search to find something in this life that will fill and perfectly satisfy us, but it always fall short – because this is not the end, this is not our home!
You know, there are parts of the text of the Moses story that seem to indicate that the reason for God’s refusal to permit Moses to enter the Promised Land is failure on Moses’ part – mistakes he has made for which he is being punished. However, there are also long parts of the text that seem to question this point of view, even implying that if true, it’s totally UNFAIR – and that that’s the real point: That this life is NOT TOTALLY FAIR. Why? Because this life is not the end of the story! What’s the old saying? “Expecting life to be fair is like expecting a lion not to eat you because you are a vegetarian.” This life is never totally fair because this life is not the end of the story!
Basically, the second point here is that, in times of frustration and struggle, TAKE AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE. Realize that this is not your home – it doesn’t end neatly here, it’s not fair - and look for the home to come where it does get wrapped up. Realize that the story that seems to have ended painfully is not over – those loved ones you’ve lose you will see again. And live for that! Live beyond this life! Live for the issues and matters that are eternal!
You know, there’s an old fable that is told about a sailor shipwrecked on one of the South Sea islands. He was seized by the natives, hoisted on their shoulders, carried to their village, and set upon a crude throne. Little by little, he learned that it was their custom once each year to make some man a king. He liked this idea until he began to wonder what happened to all the former kings.
Soon he discovered that every year when his kingship was ended, the king was banished to an island, where he starved to death. The sailor did not like that, but he was smart and he was king, king for a year.
So, as King, he put his carpenters to work making boats, his farmers to work transplanting fruit trees to the island, growing crops, masons building houses. So when his kingship was over, he was banished, not to a barren land, but to an island rich in abundance – where he lived happily ever after.
So, likewise, we’re all kings here, kings for a little while at least, able to choose what we shall do with the stuff of this life – knowing that this is not the end of the story. The wise person being the one who puts their effort into where they’re going not where they are.
Thought #2 when life seems lousy and you’re angry with God: Think eternity – Remember that THIS IS NOT YOUR HOME. And finally...
(III)
Thought #3: LOOK AT THINGS FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE.
In the end, of course, we’ve been focusing on our annoyance with God here (at the close of the Moses story); but what if we were to turn things around and consider the situation from GOD’S PERSPECTIVE...
Do you think God liked the ending any more than Moses did? Do you think God enjoyed “sticking it to” his most faithful servant and friend?
In the ancient Jewish writings there’s a tradition that states that when Moses was told that he would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land, he begged God that if he couldn’t enter it as a human, that he might be allowed to fly over it as a bird, or that he might be permitted to graze on it as a cow. And the legend says that as God told him no, that this would not be possible, that Moses looked over at God and saw tears pouring from God’s eyes. It broke God’s heart just as much as it broke Moses’.
Have you ever thought of what this moment did to God?
We’re generally so focused on ourselves that we can’t see anything. But if try to also see things from God’s perspective we gain the BIGGER PICTURE, namely: That God is here with Moses through all of this. In the end, God doesn’t just send Moses a text message: “Sorry, no Promised Land! LOL.” No, God is there to give the difficult news. God is there hurting as well. At some point Moses’ life has to end and it’s going to hurt. God is there in the good times and in the bad. In the end, God doesn’t offer Moses Canaan; what God offers is God’s self. The one constant of the whole story – of our whole story: God’s PRESENCE.
Is it enough?
How often, in the end, is this NOT what we’re seeking and thus why we know so much pain and frustration? That, in the end, when it comes to our faith in God, we’re seeking only “stuff” from God, getting the things we want; NOT GOD’S OWN SELF – and thus we suffer. The wise person being the one who, instead, seeks only God.
The final point when God seems lousy: Don’t get lost in your demands and desires; just seek God – God’s PRESENCE - share the experience - and all will be yours! Author Randy Hoyt writes:
“Doctors and nurses were doing everything possible for my wife, the mother of my seven children, yet I could see the hopelessness in their faces. Through an emergency C-section during the fifth month of her pregnancy, it was discovered the detached placenta had grown through the uterus and attached itself to her bladder. Bleeding was so profuse during surgery that Kris was given 30 units of blood. As the night wore on, her battle for life became desperate.
“I cried out, ‘God, what do you want? I know you can heal her; why don’t you?’ In the middle of my darkest night, God began to speak. I wanted a miracle. He wanted to discuss his nature.
“’Do you believe I am a loving God?’ the Spirit asked.
“Sitting beside my wife’s bed, amid the chaos of ICU, I needed to answer that question. I could have said, ‘No, you cannot be a loving God. Look around here. My wife is dying. My newborn daughter may die. I have to go home and tell six children that their mother will not come home again ever.’
“But that night God gave me the grace to see him as he is. ‘Yes,’ I told him. ‘You are a loving God. No matter what happens here tonight I know that is your nature.’
“Kris’s condition worsened.
“Kris was determined to give our child all she had to help her in her struggle to live. In the end, it cost Kris her life. Grace lived just 16 days.
“’What about our plans, God?’ I asked. ‘Who will teach the kids, guide them, and love them like their mother?’
“God laid it on the heart of a man to head up an effort which became known as ‘Help Bring Hope to the Hoyt Kids.’ In six months, hundreds of people worked, sent money, donated supplies and poured love into our family. Churches provided food daily; on weekends, as many as 50 people were fed. I received more than 500 letters, e-mails and cards from people who said they were praying for us.
“I am writing this in the house God has given us. The medical bills are gone. The house is paid for. I am working as well as schooling my children.
“One night I lay awake, tormented with the memory of Kris fighting for her life. I tried to remember her with the light of life in her eyes, but all I could see was death. I could feel myself falling into depression when suddenly before me was a vision of Kris, so perfectly alive in Christ, shining and healthy. No pain, just pure joy on her face. ‘See her as she is now,’ the Holy Spirit seemed to say. ‘She is alive.’
Someday we will all be together with Jesus and our daughter Grace. I asked God for the life of my wife; I received instead a lesson on the nature of God. Armed with that knowledge, I have no fear for today or the future. God will always be enough for any situation.”

A famous preacher once said: “Faith in God is like the love of family – it’s easy when everything’s going smoothly; but you only really find out if it’s there when everything goes wrong.”
Have you ever been angry with God?
When life goes wrong and God seems lousy – don’t let the struggle break you; but rather, remake you: Do not go quietly. Remember this is not your home. And look at things from God’s perspective.