24 OC Idolatry is putting ourselves at odds with God.

Friends

Peace be with you.

The first reading for today can drive theologians crazy. It’s one of those readings that seems to reinforce the misconception that the God of the Old Testament is not the God of the New, that the God of the Old Testament is an angry, old man shouting “get off my yard” and the God of the New Testament is the smiling, tolerant Jesus pictured with wind blown, sun drenched hair as though he’s just stepped off his surf board. Aside from the anti-semitism in thinking the Old Testament is bad, remember that the only book Jesus knew as a Bible was the Old Testament and when he prayed to “Our Father”, he was praying to this God. So, there has to be a way to understand this passage that doesn’t assume the God of the Old Testament is bad or mean.

Yet, even knowing a bit of context for this passage doesn’t help. Right before this passage, Moses has gone up the mountain to meet with God and receive the 10 Commandments. While that happens, the Israelites meet with Moses second-in-command, Aaron, and convince him to make them a god. Aaron seems like the babysitter who isn’t entirely sure the parents would want their kids to drink Mountain Dew after 8:00 pm so he lets them do it but tells them not to tell their parents. He gathers all the gold they’ve brought with them and makes a golden calf, which the Israelites immediately proclaim to be their God. Apparently, it was quite common at the time of Moses for people to believe that both cattle were gods. I suppose any genus of animal that can provide great-tasting milk, ice cream, steaks, and hamburgers would seem like a god to most people.

Nonetheless, when the one true God looks down and sees the people with whom he is about to enter into a unique covenant worshipping a false God, the passage says that his anger flares up and it implies that Moses is holding him back. The way it’s phrased, it almost seems like Moses is standing in the doorway preventing an angry god from going out and beating the heck out of someone. God turns to Moses and says that he’s just going to wipe them off the face of the earth and get Moses a great nation.

During the second part of the passage, Moses talks to God about how God shouldn’t wipe out the Israelites because, if He does, everyone who saw them leave Egypt will think the one true God tricked them into leaving so that He could murder them in the desert. Moses also reminds God that He made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose descendents these people are, that He would protect and build up their ancestors. The last thing that bothers theologians is translated as “the Lord changed his mind” but could also be translated as “the Lord repented” or the Lord turned his back.

So, you may at this point be asking what’s the problem here? There are three. First, this passage implies that God can have emotions. But, God doesn’t have emotions because God made emotions and God is unchanging but emotions are constantly changing. Part of what made Judaism different than the other religions is that God didn’t get angry one day and excited the next and sad the next. God made all these things and so was above them.

This is connected to the second problem, which is that God can’t change his mind. Something exists because it is in the mind of God. If God stops thinking about something, it ceases to exist. God can’t change his mind like I do when I think I'm gonna go away on a day off but stay home instead. God isn’t choosey. God is decisive. If God thinks something, it comes into existence the way God thinks it because that’s the only way something can exist, if it is the mind of the creator.

Lastly, and likewise connected to the other two, is that idea that Moses prevented an angry God from going down the mountain. Moses could not stop God from inflicting punishment. God is all powerful, all knowing, all seeing, eternal. Moses is...not. All God has to do is stop thinking about Moses or the Israelites for a scone or they’d all be gone.

So, how can we make any sense of all this?

Let’s start by acknowledging that, yes, God is all knowing, all powerful, eternal, unchanging AND that this same God created humanity to play a special role in creation. He created us distinctly from the rest of creation in his divine image. So, as God is making this pact with the Israelites through Moses, their first act is to turn away from God to make their own idol, and God allows them to do that. He isn’t going to force the Israelites into a relationship if they don’t want it. They’re going to have to learn the hard way that being in right relationship with God means loving God alone and not setting up a competitor. That’s, after all, what an idol is; a competitor with God.

Now, we may not have false idols like golden calves in our society or sitting around our house, but I know there are plenty of idols. What’s in our lives that dominates them? To ask that same question in a slightly different way, what do we first think about when we have some free time? Alcohol? Drugs? Pornography? Television? Gaming? Facebook? Tiktok (turn to a young person - that’s a thing, right)

What do we spend money on that we don’t really need and could give to charity instead? Or, again, to ask that in a slightly different way, what could we give up that would make our life simpler? Books?(That’s me by the way) Tools? Some things from our kitchen?

One last question, what do we think about when we’re in a boring meeting or listening to a boring homily? Right now, what are you thinking about? Food? The television? All of this could be idolatrous. It could be stuff that prevents us from drawing closer to God.



What if, instead, of God changing or turning back, Moses resolution to get the Israelites back to God meant they would no longer be in opposition but in line with God and God’s will in their lives. What if God’s anger was like trying to swim against the tide and his anger ceases because they aren’t trying to compete but are with him instead? That’s what I think is happening and what I think the challenge is for us: How can we get rid of the distractions in our life, the idols, so that we can put our focus where it belongs: on God.