Oct 12 Sermon Notes on Idolatry as Settling for Less

October 12, 2014-Ex. 32, Phil 4

Last week we had a focus on sabbath from the 10 Commandments. Many people miss that the Golden Calf episode stands as the opposite of celebrating sabbath.I don't know if I have ever worked out loud with the Golden Calf episode. Moses was gone for a little while, and the pressure to have a more visible God grew intense quickly for Aaron the religious leader. I don't know if paul was thinking of the golden Calf episode but God sees them as corrupt and stubborn (stiff necked) It is unclear if the issue is fashioning an idol image or a turning away from God fully.Part of the fear of graven images continues to be our tendency to try to freeze the living god into a construct of our preferences.  Moses calls god to god’s best self. His prayer is a bold one and uses reputation as an entry to speak with god, to persuade god to change, to repent or relent. Like teenagers now, once the party gets started it gets out of hand fairly quickly. They have not yet developed the maturity to have a party and not pay for it the next day.Moses is tempted by power here.The may be engaging in revelry maybe merely victory song.

I love that Paul pushes for some aspirations here. He does not settle for the least common denominator of I’m saved so take it easy. Here is a different way to celebrate the fullness of life.How to rejoice? In 12 step programs a good bit of testimony goes on about how to learn to celebrate without getting hammered. Rejoice over the strides we have made in the lifetime of a lifetime. MRI, skype, vaccinations

Rejoice in the presence of Christ. Celebrate our best. Instead of presenting aspiration toward excellence we have deceived ourselves into calling elitist a call to higher purpose.Jimmy Carter’s campaign biography was entitled why not the best? We use the phrase role model but do not find many who fit the name well. Stretch a bit. Read less fast food material. I would urge us to elevate the type of spiritual reading we may do. if we do it, it is often limited to a short devotion or something sentimental. We can certainly read our bibles with more care than we often do.we cna i engage our imaginations  and place ourselves into the situation described or move the passage into our situation today. When we read a parable, a difficult one like today, place yourself into the situation of each of the characters who are mentioned. I realize that a lot of us watch sports and movies purely to get away from the stress of life, but even there we can elevate our taste both in the teams we can appreciate or the type of movies we consume.I was given the almighty TV clicker recently and flicked through the channels as any good American male. the sheer junk on station after station, along with what appear to be full length commercials was disheartening.e are so quick to  go for less in life. I don;t watch much TV and don;t have cable or satellite, but Newton Minnow’s word about network Tv certainly fits the cable landscape, a vast wasteland.How quick the people are to give up their jewelry of gold to make an idol. We don't bat an eye at the cost of a sporting event, or a rock concert, but giving to charity is painful.This issue is a replay of the fall in genesis 3. We can receive all sorts of blessing and seem unable or unwilling to maintain them.