The Golden Calf Takes and Takes and Takes

Scripture Lessons: Philippians 4: 1-9 and Exodus 32: 1-14 Sermon Title: The Golden Calf Takes and Takes and Takes Preached on: October 11, 2020 It’s really something what people will get into when left to their own devices, isn’t it? Every parent knows it. Every teacher knows it. Every dog owner knows it. Moses turns his back, and then, “But I’ve only been gone for a few minutes, and this is what you’ve done!” You can’t turn your back on people. You can’t turn your back on children, dogs, grown-ups, or anyone. That’s just the way that it is. So, I think glitter should be outlawed. Don’t you? Have you ever had that experience with glitter? If you don’t supervise children with glitter, you’ll find it in your underwear. I was standing around lacrosse practice yesterday and a mother told me that her daughter had emptied out a bottle of glitter and a bag of kitty-litter on their floor. She’ll be finding little surprises around her house years from now, because when people are left alone with glitter or anything else, you had better give them firm instructions or they’ll just start doing something, and that something is almost certainly not going to do them or you any long-term good. Left alone, we just get into too much trouble and we waste too much time. I saw the most effective advertising campaign that I’ve ever seen the other day. It’s for an app you can get on your phone called Dual lingo. It’s been helping me learn Spanish, but what got me was their slogan: “In 15 minutes a day you can learn a second language. What is 15 minutes of social media going to get you?” Not all of you spend time on social media. The main one if Facebook, but there are several tools for keeping up with your friends and spying on your children out there. They’re all a great way to share vacation photos, and they can be a great way for people to stay connected in this season of almost forced isolation, but they can also be a really big waste of time, or worse. Someone said, “I have an app on my phone that tells me which of my relatives are racist. It’s called Facebook.” That’s a funny joke because people post their opinions and their thoughts right there on Facebook for anyone to see, and some of their opinions and thoughts should never have seen the light of day. People need supervision. Moses shouldn’t have left them alone. Look at all the trouble they got into. When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us…for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” [So, then] Aaron said to them, “Take off your gold rings and bring them to me.” He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” This is the strangest thing in the world for people to do, but it’s what we all keep doing again and again and again. We run out of things to do so we get up to something, and that something is not necessarily good for us or anyone else. I’ve been reading a book by Bill Bryson about growing up in the 50’s. He wrote that television wasn’t any good back then. There might only be two or three channels, so he’d have to entertain himself. Long periods of the day were devoted to just seeing what would happen – what would happen if you pinched a match head while it was still hot or made a vile drink and took a sip of it or focused a white-hot beam of sunlight with a magnifying glass on your Uncle Dick’s bald spot while he was napping. Moses left the Israelites alone and so they find something to do. Likewise, with a few minutes to spare some of us scroll through social media on our phones, others start thinking about how nice it would be to get out on the lake in our own boat. Our minds wander, we get distracted, as my friend James Fleming always says: “there are 24 hours in a day and you have to fill them with something.” Only here’s the thing, what’s the return on how we are spending our time? How does scrolling through your friend’s vacation pictures make you feel after 15 minutes? Have you heard the expression: “The two happiest days for a boat owner are the day he buys it and the day he sells it”? We’re all looking for something to do. We all keep shopping for something. But what have we found? What does the Golden Calf give in return for our gold? That’s the question that must be asked, for on the other hand: God delivered the people from slavery in Egypt. He divided the sea so that they could walk through on dry land. When they were hungry, God provided them manna. Thirsty, God made water come out of a rock. As they looked for direction, God provided them with 10 Commandments, but what do they do when Moses turns his back for just a minute? Our God gives and gives and gives, but we wander away to spend our time doing what we shouldn’t. Knowing that’s just human nature I urge you to ask yourself, what is the return on all your hobbies and vices? For our God delivers, forgives, and fills the emptiness in our souls, but what about that vacation home? What about all those devices? Where are you putting your energy? On what are you spending your money? And are you getting a good return on your investment? Last week I heard Cassie’s sermon twice. I thought it was brilliant each time I heard it, especially this line: “from the laws we learn the character of the law maker,” and from the laws that God provided, from the 10 Commandments that Moses brought down from the mountain, we see that God is in a relationship with us so that we might thrive, prosper, and never again suffer under the weight of slavery to anything. Why then do we keep on bowing down before golden claves and new pharaohs, believing their empty promises and expecting them to deliver us when we already know who has set us free? It's a foolish thing to go looking for happiness in a boat. It’s a foolish thing to go looking for connection through social media. It’s a foolish thing to expect deliverance from a politician. But we keep doing it. We keep doing all of it, because when we’re left to our own devices, we do strange and foolish things. Glitter just gets all over the place. Or worse. In this consumer culture of ours people spend money that they don’t have. Why? Because someone told them that money would buy them happiness, and they believed it. In our celebrity culture some place superhuman expectations on the shoulders of mere mortals. Why? Because of their campaign promises, which we never should have believed. This is campaign season for some of the politicians in our church, and what I want them to know is that I’m praying for them because they are taking on a role of absolute servanthood. On the other hand, the ones who make being a politician look bad have forgotten that they were elected to serve the people, not manipulate them. Remember then to ask: who are you serving and what are you getting in return? I’ve told you about a man who bought acers and acers of land out west. He made all this money so he could get away from it all. He built this beautiful house way out in the wilderness. His son went to visit him and he said, “My father has built the most beautiful prison the world has ever seen.” We keep giving our gold to the Golden Calf, but the Golden Calf can’t give us anything in return. Do you know that? The Lord who delivered us from Egypt tells us to give 10% of what we have away. Do you know what kind of person actually does that? Surely you don’t know who gives what to the church, and we shouldn’t, but I’ve met some of the most philanthropic people, so now I know how to spot them. You’ll be able to spot them too if you know what to look for. Think of the most joyful person you’ve ever met. Think of the person who always has a smile on her face or a spring in his step. Think of the one who never complains and who exudes hope. That’s the person who’s giving away their money to something good rather than laying it at the feet of a golden calf. The Golden Calf makes empty promises and is glad to take your gold. His priests have these great big billboards from here to Chattanooga: buy an RV and have a happy family, buy a boat and set yourself free, buy happiness, buy joy, buy fulfillment – it won’t work. Some people spend more money on cable TV than they give to the church. What’s the return on that investment? The Golden Calf will take your money while offering sitcoms in return. On the other hand, the real God keeps saying, “give it away and find joy.” Guess what, it works every time. I think about the movie Schindler’s List. Do you remember what he does at the end of that movie? At the end of that movie he sees that there’s a ring on his finger. A gold ring. And he says, “How many people could this have saved?” It’s so strange what people will do with gold. Before you spend your next dollar, be sure to think about what you’re getting in return, because the golden calf takes and takes and takes without giving anything back to your soul, but what about God? Our God is faithful to us. Our God has proven himself to us. So why don’t we listen? It reminds me of a new minister who was trying to enter the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee. Before a new minister can serve a church in a new presbytery he or she must be examined on the floor in front of every other minister and so many elders. Some of the questions they get asked are hard to answer, but at some point or another every new minister trying to enter the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee will be asked as this one was, “Do you love Jesus?” The new pastor was nervous, but with confidence he said, “Yes I do, but not nearly as much as he loves me.” There’s a lot to balance when it comes to your time and your treasure, but I tell you that you must make God your first priori ty, because you are always His. And if you do with what you have according to his commandments, you’ll only have more of the joy that he’s promised. And now and finally: Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen, and the God of peace will be with you. Now and forever, Amen.