Exchanging God’s Glory

19 At Horeb they made a calf
and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
20 They exchanged their glorious God
for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 miracles in the land of Ham
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

–Psalm 106.19-22 (NIV)

9 There was a great uproar [in the Sanhedrin], and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10 The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks. 11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

–Acts 23.9-11 (NIV)

If you want to get a concise summary of the relationship between God and his chosen people, Israel, read Psalm 106 in its entirety. I have excerpted part of that psalm above because it is such a striking statement. God had delivered his people Israel from their slavery in quite a dramatic fashion. But it seems Israel kept forgetting what God had done for them, about God’s great love for them and his call to them to be his agents of healing and redemption for the world. That is why God became human in Jesus to be Israel’s true representative as God’s Messiah so that God could deliver on his promises to redeem his fallen creatures through Israel. Israel itself could not do it because they were every bit as flawed as the rest of us. But God could do it by becoming Israel’s true representative

That’s a different story for a different day, however. Back to today’s lesson, we see Israel exchanging the very glory of God for some man-made idol. Before we get too eager to condemn the ancient Israelites for their folly, let us remember that we are just like them. Oh, our idols are much more sophisticated now because we fashion ourselves to be so much more enlightened and knowledgeable than our spiritual ancestors. But a quick look around reminds us that this too is folly. Our “enlightened” state and progress have not done much to change the human condition other than to help us present our idols in a much more acceptable and nuanced light. Some of us give up God’s glory for sex or a sexual agenda. Some of us give up God’s glory for power and prestige. Some of us give up God’s glory for our own selfish desires and greed. Some of us give up God’s glory for our toys and/or love of money. Most of us give up God’s glory for our own pride that makes us want to delude ourselves into thinking we are superior or at least equal to God.

I can just hear God now. “Let me know how that’s working out for you, especially when you are on your deathbed.”

It seems like we really don’t want to have God’s glory so that we can be the humans he created us to be. We aren’t really interested in bringing God’s healing love and mercy to bear on others–at least not without the help of the Spirit living in us. And that’s the predicament and tragedy of the human condition. We want to go it alone and we forfeit that which we need to bring meaning, purpose, and healing in our lives.

But there is a better way as today’s lesson from Acts demonstrates. When we have the humility and good sense to give our lives to Jesus and obey his command to follow him, we immediately have access to a power that is beyond the world’s ability to defeat. As Jesus reminded Paul in the midst of his awful persecution, Jesus was with him and would be with him. Therefore Paul was to take courage! What a remarkable thing to say to someone in Paul’s condition. I wonder how many of us would have the good sense to believe Jesus’ promise to us in the midst of our suffering?

Now let me be clear. When Jesus said to Paul to take courage, he wasn’t just a-woofin’! Paul’s journey to Rome was no picnic. Among other things Paul would suffer unjust imprisonment, being shipwrecked at sea, and being bitten by a poisonous snake. Sounds like wonderful fun, does it not? This stuff isn’t for wimps and without the power and presence of Jesus in his life, it is not unreasonable to believe that it could have easily broken Paul just as extreme suffering and hardship continue to break people today. That’s why we need to take Jesus’ promise to be with us seriously because most of us are probably going to need his help before it’s all over!

What about you? Are you embracing God’s glory in your life so that he can use you to bring his healing love in Christ to bear on others around you who need it or are you exchanging God’s glory for your own fallen image that by itself will bring nothing but hopelessness and despair? When you say yes to Jesus you can count on a power that is beyond your own to be with you and sustain you as you struggle to be faithful in your obedience to Christ. Following Christ doesn’t mean you will get a “get out of jail free” card to live your life. You will not be immune to life’s hurts or sufferings. You will, however, have a power that is not your own to help you overcome all that life can throw your way and even thrive. That’s the hope and promise of the Christian faith, at least for the living of your mortal days here on earth.