Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

Gospel centred sermons, based on the lectionary often in advance.

Oct 9, 2020

None of us who are Christians worships a golden calf like the people of Israel in the wilderness. We are far more subtle. An idol is anything we put at the centre of our lives instead of God. Sometimes I think we worship the church or its buildings instead of its Lord. Sometimes we worship our money or our possessions. Sometimes we worship ourselves, even in church. We make worship about our needs and our love instead of being about God’s love and greatness. (Inward looking worship not only forgets God it also forgets our neighbours, who God loves and calls us to love!) 

When the people of Israel worshipped an idol, God did not destroy them but continued to lead them and call them back. He used them to fulfill his promises ultimately in Jesus who in human terms was a Jewish person. When we fail to put God and God’s call to love our neighbour at the centre of our lives the same judgement and mercy that fell on the people of Israel falls on us.

Questions for thought and discussion.

In our culture what are the God substitutes we find ourselves attracted to? What about church; what finds itself at the centre of church life in place of God? How have you experienced the mercy and forgiveness of God? What idols in your life sometimes push God aside?