Second Presbyterian Church

"No Other Gods"
January 26, 2003

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2003 » Sermons for January 2003

#2 in the Series on The Ten Commandments

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Genesis 3: 1-13
• Psalm 23 (Exodus 20: 1-17 used as preparation for confession)
• Matthew 6: 24-33

I

Exodus 20: 3 is the first commandment; it reads: You shall have no other gods before me. With this statement Israel was set apart from the rest of the world. The ancient world at that time (and now, for that matter) was polytheistic. Humanity worshiped all kinds of objects and things. They worshiped the forces of nature: sun, moon, stars, thunder. They worshiped animals, beasts, and fertility.

The Children of Israel had just been redeemed. They had been led out of slavery from Egypt. The Lord had declared them to be his special people, fulfilling his promise to Abraham to make a great nation from his offspring, a nation that would be a blessing to the nations of the world.

So what was expected of a nation that was proclaimed to be the LORD's special people? This first expectation is the first commandment: You shall have no other gods before me.

This was the beginning of monotheism. The commandments were given in a time when it as assumed that there were other gods, deities. But, as time passed, many religious leaders of Israel came to the realization that there was only one God, the LORD of Hosts. So, by the time we get to the prophets, such as Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, monotheism was firmly established in the religious thought of Israel. No other Gods before me was no longer just choosing the LORD over some other god, such as Ba'al, Ashtar, etc.

Yet, throughout the Old Testament we have a record of the People of God, the Israelites, who continually turned their backs upon the LORD and went after other gods, idols. From Judges through Malachi we read a story of a people who were redeemed by God, who would become unfaithful to God, consequences would develop, they would cry out and return to the LORD, and the LORD would redeem them. As Christians, we believe this redemption culminated in God becoming a man and redeeming us from our sins. But a rapid reading through the entire Bible gives one the impression that the Children of Israel would turn their backs from the LORD at every possible opportunity.

II

What about today? What relevancy does this commandment have for you and me now? Things have drastically changed since ancient Israel, haven't they? We ride SUV's and not camels, don't we? When we pitch a tent it is to do a little camping out, and not to move to the next oasis, don't we? Surely comparing when the first commandment was written to our time today is like comparing apples to oranges, right?

Most of us who are sitting here today believe, at least consciously and officially, in God who is the one and only God of the universe. Yet our world has quickly become more religiously pluralistic, even here in Petersburg. Other religions exist here; they are thriving here. Just a few doors away is an Islamic Center. Twenty years ago, that possibility would have never entered our minds. Perhaps the world is not polytheistic, yet is sure has become more religiously pluralistic.

There is another force that too often tries to claim the position of god in our culture and in our own lives. It is a force to which almost everyone of us bows the knee, even against our will. What is this force, this god? It is anxiety. What, you might say. Anxiety is no god! What are you talking about, preacher? True, no one goes around praising the benefits of anxiety. It is a god that traps; it is a god that kills. Anxiety is a force that can kill both the body and the soul. Let me explain.

First of all, anxiety can kill the body. The Latin word, angerere, is defined as, "to cause pain by squeezing, choking. Note that angina comes from the same Latin word. And what does angina do? It causes pain by "squeezing" the arteries, restricting the flow of the blood to the heart muscle. Anxiety also comes from the same Latin word. Medically speaking, anxiety lowers our immune system's ability to function. It can reduce it so that we are susceptible to viral, or bacterial infections. Anxiety can cause to immune system to over-function, creating an autoimmune disease. Anxiety plays a key role in gastro-intestinal disorders. It can cause emotional, mental disorders. In over 75% of all diseases, it is suspected that anxiety plays a key role. So, anxiety is not healthy; it can eventually kill the body.

Anxiety can also kill the soul. How? Just as angina can choke our arteries, so also can anxiety choke our faith. The faith that we have been given by God, through Jesus Christ, can be choked out, disconnected if we let our anxiety take over. It is by faith that we are nourished for our Christian journey. It is by faith that we grow closer to the Lord, by allowing the Lord more completely to take over our lives. Anxiety shuts down faith. It leaves us alone and vulnerable. It leaves us alone and vulnerable to the little, puny idols that we tend to turn to when anxiety takes over and we turn away from Jesus Christ.

What happens? We seek solutions to lower our anxiety. We, as human beings, have all kinds of solutions, perhaps millions of solutions, that we turn to when anxiety takes over and our trust in God wanes. The ancient people had all kinds of little idols to which they turned, the more the merrier. Why? Because they were anxious about the world in which they lived. Now, we also have all these little idols that we can turn to. Let me give some examples: money (look to it for security, rather than God), sex (people who suffer from sexual addictions are driven by deep anxiety and their acting out happens when their deep anxiety becomes too much to bear.), popularity, entertainment (we even call actors and actresses our idols!), drugs (such as tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine - this makes for added complication, physical addiction.), food (one of my idols), soda, anything. Anything can literally become an addiction.

Of course, none of these idols bring life; rather they can kill us. Their rule is destruction.

III

So, does the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me," have a place for our lives today, in the 21st century? When we honestly perceive all the little idols that we chase in order to feel less anxious, we recognize that we are like the ancient Israelites. We affirm that we believe in ONE God. We affirm this with all sincerity. And the next thing we realize is that we find ourselves chasing after one of those little idols that we have grown accustomed to using when we start feeling anxious.

It is so easy to lose sight of the fact that the true source of our anxiety comes from being, or feeling, separated from God, from our loving Creator. Not only that, but we run from God; we hide from Him in the bushes when we hear Him come walking through. "Adam, where are you?"

Adam, "I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid, because I was naked and I hid myself."

Adam's sin had created a rift between the Lord and him. His attempt to become his own god left him vulnerable, naked, anxious. Just like every one of us.

And this is where faith helps. This is where faith heals. Better, this is where the Lord heals, by way of our faith. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we can now, by faith, come back to God. More accurately, we - by faith - can trust and accept God's coming to us in order to redeem us, to save us.

Anxiety, created by man's futile attempt to be his own god, can only be treated and healed by the love and grace of Jesus Christ. And we can receive Jesus' love and grace, NOW, by trusting that it is there for us, by faith.

"You shall have no other gods before me." Or, "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Matthew 6:34)

Easier said than done. It can only be done through the strength of God's Holy Spirit, Christ's presence among us. It can only be done as we - every one of us - strive to love and accept one another as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. Amen.