Rev.
Jeffrey T. Howard
Beaver
Dam and Pitts Creek Churches
Sermon
Isaiah 44:6-8 The First and Last
July
20, 2014
Let
me begin this morning by telling you a story. Madhu is a young man
who grew up in a family that worshiped Hindu idols. His father
practiced idol worship by pouring milk, rice and water on idols made
from stone and wood and metal. His entire family did this. And his
father wanted Madhu to worship these idols as well.
But
Madhu refused. He consider pouring milk and rice on an idol wasteful.
The food could be given to the hungry poor instead. And he noticed
that even though his father worshiped these idols he continued to be
short-tempered and used foul language. The idols made of stone and
wood and metal did not transform the worshiper into a better person.
And so for these reasons Madhu rejected the religion of his family.
Madhu
then met some Christians who agreed with him about the futility of
praying to idols made of stone and wood and metal. They told him
that he could pray to Jesus Christ in heaven. They explained that if
he confessed his sin, God would forgive him. They told him that if
he prayed to Jesus he would be transformed into a more loving person
who would care for the poor. Madhu prayed to Jesus and found out
that all of this was true. He became a Christian.1
The
prophet Isaiah warned us about praying to idols made of stone or wood
or metal. We know this. So let's pray to the one true God.
Holy
One, I awake into a sense of your presence with me.
From time to
time today,
remind me that
each day is a journey into the unknown
but that there
is nowhere I can go where you are not with me.
Teach me your
way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. Amen.2
In
ancient times it was thought that each city and nation had its own
God. Israel and Judah had their God, Yahweh. Other nations had
their gods too. Each nation expected their God to bless them with
prosperity and protect them from enemies. But Yahweh, the God of
Israel, was a jealous God. He did not want his people worshiping
other gods and idols of stone, wood and metal. He told them, “you
shall have no other gods before me.”
Yahweh
blessed the Hebrews with peace and prosperity, but he demanded from
them obedience to his laws. When these laws were broken repeatedly
he withdrew his presence from them and allowed them to be conquered
by the Babylonians. The prophets told the people of Yahweh to hold
firm in their faith, study the ancient scrolls, and obey God's law.
If they did these thing Yahweh would bless them richly and redeem
them from exile in Babylon. Some people believed this. But others
were not so sure. They thought that since Babylon had defeated Judah
in battle the Babylonian gods must be stronger than Yahweh. God sent
Isaiah to speak with them and tell them this.
Isaiah
44:6-8
6
“This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the
Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there
is no God. 7 Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him
declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established
my ancient people, and what is yet to come—yes, let them foretell
what will come. 8 Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not
proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is
there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not
one.”
As
Isaiah walked among God's people in exile he saw them worshiping
things made of stone or wood or metal. He told them that these were
not gods. There were just things with no power to bless and redeem.
Worship and prayer to things made by human hands was worthless. The
only god worthy of our prayer and worship is Yahweh who in the
beginning created all that there is, and will still be here at the
end when all is finished. Why would you worship something of stone,
wood or metal made by human hands when you could worship the creator
God?
To
convince the people, Isaiah challenged them to test the idols. See
if they could do what their priests said would do. Give the idols
the opportunity to prove themselves. Isaiah knew what would happen.
The idols made of stone, wood and metal had no power. Nothing
happened. Then Isaiah reminded the people that the one true God had
blessed them and protected them in the past. They needed to return
to this God, Yahweh, who had proven his power and would keep his
promise to bless and redeem. As people turned away from worthless
idols Isaiah told them to share their discovery with others. They
were to tell other people about the creator God who has the power to
bless and redeem.
So
what about us? Most of us do not worship Hindu gods. We don't have
altars in our homes with objects made of stone, wood and metal. We
don't bow down to figurines. But we do have a book which is very
important to us. This book is so important that we record our
deepest longings and desires in it. We call this book our checkbook.
In our checkbooks we list all of the things most important to us,
and we place a dollar value for each of these things. We list all
the things we have bought made of stone and wood and metal and we
enter how much money we spent on each. If we look in our checkbooks
we will know how much we value things made of stone, wood and metal,
and how much we value God.
If you
looked in my checkbook you would see my largest expense is for
housing. I live in a house made of wood. Thirty percent of my
salary goes to my living expenses. After the living expenses my next
largest payment is for the student loan which allowed me to go to
Fuller Seminary and become a pastor. I believe that God was calling
me to this work, and I am blessed by being a pastor far more than I
spend each month on the student loan. After I pay my living
expenses and student loan I am free to spend the remainder as I wish.
My first discretionary spending is the tithe I give to the church.
I give ten percent of my gross income to the church and divide it
evenly between Beaver Dam and Pitts Creek. Transportation,
entertainment, food and clothing come out of whatever is left.
I
can't see into your checkbooks, so I urge you this week to examine
them for yourselves. How much do you value things made of stone and
wood and metal? And how much do you value the creator God, his Son
and his church? Your checkbook will tell you.
Let me
finish with a story about giving. Jerry and Stacy Kramer were about
to be married and had a conversation about tithing. Stacy was always
a believer in tithing. Jerry was not so sure. He suggested giving
5% to the church and 5% to charity. But Stacy insisted that the
first 10% had to go to the church. So that's what they did. And
since Jerry had a six figured salary as stewardship consultant they
lived comfortably. Then Jerry felt God's call to be a pastor.
Jerry
and Stacy served some time as missionaries in Tanzania, and then he
became pastor of the Free Church of the Annunciation in the Bradmoor
neighborhood of New Orleans. A few months later Hurricane Katrina
ripped though the community. Six feet of water flooded the church
for three weeks. Gangsters came by boat and used the upper floors as
a hangout. Jerry and Stacy had been evacuated safely to Baton Rouge
and returned to the church a week later. They immediately began
organizing relief efforts for the community using a local Walmart
parking lot as a distribution point for supplies. He recruited
people from his church to deliver the supplies to those in need.
Before
the storm Jerry's church was an unnoticed neighborhood church with
little impact on the community. After Katrina the church is warmly
thought of as a catalyst for the rebuilding of the neighborhood.
Jerry and Stacy had made a commitment to God through their tithing
and service. God transformed their church into one accomplishing his
mission in the community.3
So I
urge you to look at your checkbooks and see what your commitments
are. Do you spend your time and money on things made of stone, wood
or metal? Or do you use your resources to advance the kingdom of
God? I think we should start by praying asking God what we should
do.
Lord
God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, we worship you because you are the
only god worthy of worship. We fall short when we worship with our
time and money things made of stone and wood and metal. Forgive us
we pray. Help us to support your kingdom with our resources. This
we pray in your son's name. Amen.
2Feasting
on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year A, Volume 2 ©
2014 Westminster John Knox Press p87
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