Monday, May 5, 2014

James 4:1-3
¹What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.³ When you ask, you do not receive,

because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Reflection

Our scripture today reminds us that idols evolve out of our desires and eventually lead to conflict. Some desires are inherently wrong, like a desire to kill your neighbor or to cheat on your wife, but some desires are simply amoral, meaning that they are neither good or evil. These desires whether amoral or immoral, when unmet, have the capability to form into an idol. How do you think our unmet desires can form an idol in our heart? Can you think of an unmet desire in your life?

Weekly Theme May 4 through 10

Understanding Idols (part 1)

 “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him … .They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.”

(Romans 1:21, 25)

              After these verses Paul goes on to make a long list of sins that create misery and evil in the world, but they all find their roots in this soil, the inexorable human drive for "god-making." In other words, idolatry is always the reason we ever do anything wrong. No one grasped this better than Martin Luther. In his Larger Catechism (1528) and also his Treatise on Good Works he wrote that the Ten Commandments begin with a commandment against idolatry. Why does this come first in the order? Because, he argued, the fundamental motivation behind law-breaking is idolatry. We never break the other commandments without breaking the first one. Why do we ever fail to love or keep  promises or live unselfishly? Of course, the general answer is "because we are weak and sinful", but the specific answer in any actual circumstance is that there is something you feel you must have to be happy, that is more important to your heart than God himself. We would not lie unless first we had made something—human approval, reputation, power over others, financial advantage—more

important and valuable to our hearts than the grace and favor of God. Last week we sought to identify the idols that fight for our heart. This week we will see how those idols work in our lives. Our idols are a source of contempt, anger, anxiety, and loss in our lives and they seek to control us. If we can understand how they work it is a good step to letting God take over as the true God of our hearts.   

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Exodus 20:1-6

¹And God spoke all these words: ² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ³ “You shall have no other gods before me. ⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a

jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a

thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Reflection

There are hundreds of references to idolatry in scripture. We have learned this week that idolatry is not just a sin but is the source of our sin. Below is a list of eleven questions that will serve as a reference to help locate idols in our lives. Be honest with yourself and ask yourself each of these questions, and when you locate idols ask God to help you get rid of them.

1. What do I worry about most?
2. What, if I failed or lost it, would cause me to feel that I did not even want to live?
3. What do I use to comfort myself when things go bad or get difficult?
4. What do I do to cope? What are my release valves? What do I do to feel better?
5. What preoccupies me? What do I daydream about?
6. What makes me feel the most self-worth? Of what am I the proudest? For what do I want to be known?
7. What do I lead with in conversations?
8. Early on what do I want to make sure that people know about me?
9. What prayer, unanswered, would make me seriously think about turning away from God?
10. What do I really want and expect out of life? What would really make me happy?
11. What is my hope for the future?

Friday, May 2, 2014

Ephesians 4:26-27

²⁶ “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold.

Reflection

It is a common misconception that anger is a sin. Our scripture today points out that the truth is how we use our emotions like anger are what is really sinful. This is another good way to locate idols in your life. What causes you to have over the top emotional reactions? What makes you really mad, sad, or anxious? By following these feelings you will probably find an idol that is battling for your heart.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Matthew 6:19-21

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Reflection

How do we recognize idols in our lives? Our scripture reminds us that just like any good detective we should follow the money. What do you spend your money on? Looking at the things that are at the center of our finances can point to our service of other masters. Why do you think examining our finances is a good place to start?

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Habakkuk 2:18-20

¹⁸ “Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?
    Or an image that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
    he makes idols that cannot speak.
¹⁹ Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
    Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’
Can it give guidance?
    It is covered with gold and silver;
    there is no breath in it.”

²⁰ The Lord is in his holy temple;
    let all the earth be silent before him.

Reflection

Our scripture today is referring to physical idols, but the most important reference here is that idols are lifeless. The reason this is so important is that only one thing can give life and the is God. So, all other things do not lead to life. What other things besides carved or physical idols do you think we have in our lives that do not lead to life?

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Romans 1:21, 25
²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  ²⁵ They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Reflection

Our scripture today points to idolatry as the worship of created things rather than God. In what ways can we be drawn into worshipping created things rather than God?