Reflection: God Speaks, Idols Are Dumb (January 20, 2013)

The 2nd Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 62:1-5; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11


It’s no secret that Americans are moving away from “organized religion.” A recent study showed that the ‘nones’ (people who say that they have no religious affiliation) is now about 20 percent of the population. People are convinced that they can be ‘spiritual’ without being ‘religious.’ It’s become trendy to declare yourself an atheist. Yet, when we listen carefully to people explain why they don’t believe in God, we can see past the facade of atheism and ’being spiritual’ to the real driving force behind the decline of Christianity in our culture: Idolatry.

“You shall have no other gods before Me.” Is the first of the Ten Commandments. It’s first because our whole relationship with God is driven by what we “fear, love, and trust above all things.” Far from the popular idea of putting God first, this commandment is a call to rid ourselves of all those things that would be a god for us so that we are left with God alone. But we, as a nation, have multiplied the ‘other gods’ in our lives. Celebrities, sports, possessions, health, science, government, children, and, especially, ’me’ all serve as idols for us. As more and more people fall away from the living God, our dependence upon our idols for hope, peace, purpose, and security increases. We look to sports for our sense of belonging, work for our purpose, government for security, medical science for life, entertainment for joy, etc. Idols may offer some degree of these things, but in the end idols are dumb.

In contrast to idols that are dumb (i.e., unable to speak), God declares “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet” (Isaiah 62:1). Not only is God capable of speaking, He is willing to speak to us and for us. He spoke in various ways through His old covenant prophets, but He chose to speak the fullness of His Word through His Son. Jesus came to speak good news and demonstrate the power of his Word though miraculous signs. Beginning with changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana, He showed us what is possible when God speaks. He also showed us that the idols that we would choose for ourselves cannot help us. When God speaks the things that we think are impossible become reality. God speaks love, forgiveness, healing, hope, life, and salvation to us in our broken world. Idols are dumb.

Audio file of the sermon "God Speaks, Idols Are Dumb."