Ex 32:1-14

9 October 2005

“The Substitute”

            When I was in elementary school in Virginia Beach, there was probably no declaration that would excite some of my classmates—especially some of the more poorly behaved ones—more than this:  “We’ve got a sub today!”  Hearing that our regular teacher wasn’t there, and instead we had a substitute, seemed like a mini-vacation for some of the kids in my class.  I was typically less than thrilled, because that usually meant we would be assigned meaningless busy work, something to keep us occupied.

            Still, as I’ve suggested, some of my classmates saw in a substitute teacher a mini-vacation…from proper behavior…from obeying the rules.  However, there was one substitute who provided no such vacation—the dreaded Mrs. Murphy.

Somehow, she earned the nickname, “Motor Mouth Murphy.”  (I’m not sure why, although the alliteration of three “m”s made it a catchy name.)  I never recall hearing her speak any more, or any faster, than the other teachers.  I suspect the derogatory nickname was due to the fact that, unlike some of the other substitutes who were relatively clueless, Mrs. Murphy wouldn’t put up with any crap.  She knew the students and some of their tricks as well as anyone.

In our Old Testament reading, I imagine Aaron feels like he’s the substitute teacher for a rowdy class of students.  His brother Moses is up on Mount Sinai, having an extended visit with God; meanwhile, he’s been left in charge.  And the people—the students—are getting restless.  Some vocal ringleaders among them are really stirring things up.  Aaron must be wondering, “When is Moses going to get back?  I’m not really good at crowd control!”

Without a little background review, the people’s demand for Aaron to make gods for them seems pretty strange.  Aaron’s solution—a golden calf—seems equally strange.  That is, it’s strange until we take into account that calves and bulls were very popular as gods in the ancient Middle East.

They were commonly considered to be symbols of fertility.   I’m guessing that’s not too surprising for cultures that relied so much on cattle for their livelihood.  What does seem surprising is the announcement in verse 4:  “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”  Have they gone insane?  Or are they suffering from mass amnesia?

Things make a little more sense when we realize that cattle were also pictured as pedestals upon which the ancient gods would stand.  So if we look at it that way, the golden calf could be seen as carrying Yahweh, the God of Israel.  Yahweh is the invisible God, of whom no image can be made.  The golden calf has an invisible rider.

Three centuries later, in 1 Kings 12, Jeroboam takes a similar approach when he has golden calves set up in Bethel and Dan.  His reasons are mainly political; he wants to keep people from going to Jerusalem, where his rival, King Rehoboam of Judah is in charge.  He’s pictured as using the same justification:  “Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (v. 28).  Even then, there’s still an association of Yahweh with the calf.

So in verse 5, after Aaron has the golden calf constructed and he says, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord,” maybe he’s doing more than just putting a good face on the rebellion.  Maybe he really believes what he’s saying.

But what about the people?  The scripture says, “They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel” (v. 6).  The word for “revel” in Hebrew (qxacf, tsahaq) also means to “laugh,” “sport,” or “play.”  So they worshipped, had lunch, and played.  How crazy is that?  I can’t think of anyone who does such a thing!

Every sermon I’ve ever heard preached on this text takes its cue from the Lord’s reaction of outrage at what’s going on.  The people’s demand for a substitute god is hardly praiseworthy behavior.  Still, I wonder what would motivate them to make such a request.

The story is usually painted with broad strokes of black and white.  People—bad.  Moses—good.  The only gray area might be Aaron.  But I doubt that it’s quite that simple.

Right away in verse 1 we’re told, “When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, ‘Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’”

It looks like the people feel abandoned.  They’re out in the middle of nowhere, and there’s no sign of Moses or the God he speaks for.  They probably feel unprotected.  All the nations around them have gods that they can point to.  “But what do we have?” the protestors grumble, “only this substitute, who’s filling in for Moses.  And he must have gotten lost up there on the mountain!”

Their uncertainty leads to fear.  And if there’s anything that is the enemy of faith, it is fear.  Fear leads people to behave in irrational ways.

            Still, something really serious must be going on for the Lord to threaten destruction on the people.  The details are scarce, but it’s entirely likely that they were in danger of losing their identity, of becoming indistinguishable from the cultures around them.  Later in the chapter, Moses issues an ultimatum:  “Who is on the Lord’s side?  Come to me!” (v. 26).  We’re told that about 3000 people who rejected Moses’…invitation fell by the sword.  I think it’s a close call in saying who’s more ticked off:  Moses or the king that Jesus talks about in our gospel reading (Mt 22:1-14)!

            Still, there is humor in the story, as well.  One of my favorite lines comes when Moses confronts Aaron, right after he has angrily smashed the Ten Commandments.  “Please don’t be too mad,” Aaron pleads, “you know how these people are.  They demanded that I make a god for them.”  And in what seems a deliberate portrayal of Aaron as a buffoon, verse 24 says, “So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off’; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

            Apparently, Moses doesn’t buy that explanation, because that’s when he issues his ultimatum!

            In all times and all places, there remains the possibility of one’s faith becoming indistinguishable from the surrounding culture.  Golden calves are more numerous than ever.  Substitute gods appeal to us in very obvious and in very subtle ways.

            It’s been suggested, “It is a wise thing for us to regularly ask ourselves:  ‘What do I really worship?’  Beware if you give yourself a quick, slick answer.  The question is one which demands much time and heart searching before one should make a response, or ignore it and settle back into a comfort zone.”

            Thinking of Moses and the call he put out to the people, we’re asked, “Given the many choices we make each day, the things that most interest us, the thoughts and goals to which we give most time and energy, the causes to which we devote our money, where would we be standing?  Where are we standing?”[1]

            In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says this:  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’  Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers’” (Mt 7:21-23).

            I don’t know about the rest of you, but my resumé of righteousness is pretty thin.  There’s not much in the way of prophesying, casting out demons, and doing similar deeds of power.  For me, deeds of power would be extending hospitality to my neighbor (be it on Ellis Avenue or in East Africa)—it would be sharing the light of Christ within me.

            Australian pastor Bruce Prewer has made this observation about his country:  “We live in an era when going to church and saying righteous things is no longer the nice and proper thing to do.  Some of us may lament the passing of the age of packed churches and bulging Sunday Schools, but at least [at least!] this era is a great time for finding out what we really believe.  We are no longer a pseudo-Christian society.  To be a Christian and support your church these days, means paddling hard against a strong tide.”[2]

            I’ll assume he’s correct about Australia.  In America, things are slightly different.  Here, we have all kinds of people—from politicians making speeches to wide receivers scoring touchdowns—saying, “Lord, Lord.”  But how many people really take Jesus seriously?  Those who try to live stuff like the Golden Rule and love of the enemy are usually considered naïve, irrelevant, or even traitorous.

            Something interesting about the golden calf story is that God appears ready to wipe everyone out and start over with Moses.  Maybe this is a test for Moses.  Notice how the pronouns referring to the people keep shifting.  In verse 7, the Lord tells Moses, “Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely.”  Then in verse 9, the Lord says, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are.”

            Moses turns the tables in verse 11 when he says, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt…?”  It’s only after Moses intercedes for the nation that we read, “And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people” (v. 14).  It’s like two parents debating who will claim a child, depending on his or her behavior.  (You know:  “My daughter got straight A’s, and your son just wrecked the car!”)

            Anyway, the point is this.  God doesn’t play favorites.  We make our substitute gods, our golden calves, and then live with the fearful results.  The American church has substituted the truth of God with its own agenda, its own favoritism, its own golden calves.

            Bruce Prewer says something about Australia that I think applies to America:  “We are no longer a pseudo-Christian society,” the implication being that Australia never really was a Christian society.  I know that there are many people who feel that America is, or at least was, a Christian country.  And there is some truth in that.  But it also depends on who you ask.  A lot of black Americans, in particular, would wonder when this nation ever really exhibited Christian love.

            The story of the golden calf shows how completely free God is from bias or prejudice.  If God can criticize the Israelites, what does that say about us?  One writer has picked up on this theme.

            “This God troubles us about the American flag, so frequently placed near church altars.  [Hey, wait a second; we’ve got one of those!]  The biblical God is deeply concerned about the well-being of people of all nations…Any nation that symbolically claims special favor is attempting to bribe and domesticate…God.  God cannot be bribed.  We only bribe ourselves…When we bribe ourselves we become self-righteous.”[3]

            The danger of the golden calf, whether it resembles the critter on our worship bulletin or anything else we come up with, is not that it’s inherently bad.  It could be something good, like love of family, or country, or whatever.  That’s why the people were forbidden to make an image of God—because God is not anything we can envision.

            It is the good things that are most likely to trip us up, the things we use to justify ourselves.  They make the best golden calves; they make the best substitutes for God.

I want to finish with a quote by C. F. Blumhardt, who provides some insight along these lines.[4]  “Every individual who seeks Truth faces a struggle.  Each of us has some kind of devil raging within, wanting to deaden and destroy something in us.  We are all in danger of thinking we are doing God a service, when in fact we are just following our own will.

“That is why, over and again, we must remember:  ‘Keep a tight rein on yourself!  Stand by the truth when it dawns on you, even if it hurts, even when it denies everything the world has accepted as true until now!’  [And I would add:  even if you look foolish in the process.]

“God’s kingdom comes through struggle and tribulation, the defiant challenging of the whole age.  God’s kingdom is advancing, and people have no taste for it.  But in the end Jesus Christ—the Truth, the Life, and the Way—will win.  So let us be comforted; for the almighty will of God will prevail in our own time as surely as in the time of the apostles.”

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