American Idols: Given not Graven

Intro.

First the Word...

Exodus 20:4–6 ESV

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Recap...

While I have had few people contest with one another over whether or not they should have any other gods before Yahweh; HOW we obey the second commandment has been discussed quite liberally over the years. It is helpful for us to see how heavily influenced Commandment 2 is by the weight of Commandment 1: “You will have no other gods before me.”

The first is what we call a kataphatic command - a positive expression of a command. It’s forthright and non-conditional. Kataphatic Theology: The positive use of language to describe what God is.

The second commandment is what we call apophatic - A verbally negative command. Apophatic Theology: The negative use of language to describe what God is not.

i.e. - “Do NOT ______ for the LORD your God is a jealous God...

The expression then shares the negative and is consequential in nature.

Obedience to the second command - Word 2 - brings to the surface discussions about worship within our sanctuaries among other venues where the message of Christ is intended to be central to the listeners. Art and the Arts in general, becomes a paramount topic. Is art to be avoided entirely? Often the pattern of thought is Art IS or can TOO EASILY BECOME idolatrous… therefore it is to be avoided.” OR, ART IS IDOLATROUS.” ---- On the other hand...

Art is used and artistry is engaged throughout the Scriptures. From the Ark of the Covenant and the articles inside to the prophets of God and the directions he gave them to “act out” his warnings toward Israel and other nations.

If it is not to be avoided, because in it’s essence it is not IDOLATRY… how is it to be introduced, leveraged, and (above all) harnessed so as glorify GOD and NOT BECOME or give HINT to idolatry?

How then are ART, VISUALIZATIONS, IMAGERY, SOUND, TANGIBLE or TASTEFUL creative expressions to be used as GOD GIVEN GIFTS… and NOT become GRAVEN images or idols of man?

Introduce the centrifugal theme - “GIVEN not GRAVEN”

“Given Not Grave”

Get Word 1 Right, Word 2 automatically follows; Get Word 1 wrong, Word 2 is destined to follow

Word 1, in essence, is a plea for our affections to be lit on God alone because he alone is the one who has BOUGHT US AND BROUGHT US

Israel - Exodus 3:12 12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”” Exodus 20:2 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

Whereas Word 1 is little argued… Word 2 is highly contested

Regulative Principle - Scripture, Stricter, Safer, Solid

Normative Principle - Scripture, Structure, Subjective,

American Idols…

Ancient “graven images” and “idolatry”

Israel

Think of the nightmarish 330+ years of the book of Judges…

Consider Jereboam in 1 Kings 12, once Jeroboam ascribes salvation history to something other than God, then the people can accept the cows. In the case of Jeroboam, being a shrewd political leader (1 Kings 12:27) lead him to change salvation history. The people ought to have contested his outward expression of a false salvation history. They do not argue with Jeroboam that “Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

American “Idol-atry” - Constructions of status, finance, personal preference, accommodation, polarization

Age specific samples and examples

If you wanna know whether or not you have a “graven” image in your life… an idol you have yet to name… simply ask this question, “Is there something that I give authority to in my life as though it has bought me and brought me?!” If you can answer YES to that… than you have or are at risk of worshipping an idol and casting a graven image. You’re at risk of taking what’s been GIVEN and making it something GRAVEN!

Do you Serve __________. It’s now GRAVEN not GIVEN.

Do you bow down to ________. It’s now GRAVEN not GIVEN.

Must a room look ONLY the way you have it in your mind… careful… you can quickly design an innocent icon in your mind! These sanctuary walls house the Spirit of the Living God when the people of the Living God ARE PRESENT! You have here a better representation of the creative work of God manifest among His creation than when it set’s empty and at an ambient temperature of 74 degrees.

Careful church. Do you feel as though an updated screen profanes the name of God, makes an idol of the screen rather than making much of the one who’s preached upon it???

Careful church. Do you think Christ himself is born on the wings of every hymn but is bidden good riddance when mentioned in a modern melody and lyric that comes from a churchman or women who is presently crafting stanzas?

Careful church. Have you gone to the mirror to ask yourself if your retirement has brought you and bought you security in stocks when only Christ the Living God has such purchasing power through His body and blood?

Careful church. Do you remember that the very symbols we are sure to highlight in our writing, our messaging, our materials and our associational gatherings could just as easily be at risk of being named “idol” when their use is demanded to “Christianize” a piece of art or lyric? Did we not just sing about This being our Father’s WORLD… not just our Father’s bity house of worship. Not just one or two symbols and emblems being able to tell the grand, sweeping story of redemption.

Careful church. We are image bearers of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Have we not then been called to make much or our Mighty King by making use of every object and method at His disposal to make know the message of Salvation for mankind! OR… For fear of making an idol, do we lying idly by and fail to CREATE so that we CAN MAKE HIS NAME RENOWN?!

Reg Grant

Reg Grant Quote: “...Our goal... in the arts, whether it's music or dance or drama or whatever that art is, there is an opportunity for us to take that aspect of the character of God and under the guidance of God's Spirit, allowing Him to mold us and shape us and frame our art to present that to the world. And so reveal Christ.”

Oh, church… join me for a moment. Reflect upon these humble examples of men and women who have successfully conveyed in their excellence HIS immutable value and HIS excellencies

Eric Liddel

Amena Brown

Dave Goddard

Desiree Sowards

Final points of application...

Friends, we are more idolatrous as a nation than we have ever been… but we are carving less statues and creating more caricatures in our own image than we’ve ever had opportunity to.

What would you sacrifice to make it to a Taylor Swift concert?!?!? (THIS ONE IS BIG, JOSH! DON’T FORGET JUST. HOW. MUCH. THIS. WILL. HIT. HOME. IT MIGHT HURT… IT MIGHT MAKE PEOPLE ANGRY. Say it with utter assurance… and absolute humility.

Would you sacrifice the same for the sake of Christ? Did Taylor bring you and buy you? Did she or will she redeem you from your hurts, habits, hang-ups, pains and gains…? She’s been GIVEN indisputable talent and charisma… Don’t make her GRAVEN in your life by bowing down and serving her.

EVERYONE, remember, an idol is something we believe will save us… something we have given ourselves over to that re-writes salvation history! Until we find out... it actually doesn’t. I’ve used Taylor Swift as an example of what I believe is perhaps the most prolific and popular figure of Gen Z’s day to make a point. SO PLEASE DON’T MISS THE POINT! I actually think she is REMARKABLY gifted. If you won’t admit that - your unable to look past the edge of your nose to identify with eyes and ears what kind of skill she as. But for Christ the King’s sake friends… show others and your families and yourself THAT THERE IS NO ONE = TO GOD… So HE DICTATES YOUR SCHEDULE, THE USE OF YOUR MONEY, THE ALLOCATIONS OF YOUR TIME… NOT HER.

This scenario is what it looks like to break the second commandment and make an idol. HOWEVER, it is equally sinful and unnatural to our created purpose, if we lie idly by and fail to create for the glory of His name… to do all we can to persist and proclaim that HE HAS BOUGHT US FROM SLAVERY TO SIN AND BROUGHT US FROM DEATH TO LIFE!

We are clearly sinful if we create something and make it an idol. But we are woefully mistaken if we have become idle in the act of creating. It is for the Lord’s greater glory throughout the earth that the Gospel treads upon the dawn of His creation in the telling and retelling of the salvation that comes from the Creator alone! You and I and the rest of humanity ARE made in the image of God - Christ himself is the mirror image of the Father - therefore we - made in the image of Creator - OUGHT to create as a direct expression of what it means to be HIS children!

It is only when the created fails to use their creation to raise praise to the Creator that we have fashioned for ourselves an idol for our destruction.

We are to so STEEP ourselves in the worship of God alone that it’s likened to a tea bag bleeding through water. God is like the tea and we are like the water. As time passes, one looses the differentiation in water and tea bag because the tea has so diffused itself through the water they’re as one! One is a direct reflection of the other! So… Drinking the water IS to be nurtured by the leaves, spices, and petals within the sachet! Because Christ the King renews us day by day IN. HIS. IMAGE.

Colossians 1:15–20 (ESV)

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

IF HE IS THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS AND WE ARE MADE IN HIS IMAGE, HOW MUCH MORE IMPORTANT IS IT THAT WE DO JUST THAT… NEVER TO MAKE FOR OURSELVES AND IDOL… BUT NOT LIE IDLE AND LET THE WORLD PROCLAIM SOME OTHER FALSE REDEMPTION.

MIRROR REVEAL - Jesus IS the image of the invisible God… we are MADE IN HIS image! To create such as how the Creator has created isn’t a means of defiling Him, it’s the essence of knowing who bought and ransomed you from death, and brought you from darkness into light!

ALL OF OUR CREATION ENDEAVORS ARE INTENDED TO WEEP with the life of Christ BECAUSE HE MADE US TO TELL, RETELL, USE AND UTILIZE all he has GIVEN us to ENGRAVE His salvation into the hearts of the hearers of the gospel!

Roll into communion as an act of remembrance… a dinner… enacted with creative elements around the prescribed elements of body and bread so that we would not forget! Oh, church, may we not fail and create idols… but may we not grow idle at creating and recreating these moments of retelling our salvation history until He returns.

_____________________________________________________

Examples of drama in the worshiping community:

John 5:19 (ESV)

19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

John 12:49–50 (ESV)

49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.

50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

John 17 ESV

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. 20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”