I Never Wanted this for You

One of my favorite movies of all time is “The Godfather.” I used to watch that movie as often as I could. For some reason, when I was younger, the thrills of mafia just got me going. I would watch The Godfather over and over again. I realize now just how violent that movie is, and that it probably wasn’t great for a kid to watch it, but none the less I watched.

In case you haven’t seen the movie, the notorious Godfather was Don Vito Corleone. He was the head of the fictional crime family the Corleones. The business they were in was violent and harsh. There was an endless feel of danger, always having to watch one’s back, and inevitable danger lurking around every corner.

Don Corleone knew that the lifestyle was dangerous, and the only reason he lived that way was so that he could provide for his family what he felt they needed. His intention was for his children to stay away from the ‘family business.’ He wanted them to seek jobs in the government and to be the string pullers.

In a conversation with his youngest son Michael, Don Corleone says:

“I never wanted this for you. I work my whole life - I don't apologize - to take care of my family, and I refused to be a fool, dancing on the string held by all those bigshots. I don't apologize - that's my life - but I thought that, that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the string. Senator Corleone; Governor Corleone. Well, it wasn't enough time, Michael. It wasn't enough time.”

Don Corleone says this after realizing that Michael was already involved in the family business. Of course this leads to Michael becoming the new family boss, the new Godfather. What is interesting about this movie and about this scene is that Don Vito Corleone lived a life of danger and crime, yet it wasn’t what he wanted for his family. He wanted something different.

The Golden Calf

When I think of the Godfather and of Don Vito Corleone’s desires for his family, I think of Moses. I know that’s quite the comparison, but hopefully my reasoning is justifiable. As I mentioned before, Don Corleone was the leader of him family, much like how Moses was the leader of the Israelites. When Don Corleone’s family did things that he didn’t approve of, or things he didn’t want, he would say “I never wanted this for you.” Moses, when the Israelites disobeyed God, must have felt some sort of sadness, some disappointment. I’m sure that at some point Moses said “I never wanted this for you” to a few of the Israelites.

Looking more into Moses I am amazed at the guts that he had! Moses had climbed to the peak of Mount Sinai to talk with God. As he was there with God he was given rules and commands for the people. As he was up on the mountain the Israelites grew impatient, wondering when Moses was going to come back. So, they came to Moses’ brother Aaron and said, “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.”

Exodus

The Israelites then gave Aaron all of their gold and melted it down, then they formed a golden calf for them to worship.

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.

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Ex 32:1). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

As they did this, and as God was speaking to Moses, God said:

Exodus 32:

Exodus 32:7–10 NRSV

The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ” The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.”

At this point in the story I have one thing to say about the Israelites… “oh, boy.”

Think about how powerful God’s statement is here. God has spent so much time on protecting the Israelites. He has spent so much time bringing them to where they were. To be God must be frustrating because for every 1 step forward of progression there was the Israelites were tacking 10 backwards! So, it seems like God is at this tipping point. After all of this time, after all of the disobedience God faces, it’s like He is ready to snap.

God says to Moses, “let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot agains them and I may consume them!”

God was ready, willing, and able to completely destroy the nation of Israel because of their disobedience.

Now imagine you are in Moses’ shoes. You have spent so much time leading the Israelites to the promised land and God just told you that He was about to destroy those very people! I’m sure that in that moment you would be thinking the very same thing that Don Corleone was thinking, “I never wanted this for you (Israelites).”

God Never Wanted This For Us

How often do you think God has said that very same statement in regards to us? How often is it that God directs us towards a path He wants us to go, gives us the opportunity to do an action He so wishes us to do and we have completely disregarded it?

I think that in those moments where we disobey God, where we disappoint Him, He says “I never wanted this for you.” God has always wanted everything good for us, for us to be perfect creatures, for us to obey and worship, for us to be filled with joy. Yet, from Adam and Eve until now we have separated ourselves from God’s desires and focused on what would make us happy. We focus on the things that we have wanted, the directions we have wanted to go. We have constantly and consistently let down God.

Honestly, I think we have been disobeying God’s first commandment for far too long. That commandment is this:

Exodus 20:3 NRSV

you shall have no other gods before me.

Now you may say, “but Pastor Thad I don’t worship any other gods! I proclaim the love of Jesus Christ, I worship the Messiah, I praise our God, YHWH!” But, you are forgetting about the one other god you worship, yourself.

How many times have you chosen your own comfort over the direction of God? How often have you been given the opportunity to proclaim to someone what Jesus Christ has done for you and your response was no because “I don’t feel comfortable talking about this,” or “I don’t want them to think I am weird” or “this is an inappropriate place to talk about God’s love for me and I don’t want to be looked down on...”

We have put so much concern on ourselves that we have forgotten Jesus’ Great Commissioning of us. The statement where he said “Go! Make disciples of all nations!” Jesus didn’t say “only speak about me when you are comfortable.” Jesus never said “only speak of me once you are well versed in the Scriptures.” Jesus never said “only speak of me once you have read through your Bible in 365 days thanks to your nifty devotional and reading plan.” No!

Jesus simply wanted us to go! To be bold with our faith, to share out stories, to share our testimonies. Jesus wants us to be passionate about our relationship with him, to be exuberant in all things concerning Him!

How often have we found ourselves saying that very same thing? We’ve talked about God’s desires for us, the direction He wants us to go, and so many times we take that direction and path and say “well, I never wanted this for me!” As creatures of God we have become selfish. We drive by those who hitchhike, gawk at homes that are falling apart because a family can’t afford to maintain them. We huff and groan when we have to stand in line at the grocery store for too long because someone is counting change, we offer our ‘prayers and support’ and sit idly by...

We have become just like the Israelites. Like they did when Moses was gone for too long we have begun to search for other gods! For such a long time we as humans have been worshiping other gods. And, the worst of those gods that we have been worshiping is none-other than ourselves. We have taken a faith that was intended to fill the world with joy, a faith that was intended to guide people to aid others, and we have turned it into a “I never wanted this for me” faith.

We need to quit worshipping our golden calf. We need to shift our direction of focus from the mirror that reflects back our own image to God. To the creator of all. To our Father in heaven.

I’m tired of living like the Israelites did. I’m tired of worshipping everything other than the one thing that deserves my worship. I’m tired of walking around blaming God and being upset with Him. I’m tired of running.

I want to spend every day in joyful worship of God. I want to wake up every morning and have my first action be a prayer of thanksgiving to God. I want to spend my “i’m bored” time not watching tv or listening to music, but with reading Scripture.

I, we, have a lot of work to do. We have so much progress to be had, and it needs to start now. How many of you right here, right now, will stand up and say “I am ready to start my work?” How many of you are willing to say “I have turned myself into my own god?”

You see, we will never be able to fully worship God our Father, God our Creator if we can’t remove our gaze from the god that reflects back to us in the mirror.

God never wanted this for us. He never desired for us to sin against Him, He never wanted us to worship ourselves. It is time for us to quit disappointing God. It is time for us to quit worshipping ourselves and others. It is time to obey Christ, to live lives that glorify Him. It is time my brothers and sisters that we proclaim our good news, the things that God has done for us to all people!

Live passionately for God, act as though you are on fire for Christ all of the time. Live so that when you die God can say to you two things. “Well done my good and faithful servant.” And this, “I wanted this for you.”