Finding a Fashionable God

Ordinary Time XXII; September 2, 2007

Jeremiah 2:4-13

“Oh, Darling, your Deity is so last millennium.” Or, given the rate at which things change in our society, perhaps I should say, “so last Thursday.” Jeremiah’s rant about the way the people change their god whenever it suits them sounds like a great pretext for a rant from the preacher: I could go after any number of people on the right who need a God that enforces their agenda and I could go after anyone on the left who wants a God that never enforces anything. And for illustration, I could talk about clothing. Since I am of the opinion that women look good in pretty much anything they wear, I would probably rant about men’s clothing. I’m especially tempted to rant about the length of men’s pants: wear long pants, or wear shorts, but these below-the-knee but above-the-ankle things simply look stupid on men. Do I sound old?

Oh, well, it’s the last weekend of the summer; who needs the hot air?

In this reading from Jeremiah we get another prosecutor’s address in a lawsuit. It is a frequently effective device to ask a rhetorical question; in this speech, the Prophet asks two of them. I fantasized, though, about what might happen if someone spoke up and answered the questions.

The first question the Prophet asks on God’s behalf is, “What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves?” You can tell that’s a rhetorical question, because it assumes the answer and indicts the one being questioned. The people originally being asked the question, if they spoke up in response, might answer like this. “Wait a minute; our ancestors never abandoned you. They kept right on attending your temple and offering sacrifices. We have never abandoned you either; here we are, just as always. All we did was add a few things. We did not leave you; we simply found that you were not quite enough for us. All the people around us offer sacrifices to Baal because it helps the ground be more fertile. We’ve never left off worshiping you, we just added Baal to the agenda because it’s good agricultural practice. If Baal is, as you say, so worthless, then why have our fields continued to produce so well? And we resent you calling our ancestors worthless. Our ancestors built this nation, they sacrificed for us and we honor them. They were not worthless and you should not say they were.” Baal was the fertility god of the countries surrounding Israel; people in Israel would sometimes worship Baal as well as their own God simply because fertility is important to an agricultural people.

You and I, most likely, would also argue that neither we nor our ancestors have ever abandoned the God we have known through the Bible. But would God ask us the same question? There are so many concepts of God running around in our culture – even among Christians – that surely God must wonder what we think is wrong with Him that we are not content with God as He is.

I want to make something of my own belief clear to you. I believe that there is only one God. Furthermore, I believe that God has made the fullest and most visible revelation of the divine nature in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. However, I refuse to believe that only evangelical Protestants have seen that and that there is no room for discussion about what God’s revelation in Christ might mean or how others may have caught glimpses of it.

Whenever you and I or our ancestors have wandered from the God who made us and who has come to us in Jesus Christ, where have we wandered? Some, of course, have wandered into other religions, as the people of Israel went after Baal because they thought it was good agricultural practice. But if God asked the same question of us, it would not be because we have gone to other religions but because, like the people of Israel, we simply found Him insufficient and thought it was good practice to add something else. In our minds, there’s nothing wrong with God; he just isn’t enough.

That is, the “other gods” that people in the Church worship are not the gods of the pagans, or the God of the Hindus, or something like that. The other gods that people in the Church worship are the nation, or the national currency, or hard work, or their favorite musician or sports star or team. Isn’t God enough or do we really need to give so much devotion to something else? I realize that I have a healthy patriotism, but do not worship the nation; I like money, but it is not a god for me; and I have very little interest in sports or music icons. But my problem is that, for my sense of self, the love of God is not enough: I need to justify myself by my work. I need to be able to complain, “Oh, I’m working so hard” or need to fall in bed exhausted at the end of the day because of having done so many good deeds. That’s sick. We are justified by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, not by how many hours we put in. God is enough; my answer to the question is that it is my own problem that I find God so insufficient that I need to worship something else as well. What is your answer? What else do you worship and why?

And the second question: “Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods?” In the day Jeremiah asked the question, it seems likely the answer was, “No.” But the people, once again, might protest that they have not changed the God of the Bible for some other god, they just thought they should hedge their bets.

God’s answer always was that they only thought their worship of Baal was making their fields fertile. The Lord Himself was actually blessing them, despite their seeking a more fashionable god, because of His love for them. He did it; they simply did not give Him credit. They did not need to hedge their bets.

A final thought on the second question: Over the millennia, many people have changed their gods to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. The missionary witness of those who have known the grace of God and have shared that grace with others has led to many a change – thank God. So the question (and I’m going to leave it hanging, for you to ponder) is this: Has the God who has come to us in Jesus Christ grown insufficient, that we need something more fashionable?

Oh, Lord, you are our God: for you we long. Call us home when we wander and renew our sense of commitment to you and our acceptance of others. Amen.

Robert A. Keefer

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Clarinda, Iowa