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The Hebrews in Exodus 32 are so unbelievably ... American. They have experienced miracle after miracle. They have been given deliverance and freedom. They have received so much. Yet they want more. Nothing, it seems, will ever be enough for them. In 1958, when economist John Kenneth Galbraith appropriately described the United States as the "Affluent Society," 9.5 percent of U. S. households had air conditioning, about four percent had dishwashers, and less than 15 percent had more than one car. By 1980, the percentage of homes with air conditioning had quintupled, the percentage with dishwashers had increased more than 700 percent and the percentage with two or more cars had about tripled. Yet, despite the astounding economic growth -- despite owning more of the gadgets, machines and appliances thought to constitute 'the good life' – Americans felt significantly less well-off than they had 22 years before. The truth is that golden calves are as much in fashion today as they were back in that Sinai desert. We are only too willing to pour all our God-given gifts into creating some "thing" that will supposedly keep us safe, give us comfort and control in the midst of a civilized wilderness. Of course, we disguise our idols sometimes. Like Aaron we pretend that they are perfectly legitimate means of achieving fulfillment in life. We make idols out of our careers, our homes, our status in the community. We convince ourselves that power emanates from these idols and throw ourselves into them -- as the saying goes -- "body and soul." And that is the whole problem. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with striving for excellence and advancement in our careers, or devoting ourselves to creating busy yet nurturing homes, or immersing ourselves in the needs of our community. These are all good and worthy goals in and of themselves. Everyone has to contend with the business of "making a living," after all, in order to survive and meet the responsibilities we have to and for others. But "making a living" must entail more than the cutthroat, win-at-any-cost philosophy that made the 80s and 90s so infamous. Ever notice that when some sharp entrepreneur has bested all the competition and clinched that really big deal we call it "making a killing"? This is hardly a life-affirming metaphor. Those who devote themselves single-mindedly to "making a living" so that they might "make a killing" may someday have to face an ugly truth. Instead of making a living they have been "making a dying." It used to be that 'earning a living' was the means to an end. The means was 'earning'; the end was 'living'. Today, what we "do" defines our identities. You are not a plumber. You do plumbing. You are not a nurse. You do nursing. You are not a lawyer. You engage in the practice of law. The root of our problem is the disease of materialism. Materialism can be defined as the "looking for inner fulfillment in outer possession." It is the notion that "discomfort can be alleviated by something external -- a baby bottle, a blanket, a bicycle, a B.A, a B.M.W., or eventually, another kind of bottle". What we're talking about here is nothing less than socially approved addictions -- and like all addictions, the stronger they grow, the more they eat away at the rest of our lives. When the rebellious Hebrews created the golden calf, their worship of it quickly deteriorated from sacrifice to feasting to an outright orgy. The needs of others and the good of the community were lost in a frenzy of mindless self-pleasure and self-absorption. Like the Hebrews, we take the decorative gold rings that are supposed to simply add a little fun and interest to life and make gods out of them. Can you recall a time when a "thing" in your life started out to be enrichment, but then consumed your time and attention? What are the three material possessions you own today which are likely taking time that could be devoted to nurturing your relationship with family, God, and the church? I have to say that my workshop was my golden calf when I was younger. Even though I had a wife and small children I would give lots of my time and attention to creating wood projects. I reasoned that the time spent there was justified because I was making things for my family. This made it a good thing, right? Are you pretty good at justifying your golden calves too? In the fifth century, a man named Arenius determined to live a holy life. So he abandoned the comforts of Egyptian society to follow an austere lifestyle in the desert. Yet whenever he visited the great city of Alexandria, he spent time wandering through its bazaars. Asked why, he explained that his heart rejoiced at the sight of all the things he didn't need. What a concept! To think that our hearts can rejoice at the sight of things we don’t need! Those of us who live in a society flooded with goods and gadgets need to ponder the example of that desert dweller. A typical supermarket in the United States in 1976 stocked 9,000 articles; today it carries over 30,000. How many of them are absolutely essential? How many are superfluous? If you believe advertisers you would think we needed them all! In 1900 there were fewer than 300 products around for Americans to buy. Today there are millions of products, literally. One publication reports that the average American "now spends nine percent of his or her nonworking, non-sleeping time gathering information about products." That's 950 hours per year per family. We lived in Soldotna back when there were no big box stores. I'm all for growth in our community but I was not happy to see K-Mart or Fred Meyer come to town. These mega-stores increased our options to consume. I liked it better when I didn't have many choices. I need a hammer? I don't want to think about it. I just want to go to the hardware store and get one. But when confronted with so many choices I suddenly needed to shop for the best value. Who do you think commands the biggest salaries, the greatest compensation for just doing their "job" in our society? It's not CEO's of huge corporations. It's not the politicians or other public servants who keep the machinery of government grinding. It's not the doctors or counselors with whom we trust our physical and mental health. It's certainly not educators, those we charge with nurturing our children's minds. No, the highest paid people in our society are entertainers. Did you watch the TV show, "American Idol?" This show featured young musicians who competed for the honor of being named "American Idol." The show captured the imagination of our nation’s young and old alike. There is a good reason that the most popular and outrageously paid of these entertainers are called "idols." What should be a little bit of fun decorating our days has become the central focus of our lives. What should have remained pretty gold rings giving some adornment and enjoyment to life has instead become a philosophy of existence governing our relationships with others. Like the Hebrews we want to be entertained by idols that we create, instead of being engaged by a God who demands that we be in a committed, covenanted relationship with God and people. I came across this ad in the recent issue of Time magazine. In bold letters it proclaims the five basic necessities of life. Now I used to think that this was food, water, air, shelter, and clothing. But now Entertainment Weekly tells me that the five basic necessities of life are movies, tv, video, music, and books! It doesn’t take a futurist to predict that the more attached we become to entertainment, the more bored and unfulfilled we will certainly become. Traffic in downtown Manila came to a hissing halt one year when a group of religious cultists flagged down cars and buses and began deflating tires. They just ran around the street letting the air out of tire after tire. One of the arrested deflators explained that the mass deflation was "God's way of stopping bad deeds. Air is from God. This is God's order to let out air." Christians need to do more of this: letting the air out of tired tires that stay in the same consumer ruts, deflating our materialistic dreams, or popping people's idolatrous bubbles. A Broadway play entitled Inherit the Wind features a character who relates an incident that happened in his childhood about a fancy wooden rocking horse: "That was the name of my first long shot: 'Golden Dancer.' She was in the big side window of the general store in Wakeman, Ohio. I used to stand out in the street and say to myself, 'If I had Golden Dancer, I'd have everything in the world I desire.' I was seven years old and a very fine judge of rocking horses. Golden Dancer had a bright red mane, blue eyes, and she was gold all over, with purple spots. When the sun hit the stirrups, she was a dazzling sight. But she was a week's wages for my father. So Golden Dancer and I always had a plate glass window between us. But let's see -- it wasn't Christmas -- it must have been my birthday. I woke up in the morning, and there was Golden Dancer at the foot of my bed. Ma had skimped on the groceries, and my father had worked nights for a month. I jumped into the saddle and started to rock -- and it broke! It split in two! The wood was rotten; the whole thing was put together with spit and sealing wax! All shine, and no substance." Turning to another character on stage, he says, "Bert, whenever you see something bright, shining and perfect-seeming -- all gold with purple spots -- look behind the paint." This is God's word for you and me today. It’s not an altogether comfortable word. But it is God’s word. We live in a bright, shining world of nice things. And every one, EVERY ONE OF US is unbelievably rich compared to most of the economically depressed people in this world. God's challenge for you and me is to "look behind the paint." Look behind the paint. Because if we don't, it won't be a living we are making, but a dying. |
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10.13.02 - Making a Living or a Dying (Exodus 32:1-14)
