Seen [Proper 23A - Exodus 32:1-14]

 The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson

Exodus 32:1-14

 

Seen

 

They were afraid.  And they felt alone and abandoned.  They were stranded in that vast and hostile desert when Moses just walked away.  He left them.  And now, there was no one left to lead the way.  No one left to escort them to the Promised Land.  No one left to walk out in front, to hear and execute the divine navigation.  No one to rescue them from hot sands and parched skin, from this scorching purgatory. 

 

They were shriveling in the sun, wasting away day by day, stuck in neutral.  They were miserable.  But it wasn’t their fault that Moses ditched or died.  It was just clear that Moses was out of the picture.  And so there was nothing to do, nothing to see.  And they desperately needed to catch a glimpse of something.

 

Aaron was the one Moses left in charge.  He was the backup, the placeholder.  But the truth is: they did not trust him like they had trusted Moses.  Moses frustrated them, for sure; they constantly complained against him.  But he was better than Aaron.  The only reason the people seek out Aaron is because they don’t have any other options – and they were looking for options. 

 

They don’t need Aaron to be Moses; that was not realistic.  They do not want Aaron to walk out in front of them, to lead the way.  And so they do not ask Aaron to walk out in front of them, to lead the way.  They ask Aaron to make gods for them, to make them a better option than the Aaron they have.  For now, he was kind of in charge but they were happy to replace him with a statue, if that was in play.

 

Aaron, for his part, was happy to put that in play.  He would rather let the idol take responsibility for this group.  He heard the way they talked about Moses.  He wanted no part of it.

 

The people were so desperate that they handed over their most precious gold.  It was an investment in survival.  People do love money – but when push comes to shove most prefer life. 

 

The gold wasn’t just any gold though.  The people were not pawning pinky rings from a mall jeweler.  The people handed over the gold that they received from the Egyptians; it was the status symbol of their escape, of their liberation, of their exodus.  The gold was a reminder that God went above and beyond for them.  But they weren’t thinking about that God – not now; they wanted something shiny and new.  They wanted something they could see – and God wasn’t that.

 

The Israelites were done with Moses – or maybe he was done with them: six of one, half dozen of the other.  But they weren’t exactly done with God.  Aaron and the people still throw a festival for the Lord, even after the calf is introduced.  The still appreciated God; they just wanted to upgrade their religious situation.  They wanted to add a god they could keep an eye on.  They did not intend to replace God with the golden calf; they just wanted God to have a more approachable, more reliable sidekick – a supplemental god that could be touched in a moment of panic.

 

In a sense, the calf would be like a Moses: a mediator who sets the pace – but less emotional, more available, less likely to wander off and leave them in the middle of a desert.  But more than just a stand-in for a clumsy human, the calf would also be like that pillar of fire, the one that pulled up in front of them and led them to the Red Sea – only it would never disappear.  They needed a reminder that God would never leave them alone and lonely.  They wanted that so badly they paid in gold – and almost with their lives.

 

God, it turns out, did not really want a sidekick; God was not interested.  God did not want a third wheel for the relationship.  God liked what they had.  The relationship between God and the Hebrews was still new.  In fact, the ink on the tablets wasn’t even dry yet and the people were already breaking the Ten Commandments; and they were breaking the ones at the very top of the list. 

 

The rules were pretty clear on the topic of calf creation.  In the first commandment, God said, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”  When the people saw the calf they immediately say, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”  Strike one.  The second commandment says, “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything that is on the earth.”  They made a cow.  Strike two.  That second commandment continues: “You shall not bow down to them and worship them.”  According to God’s conversation with Moses, the people very much worshiped that golden calf.  Strike three.  And then in the appendix to the Ten Commandments, God even included a clarifying note, just so that there was no ambiguity or confusion: “You shall not make for yourselves gods of gold.”  The people did exactly that.

 

They had promised to keep those commandments; they signed the agreement in blood.  The people looked over the list and agreed to every point – including the commandments they almost immediately broke.  They sealed the covenant relationship with God by saying, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”  They made a promise and God was happy.  But then they broke the promise as soon things got tough.  And God could not hide God’s broken heart.

 

The mountain with Moses was clearly an emotional moment for God.  Not because God is just really into rules; but because God was really into them.  And they couldn’t see it.

 

It is hard to live with an unseen God.  And that is why so many people choose to place their trust in things that can be seen – like money and politicians, talking heads and falling bombs.  In the desert, these ancient people chose a golden calf.  They could see it and they could touch it.  And they thought that that was what they needed.  But it turns out it was just stuff.  And it could not make them OK; it could never make them feel safe or take away their loneliness.  Because it could never love them.

 

But God could.  And God did.  Just two chapters after the people do the unthinkable, God does the unthinkable too.  God gives them yet another chance.  In that very desert, with the scent of smelted gold still poisoning the air, their merciful and gracious God renewed their covenant relationship, tenderly offered them the same heart they had just so carelessly handled. 

 

Because while God’s heart can be broken, God’s love is everlasting.  Even when they couldn’t see it, the people in the desert always had everything they needed.

 

What we need most are not the things we can hold in our hands but what we hold in our hearts.  What saves us is not what we can see, but is the One who sees us for who we are and chooses to love us anyway.