Reading: Exodus 20:4, Proper 10B – July 16, 2000
By The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino CA
"You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them." (Ex. 20)
In 1508, Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo Buonarroti to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo proceeded to paint a series of creation frescoes that portrayed God, the Creator of heaven and earth, as a white man with a beard. In some of the creation scenes, God seems to be about 67 years old, virile, strong, and of Mediterranean decent. In two of the scenes, God seems to be about 80 years old, beard being more white than gray, and having a gentle disposition. Since that time, many people, both children and adults have come to understand God as a man up in the sky, having a grayish-white beard, pulling the strings to life here on earth. The problem with this image is that it is false. As people mature, they no longer believe in a God with a beard, up in the skies. Unfortunately, those who do not further their religious search as adults, discard both this childlike graven image as well as God. Having such false graven images of God, is one of the great obstacles people have in being able to experience the true God: YHWH, the God of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Jacob. God is not a human being, but rather Spirit. God is the creator of all, the greening power that gives life to creation, in whom we live and move and have our being.
Today I would like to continue my sermon series on the Ten Commandments, focusing my comments on the second: "You shall not make for yourself an idol" or as many translators would prefer, "You shall not make for yourself any graven image." Whenever we speak about the Ten Commandments, we must remember that they were not separate moral commands to be kept by individuals. They were a way of life that guided the people of Israel to live in harmony with each other. It was believed that if people's relationship with God was faithful and their relationships with each other were just, then peace, harmony, and goodwill would reign. Today's commandment has to do with one's relationship to the true God; the one for whom all images fall short.
3500 years ago, Caananite pagan worship included the making of graven images of the gods. Some of these images were in the form of birds, animals, or human beings. It was believed that if one possessed a graven image of god, then he or she would enjoy the blessing and protection of the god who was represented in the form or wood, clay, stone, or metal. I guess this practice was not too different from wearing a St. Christopher medal to protect a person from a car accident or sprinkling holy water around a house during a lightening storm. The people of Israel were warned against this kind of piety. YHWH could not be coerced into blessing the people and destroying their enemies. The God of Israel is a God of deep moral seriousness who takes affront at the violations against creation and responds accordingly. YHWH is not to be assuaged, domesticated, nor made in anyone's image.
So what relevance does the 2nd commandment have in our lives today? I think it has a lot to say in regard to being able to experience more fully, the power and presence of God in our lives. Oftentimes, people have come to me to say that they do not believe in God or experience God. I ask them to tell me about the God that they do not believe in. Usually their reply includes a litany of images of God that they learned about in Sunday School or from an uneducated preacher. After imagining these graven images, I tell them that I don't believe in that God either. Having graven images of God can lock God into a box. God does not operate in a box. Having graven images of God can also prevent us from experiencing God. For instance, if you are waiting for a human voice to speak to you from out of the sky as was heard by Charlton Heston in the Cecil B. DeMille’s movie, The Ten Commandments, then you will probably never hear God's voice. God is not a human being with a larynx.
If you have a graven image of God as Little Mary Sunshine, a God of love but not of justice, a god of nourishment but not of discipline, a god who coddles but does not upbraid, then you are in for a big disappointment when you come up against the forces of nature and the evil of people. Believe too much in the Little Mary Sunshine God, and you are bound to get burned.
Five years ago, I was instructing an eight-year-old in matters of the faith and of the traditions of the Episcopal Church. I showed her how to bless herself with holy water saying: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." After we practiced this gesture a few times, she cocked her head, and narrowed her eyes and asked: "Why do we call God "Father"? Why don't we refer to God as "Mother?"
I explained to her that is very difficult to describe God in words and that most of our images of God come from our Jewish heritage and Scripture. I explained to her that in ancient Hebrew society, a father was the protector, provider, leader, and teacher of his family. And since God was seen as protector, provider, leader, and teacher of the people of Israel, it seemed natural to refer to God as “Father." After this explanation, she looked right at me and replied: "Yea, well mothers do that too."
God is neither Mother nor Father. Our words about God can only approximate some of God's qualities. While the Jews were forbidden to utter God's name, which is YHWH, we do need images to be able to describe God in words. However, those images are not to be engraved in stone. Images can only approximate the essence of God but must never be confused with that essence. God is neither Black nor White. God is not a cosmic bellhop who responds to our ever whim and desire. God is not a sadist who shows you how much he cares for you by punishing you with plagues, mutations, wars, and natural disasters. God is not a master of ceremonies that you pull out of the hat when you have a wedding, funeral, confirmation, or baptism. Having false images or graven images of God results in an infantile dependence on a non-existent god that will crumble under duress and questioning. What are we to do?
In 754, Emperor Constantine of the Byzantine-Roman Empire, made a decree to destroy all religious images and imprison, torture, and exile those who venerated those images. This is known in Christian History as the iconoclast schism, which was repeated by many of the Protestant reformers during the 16th and 17th centuries.
While pictures and images of Jesus and the saints can help people in their religious journey (after all they were human), having graven images of God that we invent, can stifle us in our religious journey. If we imagine God as a man, it is easy to prevent the ordination of women and relegate them to second class citizens. If we imagine God as an upper middle class American, we can convince ourselves that civility is as important as compassion for the poor. If our image of God is too narrow, then we probably will not experience God at all. Even the theological language in our Prayer Book, referring to God only in masculine terms (i.e. him, He, king, Father), can make us forget about the God who embraces the world as a mother does her children.
It is the goal of the Episcopal Church to double the size of every congregation by the year 2020. It is my belief, that in order to do so, we as evangelists must expand our language and notions of God in order to speak to the unchurched of the 21st century. We need to let go of our graven images that limit God, and begin to actively seek how God is present in our lives. The unchurched need us to point out to them where God is working in their lives. I believe that the second commandment can help us in that task.