God says to Moses: "... they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshipped and sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!' " (Ex 32: 8) Why did the people do such a thing after having witnesses such great signs of God's power? I think they needed something tangible and familiar. Something they could relate to rather than walking through the desert by faith in a God they could not see. This danger remains for us today. We are tempted to make a golden calf of "values" rather than following Christ Jesus and living for him alone. Values can be identified, measured and taught. They yield practical results and for the most part can be agreed upon by people regardless of faith. Yet, without God, they are like someone having a map without having a destination. Without the pledge of the resurrection our values are meaningless as they turn us in on ourselves and we make an idol of our own righteousness. In the Gospel for today the younger son, Having gone off on his own, finds himself in a pigsty and says:" 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here am I dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father...'. " (Lk 15: 17-18) The elder brother, too, despite staying at home and not sinning as his brother did, is bereft. Without our relationship with the Father we are indeed lost regardless of our values! "So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are away from the body we are at home in the body we away from the Lord - for we walk by faith, not by sight. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him." (2 Cor. 5: 6-9)
No comments:
Post a Comment