“The American Idols”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. In today’s Old Testament Reading, Joshua has become the new leader of
the ancient people of Israel, following the death of Moses. After their 40
years of wandering in the wilderness, he is finally about to lead the Israelites
across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. But, first, he gathers
them together, to remind them of the Lord’s great blessings, and to warn them
against falling away: “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness.
Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt,
and serve the Lord.” The Old Testament records how throughout their history the ancient
people of God many times fell away from the Lord and turned to idols. What
are “The American Idols” that tempt us today to fall away from the Lord?
There are three main categories of “The American Idols,” three “isms”:
materialism, hedonism, and false spiritualism. Logically, it seems that in 21st century America we would not be very
susceptible to materialism. After all, the Census Bureau reports that even
of American households below the official poverty line, 33% have a flat-screen
TV, 66% have cable or satellite, 70% a DVD player, and 50% and video game
system; 80% have air conditioning, 92% a microwave, 50% a personal computer; 75%
own a vehicle, and 42% of those below the poverty line in America actually own their own home. In fact, the average
poor person in America lives in a bigger, better house than the average
middle-class person in Britain, France, or Sweden. Perhaps most importantly, 96% of poor parents in America say their
children never went hungry during the previous year because they couldn’t afford
food for their children. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control says
that the threat to poor children in America is not a lack of food but obesity.
We’re the only country in history with that problem. Even what we consider to be poverty in America would be middle class or
upper middle class in most parts of the world. With the material abundance
and modern conveniences we enjoy, compared to people in ancient times, or even
in many parts of the world today, we all live lives of unimaginable luxury.
You would think all these material things we already possess would satisfy us
and we would be immune from materialism. But, strangely, it seems to have
the opposite effect. As the old adage says, “The more you get, the more
you want.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explains why we are not satisfied,
even though we have so much abundance: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about
your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than
they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you
worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or
spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like
one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here
today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O
you of little faith?” That’s the root problem: “You of little faith.” We turn to the
false god of materialism because we have “little faith” in the true God and his
providing for us. As Jesus said: “No one can serve two masters.
Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one
and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Martin Luther puts it this way in his explanation of the First
Commandment in the Large Catechism: “Many a person thinks he has God and
everything he needs when he has money and possessions; in them he trusts and of
them he boasts . . . surely such a man also has a god—Mammon by name, his
money and possessions, on which he fixes his heart. It is the most common idol
on earth.” That is the first American idol that we are guilty of worshipping.
Paul describes it in Colossians as, “Greed, which is idolatry.” And he warns in
Ephesians, “Of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person, for
such a man is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of
God.” “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the
gods your forefathers worshiped . . . and serve the Lord.” The second
American idol tempting us to fall away from the Lord is hedonism, from the Greek
word for pleasure. Now, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the pleasures of life.
Jesus himself joined in the wedding party at Cana and even turned water into
wine for the celebration. Many times in the Gospels Jesus is pictured at
dinner parties with his friends. Moses says in Deuteronomy, “For the Lord
your God will bless you in . . . all your undertakings, and you shall surely
rejoice.” Psalm 30 says, “You have turned my mourning into dancing . . .
and clothed me with joy.” And the book of Proverbs says, “May you rejoice
in the wife of your youth. . . may you ever be captivated by her love.” So, there is nothing wrong with enjoying the all the pleasures of life,
for these too are gifts from God. As Paul tells Timothy, “For everything
God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with
thanksgiving.” The problem is not enjoying and taking pleasure in all the blessings
that God provides you in life. The problem is hedon-ISM, making the
pursuit of pleasure and self-indulgence the center of your life instead of God.
Paul puts it this way in 2nd Timothy: “There will be terrible times in the last
days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful,
proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love,
unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” That is the second American idol that we are guilty of worshipping,
hedon-ISM, making the pursuit of pleasure and self-indulgence the center of your
life instead of God, “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the
gods your forefathers worshiped . . . and serve the Lord.” In addition to
materialism and hedonism, the third American idol tempting us to fall away from
the Lord is false spiritualism. In today’s Gospel Reading, the people who
have heard Jesus preach complain, “‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’
. . . At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him.” Sadly, the same thing is happening today. People consider Jesus’
teachings too hard to accept, and so they turn away and desert him.
Mainline denominations that were once solid have abandoned the teachings of
God’s Word, especially on moral issues, shamefully adopting instead the world’s
perverted viewpoint. On a wide range of doctrinal and moral issues many of
the biggest churches, the most popular preachers, and the best-selling religious
authors don’t teach according to the Bible. We Americans are rightly concerned about healthy eating, what we feed
our bodies. But, we’re not very discerning about what we feed our souls.
The Apostle Paul faced this same situation, as he wrote to the Corinthians:
“Your minds are being led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we
preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a
different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”
And he tells Timothy, “Some have wandered away and turned to meaningless talk.
They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking
about or what they so confidently affirm.” Today’s Gospel Reading beautifully expresses the precious treasure that
you lose when you wander away from Jesus and the truth of God’s Word: “Then
Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, ‘Are you also going to leave?’ Simon
Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of
eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’” “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the
gods your forefathers worshiped . . . and serve the Lord.” Like the
ancient Israelites, we are guilty. We are guilty of falling away from the
Lord, and falling for “The American Idols”: materialism, hedonism, and false
spiritualism. But, today’s Epistle Reading tells us the Good News: “Christ loved the
church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the
washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant
church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” Paul is talking in that beautiful verse about you. Christ loved
you and gave himself up for you, to make you holy. In Holy Baptism he
cleansed you by the washing with water through the word. Through the
sacrifice of his blood shed on the cross you are forgiven, holy and blameless in
God’s sight. “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the
gods your forefathers worshiped . . . and serve the Lord.” In the
Olympics the gold medalists are put on a perch in the center, with the silver
and bronze medalists a step below. God demands that you put him alone up
on the center perch of your life, and everything else must remain a step below.
Anything else that takes first place in your life and knocks God off that center
perch has become for you an idol. As Martin Luther says in the Large
Catechism, “That to which your heart clings . . . is really your God.” “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all
faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped . . .
choose this day whom
you will serve . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord . . .
Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve
other gods! It was the Lord our God
himself who brought us and our fathers up out . . . of slavery, and performed
those great signs before our eyes. . . We too will serve the Lord, because he is
our God.’” Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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