Easter 6 (A) A Plethora of Idols
Easter 6 (A) A Plethora of Idols
I’ve titled this sermon, “A Plethora of Idols.” It was one of those ideas that just “popped” into my head after reading St. Paul’s reaction to the many “gods’ on display in Athens, Greece. When I looked up the definition of the word ‘plethora’ the dictionary said it referred to… “An often undesirable or hampering superfluity,” “something greatly beyond what is sufficient, necessary, or advantageous.”
Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
On his walk through the city, Paul observed how many idols he passed along the way. Idols to gods; to protect, to bring good crops, to promote love, to ensure procreation, to guarantee prosperity and happiness. Idols to gods that (people hoped) would bring peace of mind…. and pointed to something they could trust…. someone who cared, and was watching and working for their welfare.
Paul goes on to say:
Acts 17: 24-25
The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortal’s life and breath and all things.
I was reminded of something my auto/home insurance agent used to say the second you signed the policy, “You’re covered!” I liked the sound of those words, and the good feeling of assurance on hearing them from a man I could trust.
Of course, we all know that the insurance we own only kicks in AFTER there has been some calamity. So, if you really want to be ‘covered’ you would want a security system for your auto and home (one you could trust…)
Example) tell the story of the man who installed the best security system he could find, and then locked himself out. His neighbor was able to get into the house in five minutes without setting off the alarm.
We would of course hope that our security systems were backed up by a police and fire department we could trust.
There is one Episcopalian in Walla Walla that calls upon God’s Angels to protect their home whenever they are out of town.
And what about other concerns regarding our wellbeing: what about our bodies, our minds, our government, free-enterprise, the stock market, our children…. the future…next week? What really stands behind our idols of trust. What does it mean when someone says, “You’re covered!”
This church, St. Paul’s could very well say, “Men and women of America, I perceive that in every way you are very religious,” but…. in the process of trying to establish and maintain a fool-proof security system – one that can assure us that we’re covered…. has the capacity to generate its own violence. A plethora of idols can create it’s on insidious insecurity.
Let me read to you a piece written by Thomas Merton,
titled “Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander”
The rush and pressure of modern life are a form,
perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence,
To allow oneself to be carried away
by a multitude of conflicting concerns,
to surrender to too many demands,
to commit oneself to too many projects,
to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence,
The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his work for peace.
It destroys his own inner capacity for peace.
It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work,
because it kills the roots of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.
St. John of the Cross wrote:
“The soul, when it least uses its own proper ability, travels most securely, because it walks by faith.”
Our faith rests in Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ and only Jesus Christ that can truly say “You’re covered!”
In our frenzy to make everything work out we begin to look like jugglers with one-to-many plates spinning on top of think sticks.
John 14: Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.
We are not left to this world without help.
Jesus also said, “I am the vine.” If you listen to Him and pay attention to the vine, you will bear much fruit. To see what happens when we cut ourselves away from the vine, is a sad and ugly sight.
To begin to live in the true vine of Christ is to begin to experience the fullness of God and to blossom into the fullness of life to which God calls all people in the community of faith. It is the primary task of the church – the people of faith – to enable this “fruit-bearing” process to occur as best it can.
St. Francis said to the almond tree, “Speak to me of God,” and the almond tree blossomed.
So should we.
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