Oh, how easy is it to do this, to let a great intention turn into an idol. Gideon made a metal vest/breastplate thing, aka ephod, to honor God. But eventually, people began to worship the ephod, not the God it was designed to honor. Throughout history, we humans do that, don’t we? Something starts as a necessary thing, and eventually it constrains and misguides us and we get rid of it, only to turn around and need it eventually.
I see this happening with things in worship spaces. If I’m distracted at home trying to pray or read scripture, I go out and buy a special icon. It’s lovely, and it is absolutely a window into a deeper truth, that simple words cannot express. For example, I have a lovely contemporary icon of The Visitation, where Mary visits Elizabeth. In response to Elizabeth’s exclamation of Mary’s child, Mary responds with “my soul magnifies the Lord”, or the Magnificat. Mary said yes, even once she had an inkling of what was to happen. The image is two women in traditional African colorful garb. It’s joyous, a little edgy, what with a black Mary, and looking at it, I see Mary’s yes. Here’s a link. https://www.trinitystores.com/artwork/windsock-visitation
In any case, if I’m not careful, I worship the image. I worship the window itself, not what I see through the window. When that happens, I put it away. Luckily, I’m beyond smashing icons, because a time will come when I need that image to help focus. The same goes with prayer candles, special journals, or even spiritual practices, like writing and reflecting about scripture. Gulp. I need to be vigilant about the reason for what I do, so it doesn’t become the thing I’m worshipping or honoring.
This also happens with holy spaces. Sometimes I need to designate a place as holy. Or I need to go to a worship service full of smells and bells (incense and Sanctus bells). I need to feel that I’m in a particularly holy space. But eventually, worshippers in general and me in particular, mistake the designation of holy for holy itself. The space isn’t any more holy, than the street corner where the preacher is genuinely preaching the Gospel. Sometimes I need to go in to nature, to realize that Holy is all around me, contained not in a building, but everywhere.
Both are true. I need icons and candles sometimes. And sometimes they are a trap. I need simple worship spaces, or wide-open vistas to see the vastness of God. And sometimes I begin to worship the vista, and not the God who made it. My particular flavor of vacillation isn’t everyone’s. Not everyone bounces between icons and outdoors. But I think everyone has the potential to make idols out of things designed to help us. And when we do that it either becomes a snare like the ephod for Gideon, or we are tempted overreact, and do the equivalent of smashing the icons. This morning, I’m thinking about how to recognize when something as outlived its useful life, and I’ve begun to idolize it. I want a way to see that, and thank it for what it did for me when I started, and put it gently away in my tool box for the next time I swing back towards needing that thing, or space, or practice. All of it is good, and all has its place. We just need help recognizing that.
I see this happening with things in worship spaces. If I’m distracted at home trying to pray or read scripture, I go out and buy a special icon. It’s lovely, and it is absolutely a window into a deeper truth, that simple words cannot express. For example, I have a lovely contemporary icon of The Visitation, where Mary visits Elizabeth. In response to Elizabeth’s exclamation of Mary’s child, Mary responds with “my soul magnifies the Lord”, or the Magnificat. Mary said yes, even once she had an inkling of what was to happen. The image is two women in traditional African colorful garb. It’s joyous, a little edgy, what with a black Mary, and looking at it, I see Mary’s yes. Here’s a link. https://www.trinitystores.com/artwork/windsock-visitation
In any case, if I’m not careful, I worship the image. I worship the window itself, not what I see through the window. When that happens, I put it away. Luckily, I’m beyond smashing icons, because a time will come when I need that image to help focus. The same goes with prayer candles, special journals, or even spiritual practices, like writing and reflecting about scripture. Gulp. I need to be vigilant about the reason for what I do, so it doesn’t become the thing I’m worshipping or honoring.
This also happens with holy spaces. Sometimes I need to designate a place as holy. Or I need to go to a worship service full of smells and bells (incense and Sanctus bells). I need to feel that I’m in a particularly holy space. But eventually, worshippers in general and me in particular, mistake the designation of holy for holy itself. The space isn’t any more holy, than the street corner where the preacher is genuinely preaching the Gospel. Sometimes I need to go in to nature, to realize that Holy is all around me, contained not in a building, but everywhere.
Both are true. I need icons and candles sometimes. And sometimes they are a trap. I need simple worship spaces, or wide-open vistas to see the vastness of God. And sometimes I begin to worship the vista, and not the God who made it. My particular flavor of vacillation isn’t everyone’s. Not everyone bounces between icons and outdoors. But I think everyone has the potential to make idols out of things designed to help us. And when we do that it either becomes a snare like the ephod for Gideon, or we are tempted overreact, and do the equivalent of smashing the icons. This morning, I’m thinking about how to recognize when something as outlived its useful life, and I’ve begun to idolize it. I want a way to see that, and thank it for what it did for me when I started, and put it gently away in my tool box for the next time I swing back towards needing that thing, or space, or practice. All of it is good, and all has its place. We just need help recognizing that.
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