DAY 157
Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic
A series of daily reflections for people of faith
by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor
Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland
pastorrobert@paxpres.org
Week Twenty-three Tuesday 18 August 2020
False Gods
“COVID-19 has exposed a lot of our false gods. The American economy has been brought to its knees by a virus that’s undetectable to the human eye. The world has been brought to its knees. Our love for power, money, certainty and security is like a sandcastle that has just been wiped away by this wave called COVID. But there is hope. Now we can build our lives on the rock.” - A pastor writing in the current issue of a Christian magazine
God warns us: “… Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Dear children, keep yourself from idols,” 1 John 5:21. In reading this admonition we assume we are safe – no idols in our lives. Then we read the same verse in Eugene Petersons’ translation The Message: “This Jesus is both True God and Real Life. Dear children, be on guard against all clever facsimiles.” The etymology of the word ‘facsimile’ helps us unpack what God is telling us here: it comes from two Latin words that mean ‘ to make like’ or ‘to make similar to’ or even to make an exact copy of. How ever we slice, dice or package it, at the end of the day a facsimile is not the real thing, it is not what it purports to be.
Only the God who made us can satisfy the deepest places in our lives, and no amount of power, possessions or money can meet that deep need for satisfaction, wholeness, completion within. Not all idols are in and of themselves bad. I know a man who owns multiple locations of a fast food franchise and is extremely wealthy, but he is one of the most Godly and humble men I have ever met. I knew another man for whom financial gain was his idol, which, with tears, he acknowledged after he lost it all. Both men Christians. Both men wealthy. For one a gift and a tool for doing God’s work, for the other a goal for self-enrichment. Idolatry can indeed resemble a “clever facsimile.” The very nature of on idol is its offer of that which it cannot provide – it lies.
The Creator of everything has spoken: “You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3.
The sad revealing truth is the emptiness that is ours when we follow false gods.
Reflective question: “COVID-19 has exposed a lot of our false gods.” Will you allow the Holy Spirit to show you any false gods in your life, and show you how to deal with them?
Reflective Scripture: Matthew 6:24 – “No one can serve two masters.” Jesus
Reflective hymn:
“Whiter Than Snow” – James Nicholson (1828-1876)
Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole; I want thee forever to live in my soul.
Break down every idol, cast out every foe - now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
Whiter than snow, yes whiter than snow; now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
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