Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, November 22, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I make things. I sew. I craft. I paint. I love color and texture and seeing the fruits of my labors. They are seldom perfect, but that’s part of the charm. At no point would I ever pretend that anything I have created is worthy of worship.
In early history, human society was generally polytheistic—even the Israelites. God was principle among the deities, but frequently worshipped alongside the semitic gods of co-located tribes. Those semitic gods were represented by statues or sacred poles—things built by human hands, to which people prayed. Isaiah calls this out as ridiculous. You might as well worship a loaf of bread or a cloak or a pair of shoes. They’re just stuff you made. How can they have the power of God or even a minor deity?
But don’t we still do that now? Aren’t we constantly bombarded with messages telling us that what really matters is a certain fashion label or car or job or piece of technology? Don’t we have a tendency to worship the works of human hands with as much reverence as we do God on a Sunday morning? Don’t we limit our worship of God to Sunday morning (or Saturday night, or Wednesday night as the case might be)? Is that any different than me taking a picture frame I’ve crafted out of lake stones and mod podge and praying to it to make me happy? Okay maybe that’s a little silly. But maybe not.
The bottom line is that God transcends all of creation, cannot be limited by anything made by human hands. And only God is worthy of our undivided praise and prayer. Only a relationship with God can give us the satisfaction we crave and fruitlessly seek in material things.
What worldly creations do I have a tendency to hold more sacred than they perhaps ought to be?
