Spiritual Habits Exodus 32:1-6

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1 Sunday Worship Service October 15, 2017 Rev. YoungMin Kim Spiritual Habits Exodus 32:1-6 (1) The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a habit as a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior. Everyone has habits. In some ways, from waking up to going to bed, our lives are a continuation of our habits. Habits affect everywhere in our lives including eating, exercising, sleeping, walking, working, and more. They could be both good and bad habits. Habits can never be settled in a short period of time. Rather, they are fixed by repeated behavior for a long time. Thus, once habits are fixed, it is really difficult to change habits. It is not impossible, but it takes more time and effort to change settled habits. And once we change our bad habits, but if we do not constantly pay attention, it is easy to return to the old or bad habits. One of the habits that I tried to settle into after moving into the parsonage is watering the tomato plants. You may know that I did not pay attention to them at first and gave them water once a day or sometimes once every other day. Planting something has never been a part of my life. But I felt guilty when the plants were getting withered due to my indifference and ignorance. Now, watering twice a day in the morning and evening has become a daily habit. And the habit was reinforced when I saw the tomatoes getting bigger and becoming red. Thus, I saved the fried green tomato recipe for a while. However, I still forget to water them when my thoughts are overwhelmed by something. If this was repeated, it could not be completely settled as a habit. 1

2 The Israelites, appearing in today s passage, are an example of failing their new, good habits in faith and returning to their old, bad habits. God gave them the Ten Commandments and specific laws. They seemed to follow the commandments and laws well at first and they seemed to become the new people of God. Nevertheless, once they encountered a crisis, they returned to the old people they were as Egyptian slaves. Today, I would like to invite you to examine the Israelite s faults and reflect them on our own lives in faith. (2) According to the lectionary, we read Exodus 32:1-6. Last Sunday, we dealt with the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20. In order to understand the context of today s passage, let me briefly summarize what had happened after Exodus chapter 20 and before chapter 32. After giving the Ten Commandments (20:1-20), God continued to tell Moses specific laws on Mount Sinai that the Israelites should follow: laws concerning slaves (21:1-11), violence (v ), and property (v ) in chapter 21; restitution (22:1-15) and social and religious laws (v ) in chapter 22; justice for all (23:1-9), Sabbath (v ), and annual festivals (v ) in chapter 23. After that, Moses appeared to the Israelites for a short time and went back to the mountain. Chapter 24 verses 15 and 18 say, Then Moses went up on the mountain and the cloud covered the mountain. Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. God continued to speak Moses about the laws: offerings for the tabernacle (25:1-9), ark of the covenant (v ), table for the bread 2

3 (v ), and lampstand (v ) in chapter 25; tabernacle (26:1-14), framework (v ), and curtain (v ) in chapter 26; altar of burnt offering (27:1-8); court (v. 9-19), and oil for the lamp (v ) in chapter 27; and other detailed laws that the Israelites should follow through chapter 31. And the last verse of the chapter 31 says, When God finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the covenant, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God (31:18). Everything was ready. God finished speaking with Moses and He delivered what He wanted to the Israelites to become the people of God, a chosen nation. Moses only needed to come down from the mountain and deliver God s laws to the Israelites, and the Israelites only needed to obey and observe the laws. However, something among the Israelites happened at the foot of Mount Sinai. When the Israelites saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt (32:1). In response to their request, Aaron said, Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me (v. 2). With the gold, Aaron formed it in a mold, and casted an image of a calf, and said, These are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt! (v. 4). On the one hand, we may understand the Israelites who requested making gods, and Aaron who made golden calf and said, This is your god. For the Israelites, Moses was their sole contact with God and mediator of God s guidance and power. By the way, Moses went up on the mountain and he never came down from the mountain for forty days. They were not sure what had become of Moses, and some of them might have 3

4 believed that Moses was dead, so they became anxious and scared. They must have needed something visible that they were able to rely on without Moses. For Aaron, as a brother of Moses and the second leader of the people, he might have felt scared because tens of thousands of anxious and scared people rushed and forced him to make gods. Thus, Aaron had no choice except making gods. On the other hand, we don t agree with their decisions. Just forty days ago, God commanded, You shall not make for yourself an idol, the second out of the Ten Commandants, and all the Israelites including Aaron agreed saying, Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do (19:8). But they broke the second commandment without any hesitation. Rather than breaking the covenant, the Israelites should have endured a couple of days more. Moses was about to come down from the mountain. Rather than breaking the covenant, Aaron should have led the Israelites in a right way taking the risks. After all, this became the covenant-breaking experience for the first time. And this became the starting point to destroy the (old, conditional) covenant by God. What was the problem for the Israelites and Aaron? (3) It took about two months from the exodus from Egypt to the wilderness of Sinai and forty days while Moses stayed on the top of the Mount Sinai. Just about three months! During the three months, the Israelites experienced God s power and greatness, and gradually learned about who God is and what they should observe as the people of God. However, the three months were insufficient to embody the commandments as their natural daily habits in faith. Their new mindset, lifestyle, and habits were like a new dress that is uncomfortable still. On the contrary, the Israelites and their ancestors 4

5 had spent about three hundred years in Egypt as slaves. Three hundred years! During the three hundred years, the Israelites lived as slaves and assimilated with Egyptian lives without experience of God s power or guidance. They had to believe in Pharaoh as a living god and worshiped Egyptian gods. Such lifestyles and habits were fixed for three hundred years. Their old mindset, lifestyle, and habits were like an old dress that is comfortable. Their new habits settled during the three months were definitely insufficient to overturn their old habits settled during three hundred years. Eventually, their new faith did not take deep and strong root in the ground. And confronting a minor crisis in their lives, they felt anxious and scared, broke the covenant and returned to their old selves. (4) How can our faith take deep and strong root in the ground? I have hints from my tomato plants. Just like a healthy tomato grows with clean water, sunlight, proper temperature, and other environmental conditions, our healthy and balanced faith can grow with appropriate conditions. I want to call them habits of faith, or spiritual habits : worship, prayer, words, and good deeds. These four are crucial for our faith habits or spiritual habits forming us as Christians. The Bible says about the four habits of faith as follows: In terms of worship, John 4:24 says, God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. In terms of prayer, First Thessalonians 5:16-18 say, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. In terms of words of God, Psalm 119:43 says, Do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your ordinances. And in terms of good deeds, Hebrew 10:24 says, Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. These four will be individual as well as 5

6 our church habits, and they will be settled by repetition. Once they become our spiritual habits, our faith will be deeply and strongly rooted, and our faith will not be swayed in any circumstance. I exhort all of Nokesville UMC members to make faith habits or spiritual habits with worship, prayer, words, and good deeds. 6