Rev. Andy Nagy-Benson Exodus 32 The Benefits of Failure: Reflections on The Golden Calf You were born... with an intense drive... to learn. As an infant... you stretched your skills... every day. As a toddler... you stretched more. It wasn t easy: Learning to walk. Learning to talk. But you were not worried... about making mistakes. Or humiliating yourself. You walked. You fell. You got up. You walked. a pattern emerged. One acclaimed psychologist... puts it this way: There are young children... who lose their interest... in challenges. They are more interested in hiding deficiencies... not overcoming them. Maybe they ve been told, "You re are so awesome... so smart... so fast." So, they have to be awesome... smart... and fast... without breaking a sweat. These children want to make sure... they succeed. And... if you don t risk anything... you can t lose. There are also young children... who thrive on... trying things... for the first time. And trying things... that are hard do. That acclaimed psychologist -- Carol Dweck tells this story. She says... We offered a classroom of four-year-olds... a choice.
They could keep redo-ing... an easy jigsaw puzzle... or... they could try a harder one. Some children stuck with... the safe choice -- redoing the easy puzzle. One four-year-old... explained: "Smart kids... don t do mistakes." While other children... of the same age, same class... thought it a strange question. Do the same easy-peasy puzzle? Why would we want... to do that? These children... chose to tackle... one hard puzzle... after another. The difference is big. For Dweck... it s the difference between... a fixed mindset... and a growth mindset. For those with a fixed mindset... there s a fear of failing. So, when in doubt... play it safe. Again... if you don t try... you can t really fail. Because you ll always have an excuse. You ll always be able to say... I could have done more... I could have done better. But once you try... I mean really try... then... you can t say that anymore. For children... and adults... with a fixed mindset... it s very scary... to think: I gave it my all... and it wasn t good enough. For those with a growth mindset... fear of failure... is not the Great Motivator. Improvement is. You will still... meet the limits... of what you can do... and what you know. You will make mistakes -- big ones... small ones... lots of them. But... rather than chalking it up as a "loss"... you will try again... and again... to do more... to do better. The "growth mindset" rests on the premise... that if you stick with it...
if you welcome the challenge... if you use set backs... to step back and re-access. you will always... keep growing. It s really... about... a passion for learning. And it starts with the realization... that our so-called "failures"... are really... our best teachers. From what I understand... mindsets are not intractable. You can change your mindset... as you can change your mind. So, when a problem... stump us... or we mess up... or we fall short... will we learn from it? Will we be motivated to get back up? Will we press on? These are important questions to ask... our children and grandchildren. Our students... and athletes... and artists. These are important questions... to ask ourselves. And they are questions... that come to mind... when I hear the story of the Golden Calf. Israel fails here. It s a failure of judgement. The story... we heard... does not photo-shop it... either. It s ugly-and-out-there... for all to see. The people of Israel... make for themselves... a replacement god. They gather their gold... and produce a golden calf. A god... of their own invention... that will keep them safe. Pastor Aaron... goes along with this. (Yes, the importance of being popular... in ministry... is still a problem.) So, Aaron collects everyone s gold... and everyone says: "This gold is your god, O Israel. "This gold... brought you up... out of the land of Egypt." Not good.
In fact... there s so much wrong with that... it s hard to know... where to start. When the people of Israel were slaves in Egypt... God heard their cry... and liberated them. When the people of Israel... got hungry and grumpy in the wilderness... God fed them with manna. When the people got thirsty and hot... God gave them something to drink water from a stone. You get the idea. This pattern of provision... lacks subtlety. The people of Israel have had needs. And God has delivered. So, what happens next? That s the question... that the best parents, teachers, coaches are keen on. What happens... after the dust settles... around the Golden Calf? Well, three things happen. First... God gets boiling mad. Fair enough. Then... Moses steps in. And... he speaks to God... about the advantages of a... Growth Mindset. Moses says... in essence: These stiff-necked people... acted foolishly. They absolutely shattered... your First and Second Commandments. That s true. Everyone shrinks... from the best version of themselves... at one point or another. That s true. But so is this: You, God... are a God of hesed... a God of grace. Which is good news for us. It means... that we are not forever chained... to that big, lousy day... when we didn t get it right. It means... we are given... the gift of a blank page... to write the rest of our story... so that... we can discover... the far edge of our potential.
God knows Moses is right. And God cools down. Then... Moses waves that clean page... in Israel s face. Like a good coach... or parent... or teacher... or leader... Moses wants them to know: by God s grace... the rest of the story... is theirs to write. Their failure at the base of Sinai... will not define them... for all time. But... their response to their self-made problem... will. I m getting ahead of today s lesson... here... but I want you to know... that... the people do respond. They will make new mistakes... of course. But... they will also continue... to grow... in relationship with God... to grow as human beings. The fact... that Israel... kept this story of the Golden Calf... in circulation... tells me... they were determined... to do better than this. They could have elected... to forget this one. They could have pushed "delete." Instead... they choose... to remember it... to tell it. To this day... they tell it... as do we. We remember the golden calf... because it has something to say... about God s grace... and about the importance of becoming... more than we ve been. Where is that far edge of potential... for you? Where is that far edge of potential... for this congregation? That blank page... is in your hands... and mine. The next chapter... is ours to write. Let it be one of risks taken... and challenges met... and lessons learned. Let it be one of... hard-won growth... and grace... freely given. Let ours be a story... like these sacred stories... that say:
"I wasn t sure... I would ever see the day." "I wasn t... we could do it." "But then..." "But then..." Amen.