Symbols & Reputations

The Hebrew people grow weary of their supposed leader leaving them behind, and - in Moses’ absence - they ask for a symbol to represent God? Replace God? Hold them together as a community in a very destabilized time? Unclear, but even as we seek to empathize with a people who long for SOMEthing to keep them together, God and Moses are nonetheless displeased. And set about bickering over whose people they are. In the midst of this squabble, Moses appeals to God’s reputation: “What will the Egyptians say about you if you choose destruction?!” Preparing ourselves to participate in another sacred symbol on this World Communion Sunday - bread and cup with all who seek to walk in the Way of Jesus - we wonder how our public actions and presence (or lack thereof) contribute to God’s reputation in the world.

Sermon begins at minute marker 7:09

Exodus 32.1-14

Resources

• BibleWorm podcast: Episode 605 – The Golden Calf, Amy Robertson and Robert Williamson, Jr
• “End Game,” lyrics by Taylor Swift.
• Mennonite Action - A movement of Mennonites taking action, explicitly AS MENNONITE-CHRISTIANS, to stop war and end the occupation of Palestine.
• Song: A Recitation of Psalm 40, in IsiNdebele (a language of Zimbabwe), sung by Bongiwe Ncube.
• Image: Small statue of the Golden Calf, Louvre museum (Paris, France), Wikimedia Commons.
• Hymn 717 - Renew Your Church. Text: K. L. Cober (USA), 1960, alt., © 1960 K. L. Cober, renewed 1985 Judson Press Music: American traditional (USA), 1842; adapt. Sacred Harp, 1844. Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, license #A-726929. All rights reserved.