2013-09-12 Daniel Daring 2013 articles 2012 articles
24th Sunday: Ersatz god
Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-32
Do you know the meaning of ersatz? It stands for imitation or a substitute for an original thing and, as you may easily guess, ersatz is usually inferior in quality. We have ersatz coffee, which is not made of coffee beans, ersatz butter or a cheap margarine, and ersatz tea made of raspberry leaves. We even had a term - ersatz capitalism, referring to the fast growing economies of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan in the second half of the XX century. Unfortunately, this German word can also be found in the area of religion: we tend to fashion an ersatz god as a replacement for the true and living God.
The Book of Exodus in chapter 32 has the story about the Golden Calf. Aaron, the brother of Moses, makes an image of a calf out of the golden earrings of the people and announces: “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32:4). A very similar story takes place in 1 Kings 12:25-33. The Kingdom of Israel is divided into two independent kingdoms: the South with the Davidic dynasty and Jerusalem as its capital and the North with Jeroboam, a newly elected king, and Samaria as its capital. In order to secure his reign, Jeroboam established two sanctuaries, which were supposed to compete with the Temple in Jerusalem, and placed in each of them a golden calf, proclaiming: “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt” (1 Kings 12:28). The consequences were disastrous. Despite having the shape of a bull, the symbol of strength and power, those ersatz gods were useless in the matters of guidance and protection. Moreover, the action caused the anger of the real God, who was readying Himself to go against the people. What are our ersatz gods?
Manila, known for its traffic and jeepneys, is less known for its openly proclaimed devotion to God. Aside from churches of different denominations, while touring around the city, you can find the towering statue of the Virgin Mary, the billboard with ‘Jesus ONLY saves,’ and the image of the Merciful Jesus. Christian iconography and biblical passages are painted on jeepneys and busses. Evangelical worship services and Eucharistic celebrations are held at shopping centers, and Christmas Carols are played over the loudspeakers all across the city as early as September. Even the business sector is joining this devotion. At the top of a commercial and residential skyscraper, which belongs to the CityLand Development Corporation, you can see a huge billboard with this motto: ‘In God We Trust.’ Do we?
It seems very difficult to sustain faith in the invisible God whose words you can hear but whose face you cannot see. Apparently, there was nothing wrong with the worship that Aaron tried to establish. There was an altar, burnt-offerings, sacrifices, and common festivities. The only problem was with the object of worship. Aaron failed to realize that “the God of exodus cannot be ‘produced,’ by either the whim of the people or the inventiveness of the priest” (the New Interpreter’s Bible, p.931). And yet, are we not trying to ‘produce’ the God of exodus in our worship as well? We pray; we meditate; we made promises and vows; we offer sacrifices; and we expect something in return. It is always about us; seldom about Him. It is us talking, making the ‘holy noise,’ and hearing nothing from Him. Where is He? After her lecture on the use of the Bible in pastoral ministry given to future priests, Mary – a lay missionary – was approached by a participant with this question: Do you really believe that God exists?
While Aaron was fashioning the image of a calf and telling the people, “tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord,” (Exodus 32:5), a real communication between God and Moses was taking place: “The Lord said to Moses . . .” (Exodus 32:7); “But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said . . . (Exodus 32:11). Moses was experiencing a God who planned to destroy, who was enraged by Israel’s behavior, and who communicated those plans and feelings to him (Exodus 32:7-9). Moreover, in the process of their dialogue, Moses was able to change God’s plan: “And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people” (Exodus 32:14). God is not an object to be constructed and manipulated according to our wishes. He is a lively subject who plans, feels, and wants to communicate with us. I will never forget my own experience of hearing Jesus speaking to me, ‘and you pray so little.’ It happened only once, but it set the course of my life on an entirely different path. After that experience, I began to pray a lot, regularly attending mass, reading the Bible, and praying the rosary. Many of my prayers were answered and a few miracles took place, and yet, how I wish I could hear His voice again.
How do you see yourself? Are you like the people of Israel ready to accept anything as your God? Do you, perhaps, identify yourself with Aaron, constructing an ersatz god for your life? Would you like to be like Moses and dialogue with the real God? The prophet Jeremiah has this great promise: “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. . . . I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:31.33-34).
These days have arrived. There is no need to construct an image of God; there is no need to rely on someone else’s experience of God. You can experience Him by yourself. In Jesus our iniquities are forgiven and our sins are not remembered anymore. The Spirit of Jesus makes God known to you. You can hear Him speaking to you; you can feel His emotions; you can know His plans for your life. And when this encounter takes place you will join me in this conviction: nothing can be compared with the thrill of hearing God speaking directly to us.
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