I have often wondered why in the Old Testament there were so many silent gods. (g)ods made of stone, wood and various other materials were obviously a very regular occurrence in their societies and I often wondered why they were so popular. In fact, created gods are present in every society. I often wondered what the draw or desire is to have gods that cannot speak.
I think it a sad situation and I feel sorry for those who cannot hear from their god. You cannot hear, “I will be with you always.” There is no, “Take heart, I have overcome the world.”
I felt sadness for those who chased after other gods. However, I’ve come to realize that in our culture people love silent gods because they can never disagree with you. They never call you to repentance and they always approve of you. This approval, call it absolution, is of course no approval at all. It is ultimately a god fashioned in your own image.
Teraphim or household gods. 8th-6th cent. BC. Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago.
Perhaps this is why the proponents of abortion and LGBTQ+I, DEI, BIPOC and the like are always so vocal and unhinged. They have no one to speak for them. There is no authority that they can go to, except perhaps the politicians that will defend their causes. But even then, who are the politicians but “priests” or “sages”, “wisemen” who pretend to prophecy concerning the future, “History will not be nice to the opponents of our causes.”? Who are the politicians, those who lobby “we are your voice”, who are they but some sort of religious prophets? They have no voice of their own, they are those who never say no but always yes. They say yes, as long as you keep them in power over you.
In a way, the desire to “have their voices heard” is a true desire of the human heart. Having someone to be your advocate is a desire and very foundational part of being a human because it validates you as truly human. I think this is also why the mentally disturbed in our political discourse speak of “being validated” or “being seen.” They are not totally wrong. As is the case with most false teaching, there is a hint of truth. However, our sinful flesh does all it can to prevent us from finding the truth outside of ourselves. Our flesh doesn’t want us to call out to the one true God for mercy. The one true God is not silent.
So how then does our God speak now? If our God is not silent, how do we hear or when does he speak?
Certainly, we hear him speak in the Bible. His word is “living and active” Heb. 4:12. When you hear the Bible, you don’t hear just a record or a documenting of what happened in the past. You are hearing God speak in real time.
When you hear a pastor preach you are hearing God speak in real time. When you confess your sins and hear absolution, you are having a dialogue with Christ himself. All of this of course assumes the person speaking is teaching the truth. If you aren’t teaching truth, you aren’t teaching Jesus.
This is why what we hear, teach and confess at Immanuel must always be of utmost importance. This is our main task and primary goal. That the word of God is taught in all its purity and the sacraments given out according to Christ’s institutions. This is God speaking to us and all those around us now.
We have a joy to carry that voice to all the ends of the earth but especially in our families and then into our community.
The month of May ends with Pentecost on May 28, 2023. There God was not silent but as was predicted, as the disciples were hearing and being taught God’s word the Holy Spirit came. If you look at Acts 2:2 you see an interesting detail that the Holy Spirit came to the disciples where they were seated. Now that might not sound so important but consider that to Jews and Middle Eastern culture body position was very important. Whether you stand or sit in any particular social situation meant you were the teacher or student. You stood to pray. You sat down to learn and hear. The disciples were sitting in Acts 2 because they were listening and being taught God’s word. And while they were hearing the word of God the Holy Spirit came and fulfilled the promise of Pentecost.
Would it be nice to have a silent god? Perhaps in some regards. Your god can’t disagree, can’t rebuke you nor can that god call you to do difficult things. But our God is not silent because he cares for us. We know what he has to say. He desires for you to have assurance. Our God is not silent because we need his voice. We need to hear his absolution and encouragement. God is not silent but in Christ Jesus has shown us his love. He has shown us his word can do miracles. His word encourages, builds up and sustains the weary, “Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear” Isaiah 50:4.
Psalm 16:3-4 “As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;” David points out what we see in our society and even our own lives when we demand silent gods. When that happens our sorrows multiply. But Christ, the man of sorrows, has indeed spoken on our behalf and taken our sorrows. He speaks up even when we might not want him to. Christ knows his word is that which is our refuge and so he speaks. As the hymn says, “Thy Strong Word bespeaks us righteous.”
See you on Sunday.
In Christ
Pastor Ottmers