DANIEL 3:1-7 BOW ONLY TO GOD

Written by , Rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia
 

¹ King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. ² He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. ³ So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.
⁴ Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language: ⁵ As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. ⁶ Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
⁷ Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

No matter the appearance, the idol behind all idols is the self. For the Nebuchadnezzars of the world it is getting their way, either the direct worship by the people as a god or the unification of an empire by a common focus which results in supreme power and control. For their subjects it is a matter of self-preservation and self-promotion.

The idols of our lives are nowhere near as obvious as an image or obelisk of gold, 90 feet high. And the worship of our idols is not as public as prostrating ourselves on the ground every time a certain call is heard. But just because our idols are more subtle, does not mean that they are not ever present in our lives. And our worship of these idols can be as subtle as the idols themselves.

A good working definition of an idol is that it is any person or thing that you place between you and God. At any given time, anything in creation can be an idol. What is most disturbing to contemplate is that even “my” understanding of God can be an idol if it precludes me from being open to growth in that understanding through Scripture and the Spirit. More obviously, any addiction or obsession is an idol. But again, in these instances the center of our life is the self and not God.

Our culture, in and out of the church, is our Nebuchadnezzar. There is the demand to conform. There is the demand yield to its power. There is the threat of, at least social, destruction. We who are called to live as exiles in the worldly culture face the same dilemma and temptation as the Jewish exiles in the time of Nebuchadnezzar. The choice before us is the choice that was before them. Would they worship only God or would they worship God and the idol?

There is no ambiguity when it comes to God’s expressed will on the matter.

² “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
³ “You shall have no other gods before me.
⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them… (Exodus 20:2-5a).

O God, save me from the idols that assault me from without, and the ones I conjure up myself. Amen.

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