Is God your top priority? - Exodus 32:15-29

Over the past few months, as I’ve been preparing for married life, I've received a lot of relationship advice. Some from couples who’ve been married for decades. Some from our pre marriage course. Some just from spending time with others. But, if I had to boil all of that advice down to one word it would be this, priority. Priorities display love. Because while it can be easy to say those three little words, “I love you”, it’s much more difficult to truly live them out day after day by willingly prioritize anothers needs ahead of your own. I’ve heard it said, tongue in cheek this way, “happy wife, happy life.” But there’s a kernel of truth in that, because love is an action that is shown by someone's priorities.

Now what that might look like, will differ from relationship to relationship. It may look one way in one marriage and different in the next. One way with a relative and another way with a friend. But the principle remains the same, what we prioritize reveals what we love. And nowhere is this more important than in our relationship with God. God calls us to love him above everything else in life, so that nothing and no one stands between us and him. As we turn our attention to Israel and the golden calf, the Holy Spirit asks us, is God your top priority? This morning we are encouraged to recognize our idols and to put him first.

To appreciate the situation in Exodus 32, it’s important to review some biblical history. Just a few months earlier, Israel had watched as God sent devastating plagues upon Egypt. They’d then walked through the Red Sea on dry ground as Pharaoh's pursuing army was swallowed up behind them. God fed them manna and quail and provided for them water from rocks in the wilderness. He’d led them by pillar of cloud at day and by pillar of fire at night. Now they stood at Mount Sinai as God thundered forth his commands, “You shall have no other gods before me” and again, “Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold”. The people of Israel responded enthusiastically, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” 

 So Moses ascends the mountain covered by the cloud of the glory of the Lord. 40 days and 40 nights later he descends carrying the covenant that God himself had written in stone. But before Moses could even deliver God's commandments to the people, Israel had already broken the very first one. We read, “When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.” In horror and righteous indignation, Moses smashed the tablets to pieces. What a terrible sight to see. Pagan revelry, singing and dancing all to an idol of gold.

Gold which had been a gift from the Lord. Exodus 12 tells us that as they left Egypt, Moses instructed the people to ask “the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for.” The people took the gift and prioritized it above the giver as that which God intended as a blessing, became a rival to him in the hearts of the Israelites. How soon had they forgotten their God who had delivered them from Egypt and sustained them in the wilderness. How faithless to their promise of the covenant as it now lay shattered at their feet, both figuratively and literally?

But, before we are all too eager to go and wag our finger at those idolaters, we should see how we’ve done the same. Like Israel, we’ve come into his presence, not at Sinai, but here in worship, to hear his Word and respond in faith as his people. We’ve witnessed his goodness. We’ve confessed our faith and declared for all to hear, ‘God is our top priority,’ but how long does that Sunday morning conviction really last? Until we pull out of the church parking lot? Till Monday morning rolls around? Until the very next thing captures our attention. Soon enough other things begin replacing our commitment to him. Money becomes our security in life. Success in our career becomes our identity. Luxury becomes our goal. Leisure becomes our obsession. None of these things are inherently sinful when enjoyed within the parameters of his will. In fact, he gives us these things as gifts. But when these gifts begin to replace him, well then, an idol is born. The things that occupy your thoughts more than God are idols. The things that give you purpose apart from him are idols. No, we may not literally bow down before statues of gold, but we replace him by melting down his blessings and molding our own idols out of them. Different mold, same sin.

Sure, maybe on occasion I’m guilty of that, but it’s not as bad as what they did, or at least we tell ourselves. Because when we’re confronted with our sin, our sinful nature quickly reaches for excuses. That’s exactly what Aaron does when Moses confronts him, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” Aaron gives one excuse after another. ‘Well, for one Moses, it's these people, they’re just so evil. I’m a victim of a toxic environment. And well Moses, they pressured me to make them new gods, and so I had to follow along. And, well none of this would have happened if you hadn’t been gone for so long. And finally, and most pitifully, Moses, I just collected the gold, threw it into the fire and look out jumped this calf. I’m just as surprised as you are’ 

It’s outright ludicrous. And it would almost be laughable, if these excuses didn’t sound so familiar. Well I wasn’t planning on going that far but I guess that's just what our culture does these days. Well I could stop anytime I wanted but this will get me through another week. I’d be foolish to not pick up that Sunday morning shift, just think what I could do with a little extra this month. That hobby, it really doesn’t take up all that much of my time. We might convince ourselves that our excuses are better, more legitimate, but to God they all sound the same, “Out jumped this calf.” We blame circumstances. We blame others. We blame timing and stress all to avoid the painful truth, I chose this. I prioritized this. I replaced my God with this. And for that, neither Israel’s rationalizations nor ours can excuse away our guilt before a holy God. Moses tells us later that the Lord was angry enough to outright destroy Aaron and the Israelites. And he had every right to. They were guilty, and so are we.

But God didn’t abandon his people in the midst of their sin. He wanted them to repent and to turn back to him. So God sent Moses to correct the people's sin and call them back to him. Moses even intercedes for the people, pleading that the Lord would remain faithful to his promises to their forefathers. Instead of destroying them, the Lord spared them. Not because Moses was so good at interceding, all he could do was plead for God’s mercy. He could not earn God’s mercy, not for himself and certainly not for all of Israel. Rather it was because of a far greater mediator than Moses, that God forgave Israel. It was because of Jesus. Jesus who never failed. Jesus who never replaced his Father’s will with his own. When Satan tempted Jesus to make an idol of the kingdoms of this world, Jesus chose his Father’s will. When the crowds wanted to make him their earthly king, Jesus chose his Father’s will. When the agony of his coming crucifixion lay heavy on his heart in Gethsemane, Jesus chose to drink the cup his Father set before him to the very bitter and painful end. Jesus loved the Lord his God perfectly in your and in my place all the way to the cross, where the punishment for all of their and all of our idolatry was paid in his blood.

Soon after this account the Lord would once again call Moses up the mountain to receive a new copy of the covenant. God chose to renew his covenant with his people even after they’d replaced him with an idol. What amazing love that the Lord didn’t abandon them. And he doesn’t abandon you either. Instead, he calls you back and forgives you as well. And God’s forgiveness does not simply remove guilt. It restores our relationship with him. The God who forgives us is also the God who calls us to recognize the idols that have taken his place and to repent.

True repentance does not merely grieve over sin, as Moses certainly did, it also means turning from it. In a faith filled and loving response to God’s grace, true repentance seeks to put him first above anything else. That meant that Israel idolatry could not simply be ignored or tolerated. Something had to be done to stamp it out. So we are told, Moses “stood at the entrance to the camp and” asked, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” It was time for a decision. There could be no neutrality, would they continue to prioritize this false god or the true God? The tribe of Levi rallied to the side of the Lord. Moses then tasked them with going through the camp and carrying out God’s judgment against the unrepentant. That day Moses tells us 3,000 people were put to death. What a difficult task the Levites were given. Putting God first meant compliance to God’s will over conformity to sin. It meant obedience even over the closest family ties. It was costly. It wasn’t easy. But putting God first wasn’t merely something they confessed with their words, it was demonstrated by their actions.

Because they answered the Lord's call, Moses commended the Levites, saying, "You have been set apart to the LORD today... and he has blessed you this day." Going forward, the tribe of Levi would be dedicated to the Lord's service. Not because they’d been blameless. Not because they deserved this special privilege. They were sinners too. But in faith, when called to repentance, the Levites prioritized putting the Lord first. And that’s something God always blesses. Here for the Levites he chose to bless them and their descendants with the exclusive privilege of serving him in the tabernacle and later in his temple.

Everyday something competes for first place in our hearts; and our priorities will reveal what we love the most. Everyday that same question confronts us, ‘‘Is God your top priority?’’ When your employer asks you to compromise your integrity… When your friends joke about what God calls sin... When your busy schedule threatens to leave little time for God’s Word… When your heart whispers that something else will satisfy you more than your Savior… Is God your top priority then? No, not always. We fail to perfectly put God first when given the opportunity. 

But thanks be to God, his love for you is not dependent on you having perfect priorities. Because even when you made other things your first priority, Jesus still made you his. He set aside the glory of heaven. He put his Father's will for your salvation his top priority, even when it meant suffering the agony of the cross for you. There he paid for the times you've let an idol fill your heart. There he won your forgiveness and made you his own.

Thank you Jesus. May my life reflect my love and thanks to you. Give me strength to put you first as my top priority, Amen.