Sermon Recap: Scarecrow

Last Sunday was the fifth sermon in our series on Jeremiah called Run with Horses. The sermon was called Scarecrow, and the text was Jeremiah 10:1-16. In this passage, God compares the nature of idols to the nature of himself as Creator. He gives us a look behind the curtain of idolatry, showing the process of the creation of an idol, then comparing that to his act as Creator of the world.

The main point of the sermon was this: Idols are made; YHWH makes. Idols are fakes. They are things we create, and then treat as though they were creators. We make an idol out of money because we think it can create security. We idolize power because we think it can create success. We make a god out of sex because we think it can create happiness. But there is only one true creator: YHWH God.

IDOLS ARE MADE; YHWH MAKES

But the reality is that the only thing our idols can create for us are problems. I quoted The Notorious B.I.G. on this point (which people seemed to find endlessly amusing): "I don't know what they want from me. Seems like the more money we come across, the more problems we see." Sure it's funny to hear a 32-year-old white preacher quote Biggy, but he's right. The only thing our idols create for us is problems.

YHWH is the only real Creator, and the only one who can create solutions to the problems caused by our idolatry. He is the only one who can create good out of evil and turn darkness into light. That's exactly what we see in the cross, where the height of human evil was turned into the greatest good for mankind. That's the power of God.

The sermon audio is available in the sermon player in the right column on the blog.