FREED | Idolatry

Tonight's teaching text comes from Jeremiah chapter two, verses one to 13. And it says, "'The word of the Lord came to me saying, "'Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem. "'Thus says the Lord, "'I remember the devotion of your youth, "'your love as a bride, "'how you followed me in the wilderness "'in a land not sown. "'Israel was holy to the Lord, "'the firstfruits of his harvest. "'All who ate of it incurred guilt. "'Disaster came upon them, declares the Lord. "'Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, "'and all the clans of the house of Israel. "'Thus says the Lord, "'What wrong did your fathers find in me "'that they went far from me "'and went after worthlessness and became worthless?' "'They did not say, "'Where is the Lord who brought us up "'from the land of Egypt, "'who led us in the wilderness "'in a land of deserts and pits, "'in a land of drought and deep darkness, "'in a land that none passes through "'where no man dwells. "'And I brought you into a plentiful land "'to enjoy its fruit and its good things.

"'But when you came in, "'you defiled my land "'and made my heritage an abomination.' "'The priests did not say, "'Where is the Lord? "'Those who handle the law did not know me. "'The shepherds transgressed against me. "'The prophets prophesied by bail "'and went after things that do not profit. "'Therefore, I still contend with you,' declares the Lord. "'And with your children's children, I will contend. "'For cross to the coast of Cyprus and see, "'or send to Kadar and examine with care. "'See if there has been such a thing. "'Has a nation changed its gods "'even though they are no gods? "'But my people have changed their glory "'for that which does not profit. "'Be appalled, O heavens, at this. "'Be shocked, be utterly desolate,' declares the Lord. "'For my people have committed two evils. "'They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, "'and hoot out cisterns for themselves, "'broken cisterns that can hold no water.'" This is the word of the Lord. Well, good evening, everyone. If we've not had the chance to meet yet, my name is Ralph, and I serve as a pastor on the care team here at Church of the City, and it is a joy to be with you tonight.

I, too, want to extend a Happy Mother's Day to everyone in the room and to those that are worshiping with us online. I bless you. If you're just joining us, we're continuing with our series entitled Freed, and our anchor verse for this series comes from Galatians chapter five and verse one, and it says, for freedom, Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. For freedom, Christ has set us free. Because of the finished work of Christ on the cross and because of his resurrection, we are free indeed. That's done. Can I get an amen in the room? But notice that Paul goes on to say, stand firm. We are freed in Christ, and we are learning. To stand firm in that freedom every single day of our lives, along obedience in the same direction. Paul goes on to warn us not to return to the yoke that once enslaved us. He says, do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. My assigned topic for today is the subject, idolatry, being freed from idols. What is an idol? Two working definitions that will serve us today. The first one comes from the late Dr. Tim Keller, and he says that an idol is anything

more important to you than God. Anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God. Anything you seek to give, what only God can give. Frederick Buechner says that idolatry. is the practice of ascribing absolute value to things of relative worth. He goes on, under certain circumstances, money and patriotism and sexual freedom and moral principles and family loyalty and physical beauty and social or intellectual preeminence and so on are fine things to have around, but to make them the standard by which all other values are measured, to make them your masters, to look to them to justify your life and save your soul is sheerest folly. They just aren't up to it. I love that last line. They, our idols, just aren't up to it. Here's a brief idolatry list that I found at the end of Tim Keller's book, Counterfeit Gods, and I think it will be helpful because it provides a broad scope of idol categories and it may help us to identify and recognize potential idols in our own life. I'll take a quick glance through this list and maybe you can take some time this week to prayerfully run an idol audit in your life. A couple of examples, a theological idol,

sexual idols, addictions such as pornography and fetishisms that promise, but don't deliver a sense of intimacy and acceptance, a physical beauty in yourself and or your partner or romantic idealism. What about magic ritual idols, witchcraft and the occult? All idolatry is in the end, a form of magic that seeks to rebel against the order of transcendent reality rather than submitting to it, love and wisdom. And then there are political economic idols, racial, national idols, relational idols, religious idols, philosophical, cultural idols. And what about those deep idols that exist within the motivational structure of our hearts, power idolatry? It says that life only has meaning and I only have worth if I have power and influence over others. What about the approval idolatry? Life only has meaning and I only have worth if I'm loved and respected by fill in the blank. You could get 150 likes on that photo, but you scrolling because you're looking to see, did that one person? That's the approval idolatry. What about the comfort idolatry? Life only has meaning and I only have worth if I have this kind of pleasure experience or this particular quality of life.

And what about the control idolatry? Life only has meaning and I only have worth if I'm able to get mastery over my life in the area of fill in the blank. Like I said, it might be helpful to do an idol audit this week. And I also wanted to recommend some books that I grabbed off the shelf in preparation for this message and more from my heart. In case this message is mid, you can just read all the books. Primary sources, Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller. Two of my favorites, Desiring the Kingdom and You Are What You Love by James K. Smith. The classic from Dallas Willard, Renovations of the Heart. And then a new book, Desire by J. Stringer. You may relate to this or not, but I had a very brief crush in elementary school. It was brief because she broke up with me. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was the next day when I got to school. who pulled up to the cafeteria and saw my ex with the next man. Now, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I remember thinking to myself, you broke up with me for that? In today's teaching text, God is speaking to his people through the prophet Jeremiah. And God is not speaking from the position

of an elementary school crush. He's not speaking from the posture of a transactional relationship. He's speaking from the position and posture of covenantal devotion. A husband speaking to his bride, a covenant God speaking to his chosen people, the apple of his eye. And God is going to say, as we just heard in the teaching text, I have two evils against you. Number one, you broke up with me. Number two, you broke up with me for that? Broken cisterns that can't even hold water. Turn to your neighbor and say, happy Mother's Day. For context, when we pick up the story in Jeremiah 2, God is addressing his covenant people. This is the 12 tribes of Israel. And even though the kingdom is split, the North 10 tribes and two tribes in the South, God is speaking to everyone that is connected to him by covenant. And he's specifically focusing on Judah, the Southern kingdom, which is Jeremiah's primary focus. And one of the gifts of today's teaching text is that we are going to hear God's word. We are going to hear God speaking. The chapter is going to begin with the words, thus says the Lord. And the words that we hear

will come from the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was set apart from birth to be a prophet of the nations. He would be a prophet who would carry the burden of the Lord, the oracle of God. And for 40 years, 40 years, Jeremiah is going to be faithful to the call of God in his life, even though it isn't outwardly fruitful. He's going to be the weeping prophet. Jeremiah is going to be bold on the outside, but he's going to be broken on the inside as he weeps over the condition of God's people. Jeremiah is the one who's going to tell us that the heart is deceitful, desperately sick, and past finding out. I should also mention that Jeremiah is a creative metaphor pro. Jeremiah is going to call Judah's idols broken cisterns, things that can't hold water. He's going to call Judah a degenerative vine, a donkey in heat. He's going to say that Judah's sins are like a stain that can't be washed out. He's going to say that Judah's like rejected silver. He's going to tell them that they have an incurable wound that can't be healed. And he's going to mock their idols, comparing them to scarecrows in a field with no life. One metaphor after another.

And I didn't even reference Jeremiah's action sermons. Jeremiah is going to smash jars of clay. He's going to wear a yoke around his neck, all in an attempt to recapture the attention and the affections of God's wayward, idolatrous people. And today we're going to get a glimpse of what it means that even in wrath, God remembers mercy by continually to relentlessly make his appeal through the prophet. I beg and implore you today that if you hear his voice, please do not harden your heart. This leads us to today's teaching text, and we will very briefly walk through four movements in the text, and then we'll move into a time of response and lingering. The word of the Lord came to me saying, go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord, I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the Lord. The first fruits of his harvest, all who ate of it incurred guilt. Disaster came upon them, declares the Lord. Notice how God frames the conversation as he sees it in relational terms. Devotion of youth, love as a bride. Israel, you were my first fruits, holy, set apart, consecrated to me and me only. I remember when we were in the wilderness,

how I protected you. Anybody that stepped to you had to deal with me. And I say this respectfully, but it is as if God is looking through the wedding album, remembering the times when the relationship was good, when they were together. And now he's asking, what happened? What happened between us? Why'd you leave? Why'd you drift? Why are you physically in this room, but a hundred miles away from me in your heart? What happened? And we're gonna see very quickly that for God, idolatry isn't just disobedience, breaking some rules. For God, it's adultery. He's gonna say, you left me and you gave your heart to something else. And you gave your heart to someone else. And at the core for God, this is a relational fracture. And this is a covenant breach. This is not canceling Netflix or Hulu. This is a covenant breach. This leads to the second movement in the text. Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob and all the clans of the house of Israel. The Lord is with us, says the Lord. What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me and went after worthlessness and became worthless?

You know this. God doesn't ask questions because he needs information. The questions are diagnostic and an invitation for us to process with him. What wrong did you find in me? And then God's going to recall his no fault and faithful track record. Did you hear the verses in the text? God says, remember when I led you out of Egypt? That was me. Remember when I delivered you from Pharaoh and slavery? That was me. Remember those 10 plagues? That was me. Remember when I led you through the wilderness, the desert, the pits, the darkness, the drought? Remember that water from the rock? That's me. Remember that cloud by day? Remember that fire by night? My presence 24 seven with you, walking with you, covering you, protecting you, guiding you, leading you. It's as if God is saying, what are you forgetting about our relationship that you should be remembering? What are you forgetting about my character and faithfulness that you have forgotten? Friends, it is my experience that the first misstep in losing our footing in freedom is forgetfulness. When my heart is remembering the things I need to forget,

and when my heart is forgetting the things I need to remember, this is the slippery slope and the quickest route to bondage again. This is why feasting on the word is one of our nine distinctives. Reading the word of God, the Bible says that faith comes by the hearing and the hearing of God's word. Psalm 1 says, blessed is the one whose delight is in the law of the Lord, who meditates day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever they do, prospers. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. But when we forget God, it becomes one of the quickest routes back to the yoke of idolatry and slavery. We forget what he's done, we stop giving thanks, and over time, ingratitude gives way to quiet mistrust. Then we begin reaching for a person a place or a thing that seems more immediate and reliable. And for a moment, it provides relief. Hebrews 11, 25 says that sin is pleasurable for a season. And then the law of diminishing return sets in, the idol falls short like everything else, except that now there is the potential that the very thing we reached for, for comfort, the thing we reached for, for identity, the thing we reached for to save us may now actually have us in bondage

because we can't stop and we can't free ourselves. This, my friends, is the anatomy of idolatry. And when we get to verse 12, this leads to our next movement in the text. Verse 12 reads like this. "'Be appalled, O heavens, at this. "'Be shocked, be utterly desolate,' declares the Lord." So if you're tracking, God is like, what happened? What fault did you find in me? Remember how I led you in the way? And he's gonna go on to say that the priests and the prophets and the teachers and the leaders are on the hook for this debacle. And then God does something very strange. You saw it in the teaching text. He calls out to other nations, Cyprus and Cedar. And he says, look, the other nations, they're loyal to their gods, even though their gods are not real. Their gods are not real, but they loyal. And then he looks at his people and he says, you left me the living God and those people are faithful to their gods and their gods don't even talk back to them. Their gods don't even work. Their gods don't even respond to them. And yet you exchanged your glory for fool's gold. And to God, this is a shocking exchange. I believe that it is a shocking exchange because of his choice of vocabulary words.

Uphold, shocked, utterly desolate. This is how God sees it when we switch up on him, when we trade worth and glory for worthlessness. And God is beside himself. I wish you could feel the weight of what's happening here. God is communicating and he's looking at the people and he's looking at the leaders. And then he looks. to the other nations, and in his exasperation, he calls all of heaven's attention, as if to say, does anybody see what I see? Do you see what I see? Be shocked, be appalled. And what we see in the text is that God is revealing his angst and the pain of his heart that the people he loves and the people he chose turn their backs on him. The Hebrew words here speak of the idea of being stunned and horrified and devastated and aghast. I have to be honest with you. When I was preparing and praying for us this weekend, when I got to this portion of the text, I had to stop because this response and these words are a far cry from the way that I name idolatry in my life. I've said these things before, and I've genuinely meant them. I'm going to read a couple of sentences. I don't mean to weaponize. I don't want to pontificate. I don't want to microaggression or whatever, but I have to be honest. There are times when I've said these things and I have genuinely meant them. They are a legitimate description of the circumstance and the season of life, but other times, and probably more than I care to admit, I've said these things to minimize and take the edge off the idolatry that is in my heart. You know, I'm just struggling. I'm wrestling. You know, God knows my heart. God is love. He understands. It's not that bad. Everyone else is doing it. Well, this is just who I am. I can stop whenever I want. I deserve this. It helps me cope. I've been through a lot. I need something. I'm still in control. It's only temporary. It's not an idol. I just enjoy it. I just enjoy it. Friends, what do you do when God commands all of heaven's attention and says, is anybody else seeing this? This is a gap that needs to close in our lives. Is it any wonder why Jeremiah wept? He said, oh, that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slaying of the daughter of my people.

Is it any wonder why Paul wept in Acts chapter 17 and 16? Now, while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, the Bible says that his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols. Is it any wonder why Jesus wept in Luke chapter 19 and 41? When he drew near and he saw the city, he wept over it. Our friend, Corey Russell, often encourages us to pray for the gift of tears. And it is my prayer that maybe tonight that some of you would ask God to provoke you and to give you the gift of tears so that we can weep over the idolatry in our hearts, in our hearts, the idolatry in our homes, the idolatry in our churches, and the idolatry in our regions. This leads us to the final movement in our text, verse 13. For my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. Can you hear his exasperation? My people have forsaken me. God says, I'm like a fountain of living waters. A fountain is active. It is life-giving. It is always flowing. It is perpetual. It is, there's more where that came from. And God is scratching his head, like you broke up with me and you left me for that? A broken cistern that can't hold water. A broken cistern was a, I'm sorry, a cistern was a man-made reservoir carved out of stone and it was designed to collect rainwater. These folks didn't have the luxury that we do here in New York City, where we could turn on the faucet and get water with a pinch of lead and fluoride.

And so what they would do in case God didn't provide the rain, or if they needed a contingency plan, they would build these containers and the rainwater would come and they would catch whatever they could catch. And I wonder how many of us in this room build our own version of a container to catch whatever we can catch, just in case it doesn't work out with God, we have a little something on the side. And God says, you left a fountain for stagnant, dirty, muddy water. And if that were not enough, your cistern, the thing that you built with your hand, it's broken, which means it can't even contain what you're trying to capture. And so when you go back to the cistern, because it's broken, the water that you tried to capture leaks and it's all gone. It is my hope and prayer that if you're in this room tonight, the best thing that you can do is to admit the fact that the thing that you've built, the life that you've built, the thing you thought was going to give you satisfaction, if you can admit that it's not working, that is your first step to freedom. God is using this image as an indictment against his people. This is what God thinks about idolatry.

And I'm sorry that I'm not always as shocked and appalled as God is about my unfaithfulness in the relationship. Musicians, please come. In closing, you're not gonna believe this, but after everything that God said in chapter two, we turn the page to Jeremiah chapter three, and the language becomes even more direct. God is gonna say, not only did you forsake me for broken cisterns, but you polluted the land that I gave you with your unfaithfulness. God is going to empty the clip. He does not mince his words. He fully exposes the depth of Judah's idolatry and adultery. And yet, if you can believe this, three times in the chapter, we're going to see God in wrath, remembering mercy. In the middle of his indictment, in the middle of his frustration, in the middle of his exasperation, it's as if his heart is bleeding, and he's telling them what they're doing, and he's shocked, and he's appalled. And then he says in verse. 12, return, faithless Israel. Then he goes two more verses. And then he says, return, all faithless children. And then he says a few more things that are not good about them

and about their current condition. And it's as if the hound of heaven can't contain himself. And he says, if you return, I'll heal your faithlessness and I'll heal your back sliding. Three times, return, return, return. Turn to your neighbor and just say, return. Turn to your other neighbor and say, return. Can you just say it for a few more minutes? Fill the atmosphere with the word, return, return. Again, return, good, you go. Return, return, return, return, return, return, return. Return, return, return, return, return, return, return. This is the invitation that is on offer for us today. Romans chapter two and verse four, it says that God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance, to return us back home to the father. I'll close with this. In Luke chapter 15, you know the story of the prodigal son. I noticed recently, I don't think this is, I just think it is what it is, but whenever we talk about the prodigal son, we talk about him getting home and getting a robe and a ring and sandals and a fattened calf and a party. And I think that's because we're in New York and if somebody says party, we're like, where? But I've been struck in the most beautiful way about the sequence of what actually happens.

And this is my prayer for us today that this would happen for some of us in the room. The Bible says that the father saw him. If you know the story of the prodigal son, he basically takes all of the resources that the father gave him prematurely and basically said, I don't need you. I know what I need and I'm gonna go get mine. That's why some of you came to New York. I'm here, I'm gonna do me, I'm gonna get to it. And they take all of the resources and he runs. The Bible says he goes to a far country and he squandered all of his wealth in wild living. And because he reached the moment that God wanted the people in Jeremiah's day, the son realizes that the thing he had put his trust in is broken and it's not working. And so he has enough sins. The Bible says he came to himself. He starts to make his way back home. And the Bible says that when we draw near to God, he will draw near to us. Do you know what the father does? The father doesn't wait for him to come all the way home. The Bible says that the father saw him and that the father was moved with compassion. And I don't know what you're struggling with in the room. I don't know what your habit, your addiction, I don't know what your struggle is, but I hope you can hear the heart of God

being moved with compassion for you. If you're in this room and you're in the sound of my voice or you're watching online, I believe that the reason why you're here is because you have a divine appointment with the father tonight. The Bible says that he was moved with compassion and he ran to him and he embraced him and he kissed him. The return wasn't to stuff, the return was to the father. Father, the return is not to church of the city. The return is not to religion. The return is to relationship with God, with Jesus. Thomas Chalmers says this, the only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one. It has been my experience that the idols in my life have lost power as my heart has been captured and enraptured by the person of Jesus over and over and over again. When we truly see him for who he is, our lesser loves begin to lose their grip. And I think that this is why St. Augustine of Hippo could say on the other side of his idolatry, thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee. Jesus is going to echo this invitation to return in John chapter seven. If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scriptures have said,

out of his heart will flow the rivers of living water. Could I ask you to bow your heads all over this room? In a moment, Reagan's gonna come and lead us. But I want to, with every head bowed, every eye closed, I do wanna ask a simple question. I know that the Lord's gonna use Reagan to lead us in a time of prayer, and she'll mention a couple of things and invite people forward to pray. But I am particularly curious about one group of people tonight. And it is the person or the persons in the room. Maybe you have questions about the relationship with God, and we can get to that. But the question that I felt to ask the room tonight is is there anyone in the room that would be willing to at least admit that the cistern in their life is broken and that they've come to the end of themselves and that life is not working for them right now? And with every head bowed and every eye closed, I'm wondering if you would be courageous enough to say, Pastor Ralph, that's me. Yep, lift up your hand and put it down, thank you. Yep, see you, yep. Look at all these beautiful hands, yeah. Yeah, pretty overwhelming. Yeah. I love doing church in this building. You may not know this,

but this is one of the first churches that housed the 12 Steps. If you know anything about the 12 Steps, the first one, the most important one, is when you acknowledge that you're powerless and you need help. And I'm tired of people saying, I know it's pithy and I kind of get the point, so I'm not hating, but people say, we gotta get the basement into the sanctuary. What they're trying to say is that people in the basement in the 12 Steps are more honest than the people in the sanctuary, but not at Church of the City at 6 p.m. Because I just saw hands go up all over this room. So a few moments. Let's make this the safest place on earth. The presence of the Lord is here. Can I invite you to stand to your feet?