The Build-A-God Workshop

Everyone loves a good success story. Don’t you? This one comes right out of St. Louis. In 1997 Maxine Clark opened her first store in the Galleria shopping center. Today there are over four hundred all across the world. Chances are you may have even been to one yourself. Here is how it works. First, you chose from over thirty different types of bears or assortment of animals. Next, you stuff it, stitch it, fluff it, dress it, accessorize it and name it. And now you have your berry own bear. To prove this and that this is your creation you even get to print up a birth certificate. This is your creation. What is the name of this great store? That’s right. It’s the Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Now in our Old Testament lesson for today we hear God speaking to his people as they are in exile. You remember the exile right? Having ignored God and the warnings of his prophets for too long, the Babylonians finally come in and destroy the city of Jerusalem. They destroy the temple. They take the rich people, the important people, the leaders and warriors and they relocate them back to Babylon. It was terrible. It was awful. It is one of the worse things that the people could have imagined, and now it is their reality.

It is in this situation; it is in this place that God’s word comes. Because while the people were in Babylon, they got themselves caught up in a building kind of a place. Only they are not building their berry own bears. They are building their very own gods. And so God reminds them in verse six of this text that there is only one God and that he is the King of Israel, the Redeemer, The Lord of Hosts, The First and the Last.

He is the King of Israel, and indeed of the entire creation. At this point when they are in exile they no longer have their king. That’s kind of a big deal for them. And yet, in the midst of what seems to be a rather hopeless situation, here is God, Yahweh, the Lord, their King. Ruling and reigning on their behalf. He will bring them out of this exile in a new exodus and will thus prove to them again that he is king of all.

Yahweh is also their Redeemer. The word that Isaiah uses here describes a specific concept that is somewhat foreign to us. The kinsman redeemer was a member of the family who would “avenge the blood” of someone who had been murdered. They would also buy back, this is what the word “redeem” means, they would buy back property or an enslaved family member. This is the member of the family who uses his powers and abilities to help those in need.

So when God says that he is the Redeemer of his people, there are some pretty powerful things going on here. This is the word and image that is also used to describe the exodus. Isaiah uses it to talk about God bringing back the people from exile.

The title Lord of Hosts, carries with it a military picture. You could also say “General Yahweh.” God is commander of the armies of heaven and Israel. He is victories over his enemies. Our God is the first and the last. There is no other god. He alone is God.

This is the God who is talking here in Isaiah. He is the King of Israel, the redeemer, the Lord of hosts, the first and the last. There is no other God beside him. He is the solid rock. Anything else is sinking sand.

And yet, for some reason, God’s people didn’t quite catch on to this as quickly as you might expect. Why? Because they were spending too much time in Babylon’s Build-A-God workshop. This process is described in verses 13-17. A tree is cut down. Half of it is used to make a fire; to keep warm, and to cook food. The other half is used to make an image that is bowed down to, prayed to, and worshiped. The names of the main Babylonian gods were Bel and Nebo. Bel had the title King of the Universe. Nebo was his son, and was the one who gave wisdom and understanding.

Now, before we come down too hard on the exiles here, it would be good for us to remember that this Build-A-God trouble is not limited to ancient Babylon. These people are not the only ones who wrestle with creating their own gods. This is a problem that plagues all people everywhere.

There is a part of us that likes to make God in my own image. We conceive of this in our minds, build with our hands, chose how it will look and add our own preferences and we have our berry own god. This is a god who likes what I like, hates what I hate and shares all of my opinions. This is a god who increases my standard of living and happiness. This is a god who gives me what I want, when I want it and the rest of the time just stays out of the way.

You see it is not the territory of ancient Babylon where the Build-A-God worship originated, it is within the human heart. Luther writes in his explanation to the first commandment in the large catechism that whatever we put our trust in is our god. Whatever it is that we look to for comfort, help and strength, that is our god.

This is so easy for us to do that we might not ever be aware that it is happening when it does happen. What do you put your trust in? What do you look to for comfort, help and strength? Is it your bank account or portfolio? Perhaps it could be a job or some status that you enjoy. Could it be your education or pursuit of knowledge? Maybe it is another person or a relationship that you have with someone.

Now don’t get me wrong. These things are not bad in and of themselves. There is nothing wrong with them. But when we begin to place our trust in them and look to them for our security. Well, then we have turned these things into gods and put them in the place of the one true God. We have made them idols, and that is not a good thing.

The word that Isaiah uses to describe the idols here is the same word for “pain.” It is used to describe what happened to Eve in childbearing and to Adam in working the ground. When we go after idols it leaves us with nothing but pain, misery and emptiness. The things that we can so easily set up as gods in our lives are things that can’t hear us or help us. They do not last and are part of the creation themselves.

So what do we do with this situation that seems to be quite hopeless? Well, I am glad you asked. Listen to the word from our God in Isaiah. “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘ I am the first and the last; besides me there is no god.”

You see, these words to God’s people in exile meant that there was hope for them. That God would bring them back out of that terrible spot that they found themselves in. But it means more than that. Because God does not just save from enemies on earth, he also saves from the powers of sin, death and the devil. Each of these titles applies also to Jesus.

God promised David that his descendants would sit on the throne forever. This is fulfilled in Jesus. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. On Ascension Sunday we celebrated how Jesus rules and reigns on behalf of his church so that we can confidently be about our mission. He is our Redeemer who has taken the burden of our sins and paid the price; not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood, and with his innocent suffering and death.

In the Garden, when they came to arrest him, Jesus said that he could have at once, at his request, twelve legions of angels. In the book of Revelation we see Jesus at the end waging war against the enemies of the church and being victorious. It is also in that book that the title “First and Last” is given to him. Thus, there is no doubt that Jesus is indeed God in the flesh.

This God who is real and alive, who is so powerful and who rules and reigns shows his power most in the last place anyone would ever expect to find it; on a cross. Because he bled and died in our place, Jesus demonstrates that he alone is able to heal our hurts, forgive our filth, and defeat our death.

No idol is able to do this. Nothing else that we would place our trust in could accomplish this. No wonder the Bible says that idols are nothing , because a cross-less god is no god at all. A god who doesn’t suffer, a god who knows no agony, a god who doesn’t die—this is a god without grace, a god who cannot deliver, and a god who offers no hope and no future.

But this is not our Jesus! He is crucified, but risen indeed! So it is time to turn in our tools, stop building substitutes, throw away the idols, and never, ever again do business at a build-a-god workshop. In so doing we fill find life; rich, abundant, the way it was meant to be lived. And may that life be a source of hope and strength and comfort for you. Now and always. Now that is a good success story. Amen.