2004-11-21 Communion Dedication - Baldwin Christian Church

This is a continuation of "Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God" (Deut 12:4).

Isaiah 40:18-26

18. To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
19. The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
20. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
21. Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22. It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
23. That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
24. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25. To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
26. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

Whenever I hear someone say the name of Jesus, an image of Him always pops into my mind. Sometimes I wonder what this image would look like if I were never exposed to art, if I only could only rely on the Scriptures and my imagination. If my mind's eye could paint that image of Jesus, it would probably be very different than the one I see now, the one created by the God-given skillful hands of painters, sculptors, and movie makers. If I put out of my mind all the artist's conceptions of Jesus, where can I find a picture of Him? The Holy Scriptures.

Jesus said that because He liked to eat and drink, the people accused Him of being a glutton and a winebibber (Matt 11:19). The scriptures tell us that many women followed Jesus, ministering unto Him, and I have to believe they were all good cooks (Matt 27:55). Indeed, as Jesus explained to His disciples at Jacob's well, His true nourishment was to do the will of the Father, and to finish His work (John 4:34), but maybe He wasn't as skinny as we think He was.

The scriptures tell us that the same people who sat with Jesus and listened to Him teach daily in the temple (Matt 26:55) needed Judas to point Him out with a kiss so they could arrest Him (Matt 26:48). (Apparently Jesus was average height, because He didn't stand out in a crowd.) Isaiah 53:2 ...he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. (This is really hard to reconcile with His handsome, blue-eyed, Anglo-Saxon appearance in paintings, sculptures and movies. Do we believe them, or do we believe the written Word of God?) Isaiah foretold of Jesus' crucifixion, and how He would appear more disfigured than any man, even beyond recognition (Isaiah 52:14).

God knows my weaknesses. He knows that my eyes like to play tricks on my mind. My ears hear what they want to hear, and I have the same problem with my eyes. God knows that whenever I walk by a picture of Jesus, immediately I think, "Jesus." Why do I think that? Because when I was little child, someone told me, "That's Jesus." I would rather see an image of the cute little baby Jesus in a manger than see Him stomping out the grapes of wrath. I'd rather see the handsome-looking portraits of Him as a healthy man, than see Him as a lamb slain (Rev 5:6). If I were completely honest with myself, I would even prefer to look at Him on the cross than look at the image of Him in Revelation, with eyes flaming judgment, and His mouth bearing the sword that cuts both ways (Rev 1:13-18, Rev 19:11-15).

We tell ourselves that graven images are only associated with idolatry, and that's true, but when we say that they're used for worshipping false gods, that may only be half-true. The second commandment reads: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth (Exodus 20:4). Then verse 5 says, "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God..." We would never think that we're worshipping an image of Jesus hanging on the wall, but are we being honest with ourselves? When I hang up a picture of Jesus in that "special place" in my house, is it really anything more than just another item in my twelve-step program to achieving holiness? Is it better to nail an image of Jesus on the wall of my house, or drop everything, pick up my cross, and follow Him (Matt 19:21)?

God knows our weaknesses. He personally buried Moses to keep the devil from having a heyday with all the people who would eagerly travel for miles just to see, but "not to worship" the bones of Moses (Deut 34:6, Jude 9). When Hezekiah became king of Judah, one of his first orders of business was to destroy the brass serpent on a pole that Moses had made almost 800 years before, because the children of Israel were burning incense to it (2 Kings 18:4). Moses made the image with his hands, and it became a symbol of healing power even unto this day. Very little has changed. We still lean toward a greater faith in the instruments of healing (the drugs, the diets, and the doctors) more than we lean on the Great Physician Himself, the true source of healing. In this, God is forgotten, but take heart because He still knows our weaknesses.

The Shroud of Turin, supposedly the actual burial cloth of Jesus, still retains an image of His face. For quite some time I was unsure about the authenticity of this "Holy" artifact, that is, until I re-read the Scriptures. John 20:7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. God knew there would be a "Shroud of Turin." I believe He inserted this verse to tell us that there were two parts of the burial wrap, the body and head being wrapped seperately, so we could know that the one-piece Shroud of Turin is not the image of Jesus.

God knows our weaknesses. As of last night, at the internet auction site, eBay, the bids were up to over $15,000.00 for a ten-year-old, partially-eaten grilled cheese sandwich that features an image of (you guessed it) Mary, the mother of Jesus.

You might be saying, "OK Tony, what's your point? I don't bow down to pictures of Jesus." My response would be, "Good. Those images are made with man's hands, so they're false images. Are they images of other gods? I don't know, but why take a chance?"

Does this mean that I'm on some sort of crusade, looking around for images of Jesus to tear down? No, that would be just plain weird. Does this mean that I make judgments about people who keep pictures of Jesus in their home? No, but the question I have to keep asking myself is, "Is it wise for me to dance on the fine line between holding on to images and actually bowing down to them?" Do I really want to take chances with the things of God, of eternity? Is it worth it? Should I tiptoe around His command not to diminish or add to His Word, after He's told me not to (Deut 12:32)?

Do you think it pleases satan whenever I waste precious time and money on images, or anything that distracts from being a good steward, a profitable servant? Sure. Does it please satan whenever I get on a "holier than thou" kick, acting legalistic and judgmental? Absolutely.

Only you and God know what's in your heart right now. I wonder how Jesus feels when we walk past a picture of Him and remember Him. Does it do His heart good, or does He wonder why we needed a picture? Does it do His heart good when we remember Him each week during the communion service, or does He wonder why we forgot Him during the week?

If we want to stick to doing that which is good, we must first abhor that which is evil (Romans 12:9). The kingdom of God stands on the ruins of the devil's kingdom. When God says in Deuteronomy 12:4, "Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God," He means it. The One who created everything cannot be honored with the works of men's hands, so in spirit and in truth, we must honor Him with our hearts (John 4:24).