You may be familiar with the countless prophecies of the Old Testament. Sometimes, prophets warned God’s people to repent and remember their covenant. Other times, a prophet would act as a literal “mouthpiece” of God, articulating what God’s heart looks like in a theological sense. And still other times, prophets spoke about events that might come in the future. This is probably the most common understanding of prophecy, and it is worth considering as I elaborate more on Sunday’s sermon.

Christians throughout the ages have argued that many of these Old Testament prophecies point towards the coming of Jesus in the gospels. When we read about a “suffering servant” in Isaiah, we make the connection with Christ suffering on the cross. When God speaks through a prophet about reconciling all creation, we understand that to mean God would bring about salvation through the church, instead of a political country like Israel back in the day. In this sense, one of the important purposes of prophecy is for God to proclaim a new reality that will come about in the future.

Jesus famously quoted Isaiah 61 in Luke 4 as he began his ministry:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus essentially claimed that prophecy in the temple that day long ago–and I’m sure the people were very excited. As we saw on Sunday, in Matthew 16 Peter talked about how many ancient folks assumed Jesus to be a prophet or a great leader. Such expectations were common during biblical times. Many were well aware of Isaiah’s words about God’s coming kingdom. But the problem many faced during the time of Jesus was that they had very narrow expectations for a messiah.

If you read more of Isaiah 61, it is possible to interpret this messianic prophecy as one where a “savior” would overthrow Caesar or some other leader. (Keep in mind that the Roman empire occupied the holy land at the time). So there were many devout Israelites who believed that the true messiah would be a strong military leader who would bring about liberation. We often overlook the other verses in Isaiah 61, but they do arguably support this political revolution:

• v. 2b “[to proclaim] the day of the Lord’s vengeance.” Surely a messiah would bring God’s punishment on Israel’s enemies!
• v. 5 “Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.” In other words, Israel would enslave others for their enjoyment and prosperity.
• v. 6b “You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.” Many interpreted verses like these to mean that finally, Israel would rule over all other nations.

All this is preface to say that Jesus didn’t exactly meet the expectations of many people during his ministry on earth. Jesus announced that God’s day had come, but that it would be blessing instead of a day of vengeance. Many people assumed that Jesus would lead a violent revolt against Roman occupation. I imagine a lot of people were excited to see what this Jesus character would do, and if he would truly make Isaiah 61 a literal reality. Other “messiahs” had tried and failed, so would Jesus be different? I think this is why Jesus was ultimately sent to the cross during his public trial–people saw how different he was and that he wouldn’t physically bring freedom from Rome.

We still struggle with the same temptation today, too. We like to hoard God’s blessings to ourselves instead of sharing them with others. We are perfectly content with having enemies, instead of praying for them. And we like to think we are fine just the way we are, instead of repenting and asking God for forgiveness. We want prophecy according to our own standards, instead of God’s standards and plan.

But instead, Jesus is so much more than our human expectations. We might be tempted to define Jesus as a tool to suit our own ends, whether that be at the ballot box or in our bank account. We love to use God for our benefit instead of serving Christ alone.

We must always remember that Jesus’ lordship is much greater than our earthly expectations. Jesus is more than a man, teacher, tool, or get-out-of-hell-free-card. Jesus ought to be our savior, guiding us each and every day. We will still face adversities, tragedies, and challenges in life, but never forget that Christ is with us.

It seems as though with every national tragedy or crisis, we rarely have a biblical reaction to unfolding events. Instead of looking to scripture for hope, we rush to our usual political talking points. Instead of praying for people, we yell at one another. And instead of operating out of the love of Christ (who calls us to pray for and love our enemies), we get fearful above all else and think that punishing criminals will bring us salvation.

People in the Old Testament struggled with idolatry and false gods. There are countless examples of humanity’s infidelity to God, from Aaron and the golden calf in Exodus, to Baal worship during the time of the kings. I mention idolatry because I don’t think these various idols exactly “died off” once time passed. Of course, there is obviously no First Temple of Baal in Lonoke, but we still have these false gods in our lives.

A modern day example of idolatry has to do with the golden calf of Exodus. It seems as though the ancient cow got a makeover and upgrade, and now has a permanent home on Wall Street. I think this is a subtle example of how we idolize sins like greed. We desire more money, resources, and power above all else… just like a charging, unstoppable bull.

Author Gary Wills reflected on this concept of false gods after the Newtown shooting in 2012. He wrote about an ancient deity called Moloch. I find myself coming back to his article with each mass shooting as I process the tragedy.

In the Old Testament, Moloch was a demonic force of absolute chaos and violence. Devotees to Moloch practiced their pagan religion by sacrificing their own children. Specifically, they would burn their young ones alive on an altar fire. This is why some of the laws forbidding Moloch worship in books like Leviticus are so strict and punitive. To pursue this false, evil god meant that you would consider all sorts of deranged violence, including killing your own children.

The Old Testament folks might sound kind of backwards and delusional. But I firmly believe that Moloch-worship is still around today. We may not use that specific name anymore (or have a burning altar), but we still treat violence like an idol. We think that violence can save us–it is a “god.” We simply accept things like murder and assault as tragic realities. We are tempted to treat guns as idols and even develop a deep sense of reverence around self-defense, firearms, rights, and personal property. Idols can make us do some strange things. Moloch in the Old Testament led people to burn children. And violence today leads us to believe that assorted metal, plastic, and gunpowder can give us the ultimate protection and salvation.

The murderer thinks that his or her problems will go away if they just “take someone out.” School shooters think that salvation can come through the media fame and attention they’ll receive after carrying out a horrendous act. We cling to the belief that more bombs can somehow bring about world peace if we just annihilate all the people we don’t like. And even on an individual, everyday level, we think that if our enemy were to just get beat up and humiliated, that would solve our problems. Instead of trusting in God alone, we think that violence offers a solution.

There were 346 mass shootings in 2017. As well all know, violence is of course not limited to these tragic incidents. Over 15,000 die in gun homicides each year. Even more (22,000+) people will use a gun this year to commit suicide (and that number continues to grow). And there are usually several thousand unintentional shootings each year as a result of people failing to exercise proper safety measures.

Violence worship, or Moloch, is indeed very common in our world.

And just like in the Old Testament, Children are probably the most noteworthy victims of this cultural cycle of violence. With each school shooting, children feel less safe. With each suicide or neighborhood shooting, a child loses a mom or dad. With each careless accident, a family may be torn apart in an instant.

I’m neither a politician nor social scientist wonk, so I doubt I can contribute much to the gun debate on a policy level. But as a pastor, it is my job to think theologically about social issues. I am aware of when things creep into our lives as idols. Items like guns can quickly become idols without us even realizing it. Ideas like violence are frequent idols, too.

Christians are called to reject idolatry in all forms. It doesn’t matter if it is the greed associated with a golden calf statue on Wall Street, or even a gun itself. There are countless things in our world that demand our worship, attention, and devotion. In ancient Israel, these idols were physical statues. Today, the same evil powers are still at work, too. Don’t let these things get in the way of Jesus. Christ alone is our true and only hope for salvation.

I’ve referenced CS Lewis several times in my preaching and bible studies, and you probably have heard of this famous theologian and author before, too. Lewis wrote books like the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Screwtape Letters, and Mere Christianity. There’s another book he wrote, The Four Loves, which ties in perfectly with our discussion on love in 1 Corinthians 13.

Yesterday I preached on how we tend to think of love as simply having to do with feelings. We think romantic love is all that is important, and almost always look to other humans to set the standard for this virtue.

But the work of CS Lewis can help broaden our understanding of love itself. In The Four Loves, Lewis explores how in a biblical sense, there are several different kinds of love and words used to describe it. There are actually four different words for love in scriptures and church history, all with slightly different meanings. Here’s an outline of what these mean for us…

1. Fondness (or storge in Greek): Lewis describes this as “affection of parents to offspring; but also of offspring to parents” and other family members. We see this all around us, from a mother nursing a young child, to even animals caring for their young and fellow species. This sense of fondness or affection is a common example of love in our world. We feel affection towards family members and people we were raised with. Lewis argues that this is the most humble of all the ways to love someone. Storge or fondness is very common.
2. Friendship (or philia in Greek): Perhaps philia or companionship might sound familiar–after all, the city of Philadelphia is known as the city of “brotherly love.” This kind of love is between two friends. It goes deeper than simply being nice to someone, but actively seeks to develop a long-lasting relationship with him or her. CS Lewis argued that friendship is a tough thing to develop in our world, simply because we often view friends as optional. But any fulfilling life ought to have a handful of people you care about deeply, whether that be a close sibling or neighbor. Philia love is deeper than simple affection or caring. It actively seeks to better another individual and has a deeper sense of relationship.
3. Romance/Erotic (or eros in Greek): Lewis says that eros is “the state in which lovers are in.” This is perhaps the most common idea we have when we think of love–romantic movies, love stories, longing to find “the one” in life. In addition to affection, caring for others, and companionship, eros love values one’s partner. Romantic love is much deeper than lust. Instead, in a Christian sense, we ought to glorify God through the covenant of marriage by loving our spouse as Christ loves us.
4. “God” love/charity (or agape in Greek): We cannot forget the theological truth that without God’s love, we are nothing. We know what love is through the act of Christ on the cross (1 John 3:16). Lewis argued that agape love is self-sacrifical love, just like what Jesus did for us in dying to redeem us. All the other loves, whether that be love for family, a friend, or a husband or wife, really amount to nothing if we do not understand the true love God has for us. Lewis said that none of the other loves can ever replace God’s love for us (even if we enjoy experiencing storge, philia, or eros love). God’s agape love must always guide all these other relationships!

We often face difficulties in life when we confuse these different kinds of love. For instance, we are tempted to think that a family bond of fondness is the most important thing in life. Or we might fall into the trap of thinking that romantic love, eros, is supreme. Instead, we must always remember that God’s unconditional, agape love is the most important. Without it, we are absolutely nothing. And if we don’t use God’s love to influence the other kinds of love in our life, we’ll face troubles, too.

CS Lewis’ The Four Loves teaches us that love goes in ascending order. It is important to have family bonds, friendships, and/or a partner. But we should never forget the most important love of all: God’s love for us!