July 27, 2025 - Seventh Sunday after Pentecost: You Are What You Worship
July 27, 2025 Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
Psalm 135:13-21 Isaiah 6:1-13
“You Are What You Worship”
Melissa K. Smith
Growing up my mom said that the only thing worse than my sister and I fighting, was my sister and I getting along. Megan and I have a way of feeding off of each other’s energy, of living into our shared experiences, and being ourselves fully and loudly when we are together. I don’t intentionally change when I am around her, it just sort of happens.
We are influenced by who we spend time with – and they are influenced by us. I think it is most noticeable for our youth; they are influenced by their peers – it’s human nature. But what influences us is not just our social group or our families; we are influenced by what we see, what we hear, and what we spend our time doing. There is a career that is quite literally called, “influencer” – they post on social media about different places they’ve been or products they’ve tried – because the market understands how influenceable humanity is.
Last week I asked the question, “Who or what do you worship?” and I named that how we spend our time, our talent, and our treasure is a sign of who or what we worship. Our priorities are reflections of how we direct our worship. Why does this matter? Because we are influenced by who or what we worship – by who or what we spend our time, talent, and treasure on. In other words, we become what we worship…we are what we worship.
We can fall so easily into the trap of idolatry, of worshiping anything or anyone above God. It is not the most glamorous of topics, but if we don’t talk about it, if we don’t learn about it, then we are not giving ourselves the opportunity to know better.
The passage we read in Isaiah is famous and challenging. As we hear Isaiah’s call to ministry, we also hear his assignment – and it’s tough: “Go and say to this people: ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’ Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes and listen with their ears and comprehend with their minds and turn and be healed.’”
This passage does not seem to speak to idolatry on the surface – but it does. Throughout scripture idolaters were described as those who could not see or hear. On the one hand, they have lost sight of God in the midst of their idol worship. They have turned away from him so they no longer see or hear God.
On the other hand, they have become what they worship. Idols, especially idols that are fashioned and made are wood, or silver, or gold. They cannot see, they cannot hear. God is commanding Isaiah to say to the people of Israel, “you are no better than the idols you worship.”
Isaiah’s passage sounds similar to what Barbara read for us in the 135th Psalm. The Psalmist writes, “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear, a nose, but there is no breath in their mouths. Those who make them and all who trust them shall become like them.”
The Psalmist names that those who make the idols shall become like them.
God’s word to Israel feels deeply harsh and unloving. Israel has sinned over and over again and has not repented and does not wish to repent. So God’s word to them is, “okay – go – you like your idols, so go be like your idols”. His punishment is to give them what they want. This tends to be how God punishes the unrepentant. In Romans 1, Paul says, “Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts…”
Last week and this week’s readings have had quite a few instances of God’s wrath and punishment. God’s wrath is not antithetical to his love. His wrath comes from his love. He loves his people so much – it hurts when we do not obey his commandments and worship him.
From the beginning of the law the people of God have known this. In Exodus 20 we read of the ten commandments, “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…” God was saying this to the people he saved from slavery in Egypt.
God has saved his people again and again and again. And what do we do? We turn from him. Every Sunday we hear that God loves us so much that he sent his son into this world to die for us so that we may have new life through him. He saved us. How do we respond?
If we do not worship God, if we put others before our God, we will become like the idols, unable to see or hear or experience God’s love moving in and through his kingdom and consumed by the lifeless idol we have chosen to exalt over God.
We become what we worship.
G.K. Beale, We Become What We Worship (Intervarsity Press, 2008), 47.
Imagine who we will become when we worship God?
God is love – 1 John says, “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.”
If we worship God, who is love, we will love and understand love in new and powerful ways.
God is slow to anger and abounds in steadfast love. He describes himself in Exodus 34 saying, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…”
If we worship God, who is merciful and gracious and slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness – we too will become merciful and gracious.
The list goes on and on - God is faithful, God is just, God is good. Are we?
We were made in the image and likeness of God. It is in our nature to be like God. When we worship idols – obvious idols or subtle idols like productivity, success, technology, and media – we are becoming something against our nature. We are perverting our own image. We reflect who we worship. Who do you reflect? Is it God? Is it an idol?
Let us worship God and let us become like God. Let us glorify God and let us worship God. Let us sing praises to God – for God is good, God is merciful, God has saved us, and God continues to forgive us. Let us turn to God and away from our sin, away from idolatry.
We are easily influenced. May we be influenced by the one true God.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
Psalm 135:13-21 Isaiah 6:1-13
“You Are What You Worship”
Melissa K. Smith
Growing up my mom said that the only thing worse than my sister and I fighting, was my sister and I getting along. Megan and I have a way of feeding off of each other’s energy, of living into our shared experiences, and being ourselves fully and loudly when we are together. I don’t intentionally change when I am around her, it just sort of happens.
We are influenced by who we spend time with – and they are influenced by us. I think it is most noticeable for our youth; they are influenced by their peers – it’s human nature. But what influences us is not just our social group or our families; we are influenced by what we see, what we hear, and what we spend our time doing. There is a career that is quite literally called, “influencer” – they post on social media about different places they’ve been or products they’ve tried – because the market understands how influenceable humanity is.
Last week I asked the question, “Who or what do you worship?” and I named that how we spend our time, our talent, and our treasure is a sign of who or what we worship. Our priorities are reflections of how we direct our worship. Why does this matter? Because we are influenced by who or what we worship – by who or what we spend our time, talent, and treasure on. In other words, we become what we worship…we are what we worship.
We can fall so easily into the trap of idolatry, of worshiping anything or anyone above God. It is not the most glamorous of topics, but if we don’t talk about it, if we don’t learn about it, then we are not giving ourselves the opportunity to know better.
The passage we read in Isaiah is famous and challenging. As we hear Isaiah’s call to ministry, we also hear his assignment – and it’s tough: “Go and say to this people: ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’ Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes and listen with their ears and comprehend with their minds and turn and be healed.’”
This passage does not seem to speak to idolatry on the surface – but it does. Throughout scripture idolaters were described as those who could not see or hear. On the one hand, they have lost sight of God in the midst of their idol worship. They have turned away from him so they no longer see or hear God.
On the other hand, they have become what they worship. Idols, especially idols that are fashioned and made are wood, or silver, or gold. They cannot see, they cannot hear. God is commanding Isaiah to say to the people of Israel, “you are no better than the idols you worship.”
Isaiah’s passage sounds similar to what Barbara read for us in the 135th Psalm. The Psalmist writes, “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear, a nose, but there is no breath in their mouths. Those who make them and all who trust them shall become like them.”
The Psalmist names that those who make the idols shall become like them.
God’s word to Israel feels deeply harsh and unloving. Israel has sinned over and over again and has not repented and does not wish to repent. So God’s word to them is, “okay – go – you like your idols, so go be like your idols”. His punishment is to give them what they want. This tends to be how God punishes the unrepentant. In Romans 1, Paul says, “Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts…”
Last week and this week’s readings have had quite a few instances of God’s wrath and punishment. God’s wrath is not antithetical to his love. His wrath comes from his love. He loves his people so much – it hurts when we do not obey his commandments and worship him.
From the beginning of the law the people of God have known this. In Exodus 20 we read of the ten commandments, “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…” God was saying this to the people he saved from slavery in Egypt.
God has saved his people again and again and again. And what do we do? We turn from him. Every Sunday we hear that God loves us so much that he sent his son into this world to die for us so that we may have new life through him. He saved us. How do we respond?
If we do not worship God, if we put others before our God, we will become like the idols, unable to see or hear or experience God’s love moving in and through his kingdom and consumed by the lifeless idol we have chosen to exalt over God.
We become what we worship.
G.K. Beale, We Become What We Worship (Intervarsity Press, 2008), 47.
Imagine who we will become when we worship God?
God is love – 1 John says, “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.”
If we worship God, who is love, we will love and understand love in new and powerful ways.
God is slow to anger and abounds in steadfast love. He describes himself in Exodus 34 saying, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…”
If we worship God, who is merciful and gracious and slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness – we too will become merciful and gracious.
The list goes on and on - God is faithful, God is just, God is good. Are we?
We were made in the image and likeness of God. It is in our nature to be like God. When we worship idols – obvious idols or subtle idols like productivity, success, technology, and media – we are becoming something against our nature. We are perverting our own image. We reflect who we worship. Who do you reflect? Is it God? Is it an idol?
Let us worship God and let us become like God. Let us glorify God and let us worship God. Let us sing praises to God – for God is good, God is merciful, God has saved us, and God continues to forgive us. Let us turn to God and away from our sin, away from idolatry.
We are easily influenced. May we be influenced by the one true God.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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