Preparing for INTERACT
Welcome newcomers into the group and catch up on what you've been up to this week.
Then start your discussion with this question:
What objects do you think play a central role in contemporary life? What is it about these objects that make them so important?
INTERACT//The Arts
During the rise of 'Pop-Art' in the 50s and 60s, Richard Hamilton exhibited this collage piece as part of a group show called 'This is Home' held at the Whitechapel Gallery. Hamilton recontextualises found images from magazines and catalogues and draws them together to critique (or celebrate?) the endless optimism of post-war consumerism and technological growth. The work playfully draws in branded objects and images from advertisements, which, coupled with the sexualised bodies at the centre of the room, seems to suggest the growing centrality of 'desire' in everyday life. Read more about this work here.
Discuss:
What are your initial thoughts on this work?
What story might the work be trying to tell?
Do you think this work critiques or celebrates consumer culture? Why?
Many have interpreted this piece as a depiction of a modern-day Adam and Eve, how does this suggested interpretation impact your understanding of the work?
INTERACT//The Word
Read:
Exodus 20: 4-5
4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.
Exodus 32 v 1-8
1 When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”
2 So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5 Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!”
6 The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.
7 The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
Short Reflection:
The commandment found in Exodus 20 not to create graven images has long caused difficulty for Christians - is this a complete prohibition of image making? Well, this is unlikely as we see later in Exodus God sanctioning the creation of images, representational works of berries, angels, flowers etc., for the decoration of the Tabernacle. The creation of the Golden Calf in Exodus 32 however, unlocks the real purpose of God's commandment against image-making. God doesn't place a commandment against image creation but against the worship of images. He sees that as a consequence of human rebellion against Him, the human heart is now inclined to worship things from creation rather than the Creator. So He declares to the people of Israel as He gives them His ten commandments in Exodus 20 that if they are to follow Him, they can not also worship man-made things.
We see the breaking of this commandment played out as Aaron and the Israelites wait for Moses to return from His meeting with God on Mount Sinai (where he is ironically receiving the Ten Commandments). The Israelites have just been rescued from slavery in Egypt under Moses' leadership, and so his absence is beginning to give rise to unrest and anxiety. Cue Aaron - Moses' second in command. The people gather around Aaron and request that they make for themselves some gods to give them courage and to lead them. Proposing a hurried and thoughtless process of melting golden jewellery, Aaron suggests they cast a golden idol in the shape of a calf. They likely chose this form to fashion an idol in the style of Egyptian gods - which they then build an altar to. In their feelings of frustration at the apparent absence of God, the Israelites have returned to the images and altars familiar to them from their time of slavery in Egypt. Their worship of this idol leads them astray from God's rule and towards a complete moral lapse as they begin to engage in what might be described as some kind of orgy!! This provokes God's anger as He laments at how quickly His people have turned to worship hollow images rather than the real, living, rescuing God.
Discuss:
What causes the Israelites to request this idol? What is its purpose?
Why do you think Aaron suggests they create an idol resembling the familiar Egyptian images?
Why is God so angry at the Israelite's worship of the Golden Calf?
Think back to the second study, and particularly God's invitation for humanity to become creative stewards of his world. How does Exodus 32v1-8 show us how the Fall has impacted our creativity?
INTERACT//Ourselves and Others
The things we look to for safety and comfort may not be objects, but could even be things like our art practice, our financial stability, and our popularity. Reflecting on both Richard Hamilton's work and the passage in Exodus 32, what are the modern-day idols we might be tempted to replace God with?
The Israelites' idol worship comes as they wait for Moses. They are uncertain about the future and what God has planned for them. Why might uncertainty about the future cause us to place our trust in other things?
How does Exodus 32 challenge you in your approach to your own creative practice?
Wrapping Up
Take some time to pray and reflect on the things you seek comfort in, other than God. Are there ways you can refocus on God today?
Prayer to close:
We come to you in prayer, acknowledging that we so often look to created things for our comfort and security. Help us not to let my creativity become an idol - but to use it to honour and glorify you. You are the living and rescuing God, who has saved us from sin and death. Help us to return to and reflect on Christ's death on the cross, remembering all that you have done. Help us to understand that you are greater than any false idol I may try to worship. Please help us to grow in our love for you again.
Amen.