And the excuses get crazy!

"So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!"  Exodus 32:24

And the excuses get crazy!
By Rev. William Dohle

Have you noticed that, after a time of making excuses, either for yourself or for someone else, that the excuses we make get a little, shall we say, crazy?

It's true...at least in my experience.

Kids don't usually start with "the dog ate my homework."  They usually start with something closer to the truth.  Something like, "I lost it..." or "Ooops I forgot..." and then move into crazier things.  Not so much about the dog, but often about their parents.  "My dad took my folder to work..." or "My mom forgot to give that to me..."  They never say the obvious truth which is, "I am a forgetful person and didn't ever give them the paper in the first place..." or "I really didn't want to do this assignment in the first place...sorry!"

Adults are just as guilty too.  We adults use every excuse in the book  NOT to do something or other.  From "I just don't have time" to "I forgot...I'm sorry" to the classic "I'm really interested in this if only it was at a better time for me."

As a pastor, I've heard every excuse in the book why someone wasn't in church and can't make it or why someone wants to participate in a small group but can't.  They range from "If only it was at another time.  I have something else!"  to "Oh!  I wish I could go." I've even heard the most famous excuse, that is, silence on the matter.  When a new something is announced in church and people say absolutely nothing...that's an excuse too.

Of course, as we've highlighted before, excuse-making is nothing new.  It's imbedded in our bones from the very beginning.  Adam and Eve both offer wonderful excuses for their disobedience.  So does Cain.  So do Abraham and Sarah.  The list of excuse-makers is endless.

But the best excuse maker of all, in my opinion, was a priest by the name of Aaron.  We know Aaron as the brother of Moses and the head of the priestly order, but Aaron offers the best excuse in the Book!  Literally.

It happens like this.  At the foot of Mt. Sinai, Aaron has heard the cries of the people of a god to worship.  They have become rather tired of standing at the foot of the mountain waiting for Moses to come down so they cry out to Aaron for an idol.

"Make us gods who shall go before us." (Exodus 32:1)

Now Aaron could have done the right thing and refused them.  He could have even punished those who suggested such a thing.  But he doesn't.  Instead, Aaron says:

"Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives...and bring them to me." ... And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. (Ex. 32:2-4)

Pause here.  Who made the golden calf??  Aaron!  Did anyone else make it?  Not from the text.  It says clearly here that Aaron fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf!  Now watch what happens when Aaron is confronted with what the did.

And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?"  And Aaron said, "Let not the anger of my lord burn hot.  You know the people, that they are set on evil.  For they said to me, "Make us gods who shall go before us..."  So I said to them, "Let any who have gold take it off."  So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!" (Ex. 32:21-24)

Aaron says he threw the gold into the fire and the calf popped out on it's own!  On it's own!  Like..."I'm going to throw this gold into the fire now..." and "Oh my!  A calf just jumped out!"

That is the most rediculas excuse I have ever heard!

The funny part is... Moses doesn't call Aaron on it!  He doesn't even say it is absurd!  Gold must be fashioned into a particular shape.  It will not suddenly emerge as such!  Even the furniture in God's tabernacle must be fashioned and made by someone.  It doesn't just emerge from the fires all complete!

But that's what Aaron is claiming here!  That's his excuse!

I'm not sure why Moses never calls Aaron out on this one.  I'm not sure why the blame never falls on Aaron's shoulders.  Following this, the people are punished.  Many are put to the sword by the Levites and those who remain have a plague set upon them.  Aaron, though, walks away unscathed!

Why is does the blame never fall to Aaron?  Why does he go away unscathed and everyone else pays for what he did?

Maybe that's just the point.  The price never falls on the excuse-maker's head.  There's always a price to pay...even for our excuses.  If our excuses are swords, their sharpest point isn't directed toward us or even toward those we make the excuse to.  It's directed toward others around us.  Even those we love.  Our excuses affect others around us.

The child's excuse to his or her teacher...hurts the teacher's impression of the child's parents.
The parent's excuse for his or her child's absence...affects the child and those counting on him being there.
The adult's excuse for not participating...affects the community they belong to.

To counter this, we must be clear about what we mean.  We needn't do everything or accept everything that comes our way, but we needn't make excuses either.  Perhaps we should listen to what Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew.

"Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No', anything more than this comes from evil." (Mat. 5:37)

The only way to put an end to things is to stop the excuses!  The simple ones.  The complicated ones.  Even the funny ones.  We must speak the truth in love to one other.  We need not be involved in everything or say yes to every idea that comes our way.  That is never suggested.  But we must speak the truth to one another and give each other an honest, verbal answer.  We needn't say yes to everything, but we needn't make excuses for our no's either.

May God loose your tongue to speak.  May God make us honest with ourselves and honest with those around us that we may say yes and no faithfully, with no excuses to harm anyone else, that the blame and the praise of what we do may fall upon us and not upon them.

God, you see through our excuses as if they were glass.  Clean our tongues from our excuses and help us be open and honest with you and those around us.  Amen.