“Sacred cows”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Monday, August 19, 2024

Acts 7: 44 – 8: 1a (Forward, p. 21) CEV p. 1142

The English language has an expression, ‘a sacred cow’, which has its original reference to the Hindu belief that cows are sacred. However, for us it has come to mean ‘an idea, custom, or institution held, especially unreasonably, to be above criticism.’

Every society or group has its own version of ‘sacred cows’ and it is often these very things that political parties, denominations, individual churches and families get into serious and sometimes heated wrangles over. This was no less true of ancient Israel at the time of the early Church.

For them, there were two things in particular that were the equivalent of ‘sacred cows’, the Temple in Jerusalem and the Law of Moses. These two things were the foundation of their entire religious ‘system’. The daily and yearly sacrifices there in the Temple were seen as essential, and so any questioning of its place or its permanence certainly raised people’s hackles. To suggest, as Stephen did, that this Temple was not God’s original intention, and that it wasn’t truly God’s dwelling place, constituted ‘fighting words’ to his hearers.

The Law of Moses was likewise seen as vital, as it totally defined who they were as a people. Following it, obeying it, in all its nuances was key to their national life. And to suggest that they didn’t really obey it, that they as a people, as a nation, had always resisted the Holy Spirit, and in fact had killed or mistreated the prophets who tried to reveal God’s law, was certainly not a message that they wanted to hear.

Poor Stephen: he had really struck a nerve in attacking these two ‘sacred cows’ and his audience there in the Sanhedrin that day, weren’t going to stand for it. And so, they had him stoned to death. So much, then, for attacking sacred cows!

For me, this raises a question, namely what are our sacred cows, whether as individuals or as groups? Now, in asking this, let me say that they may be completely okay, completely laudable and good, as in, say a belief in Jesus or in the Scriptures. But then, on the other hand, they may not be good or healthy, and God might be asking us to examine them, question them, and revise or discard them if necessary. It is something well worth considering, these ‘sacred cows’ of ours.

Forward notes: “What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?” (verses 49b-50)

“Solomon built God a house, but that does not mean God only lives there. God will not be contained in a space built by human hands. While I am sure many cathedrals have been divinely inspired, we mostly admire them today as monuments to human achievement.

“So, where exactly does God live? The short answer is anywhere and everywhere. Heaven is God’s throne, and we know for a time that God inhabited a tent in the desert built to exact specifications. Temples and churches are spaces of human design—places where we can worship God, perhaps without distraction. Although we can worship God anywhere, we often confine God to a space we call church. We do not take God with us when we leave the building. We fail to let God dwell within us.

“In 1 John 4:16, we hear, ‘God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.’ We do not try to confine our love to one place. Neither should we abide with God only in church.”

MOVING FORWARD: “Is God living in your house?”

A concluding note: I think that today’s author has somewhat overstated the case for churches as being of purely human design. They are more than just ‘monuments to human achievement’. They are places where people have chosen to worship God—where they sensed the presence of God—and were considered holy as a consequence. Apart from often sensing a notable difference in many ‘holy places’, one instance stands out. Touring through the Cornish village of Tintagel, a place of sustained and prolific occult activity, I sensed a distinct sense of darkness and oppression. But then, heading over to the coastline and the parish church of St. Materiana, I experienced a deep peace and a sense that God was truly there. (God’s people had truly worshipped there.) The difference in the two places was almost palpable. It was more than simply a ‘human construct’.