Sisters and brothers, I want to begin this morning with a question: What do you think shapes us the most? Is it our habits? Our daily routine? Maybe the people we spend the most time with? All those things I mentioned before matter, but this morning Jeremiah tells us something deeper. He says that what ultimately shapes us is what we worship.
In Jeremiah chapter 2, God speaks through His prophet with grief in His voice. He remembers the devotion of Israel when they first followed Him. But then He says in verse 5: “They went after worthless idols and became worthless themselves.” Did you hear that? They not only chased after idols, but they also became like them. And here is something I want us to think about today: according to the prophet, we become as the god, or idol we worship and follow.
In Jeremiah’s time, Israel had lost its identity as God’s chosen people. Living in the Promised Land, they allowed themselves to be shaped by the gods of their neighbors. In doing so, they forgot Yahweh, the fountain of their identity. From the beginning, God made His intention clear for Israel: I want to shape you. In Exodus 6:7 He says, “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God” Jeremiah 30:22 says, “You will be my people, and I will be your God”
Israel’s identity -as ours- was never about land, politics, or culture. It was about relationship; it was about being like their God. This is also clear in what some call the “forgotten commandment.” This commandment resounds throughout Scripture, in the Old as well as the New Testament: Be holy, because I the Lord your God am holy. In other words, be like me. I want to shape you to look like me.
In verse 5, God laments: “They went after worthless idols, and became worthless themselves.” Those who in Exodus 19:5, God called “my treasured possession” now have become worthless. Those who once drank from the fountain of living water now rely on broken cisterns that held nothing (v.13). The reason of all these changes: worshiping false idols and by doing so they became like them—empty, powerless, and corrupt.
Here it is the principle, Jeremiah wanted his people to remember, when we change gods, when we follow false idols, we change who we are. We are shaped by them.
Jeremiah presents a profound principle for God’s people to grasp, when we change the object of our worship, we inevitably change who we are. Therefore, the identity of a community is deeply shaped by what or who they worship, follow and serve. Just as Israel’s character shifted when they turned from Yahweh to foreign idols, so too we reflect and embody the qualities of what or whom we devote ourselves to. This is the heart of Jeremiah’s message today. He is reminding us that the transformation of our lives and our community begins with the transformation of our worship.
Jeremiah’s message is timeless… still today… we are who we follow; we are who we worship. If we worship the God of love, mercy, and justice, we will become people of love, mercy, and justice. If we walk away from Him and serve and follow the false idols of our age—whether these idols are ideologies, consumerism, nationalism, or even religion twisted into legalism—we will become like those false gods: cold, empty, worthless and without empathy.
Remember last Sunday’s Gospel story? A religious leader was angry because Jesus healed a woman on Sabbath. What this leader worshiped and followed was the law, so he became legalistic. But Jesus worshiped the living God who values people above rules and tradition—so He became the embodiment of God’s love.
All this is still true today: If the God we worship is holy, we begin to grow in holiness; if the God we worship is merciful, we begin to show mercy. If we Worship a God who is just, we begin to hunger and thirty for justice. However, if we worship any idol of our time, we become as empty as the idol we worship; we soon are going to be talking and acting like the idol we follow. Talking about idols, Psalm 115 says, “Those who make them become like them; so, do, all who trust in them.”
Let’s put all this in today’s terms: If money is our god, we will become greedy and anxious, never satisfied, always restless. If power is our god, we will become harsh, controlling, and fearful of losing control. If pleasure is our god, we will become shallow, restless, and eventually numb. But if Christ is our God, if we follow Christ, his teaching and example, we will begin to reflect His love, His peace, His joy, His compassion and his unity. Remember again, “what we worship is what we are becoming.” And if that’s true, which I believe it is, then every moment of worship is also a moment of transformation.
My sisters and brothers, the question remains: What kind of God do you serve and worship? Because the God you serve is the kind of people you will become; The God we serve is the kind of church we will be. The God we serve, and worship is the nation we will be. If we serve the living God, the fountain of living water then we will become people, church, nation of love, mercy, and justice. But if we turn to broken cisterns, we will become as empty as they are. That is what the prophet says.
But God doesn’t leave His people without hope. In verse 13 He says, “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters.” You see, He doesn’t just expose the broken cisterns—He points Israel and us back to Himself, the fountain.
Centuries later, Jesus stood up on the last day of a festival and cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, out of their heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37–38).
Do you see it? The God whom Israel abandoned has come in the person of Jesus Christ—to restore us. To quench our thirst. To make us whole again. He is the fountain of life and if we believe and drink from this fountain; if we follow and serve him, out of our hearts will flow rivers of living water. We will become like him… fountains, rivers of living water.
Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:18, tells us that as we worship Christ, “are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory.” Sisters and brothers Idols deform in us the image of God, but Jesus transforms us to his image.
Let me return to where I began: What shapes you the most? Jeremiah says it plainly—we become the god or idols we worship.
If you worship idols, the false gods of our times you will become as empty as they are
and soon you will be talking and acting like them.
If you worship Jesus, the Living God, you will become like Him—alive, holy, merciful, and full of love. If you worship the Living God, soon you will be talking and acting like Him.
Every day, you and I are shaped. The only question is: who is shaping us? Are we becoming like Jesus? Or are we becoming like the false idols of our times.
So let us turn from our broken cisterns, from the worthless idols that cannot satisfy, and let us run to the fountain of living water. Let us worship Christ, who alone can make us whole.
And as we worship Him, may our lives bear His image—so that when the world sees us, they might also see Him. So today, let us ask ourselves: “Where is the Lord who called us up out of darkness into his wonderful light?” Let us put Jesus back at the center, at the center of our worship, at the center of our life, so, that His holiness, His love, His justice may shine through us in everything we do and in everything we say. Remember, “Israel went after worthless idols and became worthless themselves… but as we worship the Living Christ, may we become more and more like Him.”
“This week, before you turn to work, to money, to screens, to the news, to the idols of our age, pause and ask: Am I worshiping what gives life, or am I worshiping what drains life? Choose the Living God.” Amen.
