Psalm 115 makes a startling statement. First, the psalmist lays out the problem: "..their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands." After describing how the idols cannot speak, see, hear, smell or move, the psalmist says that 'they' will become like their idols, unable to speak, see, hear, etc.
What does he mean? Will they become like stone or metal?
More likely, since the idols make no requirements of their worshipers, the idolaters will not make any effort to see others, speak to others, listen to others, move towards others and so on. They will be locked in their own self-absorbed world waiting for their god of money, fame and other success, religion, sex and other entertainments to tell them to do something different. The idols can't. We who look for personal satisfaction from worshiping these things will continue in the pursuits that seem right to us.
In contrast, we know a God who speaks, sees, listens and hears, and moves and acts. He challenges us to keep up with Him. He challenges us to do likewise: to see the hurting, the least/last/lost and to speak out for them and to them, and to listen when people have joys and griefs to share, to move in care and community with one another. Christ on the earth did just this. We are told to be like Him. And not like the other idols we might worship.
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