Sermon for March 19 on Daniel 12

So…

How is it going so far with COVID-19, the coronavirus at your house? With the kids home and your spouse home, are you all still sane?

Prayers for all of you!

Sue and I have heard lots of stories of folks who are dealing with this mess as best they can.

Of essential workers, medical folks, and grocery store folks and others going to work and then struggling to stay safe and not bring any illness back home from work.

And we have heard stories about people who are working at home struggling to make that do-able in a busy household with kids and dogs and spouses underfoot.

We have heard of folks who have lost their jobs or been furloughed and who are trying to figure out what to do now that their incomes have dried up.

And we are aware of those who are dealing with illnesses in their houses, or with parents or children who are ill, and are quite frankly, scared to death.

And we have even heard of a few people who have found in this crazy time some peace, mostly because they have shut off social media!

Never in all my life have I seen more bad information, arguments, and just plain craziness as with this virus stuff. So, shut it off, or unfollow the noise makers, and just stick to loving your family, friends and neighbors.

And some of those who have found peace have even gone a step further and decided that no matters what comes, God will make a way where there seems to be no way!

They have decided to put their faith first, to focus on growing their hearts!

They have picked faith, the kind of faith that is focused on God, much like Peter was focused on Jesus amidst the wind and the waves in that amazing gospel story from Matthew 14:28-32

That really seems to be the way forward for all of us in the midst of this storm!

Don’t focus on the wind and waves, like your pocketbook, or politics, or the weather, or the numbers of people sick. Instead focus on God and God’s promises to be with you always. And while doing that wash your hands!

It’s not as if the people of God have not seen troubled times before. In fact, the bible is full of stories of God’s people wading through deep waters.

As the old African American spiritual puts it, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, Nobody knows but Jesus.”

And Daniel, who as a captive in a foreign land knows not only the trouble he has seen, but is now seeing in his vision the increasing trouble just ahead. So much trouble that it would be easy to lose heart, to give up, and to give in.

But that is just when the angel offers Daniel a glimpse of what is ahead beyond the trouble. He tells Daniel to not worry, but rather to remain faithful.

Because beyond the vision of all the things that can and will go wrong, is this bit of amazing news: resurrection!

The angel says, “So, Daniel, be faithful until the end! You will rest, and at the end of time, you will rise from death to receive your reward.”

Here it is two weeks before the traditional celebration of Easter and we already hear in Daniel a reminder not to lose hope! Because resurrection…

So, no matter what, keep on, keeping on, because no matter where it ends in your lifetime, or at the end of time, you will rise from death and receive your reward.

Some five hundred years before Jesus rose from the grave, Daniel is told that resurrection is the gift God offers to those who remain faithful; a gift available to you and I if we too remain faithful!

Some of you are aware that the Reverend Dick Avery, formerly the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Port Jervis passed away a couple of weeks ago in New Mexico where he had retired.

Dick Avery was faithful. He is also the reason I came here as a pastor some 36 years ago. When I said no to Otisville, Dick suggested I reconsider. I did, and he was right!

Dick was also part of a team with partner Donald Marsh writing some wonderful worship songs, including one that speaks to today, “Every Sunday is Easter from Now On”, a reminder that resurrection is a central theme for the people of God, it is the source of our hope, and not just once a year on Easter but always and forever!

That’s how in the midst of trying times we can stay focused on God’s call to us, because for us, no matter what, we will rise and be with him.

I remember as a kid learning to sing that revival favorite, “When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there!” And I remember wondering what it was about that song that had people sing it with such gusto.

It was almost as if they not only loved the song, but that it’s imagery of being with the Lord on that final day was a lifeline for them.

Now I realize that many of them had survived the Great Depression and the Second World War. They had seen awful times, deep water times, but they knew, deep down, that in the end, God had them, and was already at work crafting their reward.

Its as if the angels had said, “Daniel, there are lots of days ahead, some days of joy and some days of sorrow, but here is the good news, in the end, you will rest and you will rise, and you will be with the God you have loved and served all your life!”

So, don’t worry, stay faithful!

Amen!!

Sermon for March 22 from Daniel 10

So…

Did you realize that God thinks a lot of you?

I suspect for many of us, struggling with self-image is a constant problem, even though we are Christians. Perhaps that struggle is a safety valve, if we don’t think too highly of ourselves then maybe God won’t call on us to do anything. You know, lay low until all the marching orders are handed out!

But more likely I think, it is a problem of not understanding God’s love for us very well.

There is a commercial on TV for one of the large insurance companies that talks about four of the Greek words that describe kinds of love. There is “phileo” or friendship, “storge” or family love, “eros” or romantic love, and then there is this amazing love “agape” which is selfless love, love that puts another’s needs over one’s own.

It is the word “agape” that is used to describe God’s love for us, especially in that verse from John’s gospel, that talks about God “loving” the world, loving us.

We hear the gospel message that God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whomever believes in him will not die but have eternal life, and we think, well I am not good enough to deserve that kind of love.

But that kind of love isn’t based on the beloved being worthy. It’s based on the lovers willingness to love with the possibility of no love in return.

We see with remarkably clear vision what we have done wrong, how we don’t measure up to either other Christians we know who we think are amazing, or to God’s standards which are wildly beyond our abilities.

And we forget, or ignore the fact that all the other Christians around us, even the supposed superstars of the faith are a mess. Yes, they may have some parts of their lives in order, but don’t fool yourself none have it all together.

Or we don’t understand that God is very much aware that those standards of holiness are well beyond our efforts, that those standards just make it clear to us that trying to be “good enough” is a fool’s mission, that grace, God’s unmerited favor and God’s love “agape” is the only way!

We can’t, but God can!

Even Daniel, man of faith extraordinaire, knows that he is a sinner, missing the mark, far from the holiness God requires, living among a nation of people who miss the mark as well.

We’ve tried, we can’t! None of us. No television preacher. No holier than thou politician. Not even your friend or neighbor who likes to make out that they have it all together. No way!

If Daniel ain’t holy, ain’t nobody holy.

But here’s the thing: Daniel knew it.

And then to be at the riverside and be in the presence of Almighty God and God’s holy angels, meant only one thing: Daniel was toast.

He fell on his face. He knew that he had screwed up and was as guilty as any other Israelite of not being what God desired.

But that’s where he was wrong, and where so many of the rest of us go wrong. God loved and desired to be in a relationship with Daniel, just as God loves and desires for us to be in an intimate relationship with us.

And God is willing to do what is necessary to get us into that relationship.

That’s why the angel can tell Daniel straight up, “you are highly esteemed.”

Not because Daniel was so good at being faithful, at least from God’s point of view, but because God loved Daniel just as God loves you and I.

Love is a funny thing.

We have been watching Noah, our grandson, the last few days because his mom works in a Dr.’s office and there are lots of sick folks there, and dad works in NYS Emergency Management, and they are dealing with the Coronavirus.

Now Noah is buckets of fun!

He is smart and cute and easy to love. But sometimes he also stinks, just saying. He needs to be changed and it can be an ordeal, especially if he helps.

We don’t stop loving him because he stinks, our he puts his hand right in the yogurt bowl at lunch, or because he squalls when he thinks he is being shorted his desperately needed extra handful of cookies.

Nope, we keep on loving him, and guiding him, and challenging him, and correcting him, and holding him in high esteem because we love him.

Yes, we want him to be amazing and faithful and loving, but we still love him when he is a stinker, just as God still loves you when you’re a stinker.

God wanted Daniel to see what was ahead so that Daniel would have a realistic expectation of the future. It was going to be hard; nothing was going to happen quick, there were some that were suffer, but in the end, God would prevail. Just like us now.

And Daniel, faithful Daniel, imperfect Daniel, was the one God wanted to use to share that message.

And today, the one God wants to share his love, his presence, and his message is with you, so that you will have the strength, and wisdom and desire to share that love and presence and message with the world.

Because God holds you, just like Daniel in high esteem!

Amen? Amen!!

Sermon for March 15 from Daniel 8

So…

We are living in crazy times. These times seem to come and go and sometimes they are worse and sometimes not so bad.

Right now we are living with a virus outbreak that is new and for which we were seemingly unprepared. Some folks got right to working figuring it out and deciding the best ways to slow it down so it didn’t overwhelm the health system. And others went shopping.

Now I don’t anything good to say about hoarders other than, one, you are weird, and two, you have endangered the folks who actually need what you are hoarding.

This virus doesn’t require you to hoard much of anything. Twenty bottles of Purell and a room full of toilet paper, makes no sense.

What does make sense is social distancing. Why, pure and simple, it slows down the transmission rate of the virus. That way, health providers can get ready.

This virus’s worst damage is to breathing and the lungs, and most dangerous to folks with compromised immune systems and breathing issues.

It is transmitted it seems through folks coming in contact with the spray and the surfaces it lingers on from coughs and sneezes.

When and if people are hospitalized because the virus has overtaken them, what they will need is critical care because they will need breathing support, and our hospitals can only do that for so many people before they run out of beds.

So, though most of us might get the virus in time, most of us will recover. But if the spread of the disease slows down, those hospital beds will be there when they are needed.

Like I said crazy times and scary times. We want everyone to be and stay well, and if sick, able to get the care they need.

But imagine if you had a dream where you saw all of this happening a couple of years ago? You would have been scared and confused and not sure how to respond. And that is what happened to Daniel.

He saw a picture that told him about the next 500 years of God’s peoples future.

While for Daniel seeing this vision at the almost end of Babylonia’s Empire would have been terrifying, not just because it was so odd and so symbolic, but also because it meant that Babylon was about to fall, and then after it Persia & Media (the ram) and then after that the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great (the goat) and then the great horn broken off (Alexander’s death).

It was replaced by four horns, the four successor empires of Alexander’s, including the Ptolemies in Egypt and North Africa, and the Seleucid’s in Syria and Persia and Palestine, and then in the Seleucid Empire the rise of Antiochus Epiphany, a horrible man who in anger and hatred made mockery of the Jews, killed 20,000 of them on two occasions, and completely desecrated the Temple and its worship, until arose leaders in Jerusalem who threw off the Seleucid’s for a time before the Roman’s returned.

And we think we have reason to be upset.

But here’s the lesson for Daniel and for us. The reason Daniel has seen all he has in his vision, is because God knows all about it.

None of was happening then or is happening now is news to God! In it all, God still has us in the palm of his hand. He is still watching over us, guiding us, enabling us to be the church, his people in the midst of trying circumstances.

We need not fear!

But we do need to get busy being the church!

So, the question is, how do we do that? How do we care for each other as well as the folks in our community struggling with this virus?

One, call each other, text, email, and see what needs to be done! We don’t all need to be in the same building to communicate.

Make sure your neighbors have food, while our Backpack people figure out ways to see that kids have food, and our Food Pantry people figure out how to make sure our food pantry clients have food.

Keep on social distancing for a time, but make sure you are praying! Folks are and will be sick and/or hospitalized. Check and see if those families need support.

If you are working, take all safety precautions. Everyone, wash your hands!

And remember, we have lived through worse, and God has got us and intends to use us for his kingdom.

What Dickens novel starts it was the best of times, it was the worst of times? Just like it was for Daniel, and it seems for us, it is an opportunity to see what our faith is made of!

Have faith, labor on, we like Daniel shall come through these times and see what God has planned for us.

Amen!

Sermon for March 8 from Daniel 7

So…

How many of you all like horror movies? You people are weird!

I, on the other hand, watch the promo’s for those things and then I can’t sleep at night. I saw a promo for a TV show I think, called Devs (I assume for deviants) and already I know I am not watching it.

And just like there is a group of folks who like the horror genre, there are those that love apocalyptic. Think “Zombie Apocalypse”. On the one hand, if that person is sitting next to you, they know what to do if a zombie shows up at your house. The problem is that they are at their house! Psyche1

Besides what if the apocalypse isn’t about zombies. Right now, there are some that think the Coronavirus is the apocalypse and so are stocking up on bottled water.

Not really sure how those two things go together!

Any of you old people remember the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”? And we said, “no way”! No computer can just shut down life support!

Alexa, turn up the heat!

So, what if you put together a horro movie with an apocalypse? You end up with the seventh chapter of Daniel’s story!

Yep! That’s were we are. Daniel is seeing a vision of the future, and written down, it is considered “apocalyptic literature”, that is the bible’s vision of the end of times.

And, just so you all know, there is more of it scattered in both the Old and New Testament, and a lot of it echoes similar themes as the ones here in Daniel.

The details are often different, almost as though different witnesses are seeing the same things from different angles, but the grand themes seem to be pretty much the same: things go bad, rulers local and cosmic arise to challenge God and God’s people, things look bleak, all is lost, God’s people suffer, then God intervenes and judgment comes, and God’s victory is celebrated.

In the end it is really good news, but like movies and books, you gotta get to the end to see the victory!

Whether it be in Daniel, or the Revelation, or Matthew’s gospel, the pattern seems clear, but the details aren’t.

Now it would be helpful at this point to remind everyone of a few things. One is the preaching pact that this church and I have: I preach and teach what I believe, you are not obligated to agree with me! And note: that applies to prophecy and apocalyptic literature as well as anything else.

Another is that while in the contemporary marketplace there is a lot of teaching and preaching about the end times, most of what you will hear comes from a tradition in the church other than what most Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutherans, and even Catholics and the Orthodox have believed.

There are some that are convinced we have entered the last days, but keep in mind Christians have believed they were in the last days since Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after the resurrection.

The early church struggled with seeing wars and famines, wide spread diseases, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, tornados, and all the rest and were convinced Jesus was coming then.

And the church ever since has seen the signs and panicked. Even the Apostle Paul had to remind people to take off their white robes and get back to the work of the gospel, because as Jesus made clear, no one knows when the end will be.

And nothing has changed. We still don’t know. We are still supposed to be doing kingdom work at full tilt until the end arrives, and then we will see and know.

So, reading Daniel 7 and beyond comes with a reminder.

Daniel was experiencing his vision about 500 years before Jesus birth. God gave him a picture of the end of time that compressed into view all the troubles of God’s people as well as God’s final grand victory through Jesus.

Daniel later asked when these things were to take place, and the answer was, “that’s not for you to know”. Not only was that above his pay grade, as it were, it was also not helpful to know.

What you need to know, now as then, is that troubles will come, but you are to remain faithful, because God in the end will be victorious.

Note the last couple of verses in today’s reading: “As I continued to watch the vision that night, I saw what looked like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, and he was presented to the Eternal God.

He was crowned king and given power and glory, so that all people of every nation and race would serve him. He will rule forever, and his kingdom is eternal, never to be destroyed.”

In times such as these, with rumors of wars and famine and pestilence and the earth shaking, and even Coronavirus, we are to be living faithfully, taking care of the least of these, and continually praising God, just like Daniel.

Amen!

The Lion's Den from Daniel 6

So…

Lots of us have heard the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den. And for the most part I suspect what we remember is the Sunday School version, which for obvious reasons tends to focus on Daniel getting throw into a pit with hungry beasts, and all those cute fuzzy lions deciding they really aren’t in the mood for a bit of scrawny Daniel, deciding instead to go vegetarian.

And we remember it that way, because how exactly do you explain that normally hungry lions would have killed and eaten Daniel in a huge horrible blood bath! No EMPOWER teacher is going to do that!

Besides that, how do you explain to children the palace intrigue, where Daniel “the captive from Jerusalem”, a Jew, who is once again the king’s favorite, this with at least the third king of Babylon, a “Mede” (that is a king from Median/Persian empire of Cyrus the Great).

How do you explain that this old man, Daniel who was at least sixty years old if not older, is in trouble because he chooses to be faithful, something he has done and has been for life, in spite of others who are envious of him and wanting to destroy him!

This is not the story you tell children! But you folks, he’s the real story!

Daniel is a foreigner. And they like don’t like foreigners. They want them to go home or at least never be seen or heard from! They are suspicious of their loyalties. They are suspicious of their diets. They are suspicious of their hard work and success. They are suspicious of their religion.

Remember, my brother-in-law emigrated from India, New Delhi in fact, and is Hindu, and a computer science wiz. He is a naturalized US citizen, and his children, my niece and nephews, my sister’s kids, all know what it is like to be considered an unwanted minority.

The satraps, the royal officials working for the king and the other governors were afraid of Daniel. They were afraid of Daniel’s God. They are also afraid of the king’s loyalty to Daniel, and perceive Daniel as a threat.

So, they propose a very sophisticated trap.

Have you ever been tempted to not do what you believed you should do, because someone else has made clear the consequences of doing it?

I know, the negatives in that sentence are a bit overwhelming, so think about it this way: have you ever done something that you knew would get you in trouble, even though you were doing it for the right reasons?

In trouble as in being thrown into a pit of hungry lions with a massive stone as a cover to the pit, royal seals on it to make sure it is not opened before the appointed time, and military guards standing watch to make sure that cover is not removed.

Does that remind you of another story?

Perhaps, when Daniel emerges from the tomb?

You see, like I mentioned Wednesday night at the Ash Wednesday service, temptation, like Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness after forty days of fasting, can be bold or subtle.

Just make the stones into bread, no one cares. Eat!

Daniel is not being asked to worship an idol, something he clearly couldn’t do. No, the satraps temptation is smooth, easy, and very subtle. It’s not “worship the idol” like for Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego.

No, it’s “you only have to refrain from praying for 30 days”.

It’s almost like Lent in reverse.

Not pray for forty days! It’s simpler. Don’t pray! So easy. Made for us faithful folks to fit like a glove. Just forget, be too busy, fall asleep before you get that far.

Don’t decide to use Lent as a season to grow your faith by perhaps fasting from the crazy stuff that is making you tense and miserable and far from God, like Facebook!

Don’t decide to do something that would draw you closer to God like writing down the first five blessings you experience each day in a blessings journal.

No, just be too busy, too overwhelmed, too stressed, to do anything of the sort, because then those hungry lions can have you as a snack.

Can’t you just picture those soldiers opening the tomb, I mean pit, and everyone expecting to see a whole bunch of lazy lions laying around with fat bellies and bloody faces yawning and picking bits of Daniel out of their teeth with their claws, and a few with folded paws saying, “thank you Lord for the wonderful meal you provided”.

But no, Daniel lives, and the lions are not interested in him one bit.

Be like Daniel! Be faithful! Let go and let God, as they say!

And take this Lenten opportunity to do what will grow your faith.

Down in my office I have posted a saying, “Bias for Action: Just do it!”

Or you could do as that great scholar Larry the Cable Guy says, “getter done!”

One way or the other let’s be the people of faith God so much desires!

Amen!