Sermon for February 2 on Daniel 3

So…

Do you know what a holocaust is?

Recently, the anniversary of the liberation of the German execution camp, Auschwitz, was remembered. It was liberated on January 27, 1945, by the Red Army as it worked its way across Poland.

Seven thousand Jewish prisoners were left behind as the Nazi’s forced another 60,000 men, women, and children to march to other death camps inside Germany.

Those left behind included mostly middle-aged adults and children under the age of 15, too sick to march. There were also 600 corpses.

The Holocaust is the story of the nightmare perpetrated during the Second World War by the Nazi’s to exterminate Slavs, Soviets, people with disabilities, political and religious dissidents, Gypsies, Gay men and six million Jews, two-thirds of all the Jews in Europe.

It is a stain on human history that if forgotten will be repeated, and has been repeated, again and again around the globe.

Now the term “holocaust” while well used for the destruction in Europe, comes from a biblical source. It comes from the Hebrew word “olah” and refers to the smoke rising from the sacrifice to God.

It is the complete consumption by fire of a sacrifice burnt on an altar of a bull, goat, sheep, turtle dove, or pigeon, depending on the reason for the sacrifice.

A sacrifice by fire is a theme often repeated in scripture as our God is presented as a consuming fire, into whose presence you would die as you are consumed by God’s holiness, like the fire in the burning bush with Moses, and the pillar of fire that traveled at night before the children of Israel as they fled Egypt.

It is also evident in the many presentations of the Holy Spirit, appearing as flames of fire above the heads of the disciples in the upper room on Pentecost. And in depictions of God’s holiness in much of apocalyptic literature, as we will see later in Daniel.

Holocaust can be a glimpse into the holiness of God.

But it can also be a glimpse into the nightmare of human nature, like in the furnaces of the Nazi’s, or the horrors of nuclear war, or the long history of burning witches and heretics by religious zealots.

And for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the three faith friends of Daniel, it was to be their fate, because to the golden statue, they would not offer worship.

Last week we talked about Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The statue of gold, silver, bronze, and iron mixed at the toes with clay. Nebuchadnezzar heard Daniel tell of the dream and its interpretation and honored Daniel for his ability to see the picture God had painted.

But, as I said then, he didn’t understand it.

He worshiped Daniel for a moment, but didn’t see the hand of God cutting out of the mountain a stone that could destroy kingdoms, his kingdom, did not see the implicit call for Nebuchadnezzar to worship the God of Daniel, did not understand how his choice of building an almost identical statue of all gold of himself, could result in God destroying him.

He saw only what he wanted to see, that he was the most important of all kings in all the kingdoms, and that everyone should worship him. And he decided to destroy his opponents by fire.

One of the most obvious marks historically of a despot, be it Hitler, or Stalin, or Pol Pot, or Idi Amin, is the deep desire to destroy opponents. It has been so throughout history. Defeating them is not enough. Destroying them becomes an obsession.

It is why George R.R. Martin in the Game of Thrones TV series has the character played by Emilia Clarke send her dragons to burn the city she has already defeated. Destruction has become an obsession.

And for Nebuchadnezzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s, unwillingness to worship him lights the fire.

But they are unmoved! And as Joe and Jim and Mike and Phil and Bob and Mike reminded us last Sunday, the three friends will not bend, they will not bow, and they will not burn!

Their faithfulness is the vehicle by which God makes it clear to Nebuchadnezzar that there is a King above all Kings who can stand in the fire and not be destroyed. Praise God.

But this story of a miracle of grace even has another gift for us beyond God’s protection of his people. Did you hear it?

It’s not just that they do not burn, though that is certainly miraculous. Nor is it that God himself becomes present with them in the fiery furnace though that is worthy of praise and worship.

The best part is what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego say to the king before they become the day’s burnt offering, “but even if he doesn’t”.

They are remarkably powerful words of faith.

You heard as the scripture was read earlier when they said the king, “Your Majesty, we don’t need to defend ourselves. The God we worship can save us from you and your flaming furnace. But even if he doesn’t, we still won’t worship your gods and the gold statue you have set up.”

Oh, for that kind of faith, where no matter what we face, we will not be moved.

As we come to the table of the Lord, be sure to ask God for growing faith, that no matter what is ahead, you will remain strong and committed to the God of grace and the God of glory.

Amen!

Sermon for January 26 Daniel and the Dream

So…

Have you ever had a bad dream?

It’s scary!

I had one the other night. I was helping some folks in my dream stock a store room below ground level and they were putting bags of something like mulch down in this cavern and they had managed to fill the stairwell in front of the cavern so full of bags to go down to the basement that the only way to get in was to crawl on your belly with a bag and then slide down into the store room to set the bags.

Argh!

My claustrophobia went nuts, so bad I woke up completely, and then each time I tried to go back to sleep, the dream would start again right where I left out of it.

I actually had to get up and walk around to be able to go back to sleep!

And while I remember parts of the dream, I really don’t remember all of it. I don’t know who the people really were, I don’t really know what they were doing and why, and why that way; although…the Deacon’s Food pantry comes to mind.

In any case, it was terrifying!

So, imagine as King, having a terrifying dream that made no sense that you remember perhaps little pieces of - that your kingdom is in danger - but not all of, and a dream which you really have no way to interpret.

Because in Nebuchadnezzar’s day, and Daniel’s day, and in scripture from front to back, dreams matter.

As Daniel explains to the King, “But the God who rules from heaven can explain mysteries. And while you were sleeping, he showed you what will happen in the future.”

To be clear, this is a regular biblical theme.

Joseph was brought from prison to speak to Pharaoh in Genesis 51:15-16, and “The king said to him, “I had a dream, yet no one can explain what it means. I am told that you can interpret dreams.” “Your Majesty,” Joseph answered, “I can’t do it myself, but God can give a good meaning to your dreams.”

Dreams are important. Even the scary ones.

They are the way the brain subconsciously tries to make sense of all the information we have gathered all day long, not only of our sensory experiences, but also of our emotional reactions to them.

In the hard drive that is our amazing brains, there is a tumble of stuff that was loaded in all day long and now has to be sorted and stored. That’ what our brains do at night when we are asleep.

Sometimes what the brain finds is a cache of emotional energy that needs to be sorted out, in addition to facts and experiences. And sometimes, it is in the midst of these dreams and sometimes even daydreams, that God speaks, gives us insight, opens us to new ways of thinking, and sometimes scares us to death with the truth.

Like for Nebuchadnezzar.

The king is oddly comforted by Daniel’s interpretation, possibly because now he knows the full extent of his dream, or possibly because this dream at least doesn’t end with his death!

But let’s be clear, the dream is huge.

It’s a cosmic view of time and events well beyond Nebuchadnezzar’s own life and even his kingdom. It is a “stand back and see time from God’s perspective” view, where the idol of human kingdoms and authorities, even as spectacular as Babylon’s own, are crushed by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who fills the whole world.

Babylon was amazing!

It was strong and resilient, organized with abilities well beyond other nations of its age. They were a golden empire compared to the others that followed, which were larger and perhaps more powerful though also more fractured and difficult to govern.

But they all were destined to end, to be crushed, overtaken, defeated!

I was up in Albany last Sunday and Monday, a nice short visit.

Sue and Katie and I went to the local mall for a while, where there is a huge Barnes and Nobles bookstore. I love book shopping, so paused my walking regimen to look at the bargain books and saw one that was entitled, It’s Always the End of Time.

It kind of reminded me of the line, “it is always 5:00pm somewhere”!

And that was exactly the author’s point. In every culture, in every kingdom, in every epoch of time, in every civilization there is an end point just ahead.

Nothing lasts forever. Cultures and kingdoms, nations and communities, all only last for a time, and a time, and a time and a half.

Volcanoes and earthquakes will take and have taken communities and whole cultures, tsunami’s and floods, plagues, and wars, and famines have done the same.

Babylon will fall, and Persia after it, and Greece after it, and Rome after it. No matter how big, how powerful, how well organized, how rich, all civilizations will fall.

But here’s the thing to remember - the one thing God wanted Nebuchadnezzar to know - God’s kingdom lasts forever!

Because at any time, in the midst of any circumstances God can crush every and any other kingdom. The end will come and still God’s kingdom will remain.

God’s kingdom will overcome and outlast them all.

It may start small, with just one child, born in a manger in lowly Bethlehem. But it is all God’s doing.

So, great king Nebuchadnezzar, be aware.

And King Nebuchadnezzar bowed low to the ground and worshiped Daniel. He appreciated what Daniel had told him and what the dream meant.

But he missed the point.

He gave orders for incense to be burned and a sacrifice of grain to be offered in honor of Daniel. The king said, “Now I know that your God is above all other gods and kings, because he gave you the power to explain this mystery.”

The king then presented Daniel with a lot of gifts; he promoted him to governor of Babylon Province and put him in charge of the other wise men.

But note. Nebuchadnezzar still did not understand.

You, see, it’s always the end of time.

All of us stand at the edge every day and must like Nebuchadnezzar choose which kingdom we will serve. Because today may be our last day. So, we best choose wisely.

And remember: God’s kingdom will last forever.

Amen!

Sermon for January 19 on Daniel 2

So…

When you have to make a tough decision, what do you do?

For most of us I would guess panic! Or maybe that is just my go to method of dealing with crisis.

As you think about it, what was your last major tough decision?

And what was your method of handling it?

It could have been buying a car or a house, or deciding which college to go to, or which college to pray your child decided to go to.

It may have been to have major surgery, or maybe to put a parent in a nursing home, or maybe it was to take a job or change jobs, to have a child, or maybe to get married.

Whatever it was, what was your strategy to figure out what to do?

Daniel, who has become an official in the Babylonian government gets news that the King has had a dream, and he doesn’t know what it means, so he gathers his seers and wise men and asks them what it means.

The problem is though, while it is troubling Nebuchadnezzar, it turns out he doesn’t really remember the dream, and he didn’t and doesn’t understand what it means!

So, when he calls in his counselors, advisors, magicians, and wise men to interpret the dream, he also wants them to tell him what his dream was!

The advisers are all willing to take a stab at an interpretation based on what the King tells them he dreamed, but none of them know what he dreamed!

The king is furious, seeing clearly that these supposed seers really know nothing and are just guessing, and so orders them all killed.

And that’s where Daniel enters this story.

The official in charge of executions heads off to do his duty and Daniel, who it is not real clear from the text may or may not have been one of the ones whose head is on the chopping block, stops him and asks why?

Why is the king so angry? Why is the order for executions so cruel?

Having heard the explanation, Daniel dashes off to the king, asks for time to learn the dream and interpret it, and then jumps into crisis mode and does what most of us have done to some degree or another, he prays –

But first he gathers others who are wise people of faith to pray too!

When you went through your last tough decision, did you intentionally gather other faithful believers to think and pray with you? If so, how did you pick those faithful friends? Do you pray with them often? And if you don’t, why not?

Most of us, I would imagine, pray early and often when facing a crisis, but shouldn’t we follow Daniel’s example and gather the troops to pray as well?

Now, it may have been that Daniel was among those slated for execution, maybe Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were as well, giving new urgency for their prayers seeking God’s intervention and wisdom.

But it is also possible that what Daniel and his friends were doing was interceding for others in harms way, praying for God’s help to save lives, even the lives of Babylonian advisers who might not like them and even betray them given the chance.

Our invitation to pray is not just to pray for what affects us, but what affects other folks along the way too, in Australia after the brush fires, in the Philippines after the volcano eruption, and in Puerto Rico after the earthquake!

And in the lives of lots of folks we may not know or understand, but who need God’s presence in their lives, even if they don’t yet know or understand that there is a God who loves them and wants to bring them his grace.

As you sit there in the pew or at home watching on Facebook or Youtube, who is your go to pray crew, the folks you know will pray for your concerns as you pray for theirs? Write down their names, and thank God for them!

And if you don’t have a prayer crew, maybe it’s time to make one, to invite some others and start the process.

Pray for Ashlyn and Gary and JoAnn, and for folks near and far, and for your own tough decisions and theirs, and then see what God will do!

For Daniel, the dream and its answer became clear. God had sent Nebuchadnezzar the dream, and now he had made both the dream and it’s meaning clear to Daniel. He could go and speak to the king and tell him what he wanted to know, and by doing so, save the lives of many!

And he did!

So, when you have a tough decision to make, what do you do?

Amen!

Sermon for January 12 Daniel: into the fire

So…

Here we are, a New Year has begun, the Wisemen have gone home another way, and we need to get started with whatever God has put our hands to.

So, what has God put your hands to?

Or putting it another way, what are you and I supposed to be doing, both as individual follows of Jesus, and as a community of followers of Jesus?

Sometimes it’s hard to tell. We want to be faithful. We want to be growing. We want to be putting our time and energy into things that matters. So, what are they?

Things are for the most part pretty good for most of us. So we have choices, options, and opportunities.

We could focus on our work, or on our family, or on our personal spiritual growth, or all of them at the same time, although sometimes that just makes the focus unfocused.

Or we could focus on making a difference in this particular congregation, by helping lead the youth group, or singing in the choir, or starting a church rock band.

Or helping us fix our weird computer system, or running new video and internet wiring, or laying a bed of grave by the stable, or helping get new concrete walkways.

Or teaching EMPOWER classes or offering to lead an adult bible study or small group, or maybe giving in to God incessant call to become the curch secretary, just saying.

Or maybe your focus should be outside the church, going on a mission trip with Allison and the crew, or with the youth, or maybe helping start a new crew that just works local, like at one of the Habitat houses in Newburgh.

Or maybe, it should be to just sit down and listen.

Listen for God to speak to you, give you direction, point out the way ahead.

To focus on getting your relationship with the God of the universe, and his son Jesus, and the empowering presence of the spirit straight; getting God’s power and direction into your life in a way that allows you to respond to choices, options, and opportunities like Daniel.

Now Daniel circumstances were a bit different than ours.

Daniel was a refugee, not by choice, but rather as a captive. He and his friends were forced to march from Jerusalem where they had been part of the royal family or administration and brought at gunpoint - as it were - to Babylon.

There, they were conscripted by King Nebuchadnezzar to be trained to become - in three years’ time - court officials in the government of the people who had captured their homeland, destroyed their capital city of Jerusalem, looted and destroyed the Temple, and who had carried off most of the leadership and intelligentsia of the Israelite nation.

And you think you have some hard choices to make.

They are hard. All choices to be faithful are hard. But sometimes, as Daniel reminds us, you just have to do what you know is the right thing and let the chips fall where they may.

And God will lead you, be in front of you, prepare you as you go, and test you, to see if you are ready for the next step of faith.

I grew up in a church right near a fairly large college. The church had a good-sized college ministry with students there on Sunday morning, often looking quite hungry!

So, in addition to a rousing discussion of all things biblical and faith challenging, there was food at the college and careers Sunday School class, since the college didn’t offer breakfast. It was at times a bit of a free for all, as the pastor often offered up bite sized bits of wisdom about spiritual life for students during the class.

Like this one, that to begin a life of giving, or stewardship, he suggested that all college students look at what they were spending on pizza and soda each week (he didn’t mention beer, but the principle was the same) and once a month give that amount to the Lord.

He noted it wouldn’t be a lot of money, but that wasn’t the point. The revelation was that God wants us to be faithful with what we have, not with what we don’t, and that in that small act of faithfulness a lifetime of stewardship could grow, using what we have been given by God, for God.

For Daniel, the choice was really hard: to serve Babylon or God. But Daniel decided he was to do both. That somehow, someway, God was calling Daniel and his friends to serve the overlord wisely and well, while serving Yahweh, the God of Israel, at the same time.

For Daniel the sticking point was the call upon God’s people to remain Kosher, to eat only what God had prescribed for them. Daniel knew that Kosher was the only choice.

He wasn’t being asked, at least not now, to give up his faith. He was being asked to learn and to serve, which he believed he could do. But only if he could eat right.

God had given Daniel great wisdom, and so he asked a friendly official “if” he and his friends could eat Kosher for a time, just to see what the result would be, and they did, and God blessed Daniel and his friends for their faithfulness.

So, what is your calling? What is it you are to do? What might you have to give up? What blessing might you gain in return?

Can you, like Daniel, find a way to remain faithful and even grow in faith as God uses you to grow his kingdom?

Be like Daniel, and boldly step into the presence of God.

Daniel: into the fire.

Amen!

Sermon for January 5 2020

So…

What was the best Christmas gift you received this year?

I got Weather Tec floor mats for my truck?

More importantly, what was the best Christmas gift you gave this year?

I gave Sue and emerald, because she is a gem for putting up with me! (for those not in the know, I had quadruple bypass surgery in October.)

The second question is, I think, more important than the first, first, because it reflects the whole Christmas/Epiphany story of giving gifts to honor the King of Kings, and second because it is an indicator of character.

Why character? Well, because receiving gifts doesn’t real much about you, although if you are pretty self-centered then maybe, especially if you think all the gifts out to be about you.

But giving gifts, and the gifts you pick to give, reflect on what you think about the other you are giving to, how much they mean to you, how valuable they are in your life, and …

They reveal how much you are willing to sacrifice in order to express your love and care.

I mean, after all, it appears that the Magi, or Wisemen as they are often called, traveled a huge distance to bring gifts to the newborn king. They evidently weren’t concerned about the distance they had to travel, or what it might cost them, since they traveled very likely in a large caravan with a good bit of security with very expensive gifts.

We don’t know where they came from exactly other than that they came from the east and saw a new constellation in the heavens while in the east that they thought, astrologers as they were, star gazers, that this must mean a new king had been born (new constellation – new king).

They were not from Judea, and knew that entering a foreign land that they had to go to the palace as it were to get credentials, a visa of sorts, to allow them to travel in country, and so told their story to the current reigning king , Herod.

They weren’t interested in local politics, they were interested in cosmic events, and so though suspicious of Herod’s solicitous help, traveled to Bethlehem to seen a new king so powerful that the heavens told the story!

Even Matthew, the disciple of Jesus, was shocked by what this meant, so much so that he chose to tell the story as part of his birth narrative, different than Luke, who told of angels and a choir and shepherds.

While Luke’s narrative was very Judean and Jewish, with only God’s people visiting the king, an oddity for the writer who so often took a wider view that encouraged Gentiles to see the story as their story too - Matthew, who so often takes great pains to make sure that all the “I’s” are dotted and the “t’s” crossed in terms of Jewish law and tradition, here introduces the cosmic element of Jesus’ birth with the arrival of three (and the number is speculative based on the number of gifts) gentiles, and all of them seemingly not followers of the Jewish law.

This child born to Mary and Joseph, who themselves are relatives of the great King David, have a son who is both then related to the greatest Jewish King, and as the new born constellation tells, to the God who controls the universe!

And these Magi bring gifts fit for a king. It seems that whatever tribute the Magi gave to Herod, they kept some in hiding for the new king they were about to meet, a fact that certainly would have been peaked Herod’s interest even beyond the thought of a child who could be king.

And they presented those gifts, nothing practical like diapers and formula and onesies, but gifts for royalty, gold and frankincense and myrrh, all precious, all a statement of their joy and delight to be able to meet the one who had changed their sky forever.

Gift giving at Christmas has been a tradition ever since, although, the tradition is to bring gifts to the king, not necessarily each other!

So, in honor of Epiphany, the arrival of the Magi, today we are all invited to bring a gift to the king as well. In your bulletin you will find a envelope and a blank card for you write down what you are going to do this year to honor the king.

Seal the card in the envelope. Place it in the baskets at the back of the sanctuary. No one will ever see what you have written, that is between you and God.

But remember, your gift, as always, suggests your character, your commitment, and how much you love Him. Choose wisely!

Happy New Year. And Amen!