(sermon theme from Mike Turner)
Boanthropy. Do you know what that is? It’s a psychological disorder where a person believes that he is an animal. Could this be what causes our children to eat the way they do at the dinner table? No. Boanthropy is a bit more involved than that. If your children were really afflicted, they would answer your summons with grunts, and would sleep outside with the coyotes and jackrabbits.
In our sermon text today we meet a famous king who was afflicted with this strange disorder. His name was Nebuchadnezzar and he was the king of Babylon during the time of the prophet Daniel. For a period, Nebuchadnezzar went from living in a magnificent palace to surviving in a muddy pasture. Why? Because of his pride. He refused to acknowledge that his greatness was a gift from God, so God cut him down to size. Sinful pride is not just a problem for kings and celebrities; it threatens to make animals of us all. What’s worse, it threatens to pull us away from our place in heaven’s palace. So let’s see what Nebuchadnezzar’s experience teaches us about pride and how God wants us to deal with it.
It was Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed the temple Solomon had built in Jerusalem. But he is most famous to historians for his building projects including one of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the hanging gardens of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar built this to resemble the mountains one of his wives loved so much.
All this success of course had been given to Nebuchadnezzar by the God who gives any success we enjoy. Nebuchadnezzar thought, however, that he alone ought to receive the credit for his achievements. The way he saw it, he was a self-made man. But God doesn’t tolerate such pride. He could of course have dispatched Nebuchadnezzar with an angel assassin. Instead he sent Nebuchadnezzar a nightmare meant to warn the king to adapt a more humble attitude. In this dream the king saw a large tree that reached up to the heavens. It was so tall that it could be seen from anywhere in the world. Birds and animals of all kinds found shelter in it. But then an angel appeared with the command to cut down the tree and to strip it of all its leaves. All that would be left was a stump.
Nebuchadnezzar had no idea what the dream meant and neither did any of his advisors except for one: Daniel – the same Daniel who would spend time in a lions’ den. It was no mystery to Daniel that the tree represented Nebuchadnezzar and God was saying that he was going to cut him down to size if he didn’t repent of his pride. But look at how Daniel approached the matter. He said to the king: “My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries!” (Daniel 4:19b) Daniel seemed to really care about this king – a king who had destroyed Daniel’s beloved homeland and took him captive. We might expect Daniel to rub his hands together in glee and announce: “Hey man, you’re finally getting what you deserve!” Instead Daniel urged the king not to let this happen to him. He said: “Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue” (Daniel 4:27).
How does Daniel’s attitude compare to yours? Do you too desperately seek and pray for the salvation of others? That’s easy to do for those who are family and friends, but what about those who make your life miserable? Seeking their salvation doesn’t mean that we ignore the hurt they cause. Daniel didn’t ignore Nebuchadnezzar’s sins; he pointed them out! But he didn’t do so in a self-righteous manner, but to get the king to see that he needed God’s forgiveness. What a good example Daniel is. I need to be more caring like he was and more bold. I often shy away from pointing out sin because I’m afraid what the other person will say when I should be more afraid that if this person doesn’t repent of that sin, he or she will spend an eternity in hell.
How did Nebuchadnezzar handle Daniel’s advice? Considering that nothing happened to the king for the next twelve months, he must have taken to heart the warning and humbled himself. But one day after that Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof of his palace surveying the great city of Babylon when he boasted that he had built it all proving his greatness. Before those words died away, however, other words resounded from heaven. God spoke promising now to carry out the details of the dream. And just like that Nebuchadnezzar went from king to crazy as he believed that he was some sort of wild animal. He left the palace and hit the pasture where he remained, hair and nails growing savage-like long, until he repented.
Do you see any parallels between Nebuchadnezzar’s life and yours? No one here lives in a palace, but we enjoy comforts that Nebuchadnezzar could not have imagined. Central heating and air conditioning. Airplanes that zip us down to the tropics in a matter of hours. Comfortable eyeglasses that help us read and see the world around us. It’s not just that we take these blessings for granted; we also often think that we’re somehow responsible for them. “It’s my hard work that allowed for the tropical vacation,” we muse. “It’s my smart saving plan that led to the purchase of this car,” we think. We even feel smug when we read news reports out of Iraq, Nebuchadnezzar’s old stomping grounds, and shake our head at all the bombings there – as if we have something to do with the peace we enjoy here! Who gives us all these blessings, brothers and sisters? Who makes us prosperous? Who gives us peace so that we can get drive from one end of the country to the other without the fear of encountering a single roadside bomb? Is it not the God who made heaven and earth?
Like Nebuchadnezzar we may acknowledge this truth from time to time, but God doesn’t want us to be humble once in a while, he wants genuine humility all of the time! And if he doesn’t get it, he may put us flat on our back or out to pasture as he did Nebuchadnezzar. When he does, don’t curse God; thank him. For what God ought to do is not just put us on our backs but bury and forget about us.
God showed this kind of patient love with Nebuchadnezzar. In fact the dream already made clear that the king’s animal insanity would only be temporary. It was to continue for “seven seasons.” We don’t know if this meant seven years, seven months, or seven weeks but it seems that the number seven is significant. It probably was symbolic as was much of what the king saw in his dream. If so, it’s an appropriate number when you consider how long it took God to create the universe: seven days (if you include his day of rest). Was God now saying that he would re-create a new attitude in Nebuchadnezzar in his own time and in his own way? That’s certainly what God accomplished. Listen to what the king said when God brought him to his senses: “I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation… Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble” (Daniel 4:34, 37).
From palace to pasture…and back to palace again. We pray that Nebuchadnezzar remained a humble believer so that we will see him in the palaces of heaven. But pray also that you remain a humble believer. Take a moment to consider where you were a year ago. Was your bank account as full? Was your wall covered with as many awards? Were you as respected and valued at work? If your status and popularity has grown in the past year, what has it done to your humility? I’ll bet it’s taken a back seat to your ego. That’s just the way our sinful nature works. But our humility actually ought to grow as the awards and accolades pile up because it’s amazing that God grants us any success at all when you consider how we’re still habitual sinners today just as we were yesterday. Why, we can’t even be humble without being proud. Ever pray: “Lord keep me humble”? I’ve offered that prayer, but it’s an arrogant one. What I need to pray is, “Lord make me humble. Don’t let me act the part of a humble servant; make me one. Help me really see that every blessing I enjoy is a gift of your undeserved love. Help me truly to be grateful for all that you give me. And if you have to, put me flat on my back for seven seasons to work this attitude in me.”
Don’t be afraid to offer this prayer, for the Apostle Paul said that when we are weak that’s when we are really strong. Those who despair of their own strength are ready to rely on and benefit from the Lord’s unlimited power (2 Corinthians 12:10). Isn’t that what the child finds out who at first insists on carrying his own water and lunch on a hike? Those items soon become burdens, however, weighing down every step. No, it’s a lot easier to listen to Dad who said, “I’ll carry those for you.”
Our God delights in carrying our burdens. He’s even carried off our greatest burden: sin. Marvel at how he did it. He sent his Son Jesus, who, although never suffered boanthropy, was treated like an animal from the moment he was born. His first bed was not a handcrafted cradle in a palace but an animal feedbox in a barn. And his death was not unlike the death of thousands of sacrificial lambs that had given their lives on the altar - killed so that those who offered them might escape God’s anger over sin. As the Apostle Paul said: “Where is there room for us to boast...about anything?” Not only my salvation but my life, my all is God’s gracious gift. Yes, make me humble, Lord Jesus so that I see clearly your grace. And take me from the pasture of this world to your palace in heaven. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
List three facts about Nebuchadnezzar.
List two things you like about Daniel’s conversation with Nebuchadnezzar.
What parallels do you see between Nebuchadnezzar’s life and yours? List at least three.
God put Nebuchadnezzar “out to pasture” for seven seasons. The number seven may symbolize how God was going to create a new attitude in the king’s heart, just as it had taken him seven days to create a new universe (if you include his day of rest). Why does God have to create pleasing attitudes in us? Why can’t we do this on our own? Write down at least two Bible passages to support your answer (these weren’t mentioned in the sermon).
Success often goes to our head and makes us proud. Why should it actually do the opposite and humble us?
Why is the payer: “Lord keep me humble,” actually an arrogant one?
Jesus never suffered from boanthropy (the belief that he was an animal), but he was sure treated like an animal throughout his life. Explain why this was good for us.
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