BEING A PERSON OF SUBSTANCE—Daniel 5
***A few years ago, a best-selling book was titled, “The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook.” It gave advice from experts in a variety of fields, all telling “How to”: How to…fend off a shark, deliver a baby in a taxicab, jump from a moving car, survive if a parachute fails…etc. It even told how to perform an emergency tracheotomy with a sharp knife and a ballpoint pen.
One of the scenarios was what to do if confronted by an angry mountain lion. What do you think you should do? (Raise your hand and vote): 1) Run, 2) Play dead, 3) Hold your coat open like a cape, 4) Sing a happy, gentle song.
The correct answer, according to the expert, is to hold your coat open, thereby appearing larger and more imposing to the lion.**
That is how some people cope with life.
They project an image that is larger than life.
They aim to be “The Big Dog” (“too big to mess with”—“too cool to challenge”—“too big to fail”)
They try to impress people as the smartest, most confident or most powerful person in a room
They become masters of manipulation and control.
That might work—if the lion is small enough. But eventually, situations arise where appearances aren’t enough: an overwhelming tragedy, a strong and perceptive person, or plans that don’t work out. Crises pile up, defenses crumble, and the truth comes out. What then?
We sometimes talk about seeing “the writing on the wall”—seeing that things are going to turn out badly. The phrase comes from our text today, and it does mean that—but at the center of the writing on the wall is another phrase, in Daniel 5:27, “You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.”
You got to the checkout counter, and realized that you didn’t have your money or debit card.
You built an impressive castle on the beach, but when the tide came in, it washed away.
You look back over your life, and it seems like a mist, with no substance.
The writing on the wall says, “You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.”
But we’re getting ahead of the story: It is 539 B.C. Daniel, once a young Jewish intern in the Babylonian court, has advanced to a high position by interpreting the dreams of King Nebuchadnezzar. Now he is an old man in his 70’s, semi-retired.
The king of Babylon is Nebuchadnezzar’s son Nabonidus, who prefers to spend his time at an oasis in Arabia. His son Belshazzar is in charge, and Belshazzar is way beyond his depth.
An invading Persian army has surrounded the city, which is protected by earthen and stone walls, 30 feet high and wide enough to drive a chariot on top. The walls are far enough out to have half a mile of farmland inside them, and the Euphrates River supplies water to the inhabitants.
The Medo-Persian army is advancing on the city walls, and it is time for the ACTING king to ACT like a king. Belshazzar wants to give the appearance of royal grandeur, and build up the morale of the leadership…so he throws a huge party—a banquet for a thousand nobles!
Read Daniel 5:1-4.
The theme of the party is mentioned 5 times in these 4 verses: It is drinking and more drinking. As someone has pointed out, “No one is as brave as the one who has had a few too many.”
To emphasize the splendor of the royal court and his power as acting king, Belshazzar brings in the goblets taken from Solomon’s magnificent temple by his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar. The king and his nobles, his wives and concubines drink from them. (It is repeated twice, so we don’t miss it!) If that were not bad enough, they profane the holy temple goblets by toasting the idolatrous gods of Babylon.
This is profanity. Profanity is not just having a potty-mouth; it is taking something holy and misusing it. Temple items were holy—set apart for special use—and Belshazzar and his guests were treating them like nothing special at all.
The ultimate profanity is for a Christian to take what is holy and abuse it by unholy actions.
Hebrews 10:26-29 lays it on the line: “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth…How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?”
Belshazzar’s profanity is more understandable, because he does not know the true God. He is a desperate, drunken man, covering up weakness in extravagance, and projecting an image of boldness and strength.
Yet stupidity is no excuse, as Daniel bravely points out in verse 23: “You have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven…You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.”
God may tolerate profanity for a while, but today is judgment day for Belshazzar and the Babylonians.
(Preacher: You might want to project a picture of Rembrandt’s painting, “Belshazzar’s Feast.)
Read Daniel 5:5-12. Belshazzar’s grand banquet plans are in disarray. He calls in the “wise men” of his court, promising them anything, if they will just help him control of the situation. Yet it is the queen (probably the queen mother—his mother), who is not at the banquet (maybe the designated driver?), who is the wise one. She goes into great detail about an old man named Daniel, who has true insight and wisdom, and a divine connection.
Read Daniel 5:13-17. Belshazzar still wants to project power and control. He flatters Daniel, and offers him honor and status in his kingdom. Daniel is not interested in what Belshazzar has to offer. Instead, he tells Belshazzar a story he probably already knew: the story (which we looked at last week) of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride and fall, until he humbled himself before God. Belshazzar knew the story, but in case he didn’t get the point, Daniel is in his face to make sure he gets it now:
Read Daniel 5:22-24.
Then Daniel looked up at the writing on the wall, and laid it all out for Belshazzar:
Read Daniel 5:25-26. “Numbered. Weighed. Divided.” (parsin also could mean Persia; a word play)
The game is up. Belshazzar, clothed in his royal finery, is exposed as a man without substance. His reign, celebrated by a thousand partiers, is over. His kingdom, spanning the Middle East, is already being divided among the Medes and Persians.
Belshazzar has come up empty: all show, no substance. What will he do? When Nebuchadnezzar lost his sanity, he “raised his eyes toward heaven,” and God restored his kingdom. You would think Belshazzar would reach out to Daniel for help, cry out to God for mercy and grace, and look for an answer to his dire situation.
But no—He still thinks he can bluff his way through. He clothes Daniel in purple, puts a gold chain around his neck and proclaims him the third highest ruler in the kingdom. He is still in control; just ask him.
But while Belshazzar keeps the party going, the Persian army is preparing to enter the city. Perhaps they diverted the river, or they were let in by people fed up with Belshazzar and his father. “That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.” (Daniel 5:30-31)
Someone might get by on appearances for a while--sometime quite a while—but when a crisis comes, or people look closer, or they have to face up to the reality of who they are, the game is up. The boss wants results. Friends are fed up with the lies and narcissism. Family members are tired of covering up faults to support an image of a great husband or wife, dad or mom.
Even if you can fool everyone else, at the end of the day, you have to take yourself home with you, and you can’t escape who you really are: your character, your values, your commitment and actions.
By now, I hope you are asking…
HOW CAN I BECOME A PERSON OF SUBSTANCE?
How can I be solid at the core? How can I be stable and secure in the storms of life? How can I be strong when evil people seem to have all the power and influence?
We might look to Daniel for the answer. Daniel was not impressed by the kingdom of Babylon. He rejected the fine food and drink of Nebuchadnezzar’s court, to stay faithful to God. He dared to speak truth to power, telling Nebuchadnezzar the meaning of his troubling dreams and visions. His friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were not impressed with Nebuchadnezzar’s 90-foot statue of himself, and they risked their lives to worship God alone. Daniel and his friends recognized that the kingdoms of this world do not give substance to life.
God revealed to Daniel that another kingdom was coming—a kingdom that would be greater than all the kingdoms of the world, and would endure forever. God revealed it to Daniel in the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, in Daniel 2:44, “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.”
The time in the vision, as we look back on history, was the time of Jesus! Daniel did not know about Jesus, but he lived by faith in the God whose kingdom would never fail.
How can we be solid, stable, and secure in the storms of life? If Daniel were here today, I think—no, I know—Daniel would point us to Jesus.
Matthew tells us, (Matthew 4:23-5:10) “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM, and healing every disease and sickness among the people… God’s kingdom had arrived, in the person of Jesus.
Yet the kingdoms of the earth had not been crushed; the Roman and Jewish leaders still seemed to be in control. Even today, the kingdoms of this world loom large, offering stability, power and significance.
Where and how will we establish ourselves people of substance?
Will we look to the kingdoms of the world—political, economic or cultural—to protect us? Will we try to build up our image, trying to impress people with our importance, power and influence? Will we play by the rules of the world, dominating others for our own benefit?
No, we recognize that the kingdoms of this world will pass away, but the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ Jesus, endures forever. His kingdom gives us meaning, stability, and security.
How do we live in the kingdom of God? After Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom of God was at hand, he pulled his disciples aside, to tell them about life in the kingdom of God:
“Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.”
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.”
Jesus said nothing about trying to build up our image, scrambling for power or control, or climbing over other people to get to the top. We are blessed in the kingdom of God if we trust God, seek God’s righteousness, and live as children of God.
After the Beatitudes, Jesus went on to contrast life according to the kingdoms of this world with life in the kingdom of God. The kingdoms of this world reward those who build themselves up and satisfy human expectations, but the kingdom of God is built upon getting right with the God, self and others:
-RIGHTEOUSNESS in the kingdom of God is not about keeping rules, such as not killing anybody or not having an affair. It is how you see people, how you talk to people, and how you treat them when things fall apart.
-APPROVAL in the kingdom of God is not from earning God’s favor by being perfect. It is accepting God’s grace, by loving one’s enemies, forgiving other people, and refusing to judge them.
-RELIGION in the kingdom of God—giving to the poor, prayer and fasting—is not to impress other people, or even oneself. Prayer is knowing the Father, and trusting him to give good gifts to those who ask.
-SECURITY in the kingdom of God is not found in laying up earthly treasure, or worrying about having enough to live. It is about recognizing God’s power and care, which will never fail.
Finally, at the end of his teaching of what call the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told a parable about building a life of substance:
Matthew 7:24-27, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Jesus said that it is not people who simply HEAR his words who stand firm in the storms of life, but people who PUT HIS WORDS INTO PRACTICE.
If we build our lives on kingdom principles, we will be people of substance. We will treat people with respect, grace and kindness. We will have an authentic relationship with God. We will worry less, and rest in God’s loving care. When the storms of life come, we will be grounded in God, whose kingdom will never fail.
