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All scripture is from the New Living Translation (NLT).
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A few weeks ago the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the phrase “One nation under God” in the pledge of allegiance is unconstitutional – actually more specifically using such a pledge in a public school is a violation of the separation of church and state.
Now, of course, the phrase hadn’t originally been a part of the pledge. It’s really a relatively recent addition. The pledge was written by Francis Ballamy in 1892. Bellamy was a socialist and a Baptist preacher –
a strange combination – even back then.
He was involved in public school administration and developed the pledge to be a part of the daily school ritual. The God part was added by congress in 1954 after a campaign the Catholic organization – the Knights of Columbus. It seemed like an appropriate thing to do at the height of McCarthyism when people were concerned about the rise of communistic atheism.
Well, now, it appears that being “under God” may be in danger – or at least it is a possibility, should the ruling stand.
And for many people this is the last straw. Certainly the nation is going down the tube. "We’re kicking God out of anything public. There’s no more prayer in school. Religious displays in public parks are prohibited. No one takes God seriously anymore."
Of course, most people in our country like the idea of a God, but only 25% may show up for church on a given Sunday. God has become for us a "friendly force" – a lucky rabbits foot you rub when you wish for something.
And so, with a devalued God we end up going in all kinds of directions a godly people would never think of. "Television has become nothing but one slutty show after another. Drugs are everywhere. Abortion is an everyday fact. Cities and states can’t move fast enough to recognize homosexual marriages. Heterosexual people live together as though they weren’t accountable to God. And even those who marry don’t stay so very long."
A lot of committed Christians look at all of this,
toss up their hands in despair, and just feel overwhelmed and lost, as though all hope were gone,
as though they have become strangers in a foreign land.
And maybe such a perspective isn’t all that bad –
especially when you take into account what Jesus says about his kingdom.
I am, however, concerned with the sense of despair that hangs over many of us. The doom and gloom that is
so pervasive in the Christian community. And this is why I’m so glad for the message that comes thru loud and clear in the book of Daniel – “In spite of all present appearances, God is still in control.” (Tremper Longman III)
The book of Daniel takes place in the 6th century B.C. The nation of Israel is no more – having fallen to the Assyrians in 722 B.C. The other Hebrew Kingdom – Judah – didn’t really learn too much from watching the demise of their siblings. They were not interested in issues of justice and caring for the poor. They were too interested in the pagan gods of their neighbors.
All of which was a violation of the Covenant that they had with the Lord God. And in 586 B.C. judgment came. Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians.
Now, the Babylonians had a different strategy for dealing with defeated enemies than the Assyrians. The Assyrians just scattered such people to the four corners of the earth – completely disconnecting them from each other. Scattered to the wind.
However, the Babylonians tended to drag their new subjects in mass back to Babylon. This is what happened to the Judeans in the 6th century B.C.
The Babylonians took large groups of people into exile and among those who were forcibly relocated to live in the land of their enemies was one young man named Daniel.
And the book of Daniel is about him and how God spoke through him during the time of exile.
The book itself can be divided into two sections. The first seven chapters are stories about Daniel and his friends. These are the stories that we tell our children in Sunday school -- the fiery furnace, the lion’s den, the writing on the wall.
However, the last five chapters are very different from the first seven chapters. These later chapters contain a record of the very strange visions and dreams of Daniel.
We’ll talk more about this when we get there but at this point I simply want to point out that the
overarching theme or the point of it all – in both the stories and the dreams – is the same. “In spite of all present appearances, God is still in control.”
I suspect that some of us really need to hear this message today. Perhaps you’re not just worried about the sate of the nation but you’re concerned about the overwhelming issues in your own personal life.
We’ve had a lot of grief this week, with the death of Aaron Hedstrom. Some of you are grieving the loss of a job or your inability to get control of your life for some other reason – perhaps it is health related.
Well, Daniel wants you to know that in spite of appearances God really is still on the throne.
This morning I want us to look briefly at the first chapter of our book and to do so by noting three gifts from God. Three times in chapter 1 it says that God gave something to someone. And the first one is a shock.
1. GOD GAVE JEHOIAKIM AND JERUSALEM TO NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
Check it out. Verse 1 – "During the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it with his armies. The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah."
The big mean pagan ungodly Nebuchadnezzar and his vicious Babylonian army which had laid siege to the city, didn’t take the city. The defeat of Jerusalem had nothing to do with Babylonian superiority or prowess. No, it all had to do with the fact that the Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim.
The Lord gave the bad guys victory over his chosen good guys. This defeat and the subsequent exile was a part of God’s plan to reign-in his defiant people. And sometimes – just sometimes -- God chooses to use the bad guys to get his good work done. Things were not out of control just because bad things were happening.
This had to be a terrible blow to the Judeans. For they considered themselves to be the holy remnant – the chosen people of God. And if you’re chosen by God, no one can touch you. You can do whatever you want and you’re always going to land on your feet. Or so they were thinking.
But not only do they suffer a humiliating defeat – we have the word right up front at the beginning of Daniel -- that it was all God’s doing!
Not only have they lost the city but worse than that they have lost the blessing of the Lord.
Verse 2 continues, "When Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon, he took with him some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God and placed them in the treasure-house of his god in the land of Babylonia."
Not only had God given the Babylonians the victory but he, in doing so, gave them the sacred objects from the Temple that they the Judeans had built for the Lord. Truly God had yanked his hand of blessing from his people. They couldn’t even worship him anymore because God had given away the sacred objects of the Temple. We’ll hear more about these sacred objects later in chapter 5.
But the point is that God had given a victory to the enemies of Judah. It was not out of God’s hand. It was a part of his plan.
And, of course, this begs the question of us, are all of the maddening things happening in our world really a sign that God is out of the picture, as so many people think?
Just because a court somewhere might say that we’re not “under God” – does that make it so? Just because the city has been ransacked does it mean that God is gone? Do we even worry that it does?
The second gift in Daniel 1 is found in verse. 9, "Now God had given the chief official great respect for Daniel."
This is #2 on message guide – GOD GAVE THE CHIEF OFFICIAL RESPECT FOR DANIEL.
This is a big deal.
Daniel wasn’t an accident in this situation. At first it appears that the king himself was placing Daniel into a position of influence – which was not uncommon –
to find the cream of the crop of captives and train them for special service. But Daniel wasn’t respected because he was the king’s choice. No this respect was a gift from God.
And to prove the point we find that the story takes a
slight Vegi-Tale twist. Go back to verse 3 with me, "Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, who was in charge of the palace officials, to bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah’s royal family and other noble families, who had been brought to Babylon as captives. ’Select only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men,’ he said. ’Make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with knowledge and good sense, and have the poise needed to serve in the royal palace. Teach these young men the language and literature of the Babylonians.’ The king assigned them a daily ration of the best food and wine from his own kitchens. They were to be trained for a three-year period, and then some of them would be made his advisers in the royal court.
"Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men chosen, all from the tribe of Judah. The chief official renamed them with these Babylonian names:
Daniel was called Belteshazzar.
Hananiah was called Shadrach.
Mishael was called Meshach.
Azariah was called Abednego."
This guys were being stripped of their Hebrew identity, forced to learn a new language, go back to school for a new education – which in all likelihood was a combination of astrology and divination.
They were given new names, and even a new diet. No more bagels!
Verse 8 – "But Daniel made up his mind not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief official for permission to eat other things instead. Now God had given the chief official great respect for Daniel." (There it is again – a gift from God).
It’s not real clear as to what it was about Babylonian food that would be considered defiling for these guys. AAnd indeed, after the training period of three years, iit seems that Daniel did partake of the rich BBabylonian diet, as implied in 10:3.
The point seems to have more to do with the setting than the food itself. For it appears that the story is making the point that it wasn’t the rich food and the wonderful wine of the Babylonians that made Daniel and friends who they were. For indeed, they had sustained themselves on little more than vegetables.
Verse 9 again, "Now God had given the chief official great respect for Daniel. But he was alarmed by Daniel’s suggestion. ’My lord the king has ordered that you eat this food and wine,’ he said. ’If you become pale and thin compared to the other youths your age, I am afraid the king will have me beheaded for neglecting my duties.’
"Daniel talked it over with the attendant who had been appointed by the chief official to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ’Test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,’ Daniel said. ’At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king’s rich food. Then you can decide whether or not to let us continue eating our diet.’ So the attendant agreed to Daniel’s suggestion and tested them for ten days.
"At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king. So after that, the attendant fed them only vegetables instead of the rich foods and wines."
All of this leads up to the third gift – GOD GAVE DANIEL AND HIS FRIENDS KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING.
Verse 17, "God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for learning the literature and science of the time. And God gave Daniel special ability in understanding the meanings of visions and dreams."
It wasn’t the king’s special training. It wasn’t the king’s specially formulated diet -- that made these guys successful. It was from God –- a gift.
Verse 18, "When the three-year training period ordered by the king was completed, the chief official brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with each of them, and none of them impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they were appointed to his regular staff of advisers. In all matters requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, the king found the advice of these young men to be ten times better than that of all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom."
In other words, the vegetables worked out pretty well. They all graduated summa cum laude. The most impressive of men in the class had been sustained thru
the whole training period on a diet of brussel sprouts, broccoli and lima beans. It must be a God thing!
Things look pretty dim at this point. The nation has fallen apart. The people are captives. They are in mourning. We catch a glimpse of such in Psalm 137.
"Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept
as we thought of Jerusalem. We put away our lyres,
hanging them on the branches of the willow trees.
For there our captors demanded a song of us. Our tormentors requested a joyful hymn: ’Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!’ But how can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?"
They nation of Judah was weeping. Yet quietly, behind the scenes, with no one else’s knowledge there were four young men eating vegetables for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And like a small mustard seed ready to sprout – like yeast being worked into the dough – God was busy using that small barely noticeable band to get things back on track.
IN SPITE OF DARK CIRCUMSTANCES GOD GIVES HIS PEOPLE WHAT THEY NEED TO THRIVE THROUGH IT ALL. THEREFORE, WE SHOULD EAT OUR VEGETABLES. This is the key point this morning.
And of course, the vegetables here are symbolic of the fact that God is still busy nurturing his plan. He is still in control!
He isn’t bringing his plan into effect through a massive display of power but through a bunch of people on a Spartan diet.
Some people get nervous when there’s nothing more than vegetables on the table. Somewhere along the way we’ve gotten the idea that if we’re not being fed the finest food, the richest wine – all the things that the rest of the world views as necessary for success... If we don’t have that kind of power than we’re defeated – and God will never get anything done in the world.
So if the world is making it big on television we’ve got to have a bigger television audience than they have. If the secularists are spreading their poison through music and popular literature, well, the only way that we can do anything for God is if we put out more music than they do and sell more books than they sell.
Are you catching my drift? It’s a mind-set.
I used to think that if somehow we could get the Christian message into really contemporary music and onto the radio that we’d have an unstoppable influence on our culture. And guess what, in the last 25 years we’ve been able to get Christian music out there – and its quality matches anything in the secular world – often exceeding it. I heard the Newsboys on the secular station a few weeks ago. The gospel was presented plain and clear on the medium of choice.
And yet, when you step back and look at the impact, it’s really been minimal.
And the reason is that we’ve been trying to do our thing on a diet of meat and wine rather than vegetables and water.
This happens on an individual level, too.
If we don’t have the perfect church experience or
the perfect youth group or the most articulate pastor or the most refreshing Bible study or terrific personal devotion times... We kind of adopt this defeatist mentality that with the world being the
way it is – there is nothing I can do to possibly live faithfully for Christ in a consistent manner. So I might as well give up.
I’ll do the best I can but it’s not much when you look at the world I have to live in. I don’t have any power.
Really? Is that true?
Don’t give up too soon. God can do a lot with merely a handful of spinach and a few zucchini.
Frankly, chapter 1 of Daniel is just an introduction – or maybe a teaser to help us anticipate what God can do through a few people nurtured on a diet of vegetables and water.
So when you see the news on television --
When things aren’t going well at work --
Don’t sweat it! Just go eat your veggies.
Let’s pray: Gracious Father – Our memories are short and our perspective is even shorter. We confess that and seek your forgiveness. We seek as well a renewed sense of confidence that you are still in charge – in spite of all the garbage that is coming at us. Make us into your bold and confident people. We want to do the right thing. Send your Spirit to make it so.
Amen.
