THE CHRONICLES OF DANIEL #5: PRIDEFALL:
KNOCKING KNEES AND A FLOATING FINGER
DANIEL 5: 1-12 & 22-31
AUGUST 22, 2004
INTRODUCTION: [It’s Over Your Head, Citation: C.D. Monismith, Salem, Ore. Christian Reader, "Lite Fare."]
One quarter while teaching an adult Sunday school class, I decided, It’s time to be up-to-date and innovative. I need to try something new for our class.
We were studying one of the Old Testament books.
I found an overhead projector and tried to teach myself how to use it.
Then I wrote an outline on an overhead transparency to display for the class.
When Sunday morning came, I had the projector all set up.
At the right moment in the lesson, I flipped on the overhead.
The beautiful outline flashed on the wall for all to see.
To emphasize a significant spiritual truth in the passage, I grabbed one of the special markers, walked over and started writing in bold letters on the outline.
The class burst out laughing.
Why are they laughing? I thought to myself. This is the crucial point!
Then it hit me.
I was writing on the wall.
It seems I’d been a little unclear on the overhead concept.
The class wouldn’t let me forget it.
In fact, for many weeks they wouldn’t allow me to remove my brilliant insight from the wall. Contributed by: A. Todd Coget
TRANSITION THOUGHT: Our text for tonight speaks of writing on the wall, but it is not the fun kind. All of us have seen the writing on the wall before in different areas. Maybe that date didn’t return your calls? Maybe that employer didn’t respond to your resume? Maybe the mechanic looked at you and just shook his head? Maybe it was the creditor calling you day after day? What ever it was or is, we have seen the writing on the wall that lead to fear and despair. For our text tonight, the writing on the wall came for a reason. With us, the writing on the wall may be caused by our actions or not, but as King Belshazzar takes over for his father, he experiences the truth, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!
THESIS SENTENCE: PRIDE ALWAYS LEADS TO A FALL (Proverbs 11:2)
I. PRIDEFALL IS FALSE WORSHIP VV. 1-9
CAN YOU READ THE WRITING ON WALL/ FALSE WORSHIP/IDOLITRY
a. FALSE WORSHIP IS A PARTY
b. FALSE WORSHIP IS MISUSING GOD’S STUFF
c. FALSE WORSHIP IS IDOLITYRY
d. FALSE WORSHIP LEADS TO A GOD RESPONSE/ the writing on the wall! E. FALSE WORSHIP LEADS TO FEAR
illustration: Tony Campolo wrote a book called “The Kingdom of God is a Party.” In chapter one, he tells the story of a trip to Honolulu in the mid 80’s. Having crossed far too many time zones from Philadelphia to Hawaii, he found himself awake and needing breakfast at 3:30am local time. He ended up in a greasy, divey place ordering a donut and a coffee, and while consuming this wholesome breakfast in walks 8 or 9 prostitutes. The place is small, Campolo is surrounded, and like most of us decides the best thing to do is to get out of there. Then he overhears one of them say, “Tomorrow is my birthday; I’ll be 39.” Somebody else tears into her. “So?? Whadya want me to do about it?? Want me to throw you a party, bake you a cake, sing “happy birthday???” The first shot back, “Come on! Why do you have to be so mean? I’m just telling you, you don’t have to put me down. I don’t want anything. I’ve never had a birthday party my whole life, why should you give me one, why should I have one now. I’m just saying.”
If you know Tony Campolo, you probably have an idea what happens next. He hangs around till they leave, then asks the guy who runs the place if those people come in every night. They do, so Campolo asks if he could throw that one prostitute a big birthday party that next night. They get excited about the idea, make all the arrangements – Campolo decorates the diner, the chef bakes a cake, somebody gets the word out on the street. This is how Campolo describes the scene:
“By 3:15 every prostitute in Honolulu was in the place. It was wall-to-wall prostitutes… and me! At 3:30 on the dot, the door of the diner swung open and in came Agnes and her friend. I have everybody ready (after all, I was kind of the M.C. of the affair) and when they came in we all screamed, “Happy birthday!”
Never have I seen a person so flabbergasted … so stunned … so shaken. Her mouth fell open. Her legs seemed to buckle a bit. Her friend grabbed her arm to steady her. As she was led to one of the stools along the counter we all sang “Happy Birthday” to her. As we came to the end of our singing with “happy birthday dear Agnes, happy birthday to you,” her eyes moistened. Then, when the cake was carried out with all the candles on it, she lost it and just openly cried.”
She couldn’t blow out the candles. She couldn’t cut the cake. In fact, she was so overwhelmed that she asked if she could just keep the cake for a little while. The gruff chef said, “It’s your cake. Go ahead.” And so Agnes picked the cake up and carried it home as if it were the most precious thing imaginable.
The crowd was stunned into silence. Not knowing what else to do, Campolo said; “what do you say we pray?” And he did. He prayed for Agnes, for her salvation, for God to turn her life around. At the end, the chef turned to him with a trace of hostility in his voice and said, “You never told me you were a preacher. What kind of church do you belong to?” Campolo replied, “I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning.” Contributed by: Steven Simala Grant
II. PRIDEFALL IS A HISTORY LESSON VV. 9-21
CAN YOU REMEMBER YOUR FATHER/ HISTORY 101/ GOD HUMBLES THE PROUD
a. HISTORY IS AN EDUCATION: THE GOOD QUEEN: HAVE NO FEAR
VV. 9-12
b. HISTORY REMEMBER PAST HELP: THE GOOD PROPHET DANIEL
VV. 13-16
c. HISTORY IS THE SAME OLD STORY: KEEP YOUR STUFF/ remember you dad VV. 17-21
illustration: Historian’s Rule: Any event, once it has occurred, can be made to appear inevitable by a competent historian.
Lee Simonson, quoted by Herbert Prochnow in the Public Speaker’s Treasure Chest.
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Wolf’s Law: Those who don’t study the past will repeat its errors. Those who do study it will find other ways to err.
Charles Wolf, Jr.
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History is the record of an encounter between character and circumstance.
Donald Creighton, Towards the Discovery of Canada.
III. PRIDEFALL IS ALL ABOUT PRIDE VV. 22-24
CAN YOU OPPOSE GOD/ PRIDE COMES BEFORE A FALL/ DISRESPECT
a. PRIDE IS NOT PROCESSING THE INFORMATION
b. PRIDE IS STANDING UP TO GOD
c. PRIDE IS IDOLITRY
d. PRIDE DEMANDS GOD’S ACTION
illustration: Golf immortal Arnold Palmer recalls a lesson about overconfidence:
It was the final hole of the 1961 Masters tournament, and I had a one-stroke lead and had just hit a very satisfying tee shot. I felt I was in pretty good shape. As I approached my ball, I saw an old friend standing at the edge of the gallery. He motioned me over, stuck out his hand and said, Congratulations." I took his hand and shook it, but as soon as I did, I knew I had lost my focus. On my next two shots, I hit the ball into a sand trap, then put it over the edge of the green. I missed a putt and lost the Masters. You don’t forget a mistake like that; you just learnfrom it and become determined that you will never do that again. I haven’t in the 30 years since.
Carol Mann, The 19th Hold, Longmeadow.
I JUST HAD TO SHARE THIS ONE??
Did you hear about the clever salesman who closed hundreds of sales with this line: "Let me show you something several of your neighbors said you couldn’t afford."
Source Unknown.
IV. PRIDEFALL IS ACCEPTING/ REALIZING THE TRUTH VV. 25-31
CAN YOU HEAR THE TRUTH/ GOD’S RESPONSE
a. THE TRUTH IS GOD IS IN CHARGE
b. THE TRUTH IS GOD JUDGES/ WEIGHS US
c. THE TRUTH IS GOD PUNISHES SIN
d. THE TRUTH IS WHEN GOD SAYS IT, IT HAPPENS
illustration: Two men had an argument. To settle the matter, they went to a Sufi judge for arbitration. The plaintiff made his case. He was very eloquent and persuasive in his reasoning. When he finished, the judge nodded in approval and said, "That’s right, that’s right."
On hearing this, the defendant jumped up and said, "Wait a second, judge, you haven’t even heard my side of the case yet." So the judge told the defendant to state his case. And he, too, was very persuasive and eloquent. When he finished, the judge said, "That’s right, that’s right."
When the clerk of court heard this, he jumped up and said, "Judge, they both can’t be right." The judge looked at the clerk of court and said, "That’s right, that’s right."
Roger von Oech, Ph.D., A Whack on the Side of the Head, Warner Books, 1983, p. 23.
CONCLUSION: Our text teaches us a valuable lesson. Pride is believing that we are in charge. The truth is only God is in charge. The problem is we are all a little like King Belshazzar, we want to live on our own terms and do just what we want. The reality is we cannot stand in God way and expect to come out alive! God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).
BENEDICTION: NUMBERS 6: 24-26
