We’re going to begin looking at Daniel 2 for the next three weeks, because it does a wonderful job of teaching us something so fundamental: How to talk to God. As Christians, each and every one of us is blessed with direct line to God himself. It’s almost magical to think about that fact. But I know in my life that sometimes I have a hard time making the most of that. Well, this story that we have in Daniel 2 shows us the right way to talk to God, and so I want to learn from it how best to exercise my right to talk straight to him.
Briefly, I’ll tell you where I’m going. This week, I want to look just at the introduction to the story. We’re going to see how not to talk God. He’s not magic. Next week, we’re going to see how Daniel was able to talk to God because he realized the most important point: God is a person. He’s not in our control, He’s God. And then we’re going to end with the actual dream Daniel interpreted, and see this. God is in control. These elements are central to our prayer lives, and so I want to spend some time looking at it. I would encourage you, this afternoon, to sit down and read just this one chapter of Daniel – Daniel 2.
But before we get to the point of seeing that our God is in control, we need to see who isn’t. We need to see that the gods we set up in our own lives are not. This morning, I want to direct your attention, not to Daniel but rather to the magicians and the astrologers and the soothsayers who were pretending to be gods: the ones who were passing themselves as gods. The type of god I fear you and I can delude ourselves into becoming.
The story itself is simple enough. You’ll remember Daniel wanting to be God’s servant. He’s in Babylon, and despite his unwillingness to buy into their system, he has been swept into it. Well, that whole system is about to get a shock.
You see, King Nebuchadnezzar is going to have a dream. Dreams are very important to Babylonians. They thought each and every one of them had their own god who would communicate to them through dreams. They thought their dreams were gifts and they were to use them. Well, King Nebuchadnezzar gets this ‘gift,’ and it scares him. And so, he calls for his wise men. But then something happens. Either he can’t or won’t remember it.
So he tells wise men: I need your help. I need you to tell me my dream. But I need to know something. I need to know I can trust you. So, guys, I have a little test for you. I’ll listen to your interpretation of my dream, but you need to tell me that dream first. Oh, and just to give you some incentive – if you don’t? I’ll kill you.
We don’t know why. Like I said, he may have forgotten, he may have just lost faith in his astrologers, his magicians. This was no Nancy Reagan we were talking about – this was a man who wanted to test the magic. Back in those days, magicians were like the scientists of our day. They had access to the “secret” knowledge, the mysteries. They were the ones with the power and the control.
But sometimes it takes someone in power to expose how shallow that power is. Around 1900, Harry Houdini was a magician who excelled at his craft. But he was also a scientist. For him, those great escapes were nothing but an act. He was one of the first magicians to show people what happened behind the curtain. Like Nebuchadnezzar, he would test the magicians. Like Nebuchadnezzar, he wanted to believe, but he simply knew too much to fall the tricks and sleight of hand that passed for magic.
At the turn of our century, the big trick was for ‘spiritualists’ to communicate with the dead. They’d put on quite a show and tell people what they wanted to hear. But being a magician, Harry Houdini knew how to pull back the curtain. He could show up their tricks. You know, for a long time he had a standing bet. He’d give anybody $5000 in 1900s money if they could only prove they were talking with the dead. But nobody every collected while he was alive. You see, magic doesn’t work. As Christians, we need to understand that we do not believe in magic. We don’t believe that if you pray some special words or send in some special ‘seed money’ or any such nonsense that God is going to do our special bidding.
You see, Christianity is not magic. Oh, to be sure, there is a certain magic in knowing that my sin is forgiven by the very creator God of the universe. But, Christ is not some magical incantation; He is not some hocus-pocus that some how wards off bad things, bad luck, or bad breath. Rather, Jesus is Lord. He is in control, and he is good. Because he is in control, I don’t have to rely on magic. I can rely on him.
This morning as I read, I want to focus your attention not on Daniel, but on the court magicians. I want you to focus on these astrologers and soothsayers, and how little they have to offer. I want you to think for a moment about the inadequacies of their magic.
Let me read: <
We are not gods. They had to admit it. We don’t have any special power. There is no magic behind the curtain. We can’t say any magic words that will turn us into gods. We are not gods, O King. And by extension, neither are you.
That’s a hard thing to say. That’s a hard to thing to believe. It’s not just Shirley McLain that wants to think she’s her own god. We all want to be the captain of our ship, the master of own destiny: Our own little god.
When I was being ordained, I was asked to give a statement of faith. I summarized it in two sentences: Jesus is Lord; I am not.
I said that because I am comfortable and in fact I prefer the role of being in charge. I like to control things. For me, the toughest act of faith is to remind myself that Jesus is God. That job is already taken, I need not apply.
When I pray, I have to do so with this understanding. God can know my desires. God should know what I want. But I want what is best. I want God to be in charge. I want his will, not mine to be done.
Every now and then you’ll even hear me sarcastically say, ‘If God would just listen to me….’ But I can’t say that with a straight face. I say, “If I were in charge,” I just start laughing. I know how much better God would be. When my prayers start sounding like a shopping list or a set of instructions for my secretary, I know I need to stop and ask myself, who is in charge here anyway?
If your world is falling apart, maybe it’s because you have a bad god in charge. Personally, I’d put the real one back on the throne. After all, if we are gods, we can set it all right! Not! Gods are supposed to be in control. They’re magical. They can do anything.
Never you mind that Jesus has already given us more than we could ever ask or imagine – never mind that his grace shall supply all our needs, according to his riches in glory. Never mind that he has already promised that he is our good shepherd. We shall not want.
No, we want to believe that if we use the right trinkets or say the right words at the right time, we’ll get what we want. We want to be the magician. We want to dictate the terms.
Well, it doesn’t work that way. James reminds us, we must humble ourselves. God will lift us up.
So what is magic, then? Magic is an attempt to control things. Bring them out to our desired ends.
That’s why we have magic after all. We want something to give us, if nothing else, the illusion of control. We’d all love to be David Copperfield and make all our problems disappear, the same way he could vanish the Statue of Liberty. Or, do you remember the time he walked through the Great Wall of China? Imagine if we could break through barriers like that.
And lest you think that even those of us who aren’t superstitious are immune to the lures of magic, may I remind you of this quote from the ever-rational Arthur C. Clarke? He suggested that any technology, sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic. When we buy into technology, we do so in the hopes that it can make all our problems go away. Are you lonely? Well, if you were only using the right brand of toothpaste, you’d have girls aplenty! Not!
It would be so wonderful if we could be in charge, wouldn’t it? We could do whatever we wanted. Of course, the danger is, we would do whatever we wanted. It was the Greeks who warned us, ‘Be careful what you wish for, you may get your wish.’ If we were gods, I would be scared what we would do with that power.
There will always be times when that illusion of control will be tested. When I am my own god, my god tends to fail those tests. Even if I could effect the changes I desired, would they be the right ones? When our God is tested, when we see who is playing the role of God, we find out how good our gods really are. When we let the real God be God, things may not be what we want, but they are for the best. When we try to be god, we find out there are things we just can’t do.
Long story short, these magicians talking to the king – when they’re put to the test, they finally have to admit it. We’re not gods. Next week we’re going to see who that is. This little boy – this nobody, Daniel – is going to introduce us to a real God, the same way I hope we all can be introduced to the real God who is in charge.
He’s not a magic trick; He’s not a machine. He’s a person. He has plans. I may not be privy to them, but I do know this. He loves us. If we will only submit to him, we will have a God who not only gives us dreams, or tells us what they mean, but who is the dream God we really need. We are not gods – but we know the real God. And that is more than I could ever ask or imagine. But what else would you expect from a real God?
Would you pray with me?
Long Branch Baptist Church
Halfway, Virginia; est. 1786
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Enter to Worship
Prelude David Witt
Meditation Daniel 2:20-23
Invocation Michael Hollinger
*Opening Hymn #52
“Crown Him with Many Crowns”
Welcome & Announcements
Morning Prayer [See Insert]
*Hymn
“Jehovah Jireh”
*Responsive Reading [See Right]
*Offertory Hymn #450
“I’m not Ashamed to Own My Lord”
Offertory Mr. Witt
*Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow / Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise him above, ye heavenly host / Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
*Scripture Daniel 2:1-11
Sermon
“The Illusion of Control”
Invitation Hymn #353
“Jesus is Lord of All”
*Benediction
*Congregational Response
May the grace of Christ of Savior / And the Father’s boundless love
With the Holy Spirit’s favor / Rest upon us from above. Amen.
* Congregation, please stand.
Depart To Serve
MORNING PRAYER
O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace that we, running to obtain your promises, may partake of your heavenly treasure. Forgive us those things that have hindered us from coming to you. Cover these our sins with your mercy, your pity, your grace and your glory.
PRAY FOR FORGIVENESS OF YOUR SIN
Be exalted, O Lord; Let your glory cover the earth.
Lord, your glory covers us who await the glory you have prepared for us. We cry out for that day, but until then we pray that you would merely sustain us here below. Bless those us who grieve here below. Lord, preserve the Waddells. Heal them, grant us time with them we pray. Sustain Cindy and Lee, renew them in their time of trial we ask. Father, we ask for Susan and her family. Bring her healing, bring them healing we pray. Almighty Lord, raise up Martha and give your strength to her and her family. Great Healer, grant your heart to Warren, we ask. And Lord, do not forget Irene or Kathy or Mark, or these also we pray:
PRAY FOR YOUR NEIGHBORS
Be exalted, O Lord; Let your glory cover the earth.
God, your foolishness confounds the wise: You have granted this church the privilege of participating in your Kingdom, continue to let us do that we pray. Likewise, Father, we praise you for the mercy you have shown our country. Lead our President and Governor, reason with our Congresses, inform our judges, and bless our enemies even as you protect our people placed in their way.
PRAY FOR YOUR COUNTRY AND CHURCH
Be exalted, O Lord; Let your glory cover the earth.
Be exalted, O Lord because you are good. Be exalted O Lord, because you have done great things. Be exalted O Lord, for interceding on our behalf, when we could not pray. Be exalted even for teaching us to pray, saying Our Father …
RESPONSIVE READING
Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,
in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.
And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
How you [Lucifer] are fallen from heaven, O bright morning star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds,
I will make myself like the Most High.”
But you are brought down to the depths of the Pit. Those who see you will stare at you, and ponder over you: “Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms,
All of them will speak and say to you: “You too have become as weak as we! You have become like us!” Your pomp is brought down to Hell.
Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints,
what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ex 20:1-3;Pr 3:5-6;Ro 8:26-30;Is 55:8-11;
Is 14:12-16;10-11;Jas 4:7-10;Eph 3:18-19
Title: The Illusion of Control
