“…Be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:18)
It takes courage to stand up for what you believe to be the truth. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were, like Daniel, exiles in Babylon at the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Like Daniel they enjoyed the privilege of Babylonian education and a place in Nebuchadnezzar’s court. However, encouraged by those around him, Nebuchadnezzar had constructed a huge golden statue that he commanded everyone to worship. The three Israelites, despite certain death, refused.
They were intelligent, highly educated, articulate young men who held office in their land of exile at Nebuchadnezzar’s pleasure because of their abilities and leadership qualities. However they knew that now they had to take a stand.
Nebuchadnezzar needed to know the God of Israel was not only the God of the Jewish people. He was not simply another God in the pantheon of gods for the Religious Departments of universities to analyse. He alone is God. There is no other.
They spoke of God as, “our God whom we serve”: they had a personal relationship with him built on trust. They were confident that God had the power to deliver them from the fiery furnace they faced. But if he chose not to protect them they would still trust him.
For the Jewish readers of this book who were also in exile, the examples of men like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Babylon were significant. They had to ask to what extent they should get involved in this foreign country: would it compromise their faith? The Book of Daniel’s answer is, ‘No! It won’t, providing you continue to trust and serve God’.
This question is important for us too. Some of God’s people say they can only fully serve God if they become a Christian minister or missionary. But that is not how God works: he involves all of us wherever we are. And he expects us to continue to trust and serve him in the secular, neo-pagan world of our day.
In Romans 12:1-2 Paul the Apostle writes: ‘I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect’.
Reflect. Do you pray for opportunities to talk with others about your faith? As you do, ask yourself what opportunities you have had. Pray for those with whom you have chatted.
Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night… (Daniel 2:19)
Dreams fascinate us. They can tease us with the hope they may come true, but they can also terrify. In the past, as in some cultures today, dreams were often treated as portents of the future. So people called on the ‘wise’ and fortune-tellers to interpret their dreams. These days modern psychology suggests that dreams can reveal our subconscious desires and fears. However, there are well-documented occasions when individuals have had some kind of premonition of the future – particularly of disaster.
Daniel chapter 2 records a dream that King Nebuchadnezzar experienced. It was so real that he called in his wise men and scientists, wanting them to tell him the meaning. However he had forgotten what it was and threatened them with death if they couldn’t interpret the forgotten dream, Daniel was called in. On being told of the situation he called on his three companions to pray. Prayer was an essential part of Daniel’s life. He prayed because he trusted God.
God answered that prayer, revealing both the dream and its meaning. In essence, God showed Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel and the Israelite exiles in Babylon that there would be the rise and fall of four great empires (Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome). But overall and throughout it all, God would be there, working out his great purposes for his people.
The purpose of the dream was to encourage God’s people to persevere. They were going through dreadful times. Exiled from Jerusalem, they had lost all that was dear to them. ‘Never give up,’ God was saying to them. He says the same to us today: ‘Don’t give up your trust in me, your prayer, or your courage to serve.’
We who live on the other side of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, have even more reason to put our trust in the one God who has shown himself in the course of history to be true and trustworthy.
In Romans 5:1-5 we read: 1Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Reflect. We cannot live a meaningful life in the present unless we believe something positive about the future. What hope do you have for the future that keeps your life fresh and vital now?
The king assigned them a daily portion of the royal rations of food and wine. They were to be educated for three years, so that at the end of that time they could be stationed in the king’s court… But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the royal rations of food and wine (Daniel 1:5,8).
During June and July, I plan to highlight principles we can draw from Daniel, chapters 1 – 7 about living in a post-Christian world.
In Daniel’s day, God’s people found themselves in a world of uncertainty and confusion. In 586BC Nebuchadnezzar had sent his army into Jerusalem; the city was destroyed and the stones of Solomon’s great temple razed to the ground. Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest had devastated the Jewish people. Their national pride was in tatters and their religious faith was challenged to the core for they believed that their God was the one true living God, sovereign over all the gods of the nations.
An important part of Nebuchadnezzar’s strategy was to take the cream of the Jewish people to Babylon and give them a top-rate education and cultural program. Nebuchadnezzar expected men like Daniel and his friends to welcome the intellectual and cultural challenges.
However, Daniel drew a line when it came to the food menu. The words, Daniel resolved…, suggest that he was wrestling with his conscience about this. The result was that he made a personal determination to take a stand on a principle.
Daniel may have stood firm on the matter of food because in diplomatic circles eating a meal with someone often implied an alliance. He knew that he was a member of a nation that was bound to Yahweh, the Lord God. That loyalty came first.
And there was probably something else: Daniel was surrounded daily by dozens of temptations to turn away from his walk with God, temptations he knew might well succumb to. If he was to remain true to God he would need great self-discipline.
He could not afford to let himself be softened up by the king’s hospitality. There may have been nothing morally wrong with enjoying the delights of the Babylonian royal cuisine, but it symbolized a threat to his own spiritual commitment.
Reflect. If we are going to live as believers in a secular materialistic society we need to have the courage to be different. Pray for God’s grace to identify where you need to make a stand.
Optional. You may like to read Daniel 1; and Ephesians 4:17-32.
The terrorist acts in Manchester and London over the last two weeks remind us of the fragility of life. Two young Australian women were amongst those who died in London. Our hearts go out to families who have lost loved ones. And we pray for them.
Because of the increasing uncertainties of life, it’s important that we stop and ask ourselves what we really believe. I suggest this because in troubled times we need the assurance of faith for our own sake and for the sake of our testimony to others.
HG Wells, author of The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine, wrote: “I am an historian. I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”
Why would a professed unbeliever say that ‘Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history’? What is it about Jesus of Nazareth that has captured the attention of great and lesser minds, from amongst all peoples? Is it the power of his words, the magnetism of his personality, the integrity of his life even in the face of the gross injustice perpetrated against him? Or is it his extraordinary feats, noted by contemporary historians such as Josephus?
There’s something we often forget about the New Testament Gospels: they were not written by just one narrator, or even by Jesus himself. There are Matthew and John, who were amongst the twelve eyewitnesses to Jesus over three years. Also, there was Mark who most likely obtained his information from Peter, another one of the twelve ‘witnesses’. And there was Luke the physician, who assures us of his careful and thorough research. Given Jesus’ unique claims and his teaching, his authority and his compassion, it is important we are assured that the facts are true.
In tough times, it is useful to recall examples of Jesus’ authority and care for his people. Luke 8:40-56 tells us of two sets of people faced with suffering and anguish – the first, a woman who had an incurable hemorrhage for twelve years; the second, a man whose twelve-year-old daughter was dying. Both turned to Jesus for help. In him, both found the help they needed.
Mysteriously awesome. Jairus, a recognized synagogue ruler, was charged with ensuring that the law of Moses was taught and upheld. Yet he made no claims to his position when he met with Jesus. Rather, he fell at Jesus’ feet, humbly asking for help. And when the sick woman interrupted Jesus’ progress to his house, Jairus did not object, despite his anxiety. He had a quiet confidence in Jesus. During the delay, news came that his daughter had died. With breathtaking confidence, Jesus urged him not to fear. Rather ‘believe’.
His words underline a major theme in Luke 8. With Jesus, the fear that grips us can give way to the release which faith allows. Arriving at Jairus’s house, Jesus passed by the mourning and disbelieving crowds. Going to the girl’s bedside and taking her hand he said, ‘Child, arise.’ At that she rose and was given food.
Jesus’ miracles point to his real nature – he is truly God in human form. Furthermore, they are mini-portraits of the deeper blessings he offers our suffering world. He invites us all to lean on him in our time of need. He will not always remove our suffering now, but he does promise to be with us. He is also committed to providing a future where there will be no crying or pain.
So important is this theme that we are addressing it and related questions at the Anglican Connection Conference in Dallas next week (June 13-15). Dr Paul Barnett, one of the keynote speakers, is addressing the theme, ‘Good News that is True News.
Prayer Almighty and everlasting God, you have given us your servants grace by the confession of a true faith to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and by your divine power to worship you as One: we pray that you would keep us steadfast in this faith and evermore defend us from all adversities; through Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP Trinity Sunday)
There are times when we feel cut off from God – by feelings of failure or unworthiness, feelings of ignorance or unbelief, or by feelings of abandonment.
In times like this it is important we remember Jesus’ words to his disciples during the last hours before his arrest and crucifixion: “If anyone loves me, they will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23).
The disciples were grief-stricken at the thought of Jesus’ going, but he was assuring them that his going would mean the coming of the Comforter, the Helper, the Holy Spirit – who comes from the Father and the Son.
Tomorrow, Thursday, is Ascension Day. It’s a good day to reflect on Jesus’ physical departure following his death and resurrection. With that we also recall his promise that he would be sending his Spirit to be his people and to work in the world.
For many, Christianity is little more than a moral code that they must struggle to observe, or a creed to be recited mindlessly every week. Their experience of faith is legalistic and dull. In the hours before his arrest, Jesus assured his followers that he wanted them to know and enjoy a deep relationship with the One who is at the heart of the universe. ‘It’s about knowing me and having me live with you through my Spirit,’ he said.
We don’t have to despair that we’re not good enough for God. We don’t need to languish in ignorance or unbelief because the idea of God seems so utterly foreign to us. The Christian faith involves knowing the love and the beauty of Christ through his Spirit in our lives. ‘God in the soul of men and women’ is how one ancient writer put it.
But Jesus knows – as we do when we think about it – that relationships are only meaningful when they are based on truth. His following words are most important: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).
One way we can be assured that the Bible is true is found in these words: “The Spirit will teach you all things…” The Spirit enabled the disciples to recall exactly what Jesus said and did. Furthermore, he enabled them to interpret the events of Jesus’ Person and work truly and accurately. What the disciples taught and what they wrote comes with this authority.
So, John 14:26 is not primarily a promise for us, for the simple reason that we were not there to listen to Jesus. We arrived too late! But we do have the great assurance that the disciples got it right. Their preaching, their teaching, their writing, is true because the Spirit of God was at work within them. He was inspiring them – breathing into them God’s Word of truth.
This is enormously encouraging, for it means that we can enter a true, authentic relationship with the living God. Our faith is not about some vague, mystical experience that may or may not be true.
The Bible is more than memories of a long-dead hero – more than the teachings of a wise man. The Bible enables us to listen to what God says and what Jesus says, so that we can grow in the riches of that relationship. If we ignore the Bible our relationship with God will grow weary and weak.
“If anyone loves me,” Jesus says, “we will come and make our home with them.” This is a wonderful privilege, a wonderful experience – God with us and in us. There is nothing second rate in this promise. Jesus couldn’t have spelled it out more clearly.
Have you thought about this? Have you asked Jesus to make his promise real to you? I am not talking about some mystical experience or speaking in tongues. I am talking about knowing deep down in your heart, in your soul, the love, the joy and the peace of Jesus Christ in your life – not just in the good times, but at every twist and turn of life.
In Romans 8:15ff, Paul the Apostle writes: ‘You did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons and daughters, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him’.
Once again I am touching on some very big questions. And so important are these matters that we are addressing them at the June Anglican Connection conference.
If you are unable to attend yourself, why not encourage someone else to go? Don’t miss out!
Prayer O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: do not leave us desolate, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to where our Savior Christ has gone before, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for evermore. Amen. (BCP, Sunday after Ascension)
Have you ever wondered why, if Christianity is true, churches are not filled every week? Should Jesus have stayed around longer after his resurrection, or made a personal appearance once every hundred years or so?
As the Easter Season with its focus on the resurrection draws to a close it’s worth considering Jesus’ promise found in the Gospel reading this Sunday – from John 14:15ff. It forms part of the record of Jesus’ final hours before his arrest and crucifixion. He had told his disciples he was ‘going away’ (John 14:3), and they were frightened.
We see in John 14:15ff a tenderness not seen elsewhere as Jesus tells his disciples he would not leave them bereft: “If you love me you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with and will be in you…” (John 14:15ff).
This reference to the Spirit might initially give us the impression that Jesus is speaking about some impersonal power or force – as in Star Wars. Indeed, Acts 8:18f tells us Simon Magus thought the Holy Spirit was a force he could buy.
But with the personal pronouns ‘him’ and ‘he’, referring to the Spirit, we see that Jesus is saying the Spirit is not a force but a person. In the Greek, ‘Spirit’ is a neuter noun – an ‘it’ word. But John breaks the rules of grammar. The ‘hims’ and the ‘he’ of John 14:17 are strongly emphasized pronouns: He dwells with you…
But if we think of the Holy Spirit as an ‘it’ we miss Jesus’ promise. He says that with his going away he is to be replaced, not by an ‘it’, but by a ‘he’ – the Spirit, the ‘Helper’.
The word Helper translates two words – the preposition, alongside, and the verb, called. With his approaching physical absence Jesus promises the Spirit who would perfectly match the need for a Helper, a Comforter.
And this Helper or Comforter is not just ‘a comforter’ like Linus’s blanket, nor simply a hot water bottle for cold, hard times. The Spirit comes to strengthen us – to put strength into our hearts, into the backbone of our lives, especially when we are challenged.
Significantly Jesus says, ‘The Spirit of truth is not known by the world, but ‘you know him…’ (14:17). With his physical going, the age of the Holy Spirit will come. Jesus is now at work in the world through his Spirit.
This is very encouraging. When we go back to the Old Testament we read that God’s people dearly wanted God to live with them. But they found this concept hard to grasp. King Solomon asked: ‘But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you;…’ (1 Kings 8:27).
The answer to Solomon’s question was, ‘Yes’. The Temple in Jerusalem was not only a place of worship. It symbolized God’s dwelling with his people – his special relationship with them.
Furthermore, in Ezekiel 37:27 God says: ‘My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people…’ What Solomon thought God was too big for, God said he would do. He would dwell with his people.
This was something that bothered Stephen Hawking in his Brief History of Time where he wrote: ‘We are such insignificant creatures on a minor planet of a very average star in the outer suburb of one of a hundred billion galaxies. So it is difficult to believe in a God that could care about us or even notice our existence.’
However, Dr Henry Schaefer, one of the world’s leading quantum computational chemists writes: ‘I take a different position… There is no compelling evidence to date that life exists elsewhere in the universe. Human beings, thus far, appear to be the most advanced species in the universe. Maybe God does care about us! Stephen Hawking surveys the cosmos and concludes that the principal characteristic of humankind is obscurity. I consider the same data and conclude that humankind is special. I must be quick to add that a Christian worldview does not exclude the possibility of life, even sentient life elsewhere in the universe…’ (HF Schaefer, III, Science and Christianity: Conflict or Coherence? 2003, p.66.)
The amazing thing is that God notices us and cares for us more than we can begin to imagine. At the beginning of his Gospel, John tells us that God came among us: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
These matters and more we will be taking up at the June Anglican Connection conference. Here is a link you may want to check out: Effective_GospelCentered_Chuches_Invite
Prayer. O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: do not leave us desolate, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to where our Savior Christ has gone before, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for evermore. Amen. (BCP, Sunday after Ascension)
