Daniel; When You Hit the Wall (26-Feb-06)

(The sermon can be heard online at: http://www.tenth.ca/audio.htm)

Daniel 5, When you hit the wall (or When the wall hits you) February 26, 2006
Victor Frankl, was a Jewish Austrian psychiatrist who was interned in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.
In his powerful book based on his experiences in the concentrations camps, Man’s Search for Meaning, Frankly talked about how he assumed Nazi guards would consistently be brutal and that Jewish captors would become noble and heroic under the weight of unjust suffering.
He found things weren’t quite so simple.
He discovered Nazi many guards were often cruel and merciless, but that some guards could be surprisingly compassionate and generous.
He found among his Jewish captors, some in the face of terrible, hardship and stress, would become small hearted, selfish, and claw for the last scrap of bread…
Others would become incredibly generous and heroically noble…
In concentration camp, people when faced with suffering and the real possibility of soon death, responded very differently…
Most of us here are not in a situation where were we are facing imminent death…
But we are all on a kind of death row, we are all on a kind of Green mile…
In California, I met someone who said, I though my calling was to work with the dying and for a while, was working in a hospice, and she said now I work with regular adults, but I suppose they’re also dying like everyone else…
This morning as we’re going to look at Daniel 5 (parts of the Daniel 4) and we are going to look at two people facing death and how they respond in very different ways…
King Belshazzar is King of Babylon (actually co-Regent with a King named Nabonidus).

King Belshazzar knows that his Empire of Babylon is coming under siege by Cyrus, a leader of the Persian Empire.

Just a few days earlier Cyrus the Persian had defeated King Naboddtus the co leader of Babylon and Babylonian army, near Sippar about 50 miles from Babylon.

They are making their way toward King Belshazzar in the city of the Babylon.

So, King Belshazzar knows that he will soon, be will be attacked by the Medo-Persian empire.
(He does not know this, but he’ll be slain that night as we’ll see in Daniel 5)
The secular historian Herodotus, corroborates this account by telling us the final raid of Babylon took place during a night time banquet…)


What does King Belshazzar do in face of impending military defeat and possibly death?

He throws a wild party for 1000 guests, in a room as about half the size of a football field (this room btw that was restored by Saddam Hussein and part of the original plastered walls have been persevered).

No one knows exactly the King is throwing this party… with defeat and death so close.

It maybe that he was trying to foster the morale of his leaders who would have been discouraged by the news that their army had been defeated by the Persians or maybe sensing he was going to die, he said, “What the hell…” let’s just eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die….

Let’s read what is going on at the party in Daniel 5…

What are some of the key word(s) in this passage?

1 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them.
2 While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. 3 So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4 As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.

(brief open discussion)

The people at this party are drinking heavily (in vss. 1-4 the verb drink is used 5 times).

The Bible doesn’t categorically condemn drinking per se. Jesus actually turned water into wine-during a wedding.

But the Bible does condemning drunkenness and speaks against the kind of drinking here, intended to dull their awareness of reality.

When a person is stressed out and says I need a drink to take the edge off that’s not a healthy way to deal with stress.

A second thing that may not be immediately obvious as being unusual at this party is there are women at the party… This is a very patriarchal, male dominant culture and so at this kind of party it would be unusual to have women. You might have the queen, but that would be about it, but the king’s wives are here and his concubines.

So, there evidence that is not just party where the alcohol is flowing freely, but where every sensual/sexual appetite is being encouraged.

Then they break out the goblets, that had been taken as booty by the temple of God in Jerusalem, by Belshazzar’s “father” (we know that “father” in his does not mean biological father, but a predecessor), King Nebuchadnazzer when he placed Jerusalem under siege.
When the Babylonians invaded Judah in 605 b.c. they not only deported Hebrews to Babylon 605, but also a carried sacred articles from the temple of God.

And we see in the text vs. 4 we see that the Babylonians are they are drinking from the sacred goblets of gold and silver…

What’s going on here? They’re facing defeat and likely death, and they’re partying!

Ernest Becker late professor at Berkeley and our own SFU, an agonistic, gives insight into what’s going on here in his Pulitzer prize winning book the Denial of Death.

Becker says human beings cannot live in the full awareness of our mortality. We can look at right in the face…

He’s says our culture tries to stave off the idea…

Gail Sheehy author of passages and new passages, says we used face our mortality at age 40, now according her the new 40 is now 50 we can put thinking our mortality till 50…

We seem to be unable to really look at our mortality full in the face…

Becker say we can’t face our mortality head, we try to divert from the ourselves from the thought of death in 3 ways…

One way is through romance and sex…

In the face of military defeat and death, we see Belshazzar breaking the rules of their own culture… there are women here vs. 2… and they are encouraging sexual diversions…

It’s interesting that many men, at middle age, when faces mortality…and anxieties about their manhood and sexual attractiveness and prowess, will often have (or try to have) an affair with some exotic woman or divorce the mother of his children, and marry a younger “testimonial wife” as if to say, I may have grey hair, but I am still sexually compelling and virile…

Many seek overcome their sense of being mortal, by seeking a transcendent, spiritual experience through a romantic adventure.

Are we trying to overcome sense of finiteness and mortality, through a real or imagined romantic relationship?

When faced with our mortality, Becker says we may be driven to achieve in an attempt to deny our mortality.

It interesting that though Belshazzar he is far inferior to his predecessor the great King Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar brings out the sacred golden and silver goblets that have been taken as booty from the temple of Jerusalem so guest can drink from them vss 2-3. This sacrilegious act is that not even something that the arrogant King Nebuchadnezzar dared do. Those goblets were holy, set apart worship of God.

Commentators point out the reason that King Belshazzar brings out the Holy Goblets for ordinary drinking use, is to show that he is greater than Nechadnazzar who was not man enough to use them…

When I was a kid there a TV show based on a movie, called Fame… about these dancers in New York and the theme song went Fame I want to live forever…

Whether through dance, the arts, sport, the Olympics, education, business, or ministry some seek to achieve something great that will help us overcome our sense finiteness and mortality.

Becker says the third way we deny our mortality is that we turn to religion…

Here vs. 4 we see Belshazzar and his guests toasting and praising the gods of gold, silver, bronze, and iron, wood, and stone…

We turn to seek find meaning through religious ritual or some some of “god” or “god substitute to help overcome our fear of finiteness, the fear that we will one day die.

That god may be some overtly religious or spiritual, that god may be a relationship or achievement that as we’ve talked about, it may be some role we play: needing to be needed, it may the way we look, a recreational pursuit, it may be the attaining a certain standard of living…

We may turn to an idol in an attempt to get sense of meaning and deny our mortality…

Are we using any of these means to deny our mortality, relationship, achievement, religion or a god-substitute?

How God guides us to live in the face of our mortality and death?

Let’s pick up the text again.
5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. 6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way.
(Rembrandt piece?)
The story tells us that during the party the King sees this handwriting on the wall…

And the astrologers and magicians and the wise men are brought in but none can read the scripture.

The Queen mother suggests bringing in a forgotten older man, now about 80, named Daniel. A man who helped the King Belshazzar’s predecessor King Nebuchadnezzar recount and interpret dreams. The Queen says he’s a man of wisdom in whom the Spirit of the gods dwell.

Daniel is brought out…as old, discarded man… perhaps purposely ignored by the King Belshazzar because people would have associate him with a King greater than Belshazzar, King Nebuchadnezzar…

Daniel comes in and his heart must sink as he sees the sacred golden goblet that he hasn’t seen since he was a boy used in temple worship, now being used so that this King and his friends can get drunk…

Daniel interprets the handing writing on the wall…
25 "This is the inscription that was written:
Mene , Mene , Tekel , Parsin
26 "This is what these words mean:
Mene [f] : God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
27 Tekel [g] : You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
28 Peres [h] : Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
As Belshazzar faces military defeat and death God brings his word to him.

One of the ways we are to face our mortality and death is to allow God’s word to speak us…. God’s Word in Scripture…

The word that King Belshazzar gets this very disturbing from God: your days are numbered, you’re lacking, your Kingdom will not last…

God’s Word can disturb us when we are too comfortable

It causes to realize our days are numbered and at some that that we are lacking in some ways.

Painful. But that awareness can lead us to God. Like a doctor who to painful reality who we can become physically well, so God’s can word lead show us a painful reality, so we can become whole.

God’s word can disturb us when we are comfortable and can comfort us when we are disturbed.

God’s word comfort us in our sorrow, like nothing else.

I was a woman young with cancer recently. She said many things have brought her comfort, her husband, her young children, and her friends, but what gave most comfort was the Word of God.

Whether the word of God disturbs us or comforts us the word can humble us.

We’re waiting for King Belshazzar in the face Daniel interpreting the words on the wall, to totally humble himself before God’s but he does not… he shakes, he falls to the ground, but he does not humble himself before God…

And Daniel in the chapter 5 vss. 18 and following contrast Belshazzar to his predecessor King Nebuchadnezzar who humbles himself before God’s in Daniel 4…

King Nebuchadnezzar had been the most powerful person in his world and arguably one the most powerful people of all time… people would die and live at snap of his fingers…

He was builder of the great Babylon and the hanging gardens considered by many as greatest wonder of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.

But he was proud and one day as we walking the roof of his palace he surveyed his Kingdom and said, is this not the great Babylon I have built? He assuming his talent and effort has created all the glories of Babylon and he does not acknowledge the fact that God has given all his position and gifts and powers… Nebuchadnezzar claims credit for the great achievements of Babylon. He engages in what Tim Keller calls cosmic plagiarism…

So, God sends his word to him through Daniel and then fulfills by causing the King to lose his mind and live like a wild animal for 7 seasons or years and the King Nebuchadnezzar ends up humbling himself before God and acknowledging God is God and God shows mercy upon and restores him.

God hates pride, pride has traditionally considered the worst of the 7 deadly sins.

God hates it, when in our pride we commit cosmic plagiarism, taking credit for things he has graciously given us, but loves humility and repentance.

We tend to think that the good are in and bad out in so far as God is concerned.

The truth is the proud are out and the humble are in.

If our “goodness” leads us to believe that because we are good, God owes a certain kind of life, we’re out.

And if our sins, leads to realize we’re sinner, and cause humble ourselves before God, our sins can actually work for us…

This Jesus said to the good people, the religious and respected, the tax collectors (tantamount to drug dealers in that culture) and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God head you.

So we face our mortality and death by allowing the word to turn to God and humble us…

But how do we know we’re humbled ourselves before God and repented?

Is it remorse and tears?

Is it some intellectual, theological understanding we are turning away from sin to God?

Likely some of both, the most powerful way we demonstrate we’ve repented is by the way we live.

When King Nebuchadnezzar repents, God calls him to show his repentance in chapter 4 vs. 27 by renouncing your sins and doing what is right and showing kindness to the opressed, the idea in Hebrew can mean showing compassion through alms giving and economic means….

When we humble ourselves before God we realize that all that we have is a gift from God, so it a natural to be to generous, to others, particularly the oppressed and the poor.

If humble ourselves before and we realize that our gifts are from God, we’ll become generous with what we have our financial resources and talents.

If think we our finance our talent resources are our ours, if we give at all we’ll give either sense of resentment or pride, but if realize all we have given by God, our talents, our opportunities ability, we’ll be able to give with a sense of gratitude…

One of the ways we’re humbled ourselves before is that we can give freely and with joy.
If we think all our life as a gift from, we’ll give our lives generous to people as expression of gratitude to God…

Micah 6:8.. says thou has show me on man what is good and what the Lord requires of me to do justly and love mercy and to walk humble… with thy God…they’re all connected…

Walking humbly before God, living justly and mercifully are all connected…

One of ways we know humble is living we give to others, especially the oppressed.

One of the ways we know we’ve humbled ourselves before God is we like the God who gives.

Richard Rohr has said, people who haven’t lived life are most afraid to die.

That’s young why people often fear death most when faced it before its time.

But, it’s also true that those who have live God’s purpose for them fear death…

When turn to God’s word, and humble before and live his call to serve others and then we our time is up… we’ll ready to die and meet our maker and live onto eternity with him.

I may give an altar call or encourage people to pray in the pews:

Perhaps some of us here right now need to humble ourselves before God… some of us need to turn from a specific sin, some us need to “turn from our goodness,” in the sense of relying on our goodness to gain favor with God rather than his sheer mercy, and some of us need to turn from self-hatred… Henri Nouwen said the greatest temptation in the spiritual life is not seeking success or popularity, but self-rejection… because when reject ourselves, we contradict God’s voice that says we are beloved.

The Bible says humble under the mighty and allow him to be one to lift you up…

Daniel: Faith in the Furnace(19-Feb-06)

Daniel 2 Faith in the Furnace February 19, 2006

(The sermon can be heard online at:
http://www.tenth.ca/audio.htm)


Big Idea: Sometimes not bowing down to an idol leads us to the furnace, but in the furnace we can show our devotion, meet God deeply and through our lives draw others to God.

There’s a best selling book called The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook.

The authors consulted numerous experts in their fields to discover how to survive various events. E.g. what you do if you’re sky jumping and your parachute doesn't open? Try to find someone near you who has a parachute, that hasn’t opened yet, hug that person, and hook arms—your new best friend. What to do if you’re sky jumping alone? You’re out of luck. Buried in an avalanche? Spit on the snow--it will tell you which direction is really up. Then dig as fast as you can. How to deal with a charging bull, don’t antagonize the bull? Don’t say, “You ugly bull.”

What should you do if confronted by an angry mountain Lion (Lorne Salmond)?

a) run
b) play dead
c) make yourself look bigger by opening up your coat
d) sing a gentle, happy song

Answer c) make yourself look bigger by opening up your coat


The premise of the book is that you never know what could happen.

This morning we’re going at some real people who face a worst case scenario.

Some people believe that if you really believe in God you’ll never have to face to worst case scenario, you’ll be saved that kind of ordeal.

If you watch some of the TV preachers, the message is if you really believe in God, you’ll be happy, successful in your work and finances, have great partner, a loyal dog etc.

One very well known, well do do TV preacher said, “If you believe you could live in a house life mine.”

But I don’t see that message in the Bible.

As John Ortberg pastor in Bay Area, whose insights have helped me in the preparation of this message, said Jesus said if you follow me, you’ll have a great big God, you’ll have outrageous joy, and you’ll be trouble all the time…

This morning we’re going to look at 3 people who because they followed God face a worst case scenario. If you have your Bibles please turn to Daniel 2.
The Image of Gold and the Fiery Furnace
1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet [a] wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. 3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.
4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, "This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language: 5 As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace."
In chapter 2 of Daniel, we see that King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream of enormous dazzling statue with a head of gold, arms of silver, and thighs--where he was the head of gold.

The dream was sent by God to King Nebuchadnezzar to show him a Kingdom was coming far greater than his Kingdom… the Kingdom of God… but what seems to impress King Nebuchadnezzar most about the image in the dream was that fact he was the head of gold…

And King Nebuchadnezzar sets up this statue of in honor himself: ninety feet high and 9 feet wide made of pure gold….

And the King commanded everyone in the province of Babylon to bow down and worship it…

The herald loudly proclaimed….

In Vss. 4-5 People’s of every nation (There’s a vast crowd assembled from the nations because Babylon was multi-cultural so this act of corporate worship would not only honor the King, but hopefully would unify these people through the common religious experience), as you soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kind of music you must fall down and worship and the image of gold.

So in the ceremony, you have all kind of musical and artistic encouragement to worship.

Like the opening ceremony at Turin Olympics you have all kind of music and pageantry to get you in the mood…

And that if wasn’t enough to move you to worship.

In Vs 6 (show) we see that whoever does not bow down before the image of gold would be immediately thrown into the fire…

If the music won’t move to you bow and worship the golden idol, no more Mr. Nice guy…

We have plan B… Bow or Burn…

And in this vast crowd there are 3 young adults Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego who are follow the living God, who will not bow down to the idol.

The first of the Ten Commandments is to have no other gods, but God and the second is to not make any idol or bow down to it.

The 3 followers of the living God will not bow down to the idol, they’re identified and brought to the King.

And the King flies into a rage… and orders that Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego be thrown into the furnace of fire…

Can you imagine that?

We have this candle that melted low in this glass cup-like container the opening not quite big for the whole hand to reach down into to candle. The other day I was trying to light it and when I try to light this can’t I can’t reach quite low into the glass and burn my fingers. Fire, even just a very little bit of fire on your hand hurts.

In the movie Pay it Forward the character played by Kevin says that when he was boy, his dad got mad at him that he poured gas over him and set him on fire.

Being burned alive, is one of the worst, most inhumane ways to die…

And these 3 young people in our story are facing being thrown in the fiery furnace…

It’s not likely that any of us will be burned alive because we will not bow down to physical idol of gold.

But we will have plenty of opportunities to bow down to modern idols, substitute gods.

If we don’t bow down to some of these idols sometimes may pay a price…


When I was studying in California last month, I heard the Quaker and respected educator Parker Palmer teach.

Palmer tells about facilitating a small group for employees of the federal government. In this group was a man in middle-management at the Department of Agriculture.

The son of a farmer whose father was a son of a farmer.
This man brought a deep work struggle to his small group. In his position at the Department of Agriculture, he was facing a decision. If he chooses one way, he wins the favor of his boss and the owners of many large farming companies.
If he choses another way, protects his farmland from environmental degradation.
He knew that the Department favored one decision as the “right” one, but in his “farmer’s heart,” he knew that he should stand in opposition to the party line.
This employee struggled with this decision in his small group. After days of soul searching, he came to the group with dark circles under his eyes, but at peace. He stayed up all night, he decided to make the politically dangerous decision in favor of the earth. When asked how he would cope with the inevitable back lash by his supervisors, he said quietly, “I don’t report to them. I report to the land.”
There can great in not bowing to an idol and doing what honors God.
I know women in this community now seniors who sensed God calling them to the a mission field as young people… but never met a man who they wanted to marry in their youth with the same call…. There were opportunities to get married to people, have a family, but the cost would have been to compromise their call of God on their lives…

They grew up in a society where traditional marriage having children meant was much more important then and as does now (it easier have for us to look back and say that was wrong to define a woman by whether she was married and had kids, but that was their world) and there can be a cost to following the will of God.

And Shadrach Meshach and Abednego will not bow down. They’re identified by some of “wise-men” and being disloyal to the King and the Empire. The King flies into a rage… and says unless you bow down you will be thrown into the fire… and the king says, who will be able save you then?

Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego, in Vss. 16-17 they say, our god is able to deliver us and even if he does not we will never bow down to the image of gold…

At this the King orders the furnace to be heated 7 times hotter. The 7 in this culture was number symbolizes completeness, so this number could be read “as hot as possible.”

And they end up being thrown into that fire…

God is all powerful and able to deliver Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego and us, but there are times when God allows us to face real danger…

Why?

One of the reasons may be so we can demonstrate the kind of devotion that says even if God is able to deliver me, but even if he does not deliver me, whether God does what I want or not in this situation, I will serve no other God.

I’m sure that Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego prayed Lord even though we’re not going to bow down to the idol, please don’t let us be caught…

And then they’re caught. And they pray Lord please don’t let the King make good on his threat… please don’t let us be thrown into the furnace…

You’re been driving down a street and in your rear view mirror you a police car siren and flashers whirling, Lord please don’t let me be caught…

If that’s our hope and prayer in that situation, how much more intensely would these guys be praying that…

But there prayers aren’t answered…

When our prayers aren’t answered, it gives us an opportunity, to say even if God does not, we will serve not other gods…

So many of us pray God if you give me this thing or person or take away this thing or person, I’ll serve you no holding back…

So many us pray, if you answer this prayer, give me that request, fulfill that dream than I will do anything for you…

But when we’re facing the fire we have an opportunity to say, even if _______ I want this but even if ____________ I will serve no other Gods.
When our prayers are not answered the way we want, we can say with the prophet Habakkuk Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
And Shadrach and Meschech and Abednego are thrown into the fire but something amazing happens…. They’re not burned… they’re not even especially warm… nowhere in the Hebrew text does it say the 3 men go shirtless…. In vs. 27 Text does tell their hairs not singed and their clothes don’t even smell of fire.

It must have been so surreal--like a dream…

A few while dreaming, I’ve been shot… I fall down, I’m bleeding, but strangely I feel no pain and I’m alive, but I fake being dead.

These are guys there in the fire and they’re not, dead, they’re walking around and they’re not even hot.

Then in text Vss. 25 4th in fire one who likes a son of the gods…

This angelic form and the text does not say for sure, but may be incarnation of God, it may be the Christ…

We don’t know what they said or what happened, but that must have been the most amazing experience of their lives… the hardest experience turned out to be the best experience for them..

God meets them in the furnace…

John Ortberg says… there are times God when doesn’t not deliver us from the furnace but in the furnace…

No one in their right mind would ever choose the furnace… for its own sake…

But God often meets us in the furnace…

Some hardest time of our lives… are the time when we most deeply meet God…

Some times in the midst of great loss or failure… or a time of huge risk… God is most deeply present… and people will say that was hardest and best experience of life at the same time…

These 3 young men Shadrach, Meschech, and Abednego, likely look back years later and say that was hardest and greatest experience of our lives, we will never forget.... we will never forget…

God sometimes delivers from the furnace, but God often deliver in the furnace…

What happens?

Nebuchadnezzar stands up.. and he sees the 3 men in furnace another… who looks like an angelic figure…

And so the King I’m sure at quite a distance commands them to come out…. And then he says I decree anyone who says anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will cut to pieces and their houses turned into literally dunghills or public toilets.

We see that King Nebuchadnezzar takes a significant step toward God here.

Our journey with God is ultimately not just for ourselves and spiritual, but also so that others can come to know the living God.

Our call to follow the living God in life, sometime through the furnace, is not just for us but for others.

This I was with a woman in our community, who has trusted through the furnace and I know that her trust in God, has drawn people to God…

When we refuse to bow down to an idol and to serve God sometimes we face a furnace, but in the we have the opportunity to show our devotion to maker, meet God deeply as we do we are others are drawn to the living God…

Prayer

Benediction:

Fall for message Daniel 4, Pride, picked, God Daniel 5 get tape/cd desk.
Isaiah 43
Israel's Only Savior
1 But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…

Between a Hard Place and a Rock(12Feb06)

Daniel M2 Between a Hard Place and a Rock February 12, 2006

(The sermon can be heard online at:
http://www.tenth.ca/audio.htm)


Big Idea in the extraordinary and ordinary events of life, we need the grace of God.

We’ve heard the expression hitting “rock bottom.”

When a person hits absolute bottom.

Bill Wilson, the cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous, reached the unshakable conviction, that an alcoholic must "hit rock bottom" in order to climb upward. Wilson said the divine paradox that strength rises from weakness, that humiliation goes before resurrection…

Though no-one would choose hardship for its own sake, there is great a spiritual opportunity in experiencing bottom and coming to face to face with our limitations, our weakness, our and falleness.

Healing and sanity begin with the realization that we are not God, we are not in control.

In Bible text we’re going to look at two people experience “a bottom” that will drive them to the great reality beyond themselves.

If you have your Bibles please turn to Daniel 2:

Daniel 2:1-19; 26-45
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
1 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, "I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means."
4 Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, "O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it."
5 The king replied to the astrologers, "This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6 But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me."
7 Once more they replied, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it."
8 Then the king answered, "I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: 9 If you do not tell me the dream, there is just one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me."
10 The astrologers answered the king, "There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. 11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men."
12 This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.
(paraphrase vss. 14-19)
14 When Arioch, the commander of the king's guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. 15 He asked the king's officer, "Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?" Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. 16 At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.
17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.
Daniel Interprets the Dream
26 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), "Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?"
27 Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are these:
29 "As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
31 "You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 "This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
39 "After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
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. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
"The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy."
In this passage the King Nebuchadnezzar has puzzling dreams and he can’t sleep.

So he invites his “dream team” the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers before him to both recount the dream and interpret it.

And they say, tell us the dream and we’ll interpret it for you.

Nebuchadnezzar flies into this rage and demands that his dream team come up with the dream and interpret it or else face death and house turned into piles of rubble, destroyed and literally made into toilets (check Hebrew).

The King demands his wise men to recount his dream to see whether really have special powers, but also because the King (likely) cannot remember his dream.

The dream team say there is not no one on earth can reveal the dream to the King expect the gods and they do not live among people and at this the King flies into a rage and orders that all the wise men of Babylon be executed.

Daniel one of the wise men hears what’s going on and steps forward…he asks the King for time so he might interpret the dream. He asks his friends renamed Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego… to pray to the living God on his behalf…

Daniel prays and the God of heaven reveals the mystery of the dream to Daniel…. And Daniel interprets the dream for the King… Daniel explains how he saw this large statue of human being like figure with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron and feet partly of clay and partly iron… he tells how another Kingdom symbolized by a rock would crush all those Kingdoms…and would endure forever…

The statue’s body parts represent the different Kingdoms… Nebuchadnezzar’s Kingdom being the head of gold… the of silver chest (and there are slightly differing opinion on the rest of the body parts) may represent Medio-Persian empire, the bronze thighs Greece and feet of iron and clay being Rome…

When the King hears Daniel re-tell the dream and interpret he acknowledges that Daniel’s God is the God of gods and promotes to him to a position of great influence…

(Transition):

Daniel is sharp, has received the best education available anywhere in the world of his day, he’s disciplined and graduates at the top of his class, but in this case he realizes that all of his intellectual gifts and all of that good education can’t help him now.

When Daniel is faced with the challenge of interpreting the King’s dream or die, he realizes he needs something more that simply a great education and superior analytical skills.

We live a world that highly values intelligence and knowledge and education…

and now largely because of the writings of Daniel Goleman we also value emotional intelligence, the ability to feel, understand, and use our emotions in daily life.

Most people believe that IQ helps a person succeed, and now many people now also believe that emotional intelligence or EQ (emotional quotient) may be even more may more important in “life success.”

But there come times when we face a rock bottom situation where neither IQ nor EQ are enough… times when we need grace…

There are times when IQ and EQ alone are not enough…to get us through…

Like Daniel, there are times when we really need a direct intervention of God to reveal something to us….

Most of us will not face an “interpret of a dream of die” challenge, but there are times when our own wisdom will not be enough… we need the grace of God to live through a situation:

A member of the board of World Vision was telling me the story of Debra from Rwanda. One day a couple of Tutsi soliers were riding in a boat… one them open fired on her young, son killing. Obviously the Debra was deeply hurt and angry over the loss of her son, but she decided to pray for the solider who killed her son. She prayed for some 40 days… during this season of prayer she had a vision of chapel, stairs leading up to open doors and at the end of chapel against the wall was cross… she interpreted the dream to mean that in order go through the house of her enemy she had to go through the cross… she had to forgive… at the end of her 40 days of praying, knock on her door… she opened and there was a solider at the door…. He asked are you so and so… she said yes… he said for the past 40 days each night I’ve had a vision of you praying for me… I can’t stand it any longer…. I’ve come to confess my crime of killing your son… ask your forgiveness please over to police… I am ready to face death…. I can’t to live like this any longer… She said first you don’t need to ask my forgiveness, I’ve already forgiven you, but I will have my vengeance, you killed my son, my only son, you must now take his place, I am want to adopt you as my son…

Debra was facing a situation with the murder of her son that her I.Q. and E.Q. alone could not handle. She need a gracious intervention form God.

When it’s come to direction at the key crossroads of our lives, are I.Q. and our E.Q. may not be enough, we need God to reveal the mystery of our life to us.

As a young adult in my late twenties, I felt like I was at a kind of crossroads… seeking to determine which work path to talk…

I had studied business economics and philosophy as an undergraduate and I had master’s degree in theology.

I worked in both corporate world and as well as in Christian ministry.

In my transition time, I was living with a childhood friend in White Rock.

I had these cards (index cards) listing the top of 5 or 6 job prospects and with pros and cons list written down.

But through a time of fasting and prayer… to determine where should I go, God did not call name any of options written on the cards… God impressed upon 3 wordsTenth Avenue Alliance… and then 2 days senior pastor (a church that I had had no formal connection with).

I could not have received that knowledge, just through my education, or my analysis, but I needed grace, I needed the wisdom of God…

There are times, like Daniel when experience a kind of bottom, when what need more the I.Q. or E.Q. we need the wisdom of God.

Even if we are the most powerful person on earth, like Nebuchadnezzar with everyone at our beck and call, and we can say interpret my dream or make sure my coffee is made the way I like it or die…and have the power to literally deliver on the threat…

like King Nebuchadnezzar we would need still the grace of God to tells us the meaning of our life…

King Nebuchadnezzar his has dream of the enormous statue of with the gold head, silver chest, belly and thighs and of bronze, feet of clay and iron…

Yes, the statue represents the King of Babylon’s Kingdom and other Kingdoms follow is a revelation from God about the future…

But, like many of our dreams, the Nebuchadnezzar’s dream also represents his deepest yearning as well as his greatest fears…

He longs to be the head of gold, he longs to be dazzling, a larger than life figure…

But like a virtually all powerful leaders fear that one day their “Kingdom” their legacy will be crushed…

The dream shows King Nebuchadnezzar that he is the head of gold, but there is rock that will crush him and the other Kingdoms…

He’s so compelled and troubled by this dream that he tells his dream team that if they cannot interpret the dream for them… they will be executed.

At some this dream is our dream: everyone of us here want our lives to be dazzling in some way… and/or fears being crushed…

It may be that we want to have dazzling our career…

I was with a VP of a very well known multi-national company… This VP is a self proclaimed atheist, who was telling me, in my family if you didn’t get bachelor’s and a master’s degrees, my parents would put big tattoo across your forehead, with word “LOSER…” Her siblings are successful doctors… In her family you had to become a professional and had to be leader in your field or else my parents would think you were a loser…

You can be want to dazzling in your career so that you please yourself or someone really important to you…

Or can want to be dazzling in our appearance the way we look and look literally dazzling… or to be dazzling in our recreation pursuits… we can want to have a dazzling set of our “experiences” we can fit our life on earth…

But our some dazzling career, dazzling body, dazzling experience is what we building our life on, even if we achieve “gold,” we will one day we will crumble…

The only life will last forever is the life that is built on rock, cut from the mountain, that will eventually destroy all the others Kingdoms…

The rock may not look dazzlingly at first compared to gold and silver and so is overlooked by majority, it starts small and so is disregarded, but the rock which symbolizes the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, will prove to be the cornerstone of universe…

Jesus said, like a clay pot, whoever falls on the stone will be broken to pieces and whoever the stone fall will be crushed.

Jesus was teaching who does not build his or her life on the rock, will one day be crushed?

How do we become people who receive this hard, gracious wisdom of God?

Some times that wisdom comes through a crisis… a rock bottom experience that can awaken us to our need of God…

In some cases worst thing that happened was paradoxically also the best thing…

It opens us up in a new way to God and our inner world…

Sometimes the wisdom comes through a friend or person who you know walks with God… like Daniel

In the we need to pray, but we also need others to pray and offer wisdom of us…
The King needed Daniel as spiritual guide.

So we need to pray but we also need community to guide us.



Wisdom always comes as a gift… grace…

Some time IQ and EQ are not enough we need the grace of God…

There’s a myth that we are the architects of our lives. To some extent, of course, we shape our lives. The most significant gifts come as grace.

Love cannot be bought. Love is a gift. The ability to be content is a gift with what we have is gift. True wisdom is always a gift.

Silent prayer:

Benediction:

Your true life is not something you achieve.

It’s something you receive.

How to Live in Babylon (05-Feb-06)

How to live in Babylon Feb 5, 2006

(The sermon can be heard online at:
http://www.tenth.ca/audio.htm)


During January I was pursuing graduate studies in spiritual theology in the Bay Area of California.

While there, I met a couple who sense they are being led by God to move to Vancouver.

On some levels this doesn’t seem to make sense to them.

The husband is leaving a prestigious job at one of the best universities in North America.

The wife will be leaving her very meaningful work and they will both be separating from, their long-time friends in the Bay Area.

They are both followers of Christ and feel that in coming to Vancouver: they are coming to a place with a smaller percentage of Christians.

And finally, it rains less in the Bay Area in January than Vancouver!

But they sense God leading them here.

There are times when God put us in a place seem to make logical sense, but God has purpose for us.

Today going to begin look at Daniel and we’re going to God moved him to place that he would not have chosen on his own, a place far from home, a place hostile to his values and how he lives as a person of faith in this new place.

If you have Bibles please turn to Daniel 1.

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia [a] and put in the treasure house of his god.
3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility- 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service.
6 Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you."
11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
In Daniel 1 we read in the 3rd year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

Some of us may be familiar with the date 586 B.C. That was when the temple of Jerusalem was destroyed and many of the Hebrew people were carried off to exile into Babylon.

But about 20 years before in the year 605 B.C.… there was an earlier exile of a smaller group of Hebrew people, perhaps 10,000 people who represented the professional and intellectual classes of people. Daniel and his friends who Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego were among this first wave of deportees.

Superpower, Babylon wanted to expand it’s empire, and part of their strategy to pull this off this was expand their leadership base by identifying young leaders with potential whom they could thoroughly train in the ways and values of Babylon…

In vs. 2 we read that the LORD delivered King Jehoiakim of Judah into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon…

In this text we see that God, through a military takeover of Judah by the King of Babylon, guides his people from the “promised land” to Babylon, a land that is considered an “evil empire…” He leads from a place of power and privilege to a place of powerlessness…

There are times when God in his sovereignty will call us to a place of powerlessness…

It seems counter-intuitive, we would think that God’s purposes could be best carried out if God’s people were in power… not always…

One of the best contexts to become strong faith is to live with some of resistance to your faith…

In my informal observations, I have found that people who are followers of Christ in places where there’s no social advantage to being a follower of Christian are generally stronger than those who live in the Bible belt where there are all kinds of social advantages in belonging to a church.
Trading companies from North America were important live fish to Japan, where love raw fish and they found were finding that about half of the fish died by the time they arrived in Japan. But someone at a trading company said I have an idea. Let’s put an octopus in the tank with fish. The octopus is the enemy of the fish. Guess what happened? Some of the fish were eaten, but 70-80 percent ending up living. Being a place where we are challenged can make us stronger…
God may bring us into a place of powerless to condition us, but also to be a light to that place.

I worked for a multi-national corporation in Tokyo, where as far in my immediate section… I was the only or one of the few followers of Christ…

I felt that though my light was especially, it seemed brighter because I was in a darker place spiritually…

God may call us into a place of powerlessness so we can make a difference in the culture itself…

So God at times calls to a place of powerlessness so He can accomplish His purposes in us and through us and so his name will be glorified…

As we’ve seen in the text Daniel and his friends refuse to eat the King’s royal Diet of rich foods and wine. They voluntarily opt instead to go on a diet of vegetables and water…

At the end of their time, they are healthier and better nourished than the others who were eating the King’s diet.

OT scholar Tremper Longman points out that the reason the young men refused to eat the King’s food was to demonstrate that it God not the King of Nechadnezzar prospered them.

When we are in a position of powerlessness not only can be good for our spiritual conditioning, not only are we in a position to make a difference, but we have special opportunity to allow God to glorify Himself in us.

It’s clear that it is God’s will for his people to live in Babylon and not only to live in Babylon to engage in the culture.

In Jeremiah 28-29 we read about a false prophet named Hananiah who is prophesying about the exile of the Hebrew people in Babylon. What Hananiah says in essence is don’t settle down in Babylon because the Lord is going to soon deliver you out of Babylon…

But, as Jeremiah the true prophet, says no it’s God’s will for the Hebrew to be in Babylon now…

He says settle down, build houses, marry have and raise children, and seek the prosperity of the city for if it prospers you will prosper…

God calls them to live and invest in Babylon, a “pagan place.” We are called to live in Babylon in places where the living God is not acknowledged…

So, HOW are we then to live when in Babylon?

Let’s take a closer look at Daniel.

Daniel has two names, his Hebrew name Daniel, which means my judge is the Lord, but also his Babylonian name Beltshazzar, which interestingly enough comes from the same root as the word Bel a god of Babylon…

And as commentators have pointed out these dual names symbolize a kind of dual identity that Daniel belongs to God, but that he is also a citizen of the world…

As Tim Keller puts it, we are called to be spiritually bi-cultural.

Jesus said we are to be in the world, but not of the world.

When you are in a minority we will have one of 2 temptations: one is separate and curl up into our selves like Hedgehog: freeze and turn inward with needles pointing outward (show photo) and the other (show photo) to be like a chameleon and blend in.

We called to be in the world, but not of it…

As we see in the text, Daniel and his friends become fully immersed in the Babylon culture…

They pursue a liberal arts education in the Babylon, which by the way includes required courses in divination, something Hebrews would have consider idolatry… He is a citizen in his world….

But we also see he resists complete surrender to the culture, by not eating the rich foods…. OT scholars Ian Provain and Joyce Baldwin point out eating in this culture you would indicate you accept them, and so there refusal to eat the King’s diet shows that Daniel and his friends, want to convey that don’t fully accept the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar… They’re a demonstrating a subtle political resistance.

Some commentators have argued that the reason why Daniel and his friends refuse the royal diet is because the food was not kosher or clean by Jewish standards, but we don’t know that for sure.

We know Daniel refused wine, but wine is not wholly prohibited by God Scriptures… Bible warns against the excess use of alcohol and prohibits drunkeness, but there is no categorical prohibition against drink wine as such…

On the one hand Daniel and his friends are engaged in the culture, on the other hand they thoughtfully resisted by not eating the royal food and drinking the King’s wine..

This is the way we are to live in Babylon…

We one hand be part of the culture, but other hand resist…

We don’t curl up like a hedgehog, we don’t blend like a chameleon, we’re in the world, but not of it…

How might this play out in our lives?

Here in the book Daniel and his friends decide to forgo the King’s rich foods and wine.

As people of faith, we obviously will eat and drink… but we also from time to time as questions why do we eat and drink what we do?

We live with “consciously and in dialog” with ourselves.

In a world where many use alcohol ask a kind of comfort, will we will ask if and why we drink?

There are reasons on both as to why to drink… some abstain because of health, wanting to avoid the possibility of becoming dependent on alcohol, or causing others to stumble-- good reasons not to drink.
Other people of faith will choose to drink in moderation: enhances a meal, way to socialize, or for health reasons.

In this past month, I was a cocktail party, with an incredible bar, where I decided not to drink to be more present with people…

In another situation recently, I was some not at all religious, I felt could connect with him more deeply by joining him in drink.

The Bible by and large, doesn’t provide point by point specific instruction for every life situation, there are very clear commands: the 10 commandments, don’t lie, kill, commit adultery… positive commands to pray, to love, to give are clear, but the Bible provide a step for every single life situation.

So in order to be neither a hedgehog or a chameleon, in the world, but not of the world… we must prayerfully pursue conscious and dialog, ask why do I do what I do?

If you are a Christian parent, when it comes to the choice of school… the Bible would offers wisdom, but not a handbook on what school to pick…

Some choose, home schooling, others Christian schools, others private academy, others public schools.

What’s the school of choice according to Daniel?

Daniel/Babylon…. French immersion. Not necessarily.

It might be God’s will for a Christian to Christian School, it might God’s will for a person to pursue secular education.

We engage resisting become a hedgehog or a chameleon, we live in the world, not of it, by asking why we do what we do.

A member of our community who teaches in the area of faith and business was telling me recently about his working with businessmen in a certain Asian country and encourage them integrate business and faith. He said a person he was talking to there said now that I have a become a Christian I must leave business, business in my corrupt is so corrupt. This person said you would do well stay in business and help change the world business through Christian practices: like not over sell and underselling.

Did you see the feature stories on the national this past week? Dr. Ranjit Kumar Chandra, former professor at Memorial University in St. Johns, New Foundland, a world-renowned expert in the field of nutrition, winner of the Order of Canada… uncovered for series of fraudulent studies putting people’s health at risk in order to make money and become famous, not infamous? but he uncovered… because Marilyn Harvey a research assistant, allowed her inner light to guide her and blew the whistle…

Like Marilyn, we are called to be in the world, but not of the world.

In the world of the arts, we must be in, but not of the world.

I remember a actor, breaking out in his career… coming to me and saying, I am ask I’m often asked to do a lot dark roles, where I have to kill people (in the movie)… now that I just committed my life to God, should I quit acting?

I said, no—we need people of faith in the movies, but as a followers Christ ask thoughtful question about what kind of role, I’ll take and not take…

We are to live neither as a hedgehog or a chameleon, neither in the world, but not of it… in prayerfully consciousness and dialog…

How do we become this way. How does Daniel become this way? Part of the way he becomes this way is through his friendship Shadrach, Mesech, and Abednego, friends and people he shared values with, hung with, prayed with.

Their myths the heroic lone ranger, but every heroic person is product of a community. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.

People in significant relationships live longer than those with out relationships. People who are in significant relationships are physically and spiritually healthier than those who don’t have such relationships.

People in who have circle of trusting relationships are must more able to resist temptation than those with out. As Berkely scholar Robert Bellah, puts it is absurd to expect a young person growing up in poverty and no loving relationships to “just say no” to crack cocaine.

We need some small group, may you be and one or two it may more people… help hold you so you become your true self, so you don’t hide like a hedgehog or blend in like chameolon…

And the most significant relationship a person can have is a relationship with and that has been made possible through Jesus Christ…. 2000 years he lived a perfect life and died on the cross absorbing all of our sins in his body… when we come to God through God views are sinning have been all paid by Christ, he see as forgiven…

On the night… he was betrayed… take BREAD…

Forgiveness… in the world…. We’ve blended… thank for new beginning and new way of being in the world…