January 13, 2008
Last Sunday (it feels so good to say last Sunday instead of last time we meet) we started our new year, new launch, new church series on “Resolutions Worth Keeping.” This isn’t about New Years resolutions per say. Resolutions may happen at a dawn of a new year, at a time of transition in your life, at a time of trial in your life. This is about being people, and a church, with resolve.
Last week we began to unpack a biblical concept of resolutions. To have resolve is “to be fixed on a purpose, it is the decision to do or not do certain things.” We need resolutions in our lives and in our church. Unless of course we think we’re perfect, if there’s nothing we want to change about ourselves, if we have no goals, no hopes no dreams.
But if we are going to grow as men and women, husbands and wives, mothers and father, students, professionals, athletes, musicians, artists, whatever- if we want to reach goals for our work, for our families, for our spiritual lives, for our personal lives, we need resolve. We need to be fixed on these purposes. We need to make decision to do and not do certain things to reach our goals.
If we are not on a path of growth, we are on a path of plateau, or worse, death. If you are on a path of plateau or death, then this really isn’t going to be a very meaningful sermon, meaningful series, or a meaningful church for you. Because we are not dying, we are just being born. We are truly still in the pains of child birth. When I look at what I pray Connections will be, we've hardly taken our first step. We have every possible area to grow in. All we have are goals that we want to reach. All we have is resolve. All we have is the will to do something, to be something, to be fixed on the purposes of connecting with God, with people, with our world.
Last week the starting resolution for our church and the life of the Christ-follower was to seek God. This is where we begin as a church for this is one of the major themes of the bible. I encouraged everyone to put to memory a verse last week. This is something I will do regularly. To try and give you a scripture to memorize that captures the whole sermon. Last week it was Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” I hope you set that in your hearts, pray it often, hear God speaking that promise to you in the morning, as you drive, when you sit down for a cup of coffee.
Today we move to the next resolution worth every one of us keeping- STAY PURE. What we are going to discover is that this follows naturally on the heels of the first. In order for us to seek God with all of our heart, we must have a pure heart- a heart undivided. A heart purely set on the things of God. And what we’ll discover is, I pray, two things. First is the purity that can come only a gift from God- the purity of forgiveness and salvation. Then second, the strength that comes from God to pursue purity in all areas of our lives. To receive the gift of purity, then to pursue purity.
This resolution comes to us out of the life a man named Daniel. And if you are a university student here today, I am especially excited for you. This passage is going to rock your world and could change your entire outlook on education and life. (Read Daniel 1:1-8)
In 605 BC, and this isn’t just some biblical yarn without verification- there is corroborating historical evidence outside of the Bible of these kings and these dates- in 605 BC king Nebuchanezzar of Babylon sacked Jerusalem and the land of Judah, deposed of king Jehoiakim, and carried off all the items of worth and spoils of war- including Daniel and his friends. The king ordered that the young men who showed the most promise- the strong, the bright, the good looking, the learned and quick learners, the young men of royalty and noble families, the men like Nathan and Mike, and I’m sure every other guy here, were to be taken to the palace. This is like the bachelorette before there was reality TV. Nebuchanezzar knew exactly what he was doing and whom he wanted.
At the palace he orders Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, his right hand man, to get all these boys together. His job was to teach them the language and the literature of Babylon. These boys were to be fed from King’s own table, given room and board and access to the best education the world had to offer. They were to be trained for three years, and then enter the service of the King.
Wow, we might think, these kids have got it made! But we must understand the significance of what the King is doing. This isn’t some benign act of kindness. He isn’t having second thoughts after sacking another nation and carrying off all its greatest treasures, especially the treasure that is the best and brightest of the coming generation. This isn’t to console his soul after wiping out a nation. This is racial cleansing, assimilation, indoctrination, hey, call it for what it is- brainwashing.
Put yourself in these boys’ shoes. Your nation, your home, your way of life has been destroyed. Your family has probably been killed. You watched as everything was leveled. Even the holy places- especially the holy places, the places that held the symbolic core identity of the entire nation. Everything of worth is carried off. You are spared. You are marched nearly 1000 kilometers to a foreign nation. You have no idea what is to become of you. You are afraid to die, you are afraid to live. You don’t know who you are anymore, they have even changed your name. Instead of having the names of your family, you now have names that reflect the gods of Babylon- Bel, Aku and Nebo. Nebuchanezzar takes these young men and offers them access to an education, job security and a bright future. Brighter, in many ways, than they ever could have dreamed of in Judah.
Have you ever heard of Stockholm syndrome? When a hostage or captive, because they are so broken down, afraid for their lives, in shock, they begin to actually think of their captors as their liberators. King Nebuchanezzar intends to make his captives believe he is really their savior.
But Daniel sees right through the scheme. He is bright, he is gifted, he is strong, because he knows what’s going on. He sees what the Babylonians are trying to do to him and his friends- learn a new language, forget the ways of the past; learn new literature, for get about the word of God; take on a new name, forget who you are; eat from the kings own table, cast aside everything you knew about your former identity and way of life. And it says that Daniel resolved not to defile himself with anything from the king’s table. He resolved to keep himself pure by not accepting the food and drink from the King’s table.
Taking food from the king’s table was less about eating, and more about association. It was a symbolic gesture. It’s no insignificant matter that the Israelite laws regarding food, what we call being kosher, were the most stringent in the ancient world. Daniel would have grown up faithfully following these practices. And now he’s asked to disregard them completely. The food from Nebuchanezzer’s table was food that was first offered to the gods of Babylon. Nebuchanezzar was inviting the boys to renounce their God, the God of Israel, the God of the Bible, and worship their gods- Marduk, Bel, Aku, Nebo and others, gods who glorified in war and death. He was inviting Daniel the his friends to a new nation, a new way of life and a new religion- and all they had to do was take and eat from his table, and the table of his gods.
Morpheus invites Neo to take the red pill and go home, or the blue pill and venture down the tunnel, into the Matrix. The drug dealer invites the naive orphaned kid to just take one hit. The in-crowd pressures the outcast to just have one drink. The serpent tempts Eve to take just one bite. People have known, for century after century, in culture after culture, in movie after movie that we have seen, the symbolic gesture of taking the offering of food and drink and whole new way of life.
It was an equally symbolic gesture that Daniel said no. I will not defile myself, I will remain pure. It was a symbolic gesture with profound impact on Daniel and the entire kingdom. Daniel and his friends strike a bargain with Ashpenaz and eat only vegetables and drink water for ten days, and ten days later they look better than anyone else- they got stronger, smarter and better looking. They grew in knowledge and understanding. They received visions from God and could interpret dreams. And by the end of the three years they were head of their class. No one was their equal, and they were promoted to the highest positions in the kingdom next to King Nebuchanezzar.
They were the best, the brightest, the most influential. They got the chance to serve God and change the world, even while they were in exile. They seized this opportunity, but they did on their terms, and on God’s terms- they never ate and drank to the gods of Babylon. They never bowed down and worshiped the king or his idols. They never forgot who they were, and whose they were. They never cowed to the materialist, pantheistic culture around them. They took a stand. They made a resolution. And it was a huge risk, a giant risk- a risk that could have easily cost them their lives. But in the end God honored and rewarded their faithfulness.
Folks, here is the million dollar question- do you think the world around us is more like Jerusalem or Babylon? Do you think we’re at home here, or in exile? Now I’m speaking in the big picture here. This isn’t about if you’re from London Ontario, or moved here from somewhere else. I’m talking about our place in the world, your place on earth. Do you sometimes get the feeling that this place, this world, is not really your home? That you were made for something else? That you were made for a different world? A world where maybe, just maybe, you truly felt at home, because in that world, you always felt close to God. In that world you would always be at peace with your neighbors and other people. In that world you would be at peace with the world itself, not afraid or unable to know how to live sustainably. In that world there would be no more pain, or sickness, or death or tears. In that world you were at peace with yourself.
CS Lewis once said,
"If I find in myself certain desires that nothing in this world seems to satisfy, the only logical conclusion is that I was made for a different world.”Speaking for myself, I feel like I was made for a different world, a better world, a world of perfect peace and justice and beauty.
The bible uses Jerusalem and Babylon as a metaphor for life here and now. Jerusalem was a image of what the world was supposed to be like- a place where everyone knew and worshiped God, where there was shalom, this peace that characterized all relationships- our relationship with God, with other people, with the creation itself, with ourselves. Jerusalem symbolized life the way it was meant to be lived- a life at home and in connection with God.
Babylon, on the other hand, represents the world as we know and experience it. It represents being outside of home, outside of life the way it was meant to be lived, life outside of a relationship with God, and peace with all people and peace with ourselves. Sin came into our world and our lives. Separation, sickness, evil and death. We became as exiles in the very creation God made for us.
We were made for Jerusalem, but find ourselves in Babylon. And what Daniel and his friends came to understand was this- though life might not be playing out the way we would have liked, though life may not be the way God first created it to be, though life may not be the way it will always be, this is life. And they got on with life. They resolved to get on with life, but to do so in a way that they might remain pure. They were going to live, but they were not going to eat from the kings table.
And that friends is exactly what we are called to do as well. We live our lives in this world that is not our home, not perfect, not the way it’s supposed to be, but we get on with our lives living as purely as we can. Resolve that like Daniel, you will see through the lies and tricks of the world, and you will not be taken in, but will keep yourself pure. Resolve that you will see that so much of the world does not have your best interests at heart- but rather want to use you, abuse you, work you and break you, and cast you aside when you no longer the young and bright and best looking. Resolve that you will take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way- for learning, for education, for advancement. But never, never ever compromise your purity, your virtues, your values, your morals, your God.
Maybe this one is simple for you- maybe it is right from the text- you know, you eat too much and you need to focus on the vegetables. So put down that second big mac, just say no to french fries poutine, get the regular cup of coffee instead to ultra-high fat frappachino with a cup of sugar. Or maybe you need to say no to the wine and drink a little more water. Statistically, more than just a few of you here struggle with alcoholism or drug abuse.
Maybe it is obvious in what areas you need to seek purity- you have to resolve to quit smoking because it really is killing you. You have to resolve to break free from pornography, because it really is killing your ability to relate to women or men in any way that is even remotely healthy, and it’s destroying your studies, your career, you marriage. You must resolve to break free from your ipod- because even too much of good music can be a bad thing. You have to resolve simply to stop watching so much TV, because there’s more to life. You need to resolve not to defile yourself in an inappropriate relationship. So you need to break free, or put on the brakes for a season, or get some counseling, or something.
Now I’m not just preaching, I’m meddling. But if it feels like I’m meddling it is because we can all relate to impurity, and because just maybe God is trying to tell you something. All of us here have a habit, or a hang up, or an indiscretion, something that we’ve done or something that's been done to us that makes us feel dirty, ashamed, unclean, and impure. And we try to stop, but we fail. We try to get past it, but the memory keeps rearing its ugly head. We try to stay pure and seek God, but a voice says you’ll never be clean again. I find that most people are very aware of their own impurities. I probably don’t need to point out the impurities, we just need to get to that place were we can actually face them.
Jesus tells us,
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”And today, at the end of it all, I want to tell you that you can find purity in God, and you can see God. First, accept the gift of purity that comes only from God, only from Jesus Christ. Freely accept the gift freely offered- to be set right with God, forgiven, cleansed, purified before the holy and pure God. That’s what God offers to us in Jesus Christ- to know that we are pure and forgiven and given eternal life. This is where God shines friends. This is where God is really good- he’s the expert in forgiving, in cleansing, in making impure things pure again. You can find purity in the forgiveness of God. It’s a gift- ask for it, receive it, believe it, live it.
Then second, in the assurance of the purity given to us, we pursue purity in our lives. We seek to stay pure. We resolve to live pure lives because that is the best way to live. We live pure lives because that is the best way to get right with our neighbors and have peace. We live pure lives because that is the best way to care for creation and make a difference in the world. We live pure lives because that is the best thing we can do for ourselves- for our health, for our well being, our emotional wholeness, our sexual wholeness, our spiritual wholeness, our physical wholeness. We live pure lives because we know, we know deep down in our guts, that this is pleasing to God, and the best thing we can do for ourselves, and for our neighbors and for our world.
And when we do, when we start to set our lives right, we start to set the world right. Folks, since purity does matter to God, God is going to help you stay pure. If you want it, if you resolve to pursue it, and if you know God is in it, He’s going to be there. God wants us to live pure lives, He wants us to have pure marriages, He wants us to be a pure people, and if you’re willing to work on it, God’s going to help.
Friends, there are two tables for you to eat from, the table of Babylon, or Jerusalem. The table of the kingdoms of this world, or the table of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, on the night he was betrayed, brought his followers to a table. And there he offered those young men food and drink. He offered them a broken loaf of bread, and new wine. But he told them straightaway that this meal, the table, had a symbolic meaning, deeper than anything they had ever experienced before. This bread way his body, broken for them. This wine was his blood, shed for them. He invited them, take and eat, take and drink. Take my body, and become part of me. Take my blood, and be forgiven all your sins.
Friends, in our lives there are two tables set our before us. Come to the table of our Lord Jesus Christ, forget about your old way of life- the ways of sin and life apart from God, and come to a new King, a new Lord, a new God, the God and Father of our savior Jesus. Take from his table- take and eat, take and drink.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” I pray that this year, that right now, you resolve to stay pure- receive the gift of purity that comes only from God, receive the strength to live pure lives that comes only from God. Like Daniel, see through the lies and advances of this world. Grab every opportunity that comes your way, but name the false gods for what they are, and refuse to have anything to do with them! Seek God, stay pure and you will see Him. You will see Him.
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