Something I got up to over the weekend

Reflection 03 - Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

At the beginning of this new series I encouraged all of us to read the book of Daniel – ideally in one go. It’s quite a short book so just keep going until you get to the end. Depending on your grasp of and interest in ancient near eastern history you may be tempted to stop here in chapter 2 and try and work out the different empires of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream – the Medes and Persians, the Greeks with Alexander the Great, the Romans… And if you then turned to the internet, or even to a handful of commentaries on Daniel, to try and work out what the ten toes are all about, you’ll probably still be bogged down with the detail. On Sunday Mandy alluded to some of the relatively recent suggestions that have been put forward for the identity and meaning of these ten toes.

There are certainly times when it is right to be interested in the detail – after all, we’ve been given the detail for a reason. The Bible is a book that requires careful reading and prayerful meditation. We’re supposed to read a passage, and then re-read it and then read it again asking God to speak to us through it. We’re supposed to allow different parts of the Bible to help us understand other parts. As Mandy pointed out on Sunday, when the Bible talks about ‘mysteries’ it is talking about something that can be known – but only with revelation from God. 

No doubt there are many different responses to the dream passages in Daniel. Some of you will be fascinated and want to dig into the detail. Others of you will find it daunting and go back to reading the New Testament. Others will find it confusing and be discouraged – thinking that you will never understand the Bible, even though you really want to. And then there will be other responses too.

Whatever your response to these passages I would encourage all of us to make sure that we don’t lose sight of the big picture. To make sure that we don’t become so obsessed with the trees that we lose sight of the forest. 

The big picture, broad brush stroke image of Daniel 2 is that God is in control. He not only knows the past and the present – he also knows the future. And God’s kingdom will overcome all other kingdoms and it will endure forever.

Whilst there is much in Daniel that we may find confusing, the overarching big picture is a story that gives us hope and encourages us to faithfulness.

Reflection 02 - Taking a stand

On Sunday we started our new teaching series from the book of Daniel and one of the main themes of Daniel 1 is that God is in control. If you haven’t yet had a chance to listen to the sermon you’ll find it here: https://youtu.be/48CeNLlgW64 

And as we read through the rest of the book of Daniel (**Spoiler Alert**) we discover that God is not just in control of the past and the present – he is in control of the future too.

But for Daniel and his friends, it didn’t look like that for large parts of their story. They’d seen the Babylonians march into Jerusalem, overrunning the city and destroying the temple. Many of their friends and families would have come to a nasty end.  Daniel and his friends were chained up and marched away. What was to become of them? They would have had no idea at the time.

We meet Daniel and his friends as they begin a three-year training programme in the court of king Nebuchadnezzar. A quick look at a map of the time would leave you with the impression that Nebuchadnezzar was very much in control. His empire stretched from Iran, through Iraq, Syria, parts of Turkey and down through Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and threatening the borders of Egypt. The logical conclusion was that it was the size, strength and skill of Nebuchadnezzar’s army that made the conquest of Israel possible, and that this was just a part of Nebuchadnezzar’s plan to make inroads into Egypt – or at least to provide a ‘buffer zone’ between Egypt and his empire.

But Daniel 1:2 leaves us in no doubt. This had nothing to do with Nebuchadnezzar’s might or plans. It was God working out his plans and fulfilling the warnings that punctuate 2 Kings and the prophets. It might not look like it, but God was in control.

People that spend their lives writing books about Daniel do not agree why Daniel and his friends chose to take a stand over the food and drink from the king’s table. It’s not simply because of the Old Testament food laws. If that was the case, then only some choice meats would have been excluded and the wine would have been OK. If it was because these foods would have been prepared in a non-kosher way, then surely that would also be true of the vegetables. And later, in Daniel 10:3, we find Daniel fasting from meat and wine, so obviously he started eating at least some of them at some point.

Daniel and his friends would have had very little control over their lives. As we’ll soon see they could say ‘no’ – but that, under normal circumstances, would have meant death. And whilst they could have refused to dress or talk or work like Babylonians, their death would have meant their godly influence wasn’t felt in Babylon for the next few decades. Although we have no idea, I like to think that the magi who visited the boy Jesus five hundred years later were aware of the prophesies about the Messiah because of the influence, teaching and writings of Daniel within the Babylonian court.

Daniel’s wisdom extended to knowing which battles to fight and how to fight them. In chapter 3 it was a straight ‘no’. But here in chapter 1 it’s a quiet word to the chief official – and when that doesn’t work, he follows it up by hatching a cunning plan with the person next in line.

One of the key things here is – what’s going on in Daniel’s head. Always, at the front of his thinking, there is the fact that God is in control. That God is king. That his allegiance and obedience are ultimately to God alone. And so, possibly on Day One of their training, very quietly and politely, with respect, Daniel plucks up the courage to say ‘no’. 

Daniel rejected the conventional wisdom of the world in which he lived and chose a restricted diet – and trusted God for the outcome. 

I wonder whether there are areas in our lives where we need to reject the conventional wisdom of the world and take a stand by choosing a ‘restricted diet’? Not allowing our fears to govern our choices but trusting God for the outcomes rather than relying on our own resources. This might be to do with our finances, our career or how we use our time or maybe some other area in our lives.

What is God saying to you today?

Reflection 01 - Running the Race

Whilst it is good that we are now able to meet up face to face with people, and that the long separation from family and friends of lockdown are no longer compulsory - it is important to recognise that for some people doing things online has meant that they were more engaged during lockdown than was possible before. 

Discipleship is a key part of our vision as a church here at CBC. This should not come as any great surprise to anyone who is familiar with the gospels and the words of Jesus! Our vision expresses this in a number of ways - using the language of a journey it talks about obedience to God, support for each other and seeing lives changed.

This week I'm going to start a series of weekly emails that will help us engage with some of the themes and topics from Sunday's service - even if you were not at the service. Here's yesterday's email.

It was good to be able to have our main service back in the church building on Sunday and then to meet afterwards in the garden for a picnic tea. We’re sorry that technical issues meant that we were not able to live stream or record the service – hopefully they will be resolved by this coming Sunday.

On Sunday we were thinking about the parallels that the New Testament makes between elite athletics and the Christian life. There’s been a lot of sport on the television this summer, not least the Olympics and the Paralympics. To compete at the top level requires determination, commitment, singlemindedness, focus, perseverance and sacrifice – plus a lot more. Many of those who performed at Tokyo will now be starting a three-year cycle as they prepare for Paris 2024. Some of those who performed in Tokyo would not have been there had the games been held in 2020 – because they were on a training programme targeting 2024. Everything that these athletes do in the next three years will be governed by their desire to win gold in Paris.

Every analogy or illustration breaks down at some point when pushed too hard, but in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul is making the point that the same kind of determination, focus, singlemindedness, and discipline are needed for the person who has committed to following Jesus. Just as an athlete’s decisions are made with the goal of a gold medal in mind, our choices should be governed by our relationship with Jesus. Will ‘doing x’ help me to know Jesus better or not? Will ‘not doing y’ make me more like Jesus or not?

When it comes to determination and discipline with my running, I know that motivation is key. I know that I am most motivated when I am training for something specific and other people are involved. The first time I ran a marathon I trained for four months and because I was raising sponsorship skipping training was not an option. I was very careful about what I ate – specifically what I did not eat – cake, ice cream, chocolate, crisps… And it’s no coincidence that my best times for 5k, 10k and half-marathon distances all came during this period.

I recently trained over ten weeks with the goal of improving my 5k time, and although I achieved my goal I was not quite so disciplined – especially on the ice cream and chocolate front!

In Hebrews 12:1-2 we are urged to fix our eyes on Jesus. He is our motivation. We do what we do because of his great love for us demonstrated on the cross, and our love for him. We do what we do because of our desire to obey him and to be more like him.

As someone who has always had links to the education system, September marks one of those ‘new beginning’ points in my year. One of those points when it is good to stop and pause. To look back and look ahead.

In my desire to be more like Jesus is there something that I need to add into my life to enable this to happen? Or something I need to take out?

And who are the people that help me on this journey? To encourage me? To keep me accountable?