Sermon manuscript for Green Lake Church for Sabbath, May 13, 2017
Daniel 1:1-4
Mark 9:17-27
Thursday morning I
was sitting on the dock across the street. It was raining so I was
holding an umbrella. A duck paddled past, then I watched a shell
leave the boat house at the south end of the lake and head my
direction. As it got close I could it was by rowed by five or six
women. I glanced at my phone. 5:56 a.m.
Wow. That's
dedication.
Every morning they
are out there early, working on their stroke, working on their
coordination, developing their strength and stamina. Preparing for
the final test: a race.
Our Old Testament
reading featured four guys preparing for a final exam, Daniel and his
friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The text says,
God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding of all
kinds of literature. They became remarkably wise. And God gave Daniel
the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams.
Daniel 1:17.
How do you think God
gave these guys knowledge and wisdom? How did God give them mastery
of all kinds of literature?
I'm going to guess
they they read books. Lots and lots of books. While other students
were getting drunk, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishel, and Azariah were
hitting the books. Babylon had a huge library. These guys wanted to
read it all.
They studied math.
And philosophy and Babylonian religion. They studied multiple
languages. I don't know what kinds of science they had in those days,
but they knew how to build massive walls and impressive bridges. They
had agricultural science and astronomy. These guys studied all that.
For three years they
hit the books. They studied. And studied. And studied. My guess is
Daniel was something of a coach. He'd quiz his buddies. If they
didn't know as much as he did he'd push them to read the book again.
Go over that list of formulas once more. Study that vocab list for a
few more hours.
Then comes the exam.
If this were a movie
we would watch as several of their buddies were quizzed by King
Nebuchadnezzar. We'd wince when students stumbled, when they didn't
know the answers or worse when they confidently gave an answer which
turned out to be wrong. We can imagine the king jumping on one of the
students who had slacked on his studies.
“I spent three
years of education on you, and this is the best you can do? How did
you get into this program any way?”
The king was a hard
man. He expected a return on his investment.
Finally, it was
Daniel and his friends' turn. At first, the guys answered slowly,
carefully. They did not want to get anything wrong. They mulled over
every question before answering, making sure they understood what the
king was asking, making sure to answer the question fully.
But as the interview
proceeds, we can see them becoming more and more confident. They've
got this. They have been studying non-stop for three years. They have
been quizzing each other. They know the material, all of it. They are
ready. The king asks questions and they answer, smoothly, calmly,
confidently.
The tone of the
questions changes. It begins to sound more like a conversation.
Instead of merely asking the questions listed on the guide in front
of him, the king asks questions about their answers. The king
explores what they know, asking questions that he himself doesn't
know the answer to because he wants to know the answer, and he
figures these guys will know.
Finally, it's over.
Daniel and Friends are ten times smarter than the next highest
student. They were dazzling, crazy smart.
And God was happy.
This was a perfect first chapter in the story God intended to write.
This story is going to reach its grand climax when the King of
Babylon becomes a devotee of the God of Israel. And the story is
going to happen because of the fantastic scholarship and integrity of
Daniel and his friends.
If we were watching
a movie of this scene, our bodies would tense when we saw a student
hesitate. We want them to succeed. We want them to know the answers.
We cannot help ourselves. In the moment of that movie our happiness
gets linked with the success of the students.
In the Gospel, there
are two parallel stories. One features a mother and her daughter, the
other features a father and his son. In both stories the children are
horribly ill, and in both stories the kids don't say a word. In both
stories it is the parents who live at the center of the drama.
In Mark 9, a father
brings his son for healing. “Master, I have a son with terrible
problems. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him
talk. Whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the
ground. He foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.
How long has this
been going on?” Jesus asks.
“Since he was a
child. Sometimes he is thrown in the cooking fire. Sometimes the
demon throws him into an irrigation canal or the lake and he has
nearly drowned. So please sir, if you can, have compassion on us and
help us.”
What do you mean,
‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person
believes.”
“Oh sir, I do
believe. Help my unbelief.”
We could paraphrase
the dad's words: Don't let my unworthiness get in the way of healing
for my son. I will do anything, believe anything, say anything. Just
heal my son. He is my whole life. Heal him. Please, please, please.
In Matthew 15 we
read the story of Jesus on vacation. Along with his disciples, he had
headed north up into the neighborhood of Sidon where no one knew him,
looking for a little down time. But somehow word leaked out and a
mother showed up at his door. The minute he steps outside she starts
following him begging for help.
“Have mercy.
Please have mercy. Teacher, help me. Have mercy. For the love of God,
have mercy.”
Her clamoring annoys
the disciples and they ask Jesus to get rid of her, to send her away.
Jesus stops and explains to his disciples that he can't send her
away. She's a mother, after all. The only way to get rid of her would
be to give her what she needs, to heal her daughter. But Jesus was
not supposed to help people like her. She was a Canaanite. Jesus'
mission was to the Jewish people. She was not Jewish. So he wasn't
supposed to help her which meant he couldn't get rid of her.
As Jesus was
explaining all this to his disciples, the woman pushed through the
circle of disciples and planted herself in front of Jesus. “Please
sir. Please. Help me.”
“Look, lady,”
Jesus said, “it is not right to take the children's bread and throw
it to the dogs.”
“True,” she
answered, “but even dogs are not begrudged the crumbs. Please help
me. Please, just speak the word so that my daughter who is home can
be made well.”
“Wow!” Jesus
says. “Wow!” Your faith is amazing. May it be according to your
will.”
Twice in the Gospel,
Jesus places his will in second place. Jesus allows his another
person to overrule his declared intention. In the story most often
cited in church, Jesus yielded to God. When he was in the garden of
Gethsemane the night before he was crucified, he asked to be spared
the agony of the coming crucifixion. Then said to God, “nevertheless,
not my will, but your will be done.”
The other time Jesus
bends his declared will to that of another is here when Jesus says to
this mother, “Not my declared will (to be true to my mission to the
Jewish people) but your will be done.”
Obviously, as
believers, we regard this as theater. We know how the story is going
to end from the very first sentence. If someone's need is brought to
Jesus' attention, we know that Jesus is going to meet that need. But
if we jump to that conclusion too quickly we miss the force of the
story. Jesus said no, then said yes in response to the bold pleading
of a mother. The mother's desire becomes the clearest, purest
expression of the will of God because God is like a mother.
When our children
are sick, our deepest, sharpest desire is their healing.
When our children
are doing okay, our deepest, sharpest desire is for them to do even
better.
When our children
are doing fantastic, our deepest, sharpest desire is for them to do
even more fantastic.
It is our conviction
that God's desire for humanity is mirrored in the hunger we have for
the triumph and success of our children.
When God watched
Daniel and Friends acing that test in the court of Babylon, God was
pleased to no end. God was thrilled. That is why the story of their
triumphal exam is part of the Bible story.
Kids, when you act
kindly, you make God glad.
When you practice
helpfulness
When you work to
master a skill, God smiles and says, “That's my girl. That's my
boy.”
When you follow your
curiosity and become an expert on chickens or the planets
When you build a
really cool project
When you practice
the piano or practice pitching a baseball or shooting a basket ball
or kicking a soccer ball
When your words are
courteous and respectful
When you tell the
truth
When you do your
best
You make God glad.
And then count on
it, God and your mother will urge you to do even better.
On Thursday morning
when I was watching the girls in the boat . . . they were followed by
a motorboat. In the launch a woman was standing, I could hear her
shouting as they rowed. “Sit deeper. Reach. Watch your teammates.”
She would call different rowers by name and tell them to do something
or stop doing something. She kept up a constant commentary.
Why?
She wanted the girls
in the boat to do better. Yes, they were on her team and that was
something. They had showed up at 5:30 in the morning to practice.
That was something. They were strong and motivated. That was good.
But the coach's job was to help them do better, so they could taste
the excitement of winning.
Kids, on behalf of
God, we—the mothers and fathers, the grandmothers and grandfathers,
the aunts and uncles—but especially the mothers—we urge you on.
Higher
Holier
Smarter
Stronger
More skillful
Wiser
Purer
Kinder
Quicker
Better
Please hear all this
exhortation, all this urging, as a vote of confidence and as an
expression of how deeply you live in our hearts. We, together with
God, love you with all our heart. We cannot help ourselves. At every
point in your lives, whether you pass or fail, whether your first or
last, we treasure you. And beyond every triumph and every success, we
can only dream of greater things.
1 comment:
What a great message for Mother's Day weekend. As a mother, aunt, sister, grandmother but especially as a mother - I have dreams for my grown children. I treasure them for who they are. I applaud their successes. I am there for them when they struggle. As far as human beings can love unconditionally, I have done,and continue to, strive for that ideal. How much more does God love and cheer on and lift up and heal our loved ones. Thank you, Pastor. You totally get it.
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