St Margaret's Church Prestwich

Rev Helen gave this sermon on Wednesday 29 November. Here it is for you again:

I’m sure I may have mentioned this before but I love the book of Daniel, you have these amazing stories of God’s intervention in the world in the first half of the book in the court tales Daniels three friend Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego refusing to bow to the statue of King Nebuchadnezzar and being thrown into a furnace and a fourth figure ‘with the appearance of a god’ protects them and Daniel being thrown in the Lion’s Den and protected by God. Then the story we have heard in todays Old Testament reading, the writing on the wall and I just love this story so much! Can you imagine what would happen if that happened here today in Church? We’re all sat here and suddenly a hand appears and starts to write words on the organ behind me. I’m sure there would be many different reactions to it, the thought that someone is watching us, that was a clever trick how did they manage it, did we really just see that? What are these cryptic words saying? That’s going to take some buffing to get that off and how are we going to explain that on the Insurance claim! There’s always one, misses the miracle and goes straight to the practical!

I think I would be the same as King Belshazzar on this on, I would be a little bit scared and he was scared! knees knocking and his limbs giving way. He clearly was quite scared of what had just happened and who would blame him! I does make you wonder why he is so worried, he’s king of Babylon one of the most powerful territories in the world at the time, he’s rich and surrounded by his wealth some stoles from the Jewish temple, he’s got wives and concubines and lots of nobles, it could be worse! However he’s scared by these four words Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin. So he does what anyone would do in this situation, gets an expert in to help. This is where Daniel comes in to interpret the vision, he is one of those who has been taken from Israel to Babylon, and he interprets the vision. He tells King Belshazzar that he is profiting from stolen artefacts, he praises the gods of materialism and excess but the God of Israel is more powerful than all of this and isn’t been honoured or impressed by you. These words are a warning Mene, Mene God has numbered your days, Tekel You have been weighed and you have been judged, Parsin your kingdom will fall and be divided. God has judged him unworthy and he will feel the consequences of his actions and one day someone will come who will bring Belshazzar and his like to their knees.

So what is this reading saying to us today and what are we thinking about here? We are coming close to the season of Advent and advent is about one thing and that is waiting. There were many who were waiting for a very long, they didn’t know exactly what for but all they knew was someone was going to come and bring them out of the troubled times like the Babylonian exile. This person would bring about an end to excessive wealth, oppression, excess and this empire that was imprisoning the people of Israel.

When Jesus was born the Babylonian Empire had a new name it was now the Roman Empire. So when Jesus grew up and started to teach did his actions bring about the end of the Roman Empire? No of course he didn’t the empire went on for many years and would go through phases of persecuting Jesus followers. So if Jesus didn’t come to end empire, as the scriptures seemed to predict he would what did he come and die for? Jesus came to testify to God and to the Kingdom of God, this is what was said at the beginning of Marks Gospel when it explained Jesus Mission, after he’d come out of the wilderness having spent 40 days there, John the Baptist had been arrested and Jesus gives that great statement ‘The Kingdom of God is Near, repent and believe in the Good News’. This is what Jesus did and this is what he died for and many of those who have followed him have met this fate and still do in some parts of the world. Jesus warned his followers of this and he does in todays gospel when he is speaking to his disciples. He tells them they will be hated and they will be persecuted because of him and for proclaiming his name and telling his stories, you will be betrayed and persecuted but your own kin, you could even be put to death. However, when you are brought before authority or power testify, testify, testify, tell Jesus story!

That’s what Jesus did, testified to those who wanted to listen, testify to the chief priests and scribes, testify to King Herod and Pilate, no fear of the consequences and he died for it. As it says at the end of the gospel this might be a dangerous way to live but you will be protected from harm if you can do this Not a hair on your head will be harmed! Your soul is with Jesus and he will be with you through trouble and he will protect you. We have the examples of the Saints and still see Christians around the world being persecuted in this way because of Jesus.

Advent is coming and we hear the cry from the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, and get ready to do what Jesus asked. Testify his name and be his disciple and have no fear of any consequences that may come your way. Jesus many not have brought down empires or establishments his weapon was words and the words and actions he did while he was on earth and keep spreading that message until he returns. Amen