Rev. David Holwick B
Boothbay Baptist Church
Boothbay, Maine
July 5, 2020
Daniel 4:27
UNDIMMED BY HUMAN TEARS
I. We are living in turbulent times.
A. Think of the trouble we have all gone through this year.
1) Worldwide coronavirus epidemic.
a) First time in 100 years.
1> Celeste's father, who is living with us, survived
the 1918 flu epidemic. We hope this one, too.
b) As entire nations shut down, economies are collapsing.
I was listening to Governor Mill's radio call-in show
this week, and a business owner said the lockdown
could destroy her.
The governor had empathy but could make no promises.
2) Street riots, statues toppling, police stations trashed.
a) Can the longstanding social issues we have wrestled
with ever be resolved?
B. Reminds me of my childhood.
1) I am 64, and I personally think the 1960s were far worse.
a) Civil rights demonstrations went on for years.
1> Police set dogs on them. The Klan killed them.
2> Riots burned out multiple inner cities and some
of them are only now starting to recover.
b) One assassination after another.
1> John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy.
2) Vietnam war and constant turmoil.
a) My dad was in the Army and spent 1.5 years in Vietnam.
b) I also know someone else whose proudest accomplishment
in life was when he shut down a bridge in Washington,
DC., in protest against the war.
c) Hippies, widespread drug use, disintegrating families.
3) 2020 seems like a piece of cake in comparison.
C. Turbulent times are an opportunity to refocus.
1) We are forced to think about the values that make us a
nation.
2) With all the competing voices, who will win?
II. The prophet Daniel faced more turbulence than us.
A. His nation was destroyed by foreigners and he went into exile.
1) Daniel's ministry lasted for many decades.
2) He was God's voice to a series of foreign tyrants, but
especially to King Nebuchadnezzar.
B. King Nebuchadnezzar was not a nice guy.
1) He probably killed hundreds of thousands, if not millions.
2) He is the king who defeated Israel.
3) But God told him, through Daniel, that his pride would be
dealt with.
a) The king would be forced to live like an animal, until
he repented.
b) And then he would learn the most important lesson of all:
"The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men
and gives them to anyone he wishes." 4:32
c) He follows it this this advice:
C. God's advice to all nations. 4:27
"Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you;
break off yours sins by being righteous,
and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor.
Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity." NKJV
1) Stop sinning and do what is right in God's eyes.
2) Be kind to the poor (or oppressed - NIV).
a) If he does this, national prosperity will return.
III. America is a lot like Babylon.
A. We are not a divine kingdom like Israel.
1) We know we are exceptional, and we use a lot of religious
language for our nation, but there is a difference.
a) Only Israel was truly God's nation (and they left a
lot to be desired, in his eyes - that is why he sent
them into exile.)
b) God's nation today is called the Kingdom of God.
This church, and every true church, is part of it.
2) America is in the same category as Babylon and every other
nation on earth: we will answer to God for how we live.
a) The Bible teaches that God has established every nation.
1> Israel, the United States ... China and North Korea.
b) If we do what is right, he will prosper us, and if we
do evil, he can annihilate us. Just ask Hitler...
B. Daniel's advice to a pagan king applies to us.
1) It is not the job of America to lead people to salvation.
a) That is the church's job.
2) A nation's job is to promote goodness, and look out for
the little guy.
IV. Promoting what is right.
A. In some ways America still reflects God's values.
1) We have a high sense of integrity.
a) But we don't have the corruption that other nations do.
I have never had to pay a bribe.
1> This weekend I renewed the registration for my
inflatable boat, online. Took 10 min., no hassle.
b) Many other countries see us as puritanical.
When we go to the beach, we wear bathing suits!
(makes sense in Maine)
2) We have personal liberty and religious freedom.
a) You can build a church or a mosque, or be an atheist.
3) We have economic opportunity - as long as a virus is not
shutting us down.
4) At every election, some celebrity says they will leave
the county if "so-and-so" wins. But they never leave.
There must be something here worth staying for.
B. In other ways, we have drifted away from God's values.
1) Recent Supreme Court decision on abortion emphasized it
shouldn't be restricted because it is now settled law
- it has been in place too long.
a) Thomas Jefferson - not a conservative Christian - said
many years ago, "The first duty of government is the
protection of life, not its destruction."
#29263
b) The Dred Scott case in 1857 was also based on long-
established law. It declared blacks, free or slave,
were not citizens and therefore had no rights.
2) Radical re-interpretation of sexual gender.
a) At Harvard and Yale, 20% of incoming freshmen
identify as being other than heterosexual.
(and only 10% describe themselves as conservative)
That is one out of five!
b) Our quest for personal autonomy is unhinging common
sense.
1> We say you can be whatever you want to be. But
can you?
2> The latest trend is for humans to identify as
another species. Being a dog is popular.
Two years ago a man in England said he "never felt
human" - so now he identifies as a dog.
In Los Angeles, a woman who transitioned to being
a man is now transitioning to being a dog.
“He” wins ribbons at special “dog” shows.
“He” says, “People come to my house and say ‘Oh,
you have won all those ribbons at dog shows.’
But they rarely ask if I am the dog.”
There is no end to the nonsense. #66342
3) Our quest for ever-increasing personal wealth is also a
drifting from God's ideal.
a) From the Old Testament prophets to Jesus, there are
warnings about rampant riches.
b) Having too much isolates you from others and hardens
your heart.
c) You may get a mansion in the sky but settle for your
daily bread right now.
V. How well do we look out for the little guys?
A. Poor and oppressed people cover a lot of territory.
1) In the Bible they are widows, orphans, the poor, foreigners.
2) In this epidemic, we think of the nursing home residents
who are dying by the tens of thousands.
3) We also think of the blue collar workers who are laid off
and can't make their house or car payments.
4) When times are tough, the disparities become more glaring.
a) Some of them have been with us since we became a nation.
B. The oppression of racism.
1) As a little kid in the early 1960s, I spent a year in
Columbus, Georgia, near Fort Benning.
My dad was a low-ranking officer in the Army but we
could still afford a maid who came every week.
She was black - white maids would cost too much.
This woman spent much of her paycheck to hire a ride
to our house.
One day the man couldn't drive her, so we took her home.
I will never forget seeing her home - really a shack,
with a multitude of kids on the porch waiting for her.
2) Another experience - my mom was a farmer's daughter from
Illinois and needed a Georgia driver’s license.
She got in the shortest line and everyone glared at her.
She looked up, and saw a sign that said "Colored."
3) Things have improved since the 1960s, but in some ways
they are the same.
a) If you are white (and most in Maine are), what would
your life be like if your skin changed to black?
b) No one would lynch you. But would you no longer get
the benefit of the doubt? Would they think you
were less honest, or intelligent, more likely
to be violent or steal?
1> The countless indignities would wear you down.
C. What should American Christians do?
1) Slavery was with us from the beginning.
a) It even affected the statehood of Maine 200 years ago.
b) We weren't allowed to become a new free state until
Missouri could enter as a slave state.
2) Words from the Bible began the movement to end slavery,
and the movement to recognize civil rights for all.
From a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama, Martin Luther
King Jr. famously wrote, "Let justice roll down like
waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."
He is actually quoting the Bible, Amos 5:24.
#22116
3) In the book of Revelation's vision of God's Kingdom,
people from every nation and tribe and tongue stand
side by side, praising God.
a) What do we have to do to make America more like this?
b) It is interesting that the early church faced a
similar situation.
In Acts 6, Christians who came from a Greek background
felt they were being slighted by converts from
a Hebrew background.
All of them had been Jews, all were now Christians,
but they had a different cultural background.
The Hebrew-speaking group obviously felt superior.
The solution is interesting but perhaps not obvious.
In Acts 6:5, seven men were chosen to deal with the
problem.
All of them have Greek names.
Those who felt they were being treated badly were given
the power to fix it.
D. We need a lot more mercy and kindness these days.
1) All across the country, health care workers are putting
their lives on the line for the sake of others.
2) Jesus had compassion on the hurting. He says "Amen!"
VI. America has never been perfect but it has always had ideals.
A. I sang "America the Beautiful" in elementary school.
1) It was written over 100 years ago when Katharine Lee Bates
was inspired by the view from Pike's Peak in Colorado.
#64635
2) The final stanza is especially poignant:
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
Bates knew that there were plenty of tears in America.
She wrote in the era of child labor and Jim Crow and violent
labor unrest, with anarchist bombs exploding on Wall St.
But she also knew that we could look beyond the tears to
a better future.
Good things were happening in America, and better things
would come.
B. We must aim higher.
When the Massachusetts Bay colonists sailed for America
in 1630, John Winthrop and his fellow Puritans left
behind their fine homes and financial security for
an unknown American wilderness.
In a sermon Winthrop preached before embarking, the governor
emphasized that the purpose of their going to America
was to increase the body of Christ.
It was also to preserve themselves and their children
from the corruption of this evil world.
The colonists had made a covenant together to obey the
commandments of God in their enterprise, and the
Lord would surely bless them in their new land if
they continued to follow Him.
If they maintained Christian unity, Winthrop was
certain "he shall make us a praise and a glory...
For we must Consider that we shall be as a City upon a
Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us."
Winthrop's imagery of the city on a hill was taken from
Matthew 5:14.
It has become a motif that has inspired American political
thought into the twenty-first century.
It was quoted by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day
O'Connor at Ronald Reagan's funeral.
We can produce a society that can be an example to others.
It may never be perfect, but it can be better than what
exists now.
#26730
C. Gary Ledbetter, a Southern Baptist leader, recently wrote:
"I ... admire my country, not because it lives up to its ideals
but because it has them. ...
Our country is troubled, and troubling -- no matter how it
compares to another place.
But ... it is the place that taught me to love a home place.
And America teaches me, at its best and worst, to long for the
perfect country that will be my home forever.
#66354
VII. Robert E. Lee will not be the last statue to fall.
A. My sermon began with King Nebuchadnezzar.
1) Daniel says more about him.
2) In chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream in which he is
a statue.
3) It is gold on top but has feet of clay, and it comes
tumbling down when a large rock hits it.
a) That rock is Jesus Christ.
b) Only his kingdom will be eternal.
B. You are proud to be an American. I am.
1) But being an American won't give me eternal life.
2) Only my faith in Jesus will wash away my sins.
3) More than this, he gives me citizenship in a kingdom
where everyone will be equal, no one will be poor.
and every tear will be wiped away.
4) It's king is Jesus. Do you know him?
=========================================================================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#22116 “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King, Jr.,
April 16, 1963; http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/mlk-jail.html.
#26730 “City On A Hill,” adapted by Rev. David Holwick from a newsletter
from the Christian History Institute;
http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/glimpsef/glimpses/glmps022.shtml.
#29263 “Government's Chief Role Is To Protect Life,” by Ken Connor,
Baptist Press, March 28, 2005; http://www.baptistpress.org.
#64635 “The Story Behind America the Beautiful,” by David Holwick,
Adapted from: “America The Beautiful: The “Almost” National
Anthem of the United States,”
http://pikespeak.us.com/Learn/america-the-beautiful.html;
and, “America the Beautiful,” The Library of Congress:
Performing Arts Encyclopedia;
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200000001/default.html.
and, “Her Hymn Endures,” Nick Charles, People magazine,
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20135652,00.html.
#66342 “He Never Felt Human,” by Rev. David Holwick, July 3, 2020,
Adapting material from "Man who 'never felt human' now lives
his life as a dog in £2,000 fur suit," by Helen Le Caplain &
Libby McBride, 4 April 2019; <https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/human-pup-who-never-felt-14235958>;
and, “Transgender man identifies as a dog and says chasing
sticks and playing on all fours has brought him closer to his
husband,” by Charlie Moore, 12 October 2018;
#66354 "God Bless America," by Gary Ledbetter, Baptist Press,
June 29, 2020; http://www.baptistpress.org.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Easily create Help documents