Banksy is probably the world’s best known, unknown, graffiti
artist. His works are displayed on the walls of public spaces all over the
world. they are preserved, treasured, photographed and pondered by thousands.
They are collected and displayed in the most prestigious art galleries. They
are worth copious amounts of money. But his identity remains a secret.
His work is satirical and poignant and critiques the world
in which we live. This Banksy was painted on a wall of a Bristol Youth
centre. It’s called ‘mobile lovers’ and challenges the addiction society has to
mobile phones, and how that impacts on the face to face relationships we have.
Are we present in the moment or is it a moment simply to be presented on social
media and lived out or even missed out upon, captivated by cyber space?
I’m not sure of the impact that Banksy has,
whether his art has the power to initiate change. But writing on walls has been a way in which
unrest, disagreement and opposition to political powers and oppression have
been expressed for ages. In the passage that we are looking at today it is how
God chooses to speak judgement to Belshazzar, the last ruler of Babylon. It is
a wonderfully visual demonstration of the Hand of God at work in human history:
that the affirmation of the book of Daniel that God is in control amidst the rise
and fall of empires and the whirl and swirl of history is true.
We are working our way through a whirlwind survey of the
work of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures of the Old Testament. Moving from
hovering over the waters in the Genesis creation narrative, through to the
Spirit being poured out on all believers in the fulfilment of the prophecy in
Joel chapter two at Pentecost. We are looking at what went on then and there,
and through the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, what it means for
us today. In Daniel chapter 5 we see the Spirit of God at work on the big
scale, the big canvas of world powers. But also, how the Spirit filled believer
is part of, and connected to that work of the Holy Spirit. We see that in the
character of Daniel, who interprets the mystical words written on the wall by a
finger… Again the hand of God and the finger of God are ways of talking of the
Holy Spirit.
The book of Daniel is set in the time of the exile in
Babylon, Daniel is amongst the children taken by king Nebuchadnezzar to train up
and work in the civil service of the empire. Daniel is portrayed as one of the
heroes of the faith in that setting. Despite the pressure to confirm to his new
surroundings Daniel and his friends keep their faith, because of that they
epitomise all the characterises of someone filled with God’s Spirit. They have
wisdom, God has given them gifts, like the ability to interpret dreams, like
Joseph in Genesis. Because of that they are promoted and given important roles.
The real hero of the
book of Daniel however is Israel’s God, who despite his people being beaten by
the Babylonian army is still the sovereign all powerful God, in control of the
flow of human history. In the dreams and visions that Daniel has of statues and
strange and ferocious beasts coming out of the water, we see that history is
moving towards a time when God himself will establish his Kingdom. The visions
and dreams of Daniel point us to the coming of the one like a son of man, who
we know as Jesus Christ. In Daniel and his friends being divinely delivered by
God from fiery furnaces and lions dens we see the sovereignty of God to defend
his people. In chapters four and five, which we are looking at today, we see
that it is Israel’s God who speaks to the lives of, and is sovereign over the
powerful world leaders of the day.
Daniel chapter five is set in a drunken party thrown by
Belshazzar for a thousand of his nobles. During it he calls for the gold and
silver goblets that king Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem
and uses them both for drinking and toasting the God’s of silver, gold, bronze
and wood and stone. Belshazzar is a difficult figure to track down in history,
what we know of Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar’s death is a series of short lived
kings, culminating in someone outside Nebuchadnezzar’s family taking the
throne, Nebonidus whose son, Belshazzar, ruled in his place whien he was absent
for 10 years from the city. As the party goes on a finger appears and writes on
the wall, causing Belshazzar to be full of fear.
Belshazzar asks all his magicians and sorcerers and wise men
to explain the words and they cannot. Then we have the queen which is probably,
the wife of Nebuchadnezzar, tell him of Daniel being filled with the Spirit of
the gods, and having the wisdom to understand such things. The queen is very
much a Babylonian and so she couches the understanding of Daniel being filled
with the Holy Spirit in very pagan, polytheistic ways. Belshazzar calls for
Daniel, and in a very dismissive, derogatory way asks this ’mere captive’ to
tell him what these words mean. Which Daniel proceeds to do.
AS Daniel speaks he contrasts Belshazzar to his predecessor
Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar, had ruled with some wisdom and had respected
the religious objects he’d bought back from Jerusalem, objects that were set
aside for worship and not for common use. Belshazzar had no such respect, this
was sacrilege using these cups to worship the God’s of material things. Nebuchadnezzar, had had a dream which Daniel
had interpreted for him, God had spoken to him about his own pride and
arrogance, thinking he was the ruler of it all, not simply ruling because the
sovereign God had allowed it.
Nebuchadnezzar had heeded the dream and then one day forgot it and had
ended up with a mental illness that meant not only did he loose his throne, but
ended up living like a wild animal. When he come to his senses and was restored
to his previous position, he also started reforms in the empire for just and
righteous treatment of people. Daniel chapter four is unique in Old Testament
scripture, it is written in Aramaic not Hebrew and it is basically
Nebuchadnezzar telling his story, giving his testimony that through that
process he now believes in the God of Israel.
Belshazzar had no such humility and had not heeded that story. So God was
going to judge him.
The words on the wall are Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin, they
are weight measurements and amounts of money, going from a high amount to a
lesser one, and Daniel says it means, numbered weighted divided. Belshazzar’s
days as ruler are numbered, he has been weighed and found wanting; the kingdom
of Babylon under his rule had fallen so much, not ruled with wisdom and justice
but rather by one who is totally consumed with what’s in it for me, carnal
pleasure and material prosperity. Divided, because he would be overthrown and Babylon
divided amongst the Medes and the Persians. Which happens that very night as
the city is easily conquered by Darius the Mede, the general of King Cyrus of
Persia. Belshazzar is killed.
In this story we see God moving in history. Both in the case
of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. In Daniel chapter 4, where Nebuchadnezzar,
responds to God’s warning and judgement and repents of his pride and changes.
In chapter 5 Belshazzar does not repent and so faces God’s judgement. In both
cases Daniel is the one who speaks God’s word, as we saw in the call of Ezekiel
last week whether it is listened to or not. Daniel speaks to Nebuchadnezzar
with more grace and hope than he does to Belshazzar, whom he does not readily
give the chance to repent, maybe because Belshazzar has not been willing to
heed history and has not even been humble enough to seek God’s advice through
Daniel. In the Old Testament, God gives dreams and visions to non-believers but
it is the representatives of his people who have the presence of the Holy
Spirit who are needed to give people understanding, who are used to speak God’s
word clearly into those situations.
So what does all this have to say to us today.
The first is that God is at work through the Holy Spirit in
human history. We can think the world is out of control, on some frenzied
aimless dance through time, But God is in control, history is moving towards a
conclusion, God is working his plans for good and not harm. Daniel shows that
in that the whole book points to the coming of the Kingdom of God in Jesus
Christ. World history is changed by his coming, his death and his resurrection.
We as God’s people are called to have trust and faith in God’s power and
presence. It may seem like evil triumphs but in the long view of God’s divine
justice this is not the case.
Daniel gives us indicators of how we should live in the
light of that truth. We see him faithfully keeping his faith. The only way his
enemies can come up with to get rid of him is to make it illegal for people to
pray to their own God under king Darius. His spiritual practises of Prayer and
meditation are what keeps him focused and going, trusting and serving, and he
will not stop them for anything. That is how he ends up in the Lion’s den.
Also we see Daniel prepared to keep on serving and working
in the place where he finds himself. When he is called upon to speak, he speaks
God’s truth trusting in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to enable him
to do it. He can speak with authority and knowledge. Theologian Karl Barth
instructed people to read their Bibles and newspapers side by side, and to
interpret the newspaper by what they read in the bible. Maybe in today’s world
we need to read our bibles on our phones side by side with newsfeeds. It is
easy to perhaps to do it the other way round and let what we see in the
headlines interpret what we read in the scripture… making it nothing more than
old wisdom being pushed to fit the agenda of this world rather than shine the
light of God’s Kingdom into this world. We need the spirits help and presence,
leading and guidance to do that.
In our New Testament reading from John’s gospel, we also
have Jesus teaching on the presence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus breaths on his
disciples and sends them out into the world, just as the father has sent Jesus,
to bring the kingdom of God. he gives them his Holy Spirit to do this. Jesus
outlines our mission as to forgive people their sins. It is about calling
people to turn from their own ways towards God’s ways Just as Daniel had done
with Nebuchadnezzar, but the challenge is that if we do not forgive people they
will not be forgiven. As 2 Corinthians 5:19-20 says, we are called to the
ministry of the message of reconciliation with God, as ambassadors of Christ.
Sometimes like with Belshazzar in Daniel 5 that message is one of judgement, I
the hope that people will respond and know God’s grace. We are always called to
speak God’s timeless word and truth in a timely manner, and the spirit enables
us to do that.
Missio Dei or the mission of God is a term used to tie the
working of God in our world together with how we live as the Church. God’s work
in the world has always being sending, the father sends the son and the father
and son send the Spirit. And as we read in John 20 the father also sends us,
the mission we are called to as a church is to see what the spirit is doing in
the world and go and join in. With God’s grace, and trust and justice. To be
carriers of God’s mercy and love, forgiveness and peace. Historially you can see it in the revivals of
England under the John Wesley and others leading not only to a renewal of
people’s faith, but leading directly to the enlightenment, the abolition of
slavery, the reform of prisons, child labour laws, the establishment of the RSPCA,
a desire for universal education and literacy. Renewed personal and communal
spiritual vitality resulting in systemic change and transformation. In fact one
commentator said that the Wesleyan revival and its impact stopped England from
the same bloody revolution that France went through. The way in which the
church in the west finds itself pushed out of a position of power and influence
at the centre of society is also showing us that the Kingdom of God lies at the
edge of society, in caring for the poor, the prisoner, the sick and hurt,
disadvantaged and powerless, that is where it can see the Spirit bring the most
change and transformation. It’s at the edges of society as we are called to be
one people across so many diverse cultures and nationalities, very much like
the first century church, where at Pentecost people heard them speaking in
their own languages from all over the world. In a world once again that
worships material wealth and sees success in terms of what we have, that there
is more to life, fulfilment is found in knowing God and sharing what we have as
the Spirit leads. As the world sees us doing that it will again seek out what
we have to say: the gospel of Jesus Christ. As the world sees that written in
our lives not stencilled on a wall, when we are more Christ like (or Christy)
rather than Banksy will we see the kingdom of God made known: As we entrust our
hands into the hand of God moving in the world.
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