Who Was Nebuchadnezzar and What Did He Learn?

Nebuchadnezzar has had an unsettling dream and consults Daniel for an interpretation.  Daniel tells him that the dream is a warning against arrogance, but Nebuchadnezzar does not heed the warning.  When ancient kings had dominion they ruled over everything they saw, and they owned everything they ruled over.  This is not a matter of having sway or influence, but of absolute ownership and authority. 

The desire to control is a strong temptation for most people.  Even though we don’t have the absolute ownership and authority of ancient kings, we try to control the varied circumstances of our lives.  One of the most threatening things about storms, tornadoes, and floods is that they reveal our essential helplessness before the forces of nature. 

In our relationships we at times try to control those whom we love, and those whom we don’t love.  We sometimes get trapped into trying to control those we work with, or those we worship with.  We then discover that when control comes in the door, love goes out the window. Sooner or later our attempts to control create problems in our families, our circles of friends, and in the Church.  In short, when we are attempting to control, we often become a nuisance, or worse.

Twelve months later Nebuchadnezzar, walking on the rooftop terrace of his palace, brags of his accomplishments, of his mighty power, and the glory of his majesty.  While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, "O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will" (Daniel 4:31-32).  Nebuchadnezzar who thought he had absolute control, ownership, and authority, loses his mind, and loses control of his kingdom.

Nebuchadnezzar has to swallow the bitter pill that God alone is Sovereign, that God alone has absolute control.   Then comes his great confession, “At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honoured him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth” (Daniel 4:34-35).

Nebuchadnezzar has learned a fundamental lesson that is essential for every Christian.  Our desire to control people, places, and things, needs to be surrendered to God.  The due exercise of authority can only be safely exercised by those who know that God is in control, that God alone is Sovereign.

On Making Mistakes

I noticed, with some amusement, a mistake in my article in last Sunday’s bulletin insert.  Apparently I quoted the Western “Dessert” Fathers, Instead of the Western “Desert” Fathers, saying, “If you have a snake or a scorpion, put it in a box and put the lid on it, and sooner or later it will die.”    I take it that the Western Dessert Fathers wore powder blue leisure suits and lived primarily on cheesecake and mimosas; while the Western Desert Fathers wore coarse garments, spent their time praying and fasting, and also recorded a few of their pithy sayings.

Everybody makes mistakes and even Spellcheck can’t catch them all.  Mothers and fathers make mistakes, old and young make mistakes, smart people and not-so-smart people make mistakes.  Lay people make mistakes.  Bishops, priests, and deacons make mistakes.  Pharisees and Sadducees make mistakes.  Making mistakes is a normal part of life.

Did I say, “Pharisees” make mistakes?  Here we have a problem.  Pharisees don’t accept a fact that is obvious to everybody around them, that is that even Pharisees make mistakes.  They also don’t accept that others are allowed to make mistakes.  The result is that they spend an inordinate amount of time correcting other people’s mistakes.  They live for the adrenalin rush that comes when they can point out the mistakes of everybody around them.

I once had a prominent and very devout church member who felt that it was his spiritual right, every Monday, to present the Office Staff with a list of their mistakes in the Sunday bulletin.  Those who knew him knew that he had a few glaring flaws of his own, notably a lack of love and common courtesy, and a serious problem with shaming and blaming.  His attitude was like painting a “correct” smile on the Mona Lisa; it spoiled his reflection of the image of Christ.

The problem we face is that while some are blatant Pharisees, there is a little streak of the Pharisee in the best of us.  It is so very easy to cloak our own anxieties and feelings of inadequacy by critiquing others. 

Two things will help.  The first is the simple acknowledgement that everybody makes mistakes.  Second, we need to lighten up and develop a sense of humour.  Who knows?  There may actually be some Western Dessert Fathers who wear blue leisure suits, and live entirely on cheesecake and mimosas.

What Do We Learn from History?

My brother, who is a history teacher and a union organizer, loves to stir the pot.  He says, “The only thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history.”  That is both true and false at the same time.  Around this time of year twenty-five years ago three significant things happened: The Chernobyl nuclear crisis, President Reagan ordered air strikes on Kaddafi in Libya, and Trinity Episcopal Church was founded.  This year we have the Japan nuclear crisis, President Obama has ordered air strikes on Kaddafi in Libya, and Trinity Episcopal Church is starting all over again.  The question becomes very important, “What did we learn from history?”

The church of my childhood started as a mission in Aldershot, Ontario.  We met in a school gymnasium for over a year before we called our first minister and a couple of years later we built a wonderful church building, but there was a serious flaw right at the beginning.  The minister had declared that he would accept the call if he received a 2/3 vote.  When the ballots were counted it was a few votes short, but nevertheless he accepted the call.  Immediately those who did not vote for him became extremely angry and never got over it.  The church members spent the next fifty years battling with each other even though many of them new nothing of the unhappy beginning of the congregation.  Eventually the church doors closed and the building was sold.  What they didn’t learn from history, but I did, is that if you start a church in anger it won’t succeed unless you deal with the dynamics effectively.

Drawing on the lessons from history let me share with you seven principles for restarting a church that has run into a spiritual brick wall.

1.      Acknowledge and understand the past.  There is an old saying from one of the Western Dessert Fathers, “If you have a snake or a scorpion and put it in a box with a lid on it, sooner or later it will die.”  First you need to recognize that it’s a snake or a scorpion, then you actually have to put it in the box and keep the lid on.

2.      Forgive and be forgiven.  Forgiveness is not an emotion.  Neither is it blind.  It simply before God makes the decision let go of the past, and put it aside.

3.      Recognize the dynamics of conflict.  Conflict in churches occur when people try to control things that are not theirs to control.  It occurs when the behaviour of some members makes other members feel helpless.  It occurs when the authority structures break down.

4.      Recognize conflictual behaviour and speak to it.  Gossip and backbiting destroy the relationships within the body of Christ.

5.      Warfare is part of life, even Christian life.  When it happens it needs to be dealt with as soon as it’s recognized.

6.      Renew your Baptismal Vows and your personal relationship with Jesus Christ who is the Head of the Church.  The Baptismal Vows are on page 302 of The Book of Common Prayer.

7.      Renew your Confirmation and affirm the Lordship of the Holy Spirit in your life.  Your Confirmation calls you to active participation in worship, fellowship opportunities, and service.

If you learn from history and follow these seven principles the promises of God are yours.  He says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11-13).   Then he asks, "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27). 

There is an amusing mistake in this article. Did you spot it?

Transitions

This is a week of wild transitions. We move from the Palm Sunday procession, to the Passion and Death and Burial of Jesus, and then to His Resurrection in power on Easter Sunday. In a way this reflects the spiritual and emotional journey of all of us, with our own triumphs, our celebrations with families and friends around the table, to the issues of grief and dying, to the sure and certain hope of eternal life. Jesus leads us through life, through death, into life everlasting.

As I think about these things one of my professors in my doctoral studies comes to mind. David Watson (1933-1984) was an ordained priest in the Church of England, starting his ministry in Gillingham, Kent among the dock workers. Gillingham is where Diana’s cousin lives and I’ve had the privilege of preaching at St. Matthew’s, Gillingham. I studied Evangelism and Church Growth under David Watson at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.

David Watson moved from Gillingham to York where he became Curate-in-Charge of St. Cuthbert’s, a congregation that was attended by no more than twelve people at any service and was a year away from being closed. Eight years later his congregation of several hundred had outgrown the buildings and had moved to a larger facility. What was central to the growth of St. Cuthbert’s was David Watson’s understanding that our Anglican heritage is grounded in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who is our Saviour and Lord; and in a commitment to power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

What I did not know at that time was that David Watson was in the process of writing Fear No Evil, a book about his struggle with the cancer that eventually killed him. Why I remember him at this time is two specific things that he had said. First, if there is no pain, there is no palm, if there are no thorns, there is no crown, if there is no death, there is no resurrection. Second is David Watson’s way of stating his own personal commitment to the God whom he served. David said of himself, “Not looking back. Not going back. No further plans of my own.”

The truth is, that while we might make the mistake of looking back, it really isn’t possible for us to go back. There is something further. Too often we look at the past, whether with satisfaction or dissatisfaction, and make our plans for the future without the guidance and grace of the Holy Spirit. David Watson was clear, not only in his understanding of Church Growth, but in his understanding of the course of his own life; that plans for the future are plans that are best made with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There is a proverb that says, “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established,” and again, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:3,9).

The Law of Undulation

C. S. Lewis’s character Screwtape, the Senior devil in The Screwtape Letters, has an interesting take on human nature. He observes that our lives have a natural rhythm, an ebb and flow, a series of troughs and peaks that affects every area of our lives—our interests, our loves, our work. We go through times of spiritual insight and responsiveness, and times of dryness and dullness.

That shouldn’t surprise us; the rhythm is written into nature. In simpler times I have sat by sea and watched the waves, not just the rhythm of the waves breaking on the beach, then retreating to break interminably upon the beach again, but the long ebbing of the tide, its flowing back, a rhythm governed by the cycle of the moon upon the earth.

The rhythms of our lives are part of the dance of life that all God’s creatures dance. The dance becomes un-rhythmical, disharmonious, erratic, when the dancers fail to move with the dance and try to force their way unnaturally. This often happens when the dancers fail to notice that they are dancing the dance, and that the law of undulation is a natural law.

Some of God’s children try to force their way into perpetual spiritual highs, others surrender to the lows and allow depression to govern all their days. You can’t live on the heights, and you best not camp permanently in the low valleys of our experience.

The first correction that we can make is the simple acknowledgment that we have highs and lows; that highs and lows are a natural part of life, and that there is nothing wrong with having highs and lows. Barring chemical imbalance, which is a matter for wise doctors and counsellors, having highs and lows is not a call for some pacifying medication to homogenize our days. Bland is not beautiful.

Rather than that, make use of your highs, those moments of greater energy and joy, and rejoice that your God has made you and all things good. In those moments step into the flow of His creativity and dance the dance with confidence.

In the lows, do not condemn yourself or accept Screwtape’s counsel of despair. Instead, use the steady tools of your faith; pray the prayers of Morning Prayer, read Holy Scripture, especially the Psalms, that book of ups and downs. Talk quietly with your friends, give love, accept love, read quietly things that delight the mind, listen to a symphony, and be at peace; the rhythm always returns and every ebb is always followed by a flow.

Getting Something Out of Sunday Morning Worship

There are some simple things that will enhance your Sunday morning worship experience.

The first thing that affects your Sunday morning worship is what you were doing on Saturday evening, what time you got to bed, or even more recently, what happened as you were preparing to come to Church in the morning.

There may be other things elbowing their way into your Sunday morning; old disappointments and griefs, old guilts and embarrassments, or new conflicts and fears.

When you come to worship kneel and pray. Make a point of presenting those things to the Lord before the service begins.

The second thing that you will find helpful is to make a conscious acknowledgement in prayer that the Lord is here, and that He wants to make Himself known to you. Pray simply, “Thank you Lord that you are here, and that you desire to reveal yourself to me.”

Third, be aware that your style of learning will affect the way you respond to the various parts of the service. If you learn by reading, instead of by listening, that will mean that you will have to be more deliberate in paying attention to the sermon. If you learn by listening, rather than by reading, you will have to take more care in following the written part of the worship service.

Some people are more reserved than others, some are more demonstrative; that will affect the way they respond to the drama of the Liturgy. There is a tremendous variety in our liturgical style of worship but that also demands of us that we make a conscious effort to be open and responsive.

Worship is an expression of love, and love involves time, effort, and a conscious effort to be present with the One whom we love. A fulfilling experience of the Presence of God in worship generally doesn’t happen accidently.

Above all, at the start of worship, pray!

O almighty God, you pour on all who desire it the spirit of grace and supplication: Deliver us, when we draw near to you, from coldness of heart and wanderings of the mind, that with steadfast thoughts and kindled affections we may worship you in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP p. 833)

Church Growth by Invitation

There is a promise in the Gospel of St. Matthew that applies to you as well as to me. Jesus said, “Whoever receives you receives me, whoever receives me receives him that sent me” (Mt. 10:40). You are an important part of God’s plan to gather his
children together.

Sometimes we make things more difficult by using terms like “Evangelism” and “Church Growth.” These expressions, good in themselves, get worked to death and begin to convey attitudes and methods that seem manipulative or even threatening.

That is certainly not what is on Jesus’s mind when he says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-20). What God wants is for his children to invite home His children who are lost, alone, and need of love. The truth is that we don’t have to go very far to do this. It’s as simple as looking around your immediate environment and asking yourself, “Who do I see that could use a good welcoming hug for our Heavenly Father?” and then taking the risk of inviting them to come to Church with you. True, not everybody you might invite home to our Father’s house will say yes, but there is a good chance that some will indeed gladly respond.

Let me propose to you a new, yet ancient, model for growing the Church. The Church is the family of God, and as a family it grows by adopting new children. The central way that this happens is by invitation. Invite those whom you care for. Don’t just say, “I’ll meet your there,” but bring them to Church with you. If we do our family events, both worship and family celebrations well, they will be encouraged to stay. That leads to the second way that Churches grow, and that is by word of mouth. People are already being drawn to Trinity because our family life here is being restored. As people begin to hear that something good is happening here they will respond.

The third way is by letting it be known out in the broader community that there is new and exciting life at Trinity. Old methods like newspaper ads, broad based mailings, and phone campaigns have had their day. Currently people who are searching for a Church will look for us on the internet. For that reason we are working on our webpage and looking for ways to make it more accessible. Our webpage address is http://www.tecdallas.org/ Send it to your friends with a friendly email invitation. If you have computer and webpage skills give us a hand in expanding this outreach.

None of these things will work without prayer, not just a one-time prayer, but by prayers faithfully repeated. Prayer doesn’t have to be fancy, just heartfelt and to the point. Join me in praying regularly for the grown of our parish family and pray with me,

Heavenly Father, your children, lost and alone, are scattered all over our community. Send forth your Spirit to call them to yourself in our family here at Trinity Episcopal Church; and give us grace both to invite those we care for, and to welcome home those you bring into our family, so that your kingdom may grow in our midst, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.