We have been studying the Unshakable Faith that has been shown from numerous tests in the Book of Daniel. So far, those trials have happened in challenging situations. The main characters in those accounts were tested to maintain their sacred identity in a secular environment. They were pressured to do the impossible in a limited circumstance. They were threatened not to keep God’s commandments in a blazing furnace. Today, we will look at somewhat opposite in terms of the condition of divine tests. Whether we realize it or not, success ruins people as suffering does… According to the Bible, “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but people are tested by their praise” (Proverbs 27:21). In other words, once again, people are tested by criticism as people are tested by compliment. Both compliments and criticisms can mass them up. To find out this, we can simply ask ourselves the following question: “Do we pray more when we are in pain or when we are in pleasure?” We may kneel before the Lord when we are in difficulty more than when we are in happiness. As a human being with a sinful desire as well as a sacred longing, we tend to battle between these two realms. In reality, we often hear and/or see some influential people, who have received fame, power, and money, falling down all of a sudden due to certain temptations. Whether we admit it or not, we all also potentially confront similar tests after receiving God’s blessings in our faith journey.
In our primary text for today, which we learned from the children’s video based on Daniel chapter four, we have discovered that King Nebuchadnezzar encountered a trial after receiving God’s blessings. To remind of this example, I want to briefly introduce who Nebuchadnezzar was, what he had done in the past, what he would be going through at the time of the trial, and how he would be eventually ended up after the test. As a young age, Nebuchadnezzar became an emperor and made his country be the strongest in those days. He brought intelligent young people from the colonized countries and educated them to support him afterward. He built the Hanging Garden of Babylon, which has been known as one of the Seven Wonders in the world, and became the greatest leader in his nation. Eventually, he praised himself by saying, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30). While he enjoyed his success, he dreamed another significant unexplainable vision. Since then, he had not been able to sleep even though he was in a might palace and got almost everything as a ruler, a rich, and a renowned person. At the time, he remembered Daniel, who comprehended the complicated dream almost 30 years ago. Once again, King Nebuchadnezzar asked sought his help to reveal the meanings of his vision. According to Daniel’s interpretations of it, God would have been fed up with King Nebuchadnezzar’s attitude toward Him and His enormous blessings. Unfortunately, after being successful, King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue and commanded his people to bow it as a symbol of the emperor. One more time, through this dream that we have learned from the children’s Bible video, God gave His warnings to King Nebuchadnezzar. In the vision, Nebuchadnezzar was compared to the tree which had abundant fruits and provided a lot of influences for the animals that were under him. However, unexpectedly, he lost almost everything and appeared to live with wild animals in the wilderness. Those images would be God’s cautions for King Nebuchadnezzar if he did not turn to the Lord. In Daniel’s translation of the dream, fortunately, God’s recovery plans were also shown to the king to avoid those alarms. Sadly, King Nebuchadnezzar postponed following God’s directions and experienced God’s trainings during the period of seven years. This morning, I want us to explore these godly lessons through the Word of God and apply them to our faith journeys.
Firstly, God wanted King Nebuchadnezzar to wake up before Him. After sharing God’s warnings with the king, Daniel encouraged him to “renounce his sins by doing what was right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed” (Daniel 4:27). Daniel also promised that God’s blessings would be continuously poured upon him if the king kept on the divine roadmap. Sin is not only stealing, lying, having more or greed, unrespecting, hurting, but also being ignorant before the Lord. Nebuchadnezzar took all the credits for himself like the people of Israel in today’s Old Testament reading. When he was in a so blessed condition, he sinned before God. One meaning of sin is pride. Have you noticed the middle letter of the word “SIN”? That is a letter “I”. A “Pride,” “I,” or “My” centered mind is the root of all the sins. God hates egotism or pride. Throughout the Bible, we can see many examples of it. In the Garden of Eden, Adam was tempted to be a god by eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and his wife, Eve, were kicked out of the Garden due to their fallen nature. Jesus known as the Second Adam was also tempted to be a god by kneeling down the devil. By the unshakable faith, Jesus overcame the test. And he showed the way to us to defeat any trials by being humble and worshipping God only. Mercifully, later, King Nebuchadnezzar confessed his sins and turned to the Lord.
One of the problems we face increasingly nowadays is a lack of seriousness concerning sin. This is something we see everywhere. Many people think that sin is pleasurable so they would like to enjoy it and even encourage other people to pursue their sinful desire. But we need to remember that sin is like a cancer that slowly eats away at our spiritual lives. As we allow ourselves to dwell in a sinful environment, sin can slowly destroy friendships, families, and relationships. The entire society can be also damaged because of sin. To maintain success, we need to constantly examine ourselves using our spiritual mirror, the Word of God. Some purposes of the Bible given to us today are to “teach, rebuke, correct, and train” us to be in righteousness and to help us become God’s people to do “every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). When we observe our lives through the Word, the Lord will show us our dirty rooms. When we have ongoing repentance before Christ, God will give us the strength to fight against our sinful nature. When we do this sacred activity, we can be spiritually awake before the Lord and enjoy our God-given possession, position, pleasure and use them to establish God’s Kingdom in this beautiful world.
Secondly, God wanted King Nebuchadnezzar to look up to Him. Daniel promised that God’s blessings would be restored to him when he acknowledged that “Heaven rules” (Daniel 4:26). Basically, this short statement means that God is the real provider, protector, and presenter in our faith journey. As I mentioned earlier, one main reason why Nebuchadnezzar became proud of himself was he did not recognize the Lord as the true giver after being successful. In our Old Testament reading for today, like Daniel did it to King Nebuchadnezzar, Moses, who has been considered the greatest leader in the Bible, advised the people of Israel to remember the God their God in the following declaration: “But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today” (Deuteronomy 8:18). Accepting the fact that we are not a god but God is the Lord is the starting point. All the blessings are not about us but all the blessings are about God. Throughout the blessings we have received, God wants us to remember who the genuine helper is. Consider little children who have inherited many things from their parents. What is the most word we, as parents or grandparents, would like to hear from our loved ones? Of course, the simple phrase, “Thank you,” would be the answer. After God’s trainings, King Nebuchadnezzar introduced his people to the Lord with the following proclamation: “It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation” (Daniel 4:2). He praised God’s mercy and might. It would have been nicer if King Nebuchadnezzar gave God all these glorifications and worshipped Him in the first place.
Once again, success can be a danger. What I mean by this is that our greatest test in our faith journey may not lose our jobs, but it can occur when we receive God’s blessings. One potential danger we would face daily while experiencing God’s blessings is not just current challenges but also the pride that could take root in our hearts. During times of abundance, God wants us to enjoy all of them. At the same time, God wants us not to forget Him because He knows our human natures, such as, forgetfulness, arrogance, and pride. Remembering God is the key for us to continuously be blessed by God. Throughout our lives, there are many things we forget. As we age, we may find ourselves to forget people’s names, phone numbers, and arranged appointments. During my holiday, my wife and I had a wonderful time with our loved ones living in Korea. Most of the time we stayed with my mother and did many things together. In the last few years, she has encountered some challenges in memory. To help my mother remember taking medication, charging her smart phone, being ready for senior’s day care center, and so on, I call her once, twice, or even three times a day. One thing I have amazed at her recent memory is the date of our visit to Korea. She easily forgets current stuff; however, she kept remembering our arrival date from Canada. Love for our loved ones is the most powerful pill for us to maintain our memory despite obstacles. With our limited human brain capacity, we cannot remember everything we would like to. However, one thing, we, as Christ’s followers, should never forget is our Provider, Presenter, Protector in our faith journey. We must remember the wonderful things God has done for us, our families, our churches, and our communities. As we reflect on our past, we may recall not only moments of joy but also the challenges we have faced. We need to understand that God does not always lead us as His children down smooth and trouble-free paths. There are times when He guides us through the wilderness so we could not find enough resources on our own. However, God uses these difficulties to humble us and teach us to rely on Him and provides us with things we need in these tough situations. Remembering that the Lord our Mighty and Merciful God is always with us and provides all the blessings we have been given is the most important thing, regardless of how much or little we have on our today’s table.
Thirdly, God wanted King Nebuchadnezzar to speak up for His people. One more time, I want to read how Daniel advised the king to continue enjoying his prosperity during his faith journey. “Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed…” (Daniel 4:27). Doing the right things and helping the oppressed are the practical way for the people to be continuously blessed by God. In our New Testament, Jesus also encouraged His audience to provide the vulnerable with essential help. When Christ’s followers feed the hungry, water the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and care for the prisoner, Jesus interprets that all of these things done to one of the least people, in other words, the oppressed, are done to Him also (Matthew 24:34-46). Jesus invites all those who help the vulnerable to the Kingdom of God and assures them to receive the eternal life. On the contrary, Jesus warns the people who keep their God-given resources for themselves only by telling them to be possibly ended up the eternal fire or be thrown into the eternal punishment.
As a matter of fact, God gives us success not just for our own benefits but also for others.
Throughout the Bible, we can learn God’s will for us to do if we focus on His compassion on those who do not have voices. When we serve marginalized people, we can impact the following three parts. Firstly, all we do serve Jesus as our Gospel text describes above. Jesus. Secondly, all the things we have done to the least can be passed on to our loved ones through other helpers. We may not help our loved ones directly. However, I believe if we do something to others who need our help, this type of assistance can be provided for our loved ones who need support. Thirdly, all these things can be eventually beneficial to us since we may need them at some point. Sometimes we may think we are not equipped to do these things or we do not have enough resources. I recall some interesting data of our abundant possession. For examples, if we “have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep… we are richer than 75% of this world. If we have money in the bank, in our wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace… we are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.” We are grateful for our health, the clean air we breathe, the abundance of pure water, and all the blessings of living in this great nation, Canada. Moreover, we thank God for the privilege of waking up this morning and are grateful for the opportunity to gather here and worship Him. According to this list, how very blessed we are! God wants us to use our God-given resources to help the oppressed. In a sense, we are all vulnerable and we all have our own weaknesses. Our church is widely open to everyone and our worship is extended to all the vulnerable. If we as individual Christ’s followers or as Christ’s church do practice God’s will, we can and will continuously receive God’s blessings in our faith journey.
In conclusion, God urges us to wake up before Him, look up to the Lord, and speak up for His people today. Unfortunately, for some reason, King Nebuchadnezzar waited almost twelve months and had gone through the trial during that period. Afterwards, his sanity returned and he honored and worshipped the Lord by praising, “His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation” (Daniel 4:34). Today, God wants us to do these divine activities without any delay since today is the day of God’s salvation. Friends, what has God done for us and our loved ones? Have we been changed by God in any way? Are we telling anybody how good God has been to us? God wants us to participate in His recovery project, experience His merciful and mighty power and share this amazing our God-given stories with others.
*In this sermon, I have incorporated thoughts and materials from various messages inspired by the texts from Deuteronomy 8:10-20; Daniel 4:1-37; Matthew 25:34–46 as well as the Unshakable sermon series prepared by Rick Warren.