Proper 20
Our Savior Perry Weekly 9/25
Announcements
New website functionality
Visit the church website (oursaviorperry.org) and navigate to the Calendar page to get a link to a live calendar of church events and the Pastor’s calendar. You’ll find I’ve marked certain times as “Very Likely Office Hours.” After a year at Our Savior I have times when I am usually in my office during the week. I am reluctant to set official office hours because sometimes things come up that require me to be out of the office. There are also times I am in the office besides then as well. So its Very Likely Office Hours. Other appointments will appear for your convenience as well as church events. Hopefully this is a helpful communication tool for the people of Our Savior!
Daniel Chapter 2
In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar receives a frightening vision in the night. Only Daniel, by the power of God, is able to reveal its meaning to Nebuchadnezzar. He sees a statue with a gold head, silver arms and chest, bronze belly and thighs, iron legs, and feet partly made of iron and partly made of clay. Sounds impressive, but then he sees this: “Then all at once the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed and became like the chaff on the threshing floors of summer. The wind carried them away, and no trace of them could be found. However, the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the entire earth.” (Dan. 2:35) Daniel interprets the dream for Nebuchadnezzar. The different parts of the statue are different kingdoms, starting with Nebuchadnezzar himself as the golden head. Other great empires come after him. The final kingdom, the only kingdom that lasts, is the stone which fills the entire earth.
Nebuchadnezzar’s vision foretells the rise of the Christian church. The stone seems to be referring to Jesus, the “stone the builders rejected.” In this case “not cut by human hands” would be a subtle reference to the virgin birth. Jesus speaks of a crushing stone in Matthew 21:43-44: “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” i
The main point of God’s revelation to Nebuchadnezzar, and through him to us, is this: God’s Kingdom is greater than the kingdoms of the world. In their time, each empire seemed invincible. They went the way God had said they would, starting with the passing of Nebuchadnezzar’s empire, then the Persians, the Greeks of Alexender, and the Romans. These empires are the traditional understanding of the various metals in the statue. God has promised to preserve his church through the ages, even in the face of fierce opposition. Opposition to Christ and his church on earth will always come and go through various governments and authorities, but God has seen it, and God has promised to be faithful to us, his people forever.
This is a good reminder for all Christians during the election season. Many people place great stakes on the outcome, and may have good reason to do so. However, no election result ought to cause Christians to despair, fear, doubt, or any other such thing. God establishes government, God topples government, all in the service of his church. Christians are not required to abandon civil government (in fact, quite the opposite), but we place ultimate authority over our lives in God’s hands.