Life in Babylon (Daniel 1)

A PRAYER FOR UKRAINE
The news can be difficult to listen to and to read.
When that news relates to faces we know
And to voices familiar to us,
It becomes all the harder to hear.

Lord God,
We ask you to hold the people of Ukraine deep in your heart.
Protect them, we pray;
From violence,
From political gamesmanship,
from being used and abused.

Give, we pray,
the nations of the world the courage
and the wisdom
to stand up for justice
and the courage too,
to dare to care – generously.

Lord in your mercy,
Take from us all,
The tendencies in us
That seek to lord it over others:
Take from us those traits
that see us pursuing our own needs and wants
before those of others.

Teach us how to live in love
And dignity
And respect – following your example.
In your name and for your sake,
Amen.

SERMON

Should people look down on you for being a Christian?

Matthew 10:21-22 NRSV – Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Or, should Christians live such good lives that people are blown away by their kindness and generosity?

1 Peter 2:11-12 NRSV – Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge.

POINT: Faith is not about escapism, but faithful engagement.

POINT: They said no to something, to hold on to values they believed were better.

The first precondition of being called a spiritual leader is to perceive and feel the falsehood that is prevailing in society, and then to dedicate one’s life to a struggle against that falsehood. If one tolerates the falsehood and resigns oneself to it, one can never become a prophet. If one cannot rise above material life, one cannot even become a citizen in the Kingdom of the Spirit, far less a leader of others. - Vladimir Solovyov, in his eulogy of Fyodor Dostoevsky (1881)

Question: What cultural norms do you abstain from because your faith calls you to a higher standard?

POINT: Sometimes you have to be different to make a difference.

We are living in the kingdom of the world while trying to live by the Kingdom of God.