The Dream - Daniel 2

If you have a dollar in your pocket this morning - every second that goes by it is worth less and less. A dollar is worth less today than it was 10 years ago, less today than it was 50 years ago. Over the centuries of human life - we have valued different things: food, water, iron, bronze, gold, silver, prestige, fame, beauty, technology. But every treasure we have ever valued, every single one, has one thing in common - they diminish. If I have one dollar in my pocket today - I can’t even buy a pack of gum. But if it 1942 I could buy a woman’s dress. I wouldn’t, that would be weird - but I could. If it was 1946 I could buy 2 RCA Victor records (for the kids, records are like a thing.. Uh, it was old music). 1950 I could buy a throw pillow, a baseball cap OR a 4 piece screwdriver set for a DOLLAR. 1955 you could get 2 McDonalds meals (which was a burger, fries and a soda) two of ‘em for seventy cents total. 1963 you could get a movie ticket for 86 cents. 1966, here’s one - you could get three gallons of gas for $0.96. Can you tell that I found a website that lists these off? 1973 you could get 6 hershey bars for 90 cents, 1981 - here this one’ll tick you off. 1981 a dozen eggs for 97 cents. I could keep going, but I’ll spare you the rest. The treasures of this world have one thing in common. They diminish. The dollar is not what it used to be. But nothing is, is it? In financial jargon, the treasures of this world are depreciating assets. My car is not what it used to be. My favorite actor’s fame is not what it used to be - back in their heyday. My favorite bands and music I loved as a kid - those guys are not what they used to be. My body is not what it used to be (well okay, that’s probably my fault - darn brownies). For you fellow nerds out there, there’s this riddle in the Hobbit, where Gollum and Bilbo are having this little riddle competition. And he says, 

This thing all things devours:

Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; 

Gnaws iron, bites steel;

Grinds hard stones to meal;

Slays king, ruins town

And beats high mountains down. 

And the answer, of course, is time. Time devours all things. There is not a treasure on this earth immune. Everything we have ever held valuable - diminishes. But is there…something more? Is there anything in this world that can last?

Today we are jumping back into our series called RESILIENT. We are following along with our boy Daniel, and learning from him how to build a life that will last. And we’re going to start in chapter 2. 

And so if you want to open up your bible, we’re going to be in the book of Daniel, right at the beginning - you can grab it on your phone or even with a bible off the back wall. Last week, I went down like a hundred rabbit trails, it was a little overwhelming I’m sorry I got excited -  but we talked about how Daniel, a jewish man, is living as a captured servant in the city of Babylon. He does certain things that make him stick out, but God has been watching out for him, and he’s doing fairly well, even though he’s still a servant. At the end of chapter 1, right before OUR passage, it says in verse 19, [read v.19-20]. So things are going pretty well for Daniel. But thennn, [read 2:1-3]. Can I ask a weird question - does anybody here NOT dream at all? Maybe this is a weird thing that I do, but I don’t dream. My wife always has the most interesting dreams to talk about, and my kids - so many mornings they come thundering down the stairs to tell me all about their super bizarro dreams. But for me, I just go to bed - and it’s just blank and then I wake up. I’ve heard that everybody dreams, but not everybody remembers their dreams. I never remember my dreams - I think I know like three from my entire life. But for this guy, King Nebuchadnezzar - in his world, dreams were a big deal. In ancient mesopotamia, they took dreams very seriously. They understood dreams to be messages from the divine realm, messages from whatever gods they worshipped. And so it was very common for leaders to seek magicians and enchanters, or whatever - someone who could tell them what their dream means. But here’s the thing - ol’ King Nebby knows, and this is going to shock you, but some of these magicians and enchanters are con artists. If he tells them what the dream is - they’re just going to make something up about the meaning!

I remember when I was in college, I had met this really cute English major named Sara - and we had just started dating. She had done this poetry assignment, and so we were hanging out - and for fun I thought I would try to interpret one of her poems. I don't remember much, but I remember it was about a Rose. I must have spent like 20 minutes going on and on about the imagery and what the symbolism probably was. And when I finished, and she was so kind, but she just looked at me like, “No. Not even close. That’s not what it means at all.” Nebuchadnezzar knows, if I let them, they will just make something up. If I tell them what the dream is - they will lie to me. So I’m not going to tell them what the dream is. So he gets really intense about it and says this, in verse 5. [read v.5-9]. So his plan is - I don’t just want you to give me an interpretation, I want you to read my mind. If you can tell me what the dream is, I will believe you when you tell me what it means. And if you get it wrong, I’m going to tear you limb from limb. And when they respond we get one of the most important points from the passage, [read v.10-11]. Ope, hold on - let’s put that line on the screen. No one except the gods can tell you, and they do not live here among the people. Do you catch it? The only way we could access that knowledge, is if God were to dwell among his people. (*loud whisper* Jesus! It’s foreshadowing Jesus). But they make the point very clear - and this is what I want you to hold on to - There are things only God can know. God is god and we are not. There are some things that are impossible for us to do or know, and we need to leave them in God’s hands. Sometimes when we are facing an impossible situation, and we have no idea how to move forward, like King Nebby’s advisors. Sometimes the answer to all our questions is “I don’t know, but I trust the one who does.” I don’t know why this relationship fell apart the way it did, but I trust the one who knows all things. I don’t know why I didn’t get that job or how to fix this thing with my kids, or how to deal with that one neighbor but I trust the one who does know. I don’t know why there are wildfires and crime, violence and hatred in our world - I don’t know, but I trust the one who does. 

So the king is furious at his advisors because they can’t tell him what his dream is, and what it means. So he orders all of them executed, including Daniel and his friends. Verse 14, [read v.14-16]. And right here we find a second step to building a resilient life. When we’re going through something, and you don’t know what’s going on - we trust in God who holds all things. That’s step one - I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m going to trust. But the second thing is exactly what Daniel does here - give it time. Daniel comes back with, “I don’t have a quick fix. I need to take this thing, this struggle, this situation, this whatever - I need to slow down, I need time to bring it to God. To pray about it, to discern. That’s what Daniel does, and it’s excellent guidance for us today. Whatever it is for you - slow down, take the time to bring it in front of God. AND check the next two verses, verse 17, [read v.17-18]. Slow down, bring it to God - and then what? Share it with others! On a very simple level, this is asking for prayer requests. I think sometimes in church people share prayer requests with sort of an apology. I think a lot of us have an attitude of “sorry to burden you with my business” - when the truth is that Jesus teaches us to carry the weight with one another. We should be thrilled when someone has invited us into their story. Asking someone to pray for you is not annoying or embarrassing - you are giving someone an opportunity to talk to Jesus about someone they love. When you’re going through something, whatever it is, don’t do it alone. Bring it to God, and then bring it to your brothers and sisters in the church. That’s what Daniel did, that’s how you build a resilient life. Together.

It keeps going, [read v.19]. Oh, that’s good stuff. Daniel has the answer. He’s just praising God, lifting up his praises with this little poem, and then in verse 24 it says, [read v.24-25]. Now imagine this scene for a second. This guy Arioch busts into the throne room - king is sitting there, advisors are all along the wall and he’s like, “I’ve got it! I’ve got the answer! This kid can do it!” And the king turns to Daniel and says, “Is it true? Can you tell me what my dream was?” And all the advisors lean forward, eager to hear the explanation that is going to keep them from being torn limb from limb and Daniel takes a deep breath and says, in verse 27, [read v.27]. If I’m Arioch over on the side, I’d be like, “Oh, come on man!” But Daniel’s not done, he says no one can do this - [read v.28-30].

Alright, now I’m going to paraphrase this next part - because it’s a whole big thing. Daniel describes Nebuchadnezzar’s dream perfectly AND he tells him exactly what it means. Basically, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream where there was this giant statue. It was kind of scary and it was made of a bunch of different metals. Top was made of gold, torso was silver, legs were iron - like that. I think we’ve got a picture of that [show picture]. Then there was a rock, not a precious metal, just a rock that came off a mountain, and it falls and crushes the statue. Crushes it so much that the pieces of the statue blow away in the wind. And the rock that came down becomes this great mountain that covers the whole world. And Daniel explains - he’s like, here’s what it means. The statue is all the kingdoms of the ancient world. Daniel says, “You’re the golden head, but then after you will be a kingdom that’s worse, and then another one and another and on down. And he says down in verse 44, [read v.44-45a]. Even if you’re a head of gold - a super successful and dominant king of the world - your kingdom will pass away. 

Now let me show you something - there are little fingerprints of Jesus all over this story. Daniel is in the Old Testament, this is hundreds of years before Jesus lived - but he’s talking about Jesus. When he says, “No one except gods can tell you your dream and they do not live here among the people” - when God dwelt among his people, his name was Jesus. When I do not know what to do in life, Jesus is the connection to the one who DOES know. And the rock that comes FROM the mountain, and comes down to earth, crushes kingdoms, and then grows to cover the whole earth - that IS Jesus, bringing the kingdom of God to us. Every single one of those kingdoms is gone. And it’s funny, because there’s like some really intense scholarly debates about who is the silver and who is the bronze and who is the iron - and a little bit, it’s like - who cares? They’re all gone! That’s the point. Those kingdoms are gone. Like everything else in this world, they do not last - but the kingdom of God, the rock, the foundation - that will last forever. And that leads us to the last point I want you to remember today - empires rise and fall, kings will come and go, but God’s kingdom is forever. 

And Nebuchadnezzar comes SO CLOSE to understanding it, but then he misses it. He hears his dream, perfectly described and then clearly explained. He throws himself on the ground and says in verse 47, [read v.47-48]. It sounds like he understands. Your God is the greatest, the lord over Kings. But do you know what’s coming next week? He builds a freaking statue! He has a dream about a statue - a statue that the rock of God destroys, because clearly God has all the wisdom and all the power and we shouldn’t be wasting our time building up earthly kingdoms - and then chapter 3 verse 1, he builds a 90 foot statue and makes everyone worship it. And it’s like “oh come on!” [laugh, pause]. Do you ever wonder how many times God says that about you? There was a lesson you were supposed to learn, and you just insist on learning it the hard way. Don’t lie to me, I know you know what I’m talking about. It’s like when my kids swinging a hammer around and I’m trying to help him, to guide him. Buddy, if you swing the hammer like that you’re doing to whack your finger and it’s not going to feel very good. Tuh, I know what I’m doing DAD. Even my two year old gets that level of sass about it. He doesn’t use full sentences, but he’ll just say “me do” And then ten seconds later. Whack. [throw arms up in the air]. How many times are we going to be like that with God? Buddy, if you keep living your life like that, you’re going to get whacked and it’s not going to feel very good. I know what I’m doing GOD. Whack. [throw arms up in the air]. Verse 30, when Daniel’s about to explain the dream he says [read v.30]. The whole point was because God wants Nebuchadnezzar to understand what was in his heart. 

I almost didn’t even want to get into the dream today. I’m reading this passage and thinking about the statue and kingdoms and what represents what all I could think was, “none of that matters.” Every treasure, every kingdom of this earth crumbles and blows away like dust in the sands of time. But Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar - all of this, the reason you were shown this, is to show you your heart. Because Nebuchadnezzar was building his treasure, his kingdom, his legacy on the wrong foundation. And this is a one to one map onto our lives for this world. The good news we find in this text is that God wants you to understand what is in your heart. Because the darkness in our hearts is the same problem that Nebuchadnezzar had in his heart. Think about it this way - we are a WHOLE lot smarter than those men way back then. Some of the poorest levels of our society live better than the kings of these ancient societies. There have been centuries, EONS of progress - we’ve been to the moon, built great big things, pushed forward incredible medical technologies - we are so unimaginably advanced compared to this society. But do you notice how we’re not any better? King David struggled with adultery with Bathsheba - do we still struggle with adultery in the modern world. [Nod obviously]. Daniel was struggling with how to live for God in a world that was trying to get him to fit in - do we still struggle with that exact same thing in the modern world? [Nod obviously]. King Nebuchadnezzar - the leader of his country struggled with pride and forgetting God in his pursuit of power and glory, corrupted by money and success. Well let me ask - Do we have a history of political leaders who struggle with pride and forgetting God in their pursuit of power? Do we still have leaders and an elite class of people in our modern world who have been corrupted by money? [Nod even bigger]. You could argue that literally everything is different from that society to ours here today - our clothes, our customs, our food, our medicine, our education, our technology, our buildings - everything is different - there are only two things that are the same, two things you find in every culture: the brokenness of the people living in it and the need for a God who brings healing. All our progress and advancement doesn’t seem to make us any better - because the kingdoms and treasures of this world are not designed to make us better, they are designed to diminish. And if you build your life on the treasures of this world - you will diminish. 

So let me ask you the question - are you still out here trying to go your own way? Are you living your life trying to build your own kingdom and trust in your own knowledge to save you? Look, this scripture is not about some ol’ king from thousands of years ago on the other side of the planet and his dream about a stupid statue. This was written for you. God preserved this text over all those years because one day you were going to sit in Center Church in Byron Center in 2025 - because God wants you to understand what is in your heart. I don’t know the details of your story, and yet I bet i can tell you how it goes - because it is the story of every person that ever lived. You have spent your entire life searching for ways to satisfy your soul and feel like a good person. And if you couldn’t find satisfaction then you settled for distraction. Fill my life with a thousand flashing lights so I can forget that my heart knows this is not enough. We build our lives on different platforms in our search for acceptance. We excel in sports or academics or musical talent. We are praised for our hilarious personality or our stunning beauty. We build a life on our ability to make money, or to go on the most adventures. And when all that fails we turn to distractions. Fill our lives with alcohol or pills or screens or politics or just general busy-ness. We waste so much of our lives trying to stand on anything and everything that is not our creator. Jesus is the rock that smashes the kingdoms of this world. And the reason he does that is because he knows that you cannot live a resilient life that lasts, you cannot find true, unshakeable happiness if you are built on anything other than Him. He is the cornerstone of a life well lived. If you want to flourish and grow as a human being in this world - Jesus needs to be the foundation of our life. We need to turn to Jesus and tell him “I’m going to build my life on your love, because that love is a firm foundation.” In order to build a resilient life, it needs to rest on God’s knowledge, not our own efforts.

Whatever you build your life on - your wealth, your personality, your beauty - eventually God will tear it all down, so that your real dependence will be on him. In our town there’s actually another level to it. A lot of people who grew up around here - they grew up with religion, but maybe not with Jesus. I think for a long time people focused on making it look right on the outside, but they stopped at ritual and never got all the way to a relationship with God. As long as you were dressed up and in the pew on Sunday morning - who cared if you were a total hypocrite at home? As long as you jump through all the little religious hoops that church offered - who cared about the status of your heart. As long as you’re putting cash in the plate, who cares about authenticity. And I think selfish, greedy churches let down an entire generation when they allowed people to stay at the surface level. They sold people religion instead of introducing them to Jesus. I think for a lot of people - maybe for our parents and grandparents, maybe even for us - God and religion just sort of sat on top of our life - like make up, or a funny hat. Designed to distract so you won’t notice the crumbling life underneath it. But I’m not here this morning to offer you hoops to jump through. I’m here to offer you Jesus. The real Jesus. The one who cares about what’s in your heart.

And hear me - I’m not offering you an easy life. I’m not out here trying to sell you comfort or convenience. I’m not interested in a church that makes you feel good, but doesn’t transform hearts. Following Jesus is the hardest thing you’ll ever do in your life, but it’s also the only thing in your life that will not diminish. If you have a dollar in your pocket, every second that goes by it is worth less and less. Every treasure and kingdom of this world will crumble. Are you ready to build a life that will last? Are you ready to stand on an unshakeable foundation? Let’s pray.