Daniel 1:1-7—Temple and Palace captured
1-This is approximately 606BC. Jerusalem itself was
eventually captured in 586BC. So these first captured people are
examples/experiments/models for how to live under Babylonian rule.
2-Note both holy things and holy people are taken. If the
way Judaism was lived at the time centered around Temple, Palace, People, two
out of three of those are endangered and scooped up in the Exile.
Shinar-is another name for Babylon.
3-This brings things into a stark relief, that third thing,
the palace, is also under threat, the royal court has been kidnapped!
4-Chaldeans-is another way to say Babylonians. It is worth
noting what the Babylonians are doing, they are raising these Israelite royals
in court as hostages.
7-Think for a second on the significance of receiving new
names—they are being enculturated into Babylon. Even their names change in this
new culture. Their names once all pointed to God with the endings -iah and -el…
now they point toward Babylon
Daniel 1:8-17—Rejecting Defiling Foods
8-Daniel refuses to enculturate, at least when it comes to
foodstuff. Most likely these foods have been offered to Idols as a routine part
of making the meal. Additionally, some of the foods were likely not kosher.
17-And look, despite the young men’s choice not to fully
assimilate into Babylonian culture, they excel. They excel in the Babylonian
court without taking on the trappings of Babylon!
Daniel 1:18-21—The Best
21-It is worth noting these young men navigate being
faithful through the governance of Babylon by four kings: Nebuchadnezzar,
Belshazzar, Darius the Mede, and finally its capture by Cyrus of Persia. I
would go so far as to suggest they survived four beasts and were ready for a
humane ruler.
Daniel 3:13-18—Refusing to Worship Idols
14-So, the Babylonians were okay with the young men not
eating food sacrificed to idols, but not worshipping idols… that was a bridge
too far. It is worth reflecting on the level of inculturation Daniel and his
crew were willing to compromise—new names, but not a new diet, and definitely
not a new god.
18-And when they say that they are unwilling to compromise
over worship of other gods, they are not saying this as a half measure, they
mean it in full. They would rather become martyrs than forsake the sole worship
of God.
Daniel 7:15-18—Daniel asks the heavenly attendants to
interpret his dream
17-Beastly Kingdoms—I read Daniel’s 4 kings as being intratextual
(and to be clear there are multiple strands of interpretive traditions, both
Jewish and Christian, ancient and modern, that don’t do this), that is Nebuchadnezzar,
Belshazzar, Darius the Mede, and Cyrus of Persia, the four kings who all make
appearances in the book of Daniel, are beastly kings. We can, of course, look
at beasts of our own day and see parallels, but hunting for beasts in every
closet, claiming every evil leader on this earth to be some prophesied
potentate—instead of just a present variation on a theme, it tiring and does
not further the Christian witness.
18-A Holy Kingdom—And while Daniel and his crew have had to
contend with these beastly kings, they can trust that God is the ultimate ruler
of all. They have no authority that is not from above.
What’s this have to do with Disestablishment?
-God’s people are not in charge of the cultural and
political forces of Babylon. So too, when church and society disconnect, the
church has to grapple with a loss of power and control. The church must contend
with being exiled from the center of culture.
-Like Daniel and Co. the Church must learn how to navigate
faithfully from the bottom. The Church must re-learn how to ask permission,
explain every act, be a stranger seeking a place.
-The exiles had to decide where to compromise, where to find
atypical paths, and where to hold fast, come what may. The church too must ask
those sorts of questions. What is simply a name change? What is the equivalent
of trading fancy food for vegetables and water as long as we can keep up? What
are idols that we shall never bow down to?
-Finally, it is worth noting that the beastly Kingdoms
aren’t forever, but God’s Kingdom is. So too, levels of disestablishment will
vary, different regimes and cultural practices will come and go, but God will
hold us fast.
My working definition of Disestablishment—Church
and Society aren’t mutually reinforcing.
3 Stories about Disestablishment:
-Augustine:
St. Augustine famously dealt with the
shock of disestablishment in his weighty work “City of God.” You see, after
Constantine’s conversion and the rapid spread of Christianity throughout the
Roman Empire, it, at times, became hard for Christians to distinguish between
their Roman-ness and their Christianity. Then, when Rome fell, they wondered if
that meant heaven fell too. St. Augustine did the hard work of distinguishing
between the Church of his time and the Society/culture/country in which he
found himself.
The Church of England:
When I
was over in England, I ended up worshipping with the good people of the United
Reformed Church, instead of the Church of England. When I worshipped with the
Anglicans it felt… off. I couldn’t put my finger on why, but then an Irishman
explained it to me. He said that in his experience the Church of England tends
to step more firmly on the England part of their identity, than the Church
part. People who have never set foot in a congregation, don’t read the bible, never
received a sacrament, will gladly tell you they are a member of the Church of
England—because they are English. The Church is so established in England that,
to non-Englishmen, it can feel like a culture-club instead of a congregation.
Football:
There is
an apocryphal story that Maryland was such a Catholic State that the Archbishop
of Baltimore used to dictate when kick-off happened for the Baltimore Colts.
Then, when Baltimore got a new team, the Ravens, the Archbishop went to the NFL
to let them know the kick-off time, and it didn’t go so well. You see, in the
period between when the Colts played in Baltimore and the Ravens became their
team, the relationships between Church and Culture had shifted, the Catholic
Church no longer held the power of being the Establishment.
Challenges:
There
are many challenges that the Church faces when we are not in lock-step with the
society we’re in. For example:
We’re not society’s Heroes—So, during the Cold War,
America was fighting Godless Communism… so those who were not Godless, the
Churches, were good Americans.
Then, during the War on Terror, America was fighting religious extremists… so
people of faith became suspicious Americans.
Special Privileges—While some religious folks will
object, it seems pretty plain to most people that the Church has special
privileges in our society, from tax status to connection with community
organizations to geographic locations. As those things are reconsidered, and at
times taken away, it can hurt, it can even feel like persecution.
We’re weird—Things that are outside the mainstream
experience tend to be looked at askance. As fewer people experience the church,
those things that we do, including traditional milestone events in life, will
seem stranger and stranger to the average person. What once was commonplace
will begin to seem downright weird!
Possibility:
Fear not, I will never leave you with
challenges alone; this new reality, disestablishment, also offers possibility!
Partnerships with fresh eyes: When many of the connections
between church and neighbors are built on cultural assumptions, the church can
go on autopilot. Our disestablishment offers an opportunity to reconsider how
we connect with the world around us, the possibility to start again! Why do we
have boy scouts in our building, but not book clubs? NA and AA meet in our
buildings, but not the local soccer team most of the NA folk are a member of;
what’s the difference between the sobriety shared on the pitch versus a coffee
and cigarette-soaked meeting room?
Minister in the Margins: If the church is no longer in
the business of playing by society’s rules, if making good little Americans who
have a patina of religion to their name, is no longer our game, if we are freed
from the shackles of respectability, where can we minister? Where are the
places we’ve felt the tug of the Spirit before, but shrugged it off in the name
of getting with the program? Where would we find Christ if we allowed ourselves
to look?
Distinguishing between Church and Christ: Our disestablishment may be the perfect time to return to Augustine’s City of God. We can begin the generation long process of sifting out what practices, beliefs, symbols, and vocations are a product of our culture, and which are of Christ. Then, when we have a sense of that, we can look again at the world as it is, and apply the things of God to God’s world in need. We can best address the needs of our culture, when we have at least a bit of distance from it.
