Hey, Cobblestone,
I think you’ll agree: there are some buts around here in
serious need of redemption.
The second-most important thing you need to do with this
week’s letter is NOT add a “t” to “but” – we’re discussing the conjunction
here, which does just fine with only one. The first-most important thing you
need to do with this letter is remember who you are in Christ, which is the one
thing that qualifies you as a legitimate but-redeemer.
In our Bible reading plan, today marks the end of Daniel.
Maybe you’re reeling from the wild visions and dreams. Me too. If it helps at
all, try to imagine the angel Gabriel saying, as he said to Daniel, “Understand, O man, that the vision is for
the time of the end” (Daniel 8:17). Meanwhile, there are plenty of buts to
consider. Pull out your Three R’s grid. Sifting buts through it, where do they
land – Receive as all good, Reject as all bad, or Redeem good ones from
whatever not-good purposes they may have been put to?
We all know: some buts are good and others not so much. “I
tripped on the rug, but caught myself before plunging out the window” – good
but. Conversely, “I towed the boat all the way home from the lake, but forgot
to put a trailer under it” – bad but… really bad. Right away, we see Receive is
not an option. Now let’s imagine our language without buts: “I thought the
plane would crash, and sure enough, it did!” Buts save lives, and we ought not
to Reject them entirely.
As Daniel and his fellow exiled Jews lived out the history we
just read in Scripture, the buts could’ve gone either way. Their days went just
like ours – sunrise/sunset/repeat on a 24-hour basis – and they encountered
them a moment at a time, same as we do. Since it is the nature of buts to get
ugly without redemptive effort, Daniel and his friends had to maintain a
predisposition toward the good. Here’s what might have happened if they hadn’t:
Daniel takes credit for interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream,
gets it wrong, and is executed along with the Babylonian magicians. Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego bow down to the golden image, and Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t
get to see the fourth man in the furnace, the Ruler of the everlasting kingdom
to come. Daniel stops praying to the God of his fathers, according to Darius’s
decree, and skips offering up those great pleas for mercy on behalf of his
people. Those, Church, are some ugly buts.
Here’s another batch: “I’ve heard what God has said I should
do with my relationships, but it’s just too much work.” “I’ve heard what God
has said I should do with my money, but I don’t have the faith to pull it off.”
“I’ve heard what God has said I should do with my body, but I want
alternatives.” “I know God is worthy of all worship, but there are so many
other enticements to my praise and affection.” I hope you can see the potential
for redemptive work.
When Daniel and his friends were ripped out of Jerusalem,
they were taken away from everything they had ever known. They were from the nobility of the Jews (Daniel 1:3), and
were youths without blemish, of good
appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge,
understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace (verse
4). Thankfully, their deepest attachment wasn’t to their status, appearance, or
skill. Their deepest attachment was to the Lord himself. The Babylonian culture
offered much of what they had known in Jerusalem, and on a far grander scale:
they were noted for their appearance and advanced according to their knowledge
and skill. But advancement in Babylon came as a trade: they would have to turn
away from the Lord to embrace the treasures of the surrounding culture. No
deal: when their bond to the one true God was tested, it held firm.
Clinging to our identity in Christ, here’s what a redeemed
but looks like: “The world says I have a right to be angry with my brothers and
sisters, but Jesus says that’s a dangerous place to be, and he offers a path to
peace” (see Matthew 5:22; 18:15). “The world says I have a right to be selfish,
but Jesus says I can be generous without being fearful” (see Matthew 6:3). “The
world says I can do anything I want with my body, but Scripture says my body is
a temple of the Holy Spirit, and to glorify God in it” (see 1Corinthians 6:19,
20). “The world around me offers any number of enticements to my worship, but
Jesus says, ‘Seek first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness’ (Matthew 6:33), and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Redemption wins.
I was talking with an old friend the other day, and the topic
of our conversation turned to current events, prompting him to ask, “What is
this world coming to?” My response: “I’m not of this world, buddy, so I guess
it’s not at the top of my thinking list.” As I noted in last week’s letter,
Daniel and his friends were able to hold onto their identity as people of God,
people of his presence, chosen as his inheritance… who happened to be exiled in
Babylon. And even there, they were able to do redemptive work. So also we, who are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the
household of God (Ephesians 2:19), can turn the conjunctions away from
ugliness – so long as we hold to our true citizenship, so long as we remember
who we are.
Maybe we’ll talk more about Daniel’s visions when we get to
the Revelation at the end of next year. For now, let’s simply consider the last
three buts to be found in the Bible book that bears his name. Daniel didn’t
understand what he was hearing from the
man clothed in linen (12:5), and asked, “O
my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” (verse 8). And the man
in linen said…
“Go your way,
Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the
end. Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be
refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall
understand, but those who are wise shall understand… But go your way
till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place
at the end of the days” (verses 9-10, 13).
But those who are wise shall understand – redeeming buts now,
on the way to a time when all buts are thoroughly redeemed. How’s that for a
very appealing vision?
Grace and Peace (and hindsight for the days ahead),
John
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