Long before
people began scrawling ‘Kilroy Was Here’ or before craft stores had to lock up
cans of spray paint, humans were making graffiti. There are examples of
graffiti on the walls and streets of Pompeii, put there before Mount Vesuvius
erupted in 79 CE. Some people argue that
the cave paintings discovered in France are the first. Regardless of when it started, graffiti has a
long history, and like modern examples, it has been a record of where people
have been and what they have been thinking about.
Often what
they have been thinking about has been the issues they feel most passionate
about – hunting mastodons for the early Cro-Magnons, where to find women of
easy virtue in Pompeii or how ancient tourists felt when standing at the foot of the
pyramids in Giza. Early Christians wrote
on the walls of their catacombs in Rome, where they were able to worship safely
and secretly together during times of political turmoil.
But I think
the oldest written story about graffiti is this one in the book of Daniel. It has become such a common phrase, 'The writing on the wall’ that I suspect most people don’t know or remember that it
comes from the Bible.
Daniel, for
those who haven’t heard of him, is more famously remembered as surviving a
night with starving lions, protected by God because even the threat of death
would not shake his public commitment to his faith and to God. Like his friends, Shadrack, Meshack and
Abednego who were thrown into the fiery furnace, Daniel was part of the first
generation of captives from Israel to be targeted for cultural assimilation
into the Babylonian system. They were
chosen from the rest for special education, and special food to enter government
service. Their names were changed from
typical Hebrew names to Babylonian ones.
Daniel and Mishael with ‘el’ in their names, another name for God, were
to be called Belteshazzar, and Meshach.
They were also told to eat non-kosher foods too, something Daniel was
able to foil with a clever plan (Daniel 1).
They stayed
committed to the God of their ancestors, which is an amazing feat of
itself. It was common for conquering
countries to brag that their gods were the source of their victories. When they fought, they believed their gods
fought, and when they won, their gods won.
A winning God was worth praying to, and a losing God was either seen as
dead or added to the family of Gods. In
Egypt and in Greece there were dozens of gods because of this. The theology of the time thought Yahweh had
failed and lost and was no longer to be honored.
So Daniel,
by going out on a limb and speaking for God, was being radically counter
cultural. By reading and interpreting
the words written on the wall, he was declaring to the thousand officials that
his God was not forgotten, nor had he been assimilated, and even though he was
surrounded by people who were the ruling class, he had not forgotten to follow
the God who cared about the weak, the down-trodden, the widow, the orphan. The God who cared for the conquered people
living in a foreign land, and the slaves who needed rescuing from the powers of
Egypt. The God who nurtured community
and compassion. The God of Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Joseph, Moses and
Miriam, the God of Covenant not conquest.
And when Daniel saw the writing on the wall, he probably knew that God
had not forgotten him either.
We too can
see the writing on the wall if we know where to look. We are at a challenging time in the history
of humankind, the most challenging in my lifetime, although not for those who
lived through the Depression or World War Two.
The extreme heat we experienced this summer, another bad year for crops
as well as glaciers dying and permafrost no longer permanently frozen, is a
sign that global warming is real and needs to be addressed. 20 years since 9/11 and the Taliban are back
in power in Afghanistan. Surging numbers
of Covid cases and hospitalizations in Alberta with vaccination rates plateauing
and yet people are surprised that they are being asked to wear masks
again. Like King
Belshazzar, we have been focused on the wrong things. Daniel was focused on different priorities,
God priorities.
Jesus was
the same way. He knew that if he
continued to challenge the priorities of the people in power, he would end up
in trouble. He knew that challenging the
status quo would have only one outcome.
But he kept his focus on God’s priorities and was prepared to do
whatever it took to meet those priorities.
God’s priorities haven’t changed. Caring for the folks without hope, the people who feel they don’t have power over their lives. The lonely, the frustrated, and yes, even the folks who think they have all the answers, and the ones who party like kings. When do we take time to ask what God might think of our society, how God might measure us, count us, weigh us, and challenge us? The time is now. The opportunity is there, and the action is simple. Whether we request a mail in ballot, a trip to the advanced polls, or show up to cast our vote, let’s vote as if we have seen the finger of God writing on the wall of our world. Vote as if this is the most Christian thing we can do. Vote as if this is how we follow Jesus even if it looks like it will end up in suffering and challenge and change. Vote as if we are Daniel, telling a powerful society that the writing is on the wall. Because we are called to follow Jesus, and speak truth to power, even if it challenges the culture, even if it goes against what everyone thinks we should do. And because we are called to see the writing on the wall and tell it to the people even when they don’t want to hear it. Let’s be brave and bold as we serve Jesus, empowering and inspiring each other to make a difference in the world!
What old bible quote are you interested in hearing a sermon on? Contact me and I will put it together. Or leave a comment below.
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