Scientists at Michigan University are claiming that skin filler injections may erase wrinkles long-term and actually improve complexion texture and looks all round. Well, excuse me. Let me offer one example for us to ponder: Smokey Robinson.

He was at the Grammy Awards recently and the 67 year old soul singer looked as taut and smooth as a birthday balloon, his features clearly plumped and filled like some newly purchased cushion with exactly the kind of chemicals those Michigan scientists are insisting are good for us.

Look at him. That forehead is as abnormally smooth as an ice-rink, those eyebrows carved unnaturally into the ice of his Botox flattened face. What was his famous song?: Take a good look at my face; you’ll see my smile looks out of place.

Indeed it does, but only because, Smokey, that’s where your nose is meant to be. Don’t you find men with excessive plastic surgery just a bit creepy – let’s grow old gracefully, relying on those rugged lines to speak of years of hard graft and tough challenges.

Experts in all this fear that Smokey Robinson, so self- absorbed with himself, has had the full works including something called Blepharoplasty. This rather popular operation has apparently been renamed the ‘British Airways Special’ because it removes bags from under your eyes and charges you a fortune.

But it’s the self-absorption, the concern to be something you are not, to begin to live in a world of unreality even, that I want to highlight this morning.

Dear old Nebuchadnezzar – that Babylonian king who destroyed Jerusalem and took the nobles and officials into permanent exile in Babylon, that Babylonian king who reigned for some 40 years over an ever spreading and expanding empire, that Babylonian king who was so full of his own glory and his own ability and his own brilliance that he forgot God – dear old Nebuchadnezzar over time grew to live in an unreal self-absorbed world.

Till God broke in. Big time. The lord and king of Babylon was content and prosperous (v.4), but he was also living in an unreal self-absorbed world, conscious of only his own abilities and his own sense of power. That is where Daniel chapter 4 is so interesting.

Reviewing the story
The chapter is a letter actually, written by Nebuchadnezzar to his various peoples scattered across his empire. It starts “King Nebuchadnezzar, To the peoples, nations, etc.” (v.1), because that is how letters started in those days, and it so continued into the NT time: cp. Paul’s letters which start, ‘Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the church in…’ wherever he was writing.

Now Nebuchadnezzar was a pagan king of a pagan empire worshipping a pagan god, but his letter to all the ‘peoples, nations and men of every language’ (v.1) begins and ends with praise for the ‘Most High God’ (v.2, 34), whom he describes in his letter as ‘sovereign’ (v.17, 25).

This letter is an acknowledgement by Nebuchadnezzar that Daniel’s God is the Most High God, the one alone who is worthy of praise and thanksgiving. Look at the words of praise and honour and glory he gives to this Most High God, who is our Most High God too: v.3 and 34b-35.

No longer is Nebuchadnezzar worshipping pagan gods (Dan 1:2b). No longer is Nebuchadnezzar worshipping Daniel (Dan 2:46), but now, perhaps near the end of his long reign, he is worshipping the Most High God. Has he had some conversion experience? Has he finally been able to acknowledge the truth seen and experienced in the lives of Daniel and his friends? Perhaps he has – we can never be quite sure – but we can sense a man whose priorities changed, whose aim began to be focussed on God (v.37).

He got to that position because he was humbled by God, extraordinarily humbled by God – from saying (v.30) to saying (v.34). And it all began with another dream, but on this occasion, as opposed to Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar had the kindness and the wit to advise his ‘magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners’ – the whole panoply of black magic arts and devices there – to interpret the dream for him. And still they couldn’t (v.7).

Finally, Daniel arrives and of course he can, under the grace of God, the Most High God, interpret the dream, and it’s not a happy interpretation either. Nebuchadnezzar’s life is going to be totally upturned: he is going to go mad for what is probably 7 years (v.16b).

The dream doesn’t come to pass for 12 months (v.29), but it comes to pass, just at that moment when Nebuchadnezzar claims sovereignty and power and glory and majesty for himself (v.31), and the awfulness of the dream – the driven away from people, the being like an animal, the eating of grass, the drenching from heaven goes on until ‘you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.’ (v.25).

We clearly see that Nebuchadnezzar fulfilled that requirement (v.34): ‘raised his eyes’ means acknowledged God, and then his ‘sanity was restored’ – a gift from God – releasing him in praise.

Points we can learn
We can learn a number of points from this story. No-one is beyond redemption by the Most High God. On the other hand we learn that God is sovereign over all nations and leaders. That’s not easy to proclaim when we think whether God was sovereign over Hitler, or over Stalin, or today over President Ahmadinejad of Iran or President Mugabe of Zimbabwe, or President Omer Hassan Ahmed Elbashir of Sudan.

But the Bible insists that God is sovereign and indeed must be sovereign to be truly God Most High – look at Jesus’ words in John 19:11: “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above”. That doesn’t mean that the Bible sanctions oppression or justifies unjustifiable regimes. But it does mean that no dictator, no atrocity, no evil, no holocaust can eclipse the central truth that God is in control.

God’s power may be hidden from our sight, but no cloud can change the fact that God’s power shines. Whatever power the kings of Babylon might display, God’s power is greater. However big their empire might be, God’s kingdom is bigger. However unshakeable Nebuchadnezzar’s dominion might be, it is nothing compared to God’s dominion.

We have a faithful God at work in the unfolding of history. But another key point we learn is that we a faithful God who is seen in the selflessness of faithful service.

Daniel’s aim throughout his life was to serve the purposes of God and to be faithful to God in that. That aim was acknowledged in his life by Nebuchadnezzar who describes Daniel with words such as ‘the spirit of the holy gods is in you’ (v.8, 9, 18). Daniel’s aim in service was seen by those around him, whether they knew God or not, for they knew there was something special about Daniel.

What Daniel did was ever to serve in such a way that he firstly pointed the glory to God – he doesn’t claim that he can interpret dreams – he secondly and fearlessly pointed out what Nebuchadnezzar needed to do (v.27). His aim in service was to point people to God and point people to a right relationship with God.

Thirdly, Daniel is humble about his service. In his leadership within the Babylonian civil service, he offers a different model to the ‘magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners’.

Nebuchadnezzar represents an understanding of leadership and service that has shaped world history down the ages right upto the present day: a public service that seeks a position of privilege and power, of coercion and control. Daniel offers us a different form of service – humility about himself, pointing to God for the glory, influencing by love and nurture – note his concern for Nebuchadnezzar (v.19b).

Christians are not immune from wrong attitudes to service. Rob Bell, the currently famous American pastor and writer, has written: “I often hear Christian leaders tell what God has been saying to them in their times of meditation and study and prayer and I’m often amazed. He tells the most profound, eloquent things. All I seem to ever hear is: Rob, get out of my way”.

When it comes to serving others, Daniel is a wonderful model for us. He was full of the spirit – as Nebuchadnezzar saw himself; he was pointing to God in all he did; and God has honoured his faithfulness.

What are your aims for service? Self-aggrandisement like some, self-absorption like others, or selflessness like Daniel.

Wherever we are called to serve we are called to serve full of the Spirit and selflessly letting God be glorified, acknowledging his sovereignty over our lives and his faithfulness towards us.

Last week, I encouraged you to complete a simple questionnaire to discover what gifts you may be bringing to the service of God’s church or kingdom in the world. There are copies still available in the Parish Room for those who missed out last week.

This Sunday, I have asked as many as church organisations, groups, committees and so forth that I could think of – so I’ll have forgotten someone – to be available in what I’ve called a ministry fair – just like a university jobs fair, but different.

God called Daniel to serve his purposes and God may be calling you to serve his purposes in your workplace or your home or your community – indeed I dare to say he probably is and he is wondering why you let so many other things get in the way of serving him there – but he is also longing to resource the work of his church and its mission to enable everyone to become mature followers of Jesus.

Over refreshments shortly, you can, without committing yourself, investigate the areas of service in this church, areas you may never have thought of, areas you may wish God wasn’t calling you to, and areas which will warm your heart and excite your mind. Various ‘stalls’, so to speak will be scattered throughout the church, the Parish Room and the Small Hall.

Many of you will know the story of my call to ministry, of how I resisted that call for some 2 years, before eventually acknowledging what God had been wanting of me for all that time and really for much longer. And you know the best thing about following God’s call into service was the sense of peace about the right decision at that time and the continuing sense of joy at being in the right place in God’s purposes.

That is my desire for everyone here: accepting God’s call to offer whatever we can, with what little we have or are, but under God’s gracious hand magnified to his glory.