Beeson Podcast, Episode #161 Name Date >>Announcer: Welcome to the Beeson podcast, coming to you from Beeson Divinity School on the campus of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Now your host, Timothy George. >>Timothy George: It’s great to greet you again on the Beeson podcast. I’m so glad you joined today. Dr Smith and I are here to introduce you to a contemporary voice in the American pulpit, a person who is the Chaplain of the United States Senate. You know, the US Senate elected its first chaplain in 1789 and there have been a whole series of really outstanding ministers. Barry Black was a rear admiral in the Navy. He was the Chief of Navy Chaplains, had a distinguished career in the Navy for more than 27 years when he was chosen dot serve as the 62nd Chaplain of the United States Senate. Tell us about Chaplain Black and what we’re going to hear today. >>Smith: Chaplain Black knows how to communicate, a very engaging introduction which draws us into the sermon instantly, immediately. And he is an individual who has relevance without forsaking revelation. His sermon is steeped in scripture. Here is a person who is a weaver, who’s well acquainted with the scriptures, quite prophetic, you know. Shame on us if we don’t stand and share the truth in this age of idolatry. And so, these inclusive convictions from various sources of individuals, various fields, Martin Luther King Jr, Augustine, Alfred Adler, etc., he’s weaving the text into the fabric of biblical history, poetry, etc. and it comes out speaking to us, dealing with this whole idea of preaching truth in an age of idolatry. >>Timothy George: Barry Black is a tremendous preacher in the sense that he brings together passion, eloquence, a deep knowledge of the scriptures, all brought together, woven together in the texture of persuasion. That’s Chaplain Barry C. Black. And I want to mention, Dr Smith, he also is a member of the Seventh Day Adventist denomination, and you’ll hear him refer in the sermon to worshiping the Lord on Saturday. That’s because he belongs to that particular denomination. >>Smith: And one of the things, Dean George, that is most impressive about his preaching is that it is Christocentric and he’s intentional about that and does not lean toward anthropocentricism at all. He wants people to know that it’s Christ. And of course, that’s my heartbeat. >>Timothy George: Focused on God and Jesus Christ, His son, and the power of the spirit. >>Smith: Absolutely. >>Timothy George: Let’s listen to one of the great voices of today’s pulpit, Chaplain Barry C. Black. >>Black: On September the 11th, 2001 I was not in the United States of America. I was not even on this earth. I was on a ballistic nuclear submarine 1800 feet beneath the Pacific Ocean. I found out the facts regarding September 11th on September 12th. The nuclear submarine immediately went on nuclear alert, and it was nearly two weeks before I could return to Washington D.C. and the Pentagon. Of course, news of my demise was prematurely circulated by those who were eager for upward mobility. I returned to a quite different America. When I had left a couple of weeks before, Chandra Levy and Gary Condit were in the headlines each day. And even though this was borderline tabloid journalism, day after day in the major newspapers, this sad story was chronicled, a story about congressional scandal. When I left, there were hyphenated Americans: African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans. When I returned, we were all Americans. When I returned, Condit and Levy had disappeared permanently from the headlines. When I left, people were reluctant to wear their patriotism on their sleeves. We must not be too ethnocentric, they would declare. But when I returned, we were singing “God Bless America” during the seventh inning of each of our baseball games. One evangelist on CNN, not TBN but CNN, was asked, “Reverand, could you please just pause and pray before we continue the interview?” I returned to an America that seemed to have read some handwriting on the wall in an age of idolatry. In Daniel, chapter five, we read about a traumatic event that occurred around 539 BC. One evening, King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his highest officials and he drank wine with them. He got drunk and ordered his servants to being in the gold and silver cups his father, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. Belshazzar wanted the cups so that he and all his wives and officials could drink from them. When the gold cups were brought in, everyone at the banquet drank from them and praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Ladies and gentlemen, human beings will worship. Augustine said, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are wrestles until we find peace in you.” Human beings will worship. At FedEx Field, tens of thousands of people enter that cathedral on a regular basis to worship. And it is interesting, no one has to tell them how to worship. No one has to explain to them the mechanics of worship as Santana Moss or one of the other Washington Redskin players engages in the activities of the football field. We are worshipers. We even have a television program called American Idol. We are worshipers. And yet Belshazzar discovered that though people may worship idols of gold, and they’re still doing it, idols of silver, of wood, of iron, and of brass, there is a sovereign God to whom each of us is accountable. Daniel five, verse nine, “Now the authorized version then was the king, Belshazzar, greatly troubled as a sleeveless hand appears, writing on the walls and his countenance was changed in him and his Lords were astonied.” Verse 10, “Now the queen by reason of the words of the kind and his Lords came into the banquet house.” At a time like that, you needed someone who could preach the truth, speak the truth in love. And the queen spake and said, “Oh king, live forever. Let not thy thoughts trouble thee nor thy countenance be changed. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the Holy God.” She does not talk about Daniel’s academic preparation. You can have more degrees behind your name than a thermometer and still be stupid. She does not talk about his accomplishments. If you are going to, in a time like this, preach the truth in an age of idolatry, you need an ethos that communicates without words. There is a man in your kingdom. You don’t know him. But there is a man in your kingdom, marginalized and ministering in obscurity, but there is a man in your kingdom in whom dwells the spirit of the Holy God. And I believe if you can bring that preacher in here for such a time as this, he can preach the truth in an age of idolatry. Hallelujah. Thank God Daniel was not at the party. You know, for many of us they would say, and he’s right here. He can talk to you. Thank God Daniel was not at the party. He came in with an equanimity, with the security that money can’t buy for Jesus left us with a peace that the world can’t give, and that the world can’t take away. And if you don’t have that peace, you need to get it. Daniel walked in and Belshazzar, the troubled monarch, is offering him all kinds of rewards but this man of integrity says keep your stuff because you won’t be king long enough for it to matter. The child of God lives not simply in time but in eternity. Daniel begins to interpret Aramaic. Somehow God had placed a veil on the understanding of his soothsayers and astrologers and the Chaldeans, his wiseman and they could not read it. And when he finished, Belshazzar knew there is a sovereign God who must be worshipped, that God has scales, and he has weighing humankind. And Belshazzar learned that no matter how lofty your positional authority, you must give an account before the sovereign God of the universe. You are weighed in the balances and found wanting. We find in this amazing story some wonderful principles for preaching the truth in an age of idolatry. Principle one, we must be prepared to minister in obscurity. How well are you at providing faithful ministry when you don’t get any credit? How well are you at being assiduous in your labors for Christ when you don’t make the headlines. Alfred Adler talked about our desire to lead the parade. Martin King called it the drum major instinct. We all have a little of James and John in us. Mathew 20, they sent momma to Jesus. Now you know I’m your aunt and we believe you are about to make your move and when you do, you’ve got two cousins. Blood is thicker than water. Make sure James is on your right and Johnny is on your left in your glory. How well are you at being faithful in your ministry when no one recognizes you? Daniel was at one time the head of the astrologers and magicians, but now the king doesn’t even know who he is. In fact, it’s Belshazzar’s grandmother perhaps, the Queen Mother, who comes in and says to him, well maybe his mother, who comes in and says, “There is a man in your kingdom who during the time of your grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, did some amazing things.” We must be, my friends, prepared by the grace of God to provide ministry in an obscurity. Joseph is a classic example of a man in an age of idolatry, pharos worshiped as a God. His marvelous autobiography, his marvelous biography, Genesis 37 through Genesis 50 showed you an individual who could minister effectively in obscurity. He had a word for people in that time of idolatry and he didn’t have much of an audience. At one point, only the butler and the baker, but that was okay. He provided substantive ministry in obscurity. Zachariah 4:10 declares despise not the day of small beginnings. Are you willing to be faithful when no one knows your name? For such a time as this, if you’re going to preach the truth in an age of idolatry, you have got to function well in the darkness as well as also in the light. And when no one can see what you’re doing, you’ve got to labor faithfully for someone who never sleeps and never slumbers, for someone who sits high and looks low. Prepare to provide ministry in obscurity. Sometimes you will be marginalized, but that’s alright. The day is coming when many who are first will be last. And many who are last will be first because of faithfulness. Principle two, maintain ethical fitness. “There is a man in your kingdom in whom dwells the spirit of the most-high God.” If someone put a private detective on you to follow you as they did Daniel in Daniel chapter six, what would they discover Christian leader? If someone tapped your phone, what would they hear Christian leader? In the subsequent kingdom that followed Babylon, Daniel’s enemies declared, “We can find nothing against this Daniel except it be concerning the law of his God.” You must maintain ethical fitness. And I look at you and you obviously have maintained physical fitness. And I shake your hand and can smell the veggie burger on your breath. You have maintained physical fitness. But how well are you at ethical fitness? Do you take time to be holy? The embarrassing thing is that many Christian leaders have never read through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Say ouch if you can’t say amen. This amazing love letter and you have read bits and pieces of it. Why, if you just got scriptural CDs and every time you drove your car, let the word of God bath your spirit, you could listen to the entire Bible in less than 80 hours. You must maintain ethical fitness. Aristotle speaks of ethos, pathos, and logos and the greatest of these is ethos. When people believe that you are ethically congruent, you have a power that you cannot get otherwise. After 9/11, I was asked to speak at Constitution Hall for a solemn day of assembly. Before I spoke, there was another presentation by the great Bill Bright, a man who had maintained marvelous ethical fitness. Bright, with a walker, hooked up to oxygen. After being introduced by his wife, came out, a black suit, white shirt, black tie. He came out this warrior for Jesus Christ. Tears came to the eyes of most of those who saw him and Bright spoke for 40 minutes. He started out, he said, “God has given me the privilege of teaching people how to die.” And I thought to myself, he must be giving the devil fits. The devil must be turning to his imps and saying, “what does it take to get rid of this guy? We thought if we made him terminally ill, he would be bathed in pathos and sitting in depression. We got to take this guy out. He’s doing more damage now than he was when he was having those long fasts.” You see, there is a power in ethos. It is interesting that after 9/11, when they had the service in the National Cathedral, they called an octogenarian from North Carolina by the name of Billy Graham. We’re always looking for Daniel. We’re looking for someone with a consistent record of holy living. “There is a man in your kingdom in whom dwells the spirit of the most-high God.” Praise His name. We must maintain our ethical fitness. What you do speaks so loudly, people can hear what you say. Edgar Guest put it this way, “I soon can learn your sermon if you let me see it done. I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run.” And the lectures you deliver may be ever wise and true, but I’d rather get my message by observing what you do. Maintain ethical fitness. Guard that reputation. Take time to be holy. Three times a day we know that Daniel fell on his knees and gave thanks for God. How often do you communicate with the sovereign God of the universe? If I wanted to see the Senate Majority Leader, it would take me a couple of hours. If I wanted to see the President of the United States, it would take me a couple of weeks. But if I want to walk into the throne room of the one who created the Senate Majority Leader, who created the President of the United States of America, I can do it any hour, any minute, any second of the day. And yet, our spiritual muscles atrophy because we do not spend time in the presence of the Lord. Finally, we must faithfully interpret God’s word if we’re going to preach the truth in an age of idolatry. This is no time to preach philosophy. This is no time to preach our opinions. This is no time to have our primary messages come from extra biblical sources. Say ouch if you can’t say amen. This is time to preach the word. Daniel said, “I’m going to faithfully interpret the word that is on the wall. MENE: God had numbered your kingdom and finished it.” That’s good exegesis right there. “TEKEL: You are weighed in the balances and found wanting. PERES: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.” He faithfully interpreted the word from the Lord. When you preach the word, when you faithfully interpret the word, it keeps you from riding a hobby horse. “Scripture is profitable,” 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “for doctrine, for reproof,” you got to spank folks sometimes, “for corrections, for instruction in righteousness. Men and women of God may be perfect, completely equipped for all good works.” We must faithfully interpret the word of God. One of the best ways of doing it is to learn to pray the scriptures. You want to faithfully interpret the word of God, start praying the scriptures. It will energize your prayer life. You see, when you pray the scriptures, you give God the benefit of starting the conversation. How often we bring our lilliputian intellects before the omniscient God of the universe. I got my prayer list here Lord and just give me about 20 minutes to pray for these people. You don’t have an effective prayer life. But when you open the word of God and say, speak Lord for your servant is listening. We reverse it, listen Lord, for your servant is speaking. If you’re going to faithfully interpret the word, you read until something stops you. It won’t take long. And when it stops you, you start talking to God about it. Perhaps you’re reading the first Psalm, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.” Now that stopped me right there. I didn’t intend for it to. But God, who’s counsel am I following? What kind of books are in my library? Am I majoring in minors? Am I neglecting the primary source? “Nor standeth in the way of sinners.” What’s going on here Lord? I was walking, now I’m standing stationary. “Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, the declension of those who neglect the word of God, but His delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law, doth He meditate.” Oh God, have I been meditating? Or have I been using the Evelyn Wood method of scriptural study? I got through 20 chapters this morning and can’t remember a thing. You’re going to faithfully interpret the word of God, begin to pray the scriptures. It will energize your prayer life. I’ve got to be honest with you, I had problems praying before I started praying the scriptures. One night, I said if Jesus could pray all night, I’m going to pray all night. I got on my knees and when I awakened, it wasn’t long. I don’t think I prayed more than five minutes. But when I began to pray the scriptures, it would sometimes take me an hour to get through three verses. And when you get that rhema word in you, not some ancient word that you got to dust it off, but a fresh work from the Lord, manna that you collected that day, not something that you stored the day before because it stinks unless it’s Friday, then you will be able to faithfully interpret the Lord because you will discover that Jesus is the word. And there will be a Christocentric focus to your preaching that will draw men and women to the savior. “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as was the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” You get in this word and you will discover the Christ of the word that will enable you to faithfully interpret the word. Shame on us when we preach sermons that barely mention the name of the savior of humankind. Jesus! There is power in that name! Jesus! Demons tremble at the sound of that name. Find Him in Genesis as Shiloh. In Exodus, find Him as the Great I Am. In Numbers, find Him as the Star and Scepter. In Deuteronomy, find Him as the Rock. In Joshua, find Him as Captain of the Lord’s Host. In Psalms, find Him as the Great Shepard. In Proverbs, find Him as the Beloved. In Isaiah, find Him as the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. In Micah, find Him as the One who’s going forth of Old, is from Everlasting to Everlasting. In Zachariah, find Him as the Branch. In Malachiah, find Him as the Messenger of the Covenant. In Mathew, find Him as Savior. Mark, Son of Man. Luke, the Great Physician. John, the Word made Flesh. Acts, the One whose name will bring you to salvation. Phillipians, the One who one day every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. To the glory of God, the Father, faithfully interpret the word. In 1 Thessalonians, He is the One who “will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God.” In Jude, He’s the One who will “keep you from falling and present you without fault, without blemish before the presence of His glory with unspeakable, ecstatic delight, in triumphant joy and exaltation.” And in Revelation, John said, “I was in the spirit on a Saturday. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. I saw Him high and lifted up.” He is Alpha. He is Omega. He is Beginning. He is Ending. He is Author. He is Finisher. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords for such a time is this.” Oh God, give us the truth to preach Jesus in an age of idolatry. God love you. >> Announcer: You’ve been listening to the Beeson podcast with host, Timothy George. You can subscribe to the Beeson podcast at our website, Beesondivinity.com. Beeson Divinity School is an interdenominational evangelical divinity school training men and women in the service of Jesus Christ. We pray that this podcast will aid and encourage your work and we hope you will listen to each upcoming edition of the Beeson podcast.