"The Hand Writing on the Wall"

Pastor Laura Guy

July 12, 2009

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

We learned about the Exile, how the Israelites were conquered by the Babylonians and taken into captivity. The Babylonians also destroyed the Temple and confiscated the valuable religious artifacts they found there.
We read Daniel 5:1-31 and heard about King Belshazzar and his banquet for a thousand of his nobles. To impress them, he ordered his servants to bring out the gold and silver goblets that had been taken from the Temple. Then, while drinking from these sacred objects created for use in the worship of God, he praised the gods of gold, silver, etc. Suddenly, a mysterious hand appeared and wrote a message on the wall.
We saw how no one was able to tell the king what the message meant except for Daniel, one of the exiled Hebrews. Daniel told Belshazzar that the words meant:
Mene : God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

Tekel : You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.

Peres : Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
We heard how Daniel's words came true that very night. But what does this story mean to us today? Who are we in this story? We might be King Belshazzar, needing to be reminded that God alone holds power over our lives. We might be Daniel, speaking for God and for those who have no voice. Or maybe we're the party guests, observing all this from the sidelines, playing it safe. But we have seen the handwriting on the wall, too. Will it change anything about the way we live our lives?
We prayed for wisdom to see what God wants to say to us.
We celebrated communion at the table of Christ's brokenness and our wholeness.