In the scripture readings for Exile Sunday, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is given a miraculous interpretation of a troubling dream – miraculous because the king insisted that the interpreter read his mind for the details of the dream. And God's messenger for this revelation was Belteshazzar, also known as the exile Daniel from Judah. Nebuchadnezzar gives Daniel the credit and promotes him and his friends to positions of power in Babylon. But when the king then insists that everyone worship his golden image, Daniel's friends refuse, and they are saved from the fiery furnace by the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, the same saviour we share....
What does it mean...to worship? What are we actually doing here, right now? According to Mirriam-Webster, to worship is “to honour or show reverence for, as a divine being or supernatural power, OR, to regard with great or extravagant respect, honour, or devotion.” So we are here, showing reverence and honour to God, THE divine being, well and good. But it is unclear from our scripture readings which aspect of this definition King Nebuchadnezzar was after. Did he want to be considered a divine being? Many kings in the past have done so. Or did he simply want extravagant respect and devotion from his people, training them to face plant in front of his 90 foot statue, each time the music plays? It matters, because a demand for devotion is an annoying tendency of a narcissistic leader, sound familiar?, while claiming to be divine is a first commandment violation. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego clearly took it as a violation.
And just in case you thought fury against the Jews was a recent invention, look at the extreme rage of Nebuchadnezzar. “Why won't these Judeans worship me? Why can't they serve their own God...AND my gods? Why does their God have to be so exclusive? And what power does their God have compared to me? Crank the furnace, boys, if these disloyal Judeans won't worship my statue, they need to burn!”
What are the 90 foot tall golden statues WE are commanded to worship, under the threat of punishment? Are they individual, narcissistic leaders demanding devotion, whether provincial, federal, or global? Are they protected GROUPS of people who can call out anything but extravagant respect and devotion, as hate crimes? Are they human IDEAS claiming divine status, ideas like diversity, or capitalism, or individuality, or equality? What these 90 foot tall golden statues have in common is that if you REFUSE to worship them when the bell rings, expect a crowd of rage-distorted faces to be up in YOUR face. You should be happy to worship their god, as well as yours...