This sermon by Dan Kent names what it means to be trapped by the culture of Babylon and the path to escape it. The Babylonian way compels us to pursue more while never having enough, while the cruciform way of Jesus offers us a gift that we cannot work to attain.
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Escaping Babylon
• Dan Kent
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Dan Kent guides us to re-imagine what it means to put aside the entrapment of Babylon, as depicted in Revelation 18. His guidance takes us on an indirect route, walking us first through a primary theme found in Ecclesiastes. There we read, “I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (2:17). This verse points to the absurdities of life. We work perpetually, striving after the things that promise fulfillment, but as soon as we attain them we only want more. We end up being hamsters on a wheel. From this perspective, life is futile. Everything is meaningless.
On the other hand, the Bible contrasts this meaninglessness against an alternative, the way of life. Jeremiah 21:8 states, “This is what the Lord says, “See I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.” This alternative is summarized in Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 which highlights the gift of God that brings fulfillment and satisfaction. It is not something we strive to attain or chase to possess; it is freely offered to us as we walk with God.
This sets up our reading of Revelation 18. Dan identifies four things about the way of Babylon that end up being meaningless and absurd. First, there is false security. Ecclesiastes proclaims that all is vanity and Revelation 18:7 announces that all will collapse in a single day. What we tirelessly work to possess will not last. Second, Babylon is consumed by despair. Ecclesiastes 5:10 says that when we love money there will never be enough of it. Then in Revelation 18:11, the rich merchants weep because they are not selling enough. The pursuit of “enough” is never-ending because it is always just out of our reach, the dangling carrot that never gratifies. Third, addiction pervades those stuck in Babylon. Ecclesiastes 2:1-3 names the fleeting nature of pleasure. It never lives up to its promises. It never brings rest. Revelation 18:17 names the same theme. More distraction, more intoxication, more numbing, more entertainment. Then our minds are conditioned to fixate on getting another fix. Fourth, dehumanization characterizes life in Babylon. Ecclesiastes 2 warns about inhumane toil, and Revelation 18:13 speaks of people sold as slaves. Human beings are turned into objects for the “greater good” or the “advancement of society” or the “success of the company.” We find our worth measured on a scale of value that we add and then we end up measuring others in the same way.
Getting out of Babylon requires us to open our eyes to see the gift of God. We don’t have to add value because we are already valuable. We do not earn it; we receive it. Life is a gift. Dan highlights a few facets of this truth.
- When life is a gift, you are never alone. The giver of the gift is always in play, standing near, no matter what’s going on.
- When life is a gift, we are invited to enjoy it. We can enjoy the good gifts of God regardless of what others might or might not possess.
- When life is a gift, we realize that we have plenty. We lose the compulsion to chase after more. This stirs in us gratitude, as we learn to accept what we have been given.
- When life is a gift, we realize that what we have is not a measure of God’s love. Having less than someone does not mean that God loves less. And having more does not mean that God loves more.
- When life is a gift, you respect the dictates of the gift giver. We want to use the life we have been given the way that the gift giver desires.
There are two ways set before us. There is the way of Babylonian meaninglessness and there is the way of the cruciform gift. One road is one of toil and perpetual striving. The other is full of the surprising grace, the gift that is too good to be true.
Hide Extended SummaryTopics: Gratitude, Greed, Simplicity
Sermon Series: The Unveiling, The Last Exodus
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The MuseCast: February 24
Focus Scripture:
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Revelation 18:11-13
The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore—cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.
