Sermon Tone Analysis

Good morning church.

How is everyone doing this morning?

So thankful to be able to join with you today.

For those that I haven’t met, my name is Brian.

I attend here at Blaine CTK with my wife and four kids.

I’m joining you today bringing the Word as Pastor Tyler tested positive for Covid a few days ago.

I know there might be some of you who play Dejarik and you’re thinking, just have Tyler use a hologram.

That’s advantageous of you, but holograms are a bit pricey, so, it’s going to be me today, alright.

Anyone see the Northern Light light that came out this last week?

Pretty awesome article on the front page *show the paper*.

Four teachers are retiring this year, with a combined total of 136 years taught in the Blaine school districts.

How amazing is that.

To be a part of a small town, where there are so many teachers are investing in the education and lives of our kids for decades.

It’s so cool.

Blaine is an awesome place.

I was honored to have taken classes with three of the four, and I can tell you, they surely deserve the credit given here.

As my mind dwelled on these teachers this week while also preparing for a sermon, I found myself thinking about the impact that was a result of their commitment to their role as teachers.

From individual moments in the classroom, in conversation with students, in preparation for lessons, through being an example, to the full spans of their career, the impact made is so significant on so many people.

Students were impacted by these teachers because they were committed to their purpose as teachers, committed to caring for, educating, and inspiring students.

And they did this every day.

Not because the teachers walked in willy nilly each day, thinking simply because they were teachers, lives were changed, whether they tried or not.

No

Lives were changed for the better because of their active commitment to the purpose of being a teacher.

One of these teachers that I had, Mr. Gray, was the band teacher, and because he taught middle and high school, that meant I had his class for 6 years.

His impact on my life was...

That also made the change of high school ending hard...

Changes in life are hard...

but when we remember that our purpose in life is found in Christ, we realize that our hope in this purpose is one that goes beyond this life.

That although it can be tough knowing that all things will pass away, even the things that we like, the purpose of life we have in Christ never will, because our purpose comes from the fact we have been given life everlasting by the God of all things.

Today, we’ll be continuing going through the book of Daniel and our series Faith in the Face of Uncertainty, and as we’ve begun to see the Jewish characters in this book, we’ve learned that they also know the God that gives them purpose.

And their commitment to that purpose shapes who they are and how they react to the world around them.

A purpose that grants them the power of faith they need to face uncertainty.

And for us, it works the same way.

What we live out as our greatest purpose in life, will shape who we are.

What we do in the individual moments, the day to days.

What we prioritize, dwell on, let rule our lives.

That is what will shape how we respond in the times of uncertainty the most.

And if we are followers of Christ in life, how do we live out our purpose?

Jesus himself tells us

Matthew 22:37–39 (CSB)

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

This is the greatest and most important command.

The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Not just calling ourselves followers of Jesus, but more importantly, living as followers of Jesus.

Living a life defined by our relationship with God and pressing into that relationship as the most important thing in our life.

The strength of our faith comes from our relationship with God, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, if we want to experience God more, if we want to live more faithfully, we must commit to loving God through obedience to and the reading of His word, loving Him by drawing near to Him in prayer, loving Him by loving His bride the church, and sharing the good news of our Savior with the lost.

We have to be anchored in our purpose, if we are to walk by faith.

So, today’s passage.

This section in Daniel we’ll be seeing an amazing story of something that happened to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, three men who walked in love and obedience to their God.

As we read in previous weeks, these three, like Daniel, were kidnapped from their homeland as young men, and were forced to live in Babylon.

Babylon was a pagan city, they would have to learn new languages, learn about this new culture and its practices, and they were forced to serve in the kings palace.

We’ll start to day in the final verses of Daniel 2, after Daniel had just gained favor from the king for having interpreted his dream.

Daniel 2 (CSB)

At Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to manage the province of Babylon.

But Daniel remained at the king’s court.

So after last weeks story of Daniel being promoted to Chief Governor, he uses that new position to request a promotion for his friends as well.

They get the promotion, which is somewhere other than where Daniel is, leaving Daniel not involved in this part of the story.

Most of the people we see here, the satraps, prefects, governors, etc. would have had no issue with bowing to an image of a god or king.

And that’s a result of most people in the ancient Near East, where this story and the surrounding regions take place, most people from these areas were already worshippers of numerous gods.

Thus, incorporating another god into their worship, especially at the threat of death, would not have been too difficult to do.

I point this out because I think it’s important for us to realize that today, we live in a culture that is constantly presenting changing values, new morals and ideas, and as Christians we have to face these things as they try to influence our views on life.

And if our purpose is not rooted in God, but instead is rooted in worldly things curated by our feelings, fears, desires, pains, hatreds, loves etc, it will be much harder to trust and obey God in these most uncertain moments of our life.

Let’s read what we see next.

So the Chaldeans go, and tell the king about the three Jews who are not following his orders.

There’s no going around here, Shadrac, Meshac and Abednego are willing to risk everything to obey God.

Nebuchadnezzar calls them in, and despite his rage, gives them one more chance to follow his orders.

Cause, this statue being worshipped, of which we don’t even know who or what likeness it is made in, is less what’s important to him, because what’s really ticking him off is that they aren’t listening to him.

Notice he says “you don’t serve MY gods… worship the gold statue that I set up”

That’s why he is willing to give them another chance, because this is about him, his exercise of power, his kingship.

What do Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego do though?

When we read this notice, they aren’t arguing with the king, they aren’t being sarcastic in saying they have no response.

They know they’ve chosen to not bow and that doing so means death.

But just because they are communicating clearly and confidently to the king, that does not mean that they are sitting there like it’s no big deal.

Although they have faith in God that He will save them, they are also aware and ready to face the fact that they might die.

So what happens next.

There is a recurring theme that you’re probably starting to pick up on in the Book of Daniel.

And that is that, as Joe Sprinkle puts it, “God may expect his people to sacrifice their lives rather than disobey his commands.”

This isn’t the only time in scripture that we see believers facing death for the sake of their faith and obedience to God.

Jesus said to His disciples about sharing the Gospel and living for him, that they “will be arrested, persecuted, and killed.

… hated all over the world because [they are his] followers.”

The threat of death over ones faith is a real possibility for those who love God.

So what happens for these guys when the threat is carried

Guys, I love this part of the story.

How amazing that it is Nebuchadnezzar himself, the one that commissioned their death, is the one who declares out loud that they living despite the flames intending to kill them.

Nebuchadnezzar shouts that they are saved by a spiritual being from God, and then it is Nebuchadnezzar who acknowledges the power that God demonstrates saving them, and declares the praise for their actions these three men did in defying him, the king, by worshipping only the God of the Bible.

Friends, our God can save.

Our God will save.

He saved then, He saved when He imparts the righteousness of our son on us for our salvation, He will save when He returns to earth to take us home, and He is saving even more times than we know between then, now and the future to come.

Amen to that.

With Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, although they were saved from death in the furnace, we must recognize that this is not the general promise for those who face death for the sake of their faith.

For though we see many being saved in the book of Daniel, that is not always the case in scripture.

If I may reference again Old Testament Scholar Joe Sprinkle in relation to others who died for their faith,

Daniel (Bridge)

John the Baptist was martyred during Jesus’ earthly ministry (Matt 14:1–12).

In the early church both Stephen and James were martyred (Acts 7:57–60; 12:2), and Revelation speaks of Antipas and many other martyrs (Rev 2:12–13; 6:9–11; 11:7–8; 20:4).

In some parts of the world today Christians are still being martyred for their faith.

According to opendoors.org,

as referenced in an article by Christianity Today, more than 5,600 Christians were killed for their faith last year.

Although we worship a God who saves, death is still present in this world until the return of Christ.