The Pressure is Part of it

Dave Carr

Winter Retreat 2024 • Sermon • Submitted 10 months ago • Presented 10 months ago

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INTRO. Gooooooood morning Winter Retreat! Did everyone get some coffee/Celcius? ‌ My name is Dave and I serve as the Student Pastor at our Lawrenceville Campus! Before we jump in, I know it’s morning, and I know some of you were up until 3 AM, but I need you to wake up because church is a team sport. We all participate! Which means while I’m up here teaching, I’m giving you permission to talk back to me. Snellville, shouldn’t be a problem for you 😉 So as we jump in, I’ve invited my friend ___________ to come up and read Daniel 3:14-18 to kick off a message that I’m titling “The Pressure is Part of it.” Daniel 3:14-18

Daniel 3:14–18 NIV

and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

TENSION. When you were in elementary school, what did you want to be when you grew up? Tell your neighbor right now! What did you want to be when you grew up? I hadn’t officially committed yet, but when I was in elementary school, I had narrowed down my choices to astronaut or President. And I know what you’re thinking: “Dave, I could totally see you doing both of those things.” 😉 But, the older I got, the more I started to notice the pressure that came with being the President or an astronaut. And eventually, my answers changed. And I think that’s true for a lot of us. Most everyone I know, in one way or another, starts out wanting to stand out in some way, like being the President or an astronaut. But have you noticed that, even though everyone starts out wanting to stand out, very few end up doing it?

I think that’s because it’s hard to stand out. A lot of people want to be the superstar athlete until they experience the pressure of a playoff game where if your team wins, it’s your fault, and if your team loses, it’s your fault. A lot of people want to be a doctor until they experience the pressure of being in an operating room and if the patient lives, it’s your fault, and if the patient dies, it’s your fault. Have you seen the pictures of Presidents on their first day in office and their last day? [President 1st Day/Last Day Slides] The pressure of being the President literally ages you. The pressure of standing out is often what breaks our desire to stand out, because standing out requires us to carry pressure. And for many, they start out willing to carry the pressure because they’re excited and inspired, but as they get worn out, they change their desire so that they can get rid of the pressure. But I’ve come to tell somebody this morning that the pressure is part of it.

TRUTH. The pressure is part of your story with God and it was most definitely part of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s story with God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego get summoned with the rest of the entire nation of Babylon to this wide open plain. As far as they could see, there were people all gathered around this giant, golden statue. They’re commanded that, as soon as the music starts playing, they are to bow down and worship the statue, and anyone who doesn’t will be burned alive in a furnace.

Let’s slow down and put ourselves in the story for a second.

Everybody stand up for me. I didn’t have time to build a statue, but I am going to put a picture of a king up on the screen. When the music plays, I want everyone in here to sit down.

[Pick 3 random people in the crowd to stand back up]. Now you, you, and you, stand back up. Go ahead, stand up right where you’re at. Stay standing for a second.

So imagine being Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and hearing this. ‌ Now for most people, this wouldn’t be a big deal. But to the Jews, this is a HUGE deal. They live by God’s commands, and commandments 1 and 2 are:

- Don’t worship other gods

- Don’t bow down to idols ‌ Everything around them says bow, but everything in them says stand. So imagine, with nowhere to hide, in a crowd the size of a kingdom, the music starts to play and everyone around them, EVERYONE, including other Jews, bow down. Can you imagine the pressure? A whole kingdom is bowing and you’re 1 of 3 that are standing!

Can you imagine how much pressure you would feel to just shut up and bow?

Imagine how many people are looking.

Imagine hearing the sound of them whispering. That’s the kind of moment where the pressure of standing out gets so heavy that we just shut up and bow and do what everyone else is doing.

[To the 3 still standing] Y’all can sit down ☺️

But somehow, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego don’t bow under pressure, they stay standing, and sure enough, it stands out so much that it gets the king’s attention.

Daniel 3:14-18

Daniel 3:14–18 NIV

That’s a ton of pressure. There’s pressure to avoid standing out among the crowd. There’s pressure to please the king. There’s pressure to avoid the furnace.

And don’t you feel pressure to avoid standing out among the crowd too? Don’t you feel pressure to please the people in positions of authority in your life? Don’t you feel pressure to avoid pain and punishment? Of course you do. We all do. So if their pressure isn’t unique compared to ours, why are we still talking about it 2600ish years later?

We talk about their story because of how they handled the pressure in their story. It’s common for pressure to be a story-breaker. It’s the thing that breaks our desire to stand out. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s story proves that pressure can be a story-maker. The pressure is part of it! You could actually stand up and stand out under pressure. And I find that so encouraging because if their pressure isn’t that different from ours, then maybe their story doesn’t have to be that different from ours!

But if our story is going to be like their story, then we have to figure out how to answer the question:

When an entire kingdom around them was bowing, how did they stay standing?

There’s a 2 part answer:

1. They prepared for the pressure. 2. They had a picture in the pressure. Remember, this wasn’t the first story of them facing pressure. This is what Pastor Jason taught last night. When the 3 and their friend Daniel were somewhere between 13-17, they were captured, brought to Babylon, and enrolled in school. And in Daniel chapter 1, the 4 of them did something that no teenager in the history of the planet has ever done: they turned down an adult offering them steak and wine 😂 Remember?

Daniel, and by proxy, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego made a decision not to defile themselves with what was going on around them. Translation: they decided even if everyone else was bowing, they would stay standing. It sounds silly, but the truth is that you can’t handle the pressure to please the king with a furnace on the line if you can’t handle the pressure to please one of the king's minions with some vegetables on the line. Decisions that you make as a student effect you as an adult.

As adults, they were able to stay standing because they had prepared for it when they were students. But all the preparation in the world couldn’t prepare them for making that walk toward the furnace after they stayed standing. Preparation wasn’t enough, they needed a picture to keep with them in the pressure. And if that sounds weird or doesn’t make sense, it’s more intuitive than you might think. How many Marvel fans we got in the room? Let’s do some quick Marvel trivia: at different points in the MCU right before he’s about to step into an intense fight, what does Captain America do? He pulls out his compass where he keeps his picture of Peggy. [Background gif of Cap looking at his compass] Why does he do that? Because under pressure, the right picture will give you courage and strength. I believe that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had a “picture” that day in Daniel 3. And I think they got that picture from a piece of Scripture that they would have been familiar with – Isaiah 45:22-23

Isaiah 45:22–23 NIV

“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.

Look at the opening of Daniel 3 side-by-side with Isaiah 45 [Side-by-side slide]

Isaiah 45 paints a picture of a large gathering of people from all over the world bowing before God and worshipping Him. Daniel 3 paints a picture of a large gathering of people from all over the known world - Babylon - bowing before Nebuchadnezzar and worshipping him. I imagine that as the 3 were standing on the Plain of Dura it would have all seemed so familiar. And it should’ve, because Daniel 3 is a sort of counterfeit Isaiah 45.

The truth was there would be a day when there would be a large gathering of people who would bow down and worship a king, but it was not this day and it was not that king. And I imagine that picture of bowing to the right king gave them strength and courage to stay standing as the air around them got hotter and the pressure in them got greater.

The pressure was part of their story, but it didn’t break their story. Because they had prepared for it and they had a picture that helped them in it, the pressure actually helped make their story.

APPLICATION.

And what’s certainly true is that the pressure is part of your story. In fact, for some of you, the pressure feels like the biggest part of your story right now. But what if God could take the pressure that threatens to break your story and use it to make your story? What if you don’t have to shut up and bow and settle for what everyone around you is doing?

I believe God can and He will if we prepare and we get the right picture.

It starts with preparation. Prepare by not letting yourself off the hook in small decisions.

The 3 made a decision as high schoolers about what they ate. What do you need to make a decision about this weekend? Maybe it’s as simple as the decision to be part of WEDNESDAYS every week - even when everyone else just shows up if they have nothing else going on. What if you took preparing seriously by connecting with God’s people in worship, community, scripture, and prayer EVERY WEEK?

Maybe you need to decide to not sleep with your phone in your room - even when that’s normal for everyone else. What if you took preparing seriously by making it hard for yourself to fall into sin by looking at things on your phone you know you shouldn’t?

Or let’s take that further. What if you took preparation seriously by stewarding your body well and actually getting sleep instead of going to bed and scrolling for another hour and a half so that you didn’t start your spiritual battle every day already tired?

Maybe you need to decide to not watch a certain show - even though everyone else is - because it encourages you to entertain your thoughts of self-harm rather than talk back to the devil that’s lying to you.

The decisions you’re making right now matter. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stayed standing because when they were your age, they were preparing.

Prepare by not letting yourself off the hook in small decisions. And then get a picture to keep with you in the pressure. Preparation alone isn’t enough for the moment when there’s a furnace on the line. You have to have a picture you can hold onto that can give you strength and courage to stand under pressure.

RESPONSE.

What’s beautiful about Jesus is that He wasn’t a stranger to the pressure. The night before He was crucified, He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and Matthew 26:39 shows us,

Matthew 26:39 NIV

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

He’s feeling tempted to bow. But the beautiful thing is that we can now look back on the story and see that the pressure of that moment was part of it! Just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked themselves into a furnace, Jesus walked Himself to a cross. Why? Because He had a picture of us restored to God on the other side.

And in doing so, He went first in making a way for us to do the same.

And He left us a picture to keep with us in the moments where we’re tempted to bow along the way. That picture is communion. Right before He went to the garden, He introduced communion to His disciples. I think the timing of it was poetic. As the pressure around them was about to get turned up, He gave them a picture to keep with them. We don’t just take the bread and drink the juice because we’re hungry. It’s a picture for us to keep with us under pressure. It’s a picture to remind us of Jesus’ faithfulness so that we too can remain faithful. And in a moment, if you’re a follower of Jesus, you’re going to respond by taking communion and reconnecting to that picture.

But if you’re not a follower of Jesus, communion isn’t your picture. Don’t worry, there’s another picture for you. Your picture isn’t communion, it’s what communion points to - Jesus on a cross.

All of us have sinned and bowed to counterfeit kings. Romans says that the consequence of sin is death. You don’t sin without consequences.

Even though we were born as sons and daughters of God, we chose to leave home and be separated from our Father. Separation from God is what we call hell.

But God loved us so much that His Son, Jesus, left heaven, came to Earth and lived without sin for 33 years. Because He was without sin, He still had a perfect relationship with God and didn’t have to suffer its consequences.

But, He chose to willingly die by crucifixion on a Roman cross, and was resurrected from the dead 3 days later. By doing that, Jesus gave Himself as the payment to cover our sin and has made a way for us to have our sin forgiven and the consequences of our sin wiped away. We can have our relationship with God restored. You are invited to come home and be your Father’s son or daughter again.

Romans 10:9 tells you exactly how…

Romans 10:9 NIV

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

The book of Revelation talks about this using a picture of Jesus as the True King and hell as the final fire. Those who believe that Jesus is who He says He is - the True King, and bow their lives before Him avoid the punishment of the final fire that is hell.

And so my question is: which king will you bow to and which fire will you walk into?

There’s all kinds of counterfeit kings and counterfeit fires along the way. The key is to bow to the True King and avoid the Final fire. Which king will you bow to and which fire will you walk into?

That’s not a rhetorical question, right now you have the opportunity to decide. If you’re ready to bow to the True King, Jesus then in just a moment, I’m going to ask you to stand up.

And I’m warning you, everything in you will scream to stay sitting. You’re going to feel a lot of pressure when you think about standing up. But this is one of those moments where the pressure is part of it. 2600 years later, we’re still talking about what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did in a moment like this when they were your age. And I have a picture in my mind that for some of you, you’ll have grandkids someday who will be talking about what happens in this moment 50 years from now.

So right now, if you’re ready to bow to the True King, to be made right with God, and become a follower of Jesus, stand up.

Welcome home! Welcome back to your Father’s house.

Retreat, what does all of heaven do when 1 person says yes to Jesus and comes back home?

If you’re standing, I want you to go find your small group leader right now. They want to have a moment to celebrate with you and bring you with them to celebrate communion for the first time. So right now, you can move around the room - go find your leader.

If you’re still sitting and you’re a follower of Jesus, we’re going to take communion together with our groups. But before we do, I want to leave you with one more picture.

There’s a research project called Biosphere 2. It’s a 3.15 acre structure where scientists tried to create the perfect environment. [Biosphere 2 Slide]. Everything about the place is controlled to the nth degree. The original idea was for scientists to learn how to manufacture an environment that could be conducive to life on another planet.

An interesting thing happened inside of biosphere 2 - the trees kept dying. They would grow and thrive to a certain point, but once they got to a certain maturity, they would fall over and die.

Eventually, the scientists discovered that the reason the trees kept dying was because there wasn’t any wind. As trees grow up, part of what helps them grow big is that, once they get to a certain height, the wind starts to put pressure on the root system. As the root system starts to feel the pressure, it forces the trees roots to grow really, really deep. Deeper than the tree at that height needs. And because the root system grows so deep, trees are able to continue to grow, because of, not in spite of, the wind.

[Optional]

My prayer for you is that this weekend, you would get a picture of life with God where the pressure is part of it. And like Psalm 3 says, you would become…

Psalm 1:3 NIV

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

My friends, the pressure it part of it.

So with that, let’s take communion. Find your group, grab the elements, and let’s take it together. And would it give us courage and strength to remain faithful to the end.

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