You Can’t Reason Away Integrity

Introduction

This is our first Sunday of the month, which means that we have all our children 1st grade and up present with us for the entirety of the service.

Today I’m going to be speaking from a story that many of the kids are probably familiar with, and it’s the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the Burning Furnace in Daniel 3.

About a month ago our school had a chapel service where we spent extended time in prayer, worship, and reading through the first 6 chapters of the book of Daniel.

It was a really powerful time, and since then, I’ve been going back over those chapters in my personal devotions, and also have been going through a chapter a week with the youth.

There are many takeaways you can get in the book of Daniel, but what has resonated the most with me lately is the integrity that’s on display in the lives of four young Jewish men.

Specifically in the story of Shad, Mesh, and Abed and the burning furnace.

We need integrity today.

Personal lives

In families

In churches

The way the world is setup, it can make doing the right thing very difficult at times.

And that is one thing that these three men have in common with us. As captives in a pagan culture, Godly integrity was something that needed to be fought for.

But they showed us that it is possible to walk with Christian integrity in a culture far from Godly.

The title of my message is….You Can’t Reason Away Integrity.

If you have your Bibles, turn to Daniel 3:18

While you are doing that I’m going to invite Caleb Bomgardner who is one of our 5th graders here at the church, to come up and pray for the sermon and the rest of the service.

Invite Caleb Bomgardner to come up and pray.

Backdrop Summary

The story we are looking at in Daniel 3 is one that many of you are probably familiar with.

In it, three men named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (say 3x) are threatened with death by fire if they don’t bow down and worship a golden image that was erected by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar.

Just to give a backdrop to these men’s lives, we first hear of them in Daniel 1:6

Daniel 1 - The book of Daniel opens up with King Nebuchadnezzar, taking over Jerusalem and taking the people of Judah as captives.

Judah was part of the Israelite nation (God’s chosen people).

Amongst those captives, the text follows the story of 4 young men in particular…..Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

These young men were anywhere from 15-20 years old at the time they were taken captive.

Good looking, educated, and part of the royal family and nobility.

Neb took these young men captive and turned their lives upside-down.

It’s believed that they were most likely made eunuchs….so their manhood was taken from them.

Their identities were erased.

Their Jewish names were replaced with Babylonian names that were nods to their pagan gods.

That’s how Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah became Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

And they were to be educated in the literature and language of this empire for 3 years before serving as advisors to the pagan King.

But even in the midst of all this, these four men display integrity and obedience to God.

And because of this God blessed them with wisdom and understanding, so much so that at the end of Chapter 1, it says that King Neb found them 10x better than all the other advisors/magicians/enchanters in the kingdom.

1 Corinthians 1:27 - But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

And you see that at play here as God takes the captive young men, and gives them a voice that is more potent than everyone else around them.

So Daniel 1 sets up this narrative of God blessing the obedience and integrity of these young men.

Daniel 2 - Then in Daniel 2, this becomes even more clear.

Neb has a dream that leaves him very anxious and troubled. He knows there is some kind of significance to it, and so he does something unheard of.

He calls all his astrologers and magicians together to interpret his dream, but to first tell him what his dream was, and then interpret it.

They said it was impossible, so he commanded that all the magicians, astrologers, advisors in his kingdom be killed.

So Daniel finds out about it, and sets up an appointment with the King, and God reveals to him what the dream was and what the interpretation wass.

Because of this, chapter 2 ends with Daniel being promoted as a ruler in Babylon, and as the chief magistrate over all the wise men of Babylon.

And then at the request of Daniel, Shad, Mesh, and Abed are appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon.

It’s believed that they may have even been put over provinces where many of their fellow captive Jews were living.

So once again, obedience and integrity to God is opening up doors of opportunity for these men.

Daniel 3 - So now we get to Daniel 3.

In the first several verses of Daniel 3, Neb sets up this golden image (representing his glory and power and the power of his gods), and commands the people to bow down and worship it.

But these three men refuse to do so and this is where we pick up reading in Daniel 3:8-18

Daniel 3:8-18

Scripture Text

8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans (meaning the astrologers and magicians) came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9 They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. 11 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Just a note here on the accusers that came forward.

The accusers are well aware of the circumstances in which these Jews were appointed to office and they resent the king’s promotion of foreigners over their heads. Now is their opportunity to gain the favour of the king by revealing treachery. Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary (b. Three Jews Protest (3:8–18)

They are jealous and are using this opportunity to gain favor with the king, and to try and get rid of these three men.

Here’s what we have to realize in this story…..it wasn’t Neb that promoted these men to these positions….it was God who, because of their obedience and integrity, promoted them.

And that’s why these Chaldeans were jealous and looking for an occasion to maliciously accuse them because….they were supposed to be the trained, elite ones, wise ones, strong ones.

But once again….God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

You see God working like that all throughout history. The submitted always do greater feats than the mere talented.

This entire ministry….Summit, Times Square Church was founded by a man that took a step of faith in obedience that seemed absolutely crazy to those around him, but God blessed it.

As Christians, we have to realize that obedience and integrity, will open doors for you that human reason never will.

That is something these accusers couldn’t understand.

13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Main Point

I’ve always loved how how unhesitant and how deliberate these men were in response to the King.

It’s like “I will kill you in a very painful way if your don’t do this”, and they are, “Yeah, we’re not going to do that.”

“our God will deliver us out of your hand, but even if he doesn’t, we will not bow our knee to serve your gods.”

These men weren’t concerned with preserving their own lives.

In one sense, what do they have to lose?

Their manhood was taken.

Their country and homes were taken.

They’re being forced to live in a foreign land.

What else could they take from them other than their life?

They had kept their integrity through all that, so what is giving their life?

But what resonates most with me in this story is their refusal to reason away obedience and integrity.

Think of how Shad, Mesh, and Abed could have done this.

These three men were not just random captives in Babylon.

As we have talked about, they were in leadership positions

Advisors to the King.

Leaders of a province or district.

They had good opportunities before them.

They were in a very strategic position to be used by God to help their fellow Jews in captivity because of the influence and resources they wielded.

Esther is an example of someone God used to turn the heart of the pagan king of her time to help save her people from annihilation. They were in a similar position.

Given the position they were in…..

Internal Dialogue (I can imagine how I might try to reason away integrity if I were in their shoes)

I need to do what is best for my people.

I have influence with the King. I’m in a position to help my fellow Jews.

If I don’t bow, I take what is only a passing moment, and jeopardize the future of what could be many more years of influence with this king.

I have to compromise my values temporarily for a greater good.

I can’t squander the opportunities God has given me in this place.

There are bigger fish to fry.

In the long run, the strategic thing to do would be do bow my knee and get past this moment.

Plus….Everyone else is doing it….bowing down.

This is just the way the world works, and what you need to do survive, let alone get ahead.

I’m just being realistic. I’m just being practical.

God will forgive me.

He knows my heart….my allegiance is to him.

My outward expression might fool these pagans into thinking that I’ve complied, but in my heart I’m only loyal to Jehovah God.

Plus, even though the Bible says otherwise, I prayed about it and felt this was the right course of action.

That’s what it would sound were you to try and reason away integrity.

If these three men were to have taken that route, they would have been using human strength, reason, and strategy to try and protect what God blessed because of integrity.

But because they were men of integrity first, they made a choice that very well could have ended their influence and opportunities in Babylon.

Now the story doesn’t end that way…we aren’t going to read the rest of the story, but….

It concludes with these 3 men being thrown into the fire, and God does a miracle and they aren’t harmed whatsoever.

And Daniel 3 ends in a very similar way to chapter 2….with Neb recognizing the power of their God and promoting Shad, Mesh, and Abed.

But even if that wasn’t the case…..even if they did burn in the fire, and lost everything…it still would have been the right decision.

Because if you reason away integrity enough, eventually you don’t even need a reason any more, it just becomes your lifestyle.

Telling one lie, which becomes two, which becomes three.

Application

Most of us have never been and maybe won’t be in this kind of death and life scenario, but we’ve all probably had those times where we knew the right thing to do, but made excuses, or wanted to make excuses.

Story of stealing something at Walmart

We would pay if it weren’t for my dad

It’s not like it’s going to hurt anyone.

Just in case your wondering “Josiah, in your integrity, did you pay Walmart back?”

I’m happy to say that I did.

15 years later when I was shopping at Walmart, I was accidently charged twice for something I bought.

and didn’t complain at customer service….now we’re even.

But we can be very good at trying to reason away what we know to be right.

Examples: (For…)

Pastors

As the church grows, and God blesses you as you minister to more and more people, the temptation becomes to water down Biblical teachings in order to avoid controversial issues and conflict in order to maximize church growth.

I can reach more people.

It might mean getting rid of certain language because it is considered hate speech, and might cost the church its’ tax exempt status, or worse, get me in trouble with the law.

Business/Workplace

Compromising on Biblical principles, because you’ve worked hard to get to where you are at, and you just need to do this get ahead, maximize profits, or gain a competitive edge.

Relationships

I know what the Bible says about sexuality and marriage, but dating has changed, and even amongst other Christians, the Bible’s views on this stuff is considered outdated.

I’ve gone the route of integrity, but if I really want to get in a dating relationship or get married, I’m just going to have to be willing to adjust Biblical values to make it happen.

Friendship Relationships

For the young ones in the room and those that go to school.

It might look like joining the crowd in the way they speak and act, even if it means doing and saying things you shouldn’t, because you want to fit in and make friends.

School

I know AI generators writing my papers for me is cheating, but I’m not the only one. Besides, what is the point of technology if we can’t benefit from it?

If I’m not spending time writing papers, I have more time for prayer and reading the Bible.

You fill in the blank

These are just some examples, but you fill in the blank.

This world needs people with integrity.

I’ve fallen short many times….I’ve reasoned away many times….but I pray God let me live with the kind of integrity we read about in the book of Daniel.

I’ll close with this:

Closing

Now I realize we live in a world where things aren’t always as black and white as bowing or not bowing before an idol.

But part of living with integrity also means we exercise prudence and discernment.

Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 10:16 “16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

I love what one commentator said about this:

Sheep in the midst of wolves are in constant danger, and have no capacity for self-defense; they depend on the shepherd. But they are not to be like sheep in their attitude. Their vulnerable position demands that they be wise and prudent. Christians are not to be gullible simpletons. But neither are they to be rogues. Innocent demands not naivety, but an irreproachable honesty. The balance of prudence and purity will enable Christians both to survive and to fulfil their mission to the world.

Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary (iii. Instructions for Their Mission (10:5–16)

What does the next step towards integrity look like for you?

I would like to close by praying for two things specifically:

Two things:

Pray for those who have been making excuses, but want to get that right.

God is merciful and gracious….your life and the impact He can have through you is not wasted because you’ve made mistakes.

You don’t have to have a perfect track record for God to be glorified in your life.

Many of the most impactful men and women in history, made immense mistakes, but it means repenting and taking that step towards integrity.

Pray for those who face hard situations, are like sheep in the midst of wolves, we’re going to pray God wold make you wise and innocent.

Pray for strength to continue walking in integrity and obedience to God. Pray for prudence, wisdom, and discernment.

Come forward as we go into this song, and then we’ll pray together.

Sources

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/can-you-begin-by-the-spirit-and-be-completed-by-the-flesh