When we Lead, Others will see

Daniel 3:12-18

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Camp Sign Up and scholarship turn in.

This Sunday, is the desert auction if you are going to camp, you must be there to help serve the meal.

Youth night this Friday night. I will be ordering Dominos, because online orders for their speciality pizzas are half off!

Also, after services I need to talk to, not because you are in trouble, but the text i sent out this week. Vennie, Kylie, Dillon,

Introduction

Recap

In the last couple of weeks, we’ve been talking about how we live in our own modern-day Babylon. If you’re unsure what that means, let me give you a little background. In the book of Daniel, we see that the Babylonians have defeated Israel and have taken some of their people into exile. These Israelites are then forced to either remain faithful to the way God has told them to live or conform to the ways that Babylon says are best. If Israel is under God’s perfect rule, then Babylon is under man’s sinful rule. Babylon says that if you act a certain way, eat and drink certain things, and chase after certain things, you’d be happy. You’d have it all. But these things are the opposite of what God says is best for us.

So it’s easy to see that the world we live in today is trying to sell us the same story. We can be happy and fulfilled as long as we say, think, and do x, y, and z. But not only are those things the opposite of what God says we should do, but they also don’t live up to their promises whatsoever. They leave us feeling empty and unfulfilled. Just like the Israelites were living in a place that didn’t want them to pursue God, so are we. And just like the Israelites are forced to decide whether they will conform to Babylon’s way or remain faithful to God’s way, so are we. This is why we could say we live in a modern-day Babylon.

We’ve specifically seen in Daniel chapter 1 this moment where Daniel stepped up and “resolved not to defile himself with the king’s food or wine,” meaning he would not cave to Babylon and its ways. He MAINTAINED HIS GOD-GIVEN IDENTITY by remaining faithful to the Lord.

Then we looked at how Daniel decided to be a leader among his friends when the time came to make a decision. We finished last week with the idea that IN ORDER TO LIVE IN BABYLON,WE’RE GOING TO NEED LEADERS.

And in the last couple of weeks, we’ve referred to Daniel’s friends as just that...his friends. They were supporting role characters, but tonight they get their moment in the spotlight as we navigate chapter 3 of Daniel.

We are going to get the chance to see how Daniel’s decisions affected how his friends went on to make decisions of their own because of Daniel’s leadership.

Tension

Last week we were encouraged to step out and lead…but leading is hard because we aren’t sure anyone will follow.

And on top of that, leadership is scary. It makes me think of a time...

Optional Illustration: Tell a story about a time you did something scary because you followed someone braver than you.

a) Ex: I tell a story about a time I went to a Haunted House with some friends and how every time you have to go to a new room, the group debates who will go first, but once someone has gone first, the others always follow.

When people step up and lead, others will almost always follow. However, I believe that God calls us to lead even without guaranteeing that anyone will follow. Because BEING A LEADER ISN’T ABOUT BEING SUCCESSFUL. BEING A LEADER IS ABOUT BEING FAITHFUL. So we should always try.We shouldn’t let the fear of failure keep us from pursuing Jesus. I think that Paul, a guy who wrote many of the New Testament books, sums up what leadership looks like when he says, “follow me as I follow Christ.”

But even still, that can be scary. We’re scared people will think we’re weird. We’re scared we’ll be left out. We’re scared that something hurtful awaits us. We’re scared that God doesn’t have our best interests at heart. But mostly, we’re scared of loneliness.

Yet, God calls us to step out and lead.

a) And so, if we are going to lead from a position of faith, then the expectation is that other people will follow. Let’s take a look at Daniel 3 to see what happens when we take that first step out.

Scripture

In Daniel 3, the same king who saw that Daniel and his friends were not like the rest of his servants is still in power. However, he totally ignored the work that God did back in chapter 1, and by this point, this king had built a giant golden statue and called all the top officials of Babylon to worship this idol.

Now, in chapter 2, Daniel deciphers a dream for the king and earns a lot of favor. With that favor, Daniel gets his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, placed as officials over some regions of Babylon. So the three of them are some of the higher officials in the land. Which means they’re now being commanded to worship this idol too.

a) This is a massive conflict for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego because they only worship God. And God has clearly said that they should have no other gods before Him. That they should worship and bow down to Him and only Him.

b) To worship something else would be just as much of a compromise to their faith as eating the food of the king’s court that we dealt with the past couple of weeks.

c) To make the matter more drastic, the king has said that anyone who doesn’t bow down and worship the idol will be thrown into a fiery furnace and killed.

The verses immediately before the passage we’re looking at tonight say that these three Israelite men refused to bow down and worship the idol when the time came. All the officials were gathered together, and these three men were the only three people still standing when everyone was supposed to be worshipping the idol. So it’s pretty hard to miss their disobedience

So some of the other officials basically rat them out. They tell the king about how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego aren’t worshipping the idol.

So now they’re faced with the punishment of looking different and being loyal to God. We’ll be looking at their interaction with the king of Babylon after he finds out about their disobedience. Do you think that they’ve learned anything from Daniel’s leadership? Will they remain faithful to God, or will they conform to the ways of Babylon?

Read Daniel 3:12–18

“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.” Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 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? 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?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in…”

Every time I read this story, I’m amazed by the response they give to the king. In verse 16, it says, “we have no need to answer you in this matter….”

a) This is a powerful and bold statement. This is a statement that comes from a place of courage. It comes from a place that trusts God is faithful, loves them, and has their best interests at heart. They know that God is the One who will answer for them. God is the One who will be their defense. That’s why they have no need to answer. They’ve maintained their identity in Him, and because of that, they don’t feel pressured to follow the commandments of Babylon. They have the courage and strength to step out in faith, be different, and not conform to even the king of Babylon because they know God and His ways are better than any of those things.

To be fair, moments like these can be hard to relate to. Not often in our world will we be faced with death because of our loyalty to Jesus or made to give an account of why we are choosing to live a different way.

a) But there will be moments that you’ll have to choose to be different. There are moments when you’ll have to stand out because of what you believe. You may have to choose…

(1) to not fill up your calendar

(2) to not join a travel team

(3) to not go to a party

(4) to not pursue a dating relationship

(5) to not get physical with your boyfriend or girlfriend

(6) to not gossip about someone or use poor language

(7) to not drink or do drugs

(8) or any number of other scenarios

b) And in all of these moments, it might seem like the popular thing to do. And it might feel like the threat of not doing them would be the death of your social life, college career, or future. It might sound like…

(1) You won’t get that scholarship.

(2) You’ll never have friends.

(3) No one will ever love you.

(4) Why do you have to be like that?

(5) One time won’t hurt anybody.

(6) It’s okay to have a little fun sometimes.

(7) Or some variation of this…

c) While this might sound like a prison or like your worst nightmare, the truth is that it’s freeing. We can choose to do things God’s way and cling close to Him. We don’t have to give all the pieces of ourselves to the world, and we don’t have to provide an explanation.

Because these kinds of actions not only make us stand out as different, THEY ALSO POINT TO A GOD THAT IS UNLIKE ANYTHING ELSE THIS WORLD CAN OFFER

a) In our story in Daniel 3, the king almost mocks God by asking if Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego really believe He will rescue them. To the king, they would be crazy to believe such a thing! But the truth is…they do believe that God will save them! They might be seen as weird or crazy, and the king might even be asking something like, “Why do you have to be like that?”

b) But when God does save them from the furnace, the king has no choice but to acknowledge that they were right. These three men and their bold faith pointed the king of Babylon, the most powerful person in their world, to God.

c) So what we can learn is that we need to confidently believe that when we do things God’s way, at His pace, He will reward us in only the way He can. He will deliver us, and His name will be glorified. And best of all, other people will come to know Him.

The hopeful truth of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego’s story is that WHEN WE LEAD, OTHERS SEE, AND GOD IS GLORIFIED.

Application

There are two questions that I want us to ask ourselves as we get ready to leave.  

WHO’S FOLLOWING YOU?

a) When we follow Jesus, we can reach out into our worlds to people who don’t know Jesus and show them what it means to follow Him and only have one King. What it’s like to not have to conform to the rest of the world or just follow the crowd. We can give them someone to follow by following Jesus.

b) But the fact of the matter is that there are most likely people in our lives that look up to us that we’ll never know about. People who watch us to see what we do, what we say, how we act. If we’re going to be faithful followers of Jesus, then we need to remember this. We need to remember that wherever we are and whomever we’re with, we are representing Him. Live faithfully at all times and in all places so that no matter who’s watching, they see Jesus at work in you.

WHO ARE YOU FOLLOWING?

a) Just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego took their example from Daniel, we need someone who’s our own Daniel to show us the way. We need someone we can follow or look up to who is clinging close to God so that when we’re faced with tough decisions in our own lives, we can follow their lead. 

Gospel

We said earlier that Paul says to follow him as he follows Jesus. The beauty of the Gospel is that as we choose to follow Jesus with our whole lives, the closer we get to Him every day. And the closer we get to Jesus, the easier it is for others to follow in our footsteps that lead to Him.

When we realize that we’ve sinned and ask for forgiveness, Jesus restores us and redeems us in a way that puts together all our broken pieces and shows us a better way to live.

In that better way to live, when we truly live it, people notice that it’s different. They can’t help but be curious, and the hope is that they come along on our walk with Jesus and realize that He’s the answer to all their problems too.

So leading others in faith is not about having all the answers. It’s not about trying hard enough or doing enough things. Leading others in faith is simply about setting your focus on Jesus, following Him with your whole life, and inviting other people to join you along the way.

It may look crazy, and compared to things that Babylon says are true, it is! But we know that Jesus is the only thing that can come through on the promise of satisfaction, fulfillment, love, and true life. His way is better than all the kings and idols of our world.

Conclusion

Optional Illustration: Talk about a time you started a movement or were part of a movement because of someone else's leadership.

Ex: I tell a story about high schoolers in my youth ministry growing up who chose to be the water boys for our middle school football team. It was uncommon, but it set the tone for the whole youth ministry that high school guys chose to love middle school guys. A movement that helped younger kids come to Jesus.

If you were to take just one step of faithfulness and dare to be different, what movement might Jesus start in you? If just one person here decided to stand out and follow Jesus with all they have, I believe God would do incredible things that we can’t even imagine. But it all starts with taking the first step and trusting that God isn’t going to leave you hanging. It all starts with believing that Jesus really is better than anything the world can offer and deciding to follow Him no matter the cost. So what are you waiting for?

Let’s pray.