Exile 5

This morning we’re going to look at this fascinating story from the third chapter of Daniel. Now, I’m betting that many of you first heard this story as it was told to you when you were a young child. For those in a certain generation, perhaps it first came to you from talking vegetables. That’s how many of us came to hear about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And like so many Bible stories that we hear about as children, this is one of those stories that we never really pick up again as adults, because we think of it as a children’s story with a message only to children. But this isn’t a children’s story. It’s a dangerous story, really. The issues that this story focuses on are deeply challenging to even the most mature follower of Christ. And they are issues that intersect perfectly with the theme that we’ve been focusing on all throughout Lent - the theme of exile. And this thousands year old story about the fiery furnace of Babylon, teaches Christians today that for the glory of the Lord, we must cultivate an identity as exiles. We need to see ourselves as exiles, sojourning in a nation under human authority, but belonging to a kingdom under Christ’s authority.

And in this story we’ll see three reasons we must cultivate an identity as exiles. First, identifying as exiles protects us from national idolatry. Second, identifying as exiles prepares us to suffer for the name of Christ. And finally, identifying as exiles propels us in the mission of Jesus. There you go, I went full on preacher alliteration this week. Identifying as an exile protects, prepares, and propels. So let’s turn to Daniel 3.

So, the author sets the stage for us in the first seven verses. The King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, builds this 90 foot, gold-plated statue, and it represents the embodiment of the greatness and glory of Babylon. This was common practice in the ancient world: kings would erect these statues to serve as symbols of national identity and power.

And before you start thinking that this is something that happened only in these ancient empires, let’s draw our attention to the giant statue sitting in New York’s harbor. What is the Statue of Liberty? It’s a statue, but more than that, it’s a symbol of national identity and glory. It’s a sacred statue to our nation, and we only need to look to our movies to see that. In all our apocalyptic movies, when the director wants to really show the downfall of the nation, more times than not, they show the Statue of Liberty in some kind of ruin. Why? Because it’s a symbol of the greatness of our nation. So, I’m not saying that’s good or bad, I’m just showing us that this practice of having these symbols of national identity isn’t as foreign as we may first think.

So, Nebuchadnezzar builds this symbol of national identity and he summons all the government officials to come before it and bow down. This act of bowing down before this image is a declaration of allegiance to the nation of Babylon. Bowing down to this image is a way of saying that the nation gets to determine what is right and wrong. The nation gets to define what is success and failure. It’s a way of saying that the nation that this image represents gets to define my reality, which is why this act of bowing down is idolatry. Because it is a way of elevating the nation - with its power and culture and economy and values to the place of God.

So the heroes of our story make their appearance in verse 8, when some Babylonians call them out for not falling down and worshipping this national idol. In fact, they are accused of the trifecta: they pay no attention to the nation’s leader, the nation’s gods, nor the image of national identity. They are not declaring their allegiance, and their non-participation in the national idolatry is immediately seen as a threat. The king is furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and so he calls them in for questioning. And he ends up giving them the ultimatum: either they give their allegiance to the nation and conform to the exaltation of the nation, or they die. And see how he ends in verse 15, “Who is the god who will deliver you out of my hand?” Do you see the self-exaltation? The king is saying, “I am god to you. My authority is absolute.” But, look at how they respond, these Hebrew exiles, living in Babylon, verse 16:

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 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. 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.”

That might be the most polite rebellion, most tender act of resistance that you’ve ever heard. It’s not at all what you’d expect. They are so considerate in the face of this utterly cruel man. But notice what they say, “This isn’t up for debate. We do not believe that you are god. We do not believe that this nation is god. Our life or death does not change this fact. We serve the Lord.”

What we are witnessing from these three Hebrew men is the power of identifying as exiles. Identifying in this way gives us a foundation to resist the temptation to equate our national identity with our covenant identity, or what we might call our kingdom identity. There is always a temptation for us to equate our nation’s values, culture, power, and way of life with God. And what happens is we begin to align our identity and purpose along national lines, so that rather than seeking to grow and expand God’s kingdom to every part of the world as God’s people, we strive to increase the influence and glory of our particular nation, culture, and ideology.

But these men say, “No. The fact that we live in a particular place does not define who we are, for we are exiles. We may live in this kingdom under human authority, but we belong to and our loyalities lie with the kingdom under God’s authority. He is the one who sets what is right and wrong. He is the one who defines success and failure. He is the one who defines our identity, for he is our God, and we are his people.”

Identifying as exiles protects us from national idolatry. But it also prepares us to suffer for the name of Christ. You see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego hadn’t withdrawn from life in Babylon. Their resistance to the national idolatry didn’t mean that they packed their bags and created an alternative community out in the desert away from everyone else. No, do you know what these men did for a living? They worked for the government! I mean, talk about the exact opposite of withdrawing.They were living and working every day to make Babylon the best that it could be.

And yet, at the same time, though they sought its good and welfare, they were not on board with the exaltation of the empire. And throughout the history of the world, this kind of non-participation and non-conformity has always been seen as a threat. No matter how non-violent - think of the peaceful nature of their resistance in the story. No one would have even known about their non-participation had they not been ratted out by their coworkers. This has always been seen as a threat.

And when Peter wrote to Christians living in the Roman Empire, he knew this to be true. Which is why we said,

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Notice what he said. Continue being known for good and honorable lives amongst the nations, so that when people speak out against you (not if, but when they speak out against you). Peter is preparing these believers for the reality that being faithful to Christ means facing trials and hardship, because your allegiance to Jesus will always be seen as a threat by those who’s allegiance is to the nations. And how does Peter prepare them for this reality? By reminding them that they are exiles. They may live in a kingdom under human authority, but they belong to the kingdom that is under Christ’s authority.

And the hope that is generated in us by virtue of our belonging to Christ, that hope gives us the ability to respond to the evil that we face as exiles with good, in the same fashion of our king.

Question: Did God deliver Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace? Were they thrown into the furnace? So, in one sense, they weren’t delivered from it. They were not spared. They were bound and thrown into the fire, because they were unwavering in their loyalty to God. But, at the same time, they were very clearly delivered, because what we find is that even though they were thrown into the fire, we see that God had entered the fire with them. As Nebuchadnezzar put it, “One like a son of God had appeared with them.”

We can suffer the evil that we face in this world because we know that, as exiles, we belong to Christ, and Christ, the son of God, he has entered the fire with us. And it is precisely because of his suffering on the cross, that his kingdom proved to be victorious over every form of evil in this world.

And so identifying as exiles prepares us to suffer for the name of Christ. And finally, it propels us into the mission of Jesus. When we believe that the place where we live does not define who we are and what we do, but rather it is the person to whom we belong that defines who we are and what we do, our lives necessarily become motivated by his agenda to manifest the love of God in every nation on earth. Let me show you how that works.

When I live as an exile, I identify as a follower of Jesus, and I live according to his kingdom-ways, which is to love God and to love people. And as I love people, I naturally seek the best for my neighbors, my community, my city, and my country. But my motivation to do so is rooted not in an allegiance to Dacula or Georgia or America. It’s not rooted in a belief that my people are the best people. I seek the best for the place in which I live and the people I live among because of my loyalty to Jesus, and the whole world, this place included, this people included, is under his authority! It is his world, and I am called to contribute to the good of his world.

This is exactly the mindest that you gain when you go on a mission trip in another context, whether that’s overseas or even just to an unfamiliar city. When you’re in that foreign and unfamiliar context, you operate with the belief that the sole reason for your presence in this particular place is the mission of God. It’s to love and serve others. It’s to share and show the good news that Jesus is King, and his kingdom is one of self-giving love. That’s the primary purpose for your presence there.

Family, that is the our primary purpose for our presence wherever we are. Why? Because we are exiles. Christ’s kingdom is our home, and until it covers the earth as the waters cover the sea, this land is simply the place where we pursue Christ’s mission by loving God and loving people.

So, identifying as an exile protects me from national idolatry, it prepares me to suffer for the name of Christ, and it propels me into his mission out in the world. Family, we need to cultivate this identity of exile. And let’s be honest, living as an exile is harder for us today than it was for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It’s more difficult today. Those three men had a visceral and not too distant memory of being physically carted away into a foreign land, a foreign culture, under foreign rule. And that memory served as a constant reminder of their identity as exiles.

We do not have the same story. It is more difficult for us to distinguish between the place we live and the place we belong. And so we must ask the Lord for help in cultivating this identity of exile. We must ask the Spirit’s help in showing us the ways that we have idolized our nation’s values, history, culture, and glory. We must ask for the Spirit to to show us the ways we’ve equated our national identity with our kingdom identity, and the lines between country and covenant have been blurred. We must ask that the Lord would teach us how to share in his sufferings when our faithfulness to Christ and his kingdom is seen as a threat by others. When we are ridiculed and called out and even put in physical danger. We must pray that we’d see how Christ is present with is in that fire. And we must pray that the mission of Jesus become our way of life. That we’d come to believe that loving God and loving others is the reason we live where we live and work where we work.

Family, we need to pray, because this is a real challenge, even for the most mature of believers. But our God is with us in this fire. Let’s pray.