Standing Firm
Title: Standing firm when the heat is turned up and the cost is great
Introduction:
Over the last week, 20 odd leaders went to SYC. We had 57 young people of all ages at the camp. It was a long tiring week. Leaders took time off work, sacrificed income or money they had to pay for the camp + other expenses on top that came out of their own pocket, sacrificed time and energy, even sacrificed holidays just to serve at SYC. Many of the leaders were also sick, but they were committed even if it cost more then what they could give. To see that young people hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Their commitment and sacrifice in the end brought glory to God and built his kingdom. Our Christian life will not always be like SYC, it may not be as intense, stressful and draining. It may be ordinary and sometimes boring especially if you don’t do much in your free time. SYC is one week; our life time is much longer so choosing God over the things in this world will mean commitment and sacrifice, for some people it means their lives.
Many non-Christians and Christians will fall over one thing:
Point 1 – The stupidity of man-made religion
How would it feel taken from your home, taken away from your families and everything you have been part of? Put in chains and taken to a foreign land. Daniel and has friends are forced into a foreign land exiled and alone. They are forced to take up new names, under a foreign King with a personal agenda. From Daniel 1 Everything looks bleak for them, it seems that they will lose their personal identity and then must take on new Babylonian identities, by the end of the 1st chapter we see God working behind the scenes and it all works out in the end in Daniels favour and God is made known through his actions through Daniel. Now we are up to another episode of this exciting story.
Walking through the streets of Babylon the boys would have been in awe of the greatness of this city but they would have also been ashamed of the pagan practices and the worship of the many gods through the streets of this great city. The Jews worshiped one God Yahweh so this would have offended and disturbed them.
Life wasn’t as bad as expected, but still difficult being a Jew in a city like Babylon. Especially being a Jew in authority.
Da 3:1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
Da 3:2 He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up.
Having gathered them Nebuchadnezzar’s herald loudly proclaimed
“This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language:
Da 3:5 As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
Da 3:6 Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
There is a hint of humour as these verses repeat themselves through the passage. The author is making a mockery of the Babylonians. Great Babylonians that bow to a statue when they hear different musical instruments playing, to a Jew this would be hilarious and a stupid thing to do because they are not worshipping the one true God – Yahweh, they are worshipping a man made image. The point of the message is clear. It was hard living in Babylon and believing in the true God. Living in Babylon meant living in a world apposed to the people of God.
Two choices faced these young men: They could compromise, letting go of God by becoming Babylonians, or they could hang on to God and risk their lives and success. When they looked harder at Babylon and its false religion they knew that there was absolutely no choice. Anything else was not just a denial of truth and of their identity and was also stupidity. Man made religions are foolish. Many other parts of the Bible will make idol worship a mockery and God punished his people on numerous occasions throughout the OT not to mention it being the first and second commandments in Deuteronomy-
Dt 5:7 “You shall have no other gods before me.
Dt 5:8 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything
in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
Dt 5:9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.
Of course the young men in our passage knew all this. No matter how many musical instruments were played, they could not fall down and worship the image Nebuchadnezzar had made. The boys stood up for what they believed in even if it meant that they will lose their life. They trusted that God was the one they should worship and he will rescue them, but even if he does not they still will not bow down to the image.
In the world today there are many man made religions to choose from – Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam just to name a few and many idols to worship like money, success, sex, ambition, career or possessions.
As God’s people Christians – we know that there is nothing as ridiculous as a man made religion, no matter what name it goes by. There is no choice but to commit ourselves to the real God and to the reality that comes through his Son, Jesus. As Christians we know that it would be foolish thinking that reality can be found in money, sex, pleasure, possessions, or careers.
Only belief in the one true God is where the true reality is found.
Moving to my second point..
Point 2 – There is commitment and cost to the true reality
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did a very difficult thing. In the 1st chapter their rebellion was discrete and not in front of the king. In this chapter they displayed obvious disobedience and defiance in his face. They knew they had to do it and were convinced that it was worth giving up their lives rather then worship a false God. Taking this step they did the only thing remaining. They trusted in God even though they had little hope of rescue.
Nebuchadnezzar burned with anger –
Da 3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual
Da 3:20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.
Da 3:21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace.
Da 3:22 The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,
Da 3:23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
The writer is stressing the tension of this intense situation with his descriptions, the king’s command was urgent and heat of the furnace affecting the soldiers. The guys are in a terrible position, there doesn’t seem to be much hope for them keeping their lives. If we read the OT well we will know that God rescues especially when he has been challenged and defied. Somehow we know God will act but when and how?
The next part of the passage shifts focus to Nebuchadnezzar, something seem to be happening in the furnace –
Da 3:24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, O king.”
Da 3:25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
The term ‘son of the gods’ was probably just a way of saying something supernatural or something that can’t be explained. What was to be understood through the presence of the ‘son of the gods’ was that somehow God is present with these men. He had sent help and rescued them.
Da 3:26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire,
Da 3:27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
Da 3:28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
The focus in the beginning of the chapter started with the king, here the focus changes back to God the most important person. The one who protects and rescues:
They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. The satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisors who bowed before a false image crowed around to see the work of the real God. The chapter concludes with the same king acknowledging the power of the greater king and praising him.
Each of these men knew that there was a cost to be paid. Living for God in Babylon meant persecution and suffering, at some stage. Those who desire to live godly lives will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12). The important truth is that no matter what happens to the godly, and Christians even today God is with us. It doesn’t mean he will save us from suffering now, God does not promise this even though God can rescue.
It’s never easy being a Christian in our world. Being a Christian means you are distinctive. You stand out as being different in your beliefs and practices. Christians are odd people, somehow out of place in the post modern world. We are people who by our words and actions seek to bring others into the knowledge of our God.
But what are the alternatives?
Become a part of Babylon?
Becoming post-modern in our thinking?
People who live primarily for there salary cheques, offering favors’ to your boss for promotion or prestige. Living under fake masters like ambition, careers, possessions and their own little kingdoms at the cost of a relationship with God and true, vital relationships with other people.
Man made religion is foolish. Christians know that the alternatives are not part of the true reality. Committing yourself to the true God is costly, and it may even cost your life.
Point 3 – The price has been paid and the comfort we now have
For many Christians around the world being a Christian may cost their life, wealth, friendships, and families. When you commit to Jesus as ruler and rescuer, he is your no.1 over everything even your family. Jesus knew that this commitment was costly. Seeing it through the life and death of Jesus, the true reality was leading to cold hard nails and a cross so that Jesus could take the burden of mankind upon himself – sin.
There is a cost paid for reality – Daniel and his friends almost lost their lives many times due to persecution and standing up for what they believed, many Christians today know that being a disciple of Jesus costs everything including family, friends and wealth.
But it cost God a whole lot more, it cost God his Son dieing on the cross to take our punishment that we deserved so that we could inherit eternal life.
It is better to be a cancerous, disabled Christian now then to be a mega healthy, fit non-Christian who refused to see the reality. Both people will die, but Jesus promises eternal life to those who trust in him. So the Christian will be with Jesus in heaven forever, he or she will experience no pain, no suffering, a new resurrection body and hope in this life to live as God intended. The other who rejects Jesus will suffer eternity away from God; there will be no hope for them in this life or the next.
For those of us that have decided to follow Jesus, it means being assimilated into God’s kingdom and we are already paying for the cost of following Jesus.
Even though there is cost, it comes with overarching comfort that God will stand by us if we stand with him through his son Jesus Christ. In time Jesus will come back and all stupidity and foolishness will be shown for what it is and everyone will be judged.
Footprints in the sand:
Conclusion:
For some of us the situation will be in the office, workplace, amongst student friends and the cost may be our reputation, friendships, promotions, jobs and income. For others it would be in the face of persecution and possibly death or torture. Reality always comes with a price and Jesus has paid that price so that we can experience that reality. Jesus will return and he will end all stupidity, sin, suffering and hopelessness.
If God called us to suffer for being his, he will stand with us as he did with others even those in the OT. He will walk with us like he did with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
Pray