The Consumption Crisis

Daniel 1:8–16 (NIV)

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.

Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel,

but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”

Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,

“Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.

Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.”

So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.

At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.

So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.

Introduction

I heard in a study that some of the most content people in the world are in their 60’s.

I think the reason for that is they’ve lived long enough to see the ups and downs of economies, they’ve experienced life and they aren’t shaken by experiences that might rock a person in their 20’s.

But I think that if there is one thing that about getting old that is hard to process is how our bodies start to reject certain things we eat.

You might like milk, but milk doesn’t like you back.

You used to be able to eat cheese, but now you can’t.

You used to be able to eat shell fish, but now you can’t.

The things you used to consume with ease, you can no longer consume.

And I want to apply that this morning to our text.

Text

When we pick up with Daniel, Mishael, Hananiah and Azzariah, they are having to make a choice in Babylon. The custom was that because they ate from the King’s Table, they would consume the food that the King ate. While that sounded like a good idea for most people, to have the best foods and best wine, this presented a problem to the Hebrew boys.

These boys knew that the meat that they served was meat from the animals that were used in sacrifice to their false gods. They would offer these animals as a sacrifice, and the meat of these animals were used for the King’s meals. This presented a major problem to the four Hebrew boys because this was considered a sin under the Jewish laws of their time.

These boys had to make a choice about what they would consume.

Everyone say consume.

And so they decided not to eat the meat, and go on a strictly vegetarian diet, and prove themselves to the King.

You are What you Consume

In the natural, you are what you eat.

I heard someone say, “You’ll never look like a million bucks eating from the dollar menu.”

Ouch! Point made! I will stay off the dollar menu at Jack in the Box.

But there is a spiritual application that I need to draw you into, and the spiritual application is that you are what you consume.

The shows that you watch

The music that you listen to

The friends that you run with

The influencers you follow

The blogs you read

The accounts you follow

All of these things are what you are consuming. You are feeding yourself a steady diet from these places and they are either making you More like Jesus or they are making you More Like The World.

So I ask again, “what are you consuming?”

Jude’s Cookie

The Herrera household will forget Heart & Soul 2022 here at Lighthouse, and it is for all of the wrong reasons. My son Jude has a peanut allergy, but he loves cookies. My son loves him some cookies.

Well, Ms. Jerry decided to bring a tray of cookies to Heart & Soul and so we set these out on the various belly tables set out that night. It didn’t take long for my son to learn that there were delicious cookies at the church and so he ran to the table, reached his little hand up and grabbed the first cookie within arms reach. He didn’t look at the cookie, he didn’t ask his parents for permission, he just grabbed the cookie and shoved it into his mouth.

What kind of cookie to you think my son with a peanut allergy grabbed? A peanut butter cookie.

So next thing you know my son is vomiting in the bushes of the church. My wife has to run out of the church to get him home and get some Benadryl in him. He’s swelling up, he’s scraping his tongue, we’ve got him in a cool bath, and the rest of the night is gauging wether or not we can get this reaction under control or take him into the emergency room.

It’s Not a Coincidence

And the same way my son consumed the cookie without asking questions many of you are consuming what the world is putting in front of you without asking,

Is this good for me?

Will this make me more like Jesus?

Will this cause me to compromise my convictions?

And if you are not careful you will find yourself consuming something that was placed in front of you on social media and you are going to find yourself spiritually sick becuase you ate the world’s cookies!

Not too long ago there was a family that called the church office and wanted a Pastor to come over right away and pray for their home. They told me, “we feel a negative energy, a negative presence in the house and it’s freaking us out.”

So there I go… I grab the oil, the cross, the garlic, the silver bullets, anything I could find. I walked into the house like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Sorry, that’s a very bad 90’s sitcom reference.

I took some oil and bible and in we go.

By the way, this is South County in case some of you are wonder who the family was. I rebuke that inquisitive spirit right now in Jesus name...

I sit with guy, we read scriptures, and I begin to pray over him and I pray over his home and I’m anointing the doorways of the home, and then I’m done. Or at least I think I am done...

So I get to talking to him and I start asking him why he feels like there is a negative energy in the house. He goes on to tell me all about the steady consumption of horror movies he and his family enjoy watching. He’s telling me about the Exorcist, Friday the 13th, Chucky, The Chainsaw Massacre.... and he’s telling me all of this with a twinkle in his eye.

This guy had a love language of horror films.

So right then and there I want from being Nice Pastor to Mean Pastor.

I went from Jesus holding the baby lamb, to Jesus flipping over the tables in the temple.

I told him don’t you dare watch another horror movie in this house again. The reason you are feeling bad spirits in this house is because you are inviting them in! You can’t play with fire and not expect to be burnt. I told him if you ever watch those movie again, I’m not coming back. We’ve prayed over your home, we’ve blessed the doorways, we spread garlic over the floors… I’m kidding, there it is again…

But in all seriousness I told him I won’t come back. I will not come back.

It’s a Choice

I said it last week and today I will say it again, “chose you this day who you will serve!”

You can’t play with the devil during the week and expect to live under the blessing of God.

When do you make a choice?

Right now.

Tell your neighbor, right now.

You don’t make a stand for something when you are given the opportunity.

Your convictions are made in private before they are known in public.

You need to decide what you will consume, or the world will decide for you.

Scratch that… the world has already decided for you, and if you are going along for the ride without questioning what is being put in front of you, you are going to end up eating from the worlds table.

Social Media has made a choice, Big Tech has made a choice, Culture has made a choice, Influencers have made a choice, and they have decided to push the Spirit of Babylon.

But where are the Jesus followers who will push back and serve notice on the Spirit of Babylon and remind them that we serve a name that is higher, we worship a God who is greater, we belong to a church that is unstoppable, we are filled with the Spirit that is powerful, and we live in a Kingdom that never loses.

Where are my Jesus followers that will say of the church, “the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

We already know that in the end the church will be victorious. But what you have to decide in advance is what will you consume?

Holiness

So as we read on in the story, we find that the Hebrew boys’ decision to separate themselves from everyone else in Babylon caused them to move the heart of God, and God caused, everyone say, “God caused,” God caused the official to show the boys favor and compassion.

Who caused it? God

Why?

Everyone say Holiness.

Holiness still moves the heart of God.

The four Hebrew boys decided to be holy.

What is holiness? To be separate, or exclusive, for God’s purposes.

That’s all it means.

I think holiness has fallen on bad times becuase so many people taught that holiness was a dress code or a list of rules. People who adhered to the dress code were better than those who didn’t. It became a self-righteous spirit that went so far as to teach that people are saved by their holiness.

Here’s the theological error in that argument - holiness was never to be used as an attempt to justify ourselves. Your works, your dress code, or your positive behaviour will never be enough to save you.

You cannot add to what Jesus already did for you on the cross.

And do you remember what Jesus said when he was on the cross? It Is Finished.

What does that mean?

It is finished.

So there’s nothing we can do to add to what He has already done.

What we do and how we live is in response to what He has done.

We are saved by grace through faith. We place our faith in Him by choosing Him above all else. That will lead us to repentance, that will lead us to receiving him and that will lead us to living for him. That’s the simplicity of the gospel.

Now, beyond that, there should be a desire in you to “come out from among this world and be separate.” That is holiness.

And when we do that, I believe that it will continue to move the heart of God.

Why?

Because I am a father. And I want to give good gifts to my children. And I also want to see my children make daily choices that align with who they are.

Holiness isn’t us demanding anything or deserving anything, but it is us walking in what the bible calls, “the newness of life.”

Because of God’s love for me...

I’m not going there

I’m not watching that

I’m not smoking that

I’m not drinking that

I’m not talking like that

I’m not exposing myself to that

I have received the grace and the goodness of God, and I want to live a life in abundance.

I want to live a life that honors God.

I want to live a life that pleases the Father.

This is what the Hebrew boys were doing with their lives, and when they did this they were shown favor and compassion.

Let me read to you how the rest of the story turned out for them

Daniel 1:17–20 (NIV)

To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.

The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service.

In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

Listen to me Lighthouse - you will make some choices that aren’t culturally popular when you make them, but when you stand on the word of God, and when you stand on the promises of God he will never fail you!

He will open up doors that cannot be closed.

He will make a way when there doesn’t seem to a way.

He will lift you up when man tries to bring you down.

Let me hit you with some truth...

If man lifts you up, man can bring you down. But if God lifts you up, no man can bring you down.

Conclusion

Let me close by bringing you to another passage of scripture that highlights this truth about God.

Luke 2:51–52 (NIV)

Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

This scripture is the punctuation mark to the time when Jesus was 12 years old and remained in the temple in Jerusalem when the rest of his family got caught up in the festivities of Passover. You see, Jesus’ parents and his family got caught up with all the stuff that went on during the Passover in Jerusalem, but they didn’t prioritize their time in the temple the way 12 year old Jesus did.

At 12 years old Jesus was being set apart. He didn’t let his age limit him.

He consumed life in the temple. Discussing the scriptures. Being present with the teachers.

Right now, decide the life you want to live by shaping the things that you are going to consume.

We want our lives to honor God!