Pastor Slaughter
Reformation
October 27, 2024
Stand up in the Flames
Text: Daniel 3:16-28
Where do you take a stand? Those times where you don’t care what happens, you just have to speak your mind. Share your thoughts. You know those time where you take a stand on what you think or maybe what you believe, or what you value.
There are times and situations where we take a stand. We don’t worry about the consequences because we are just that passionate about it, because it is just that important to us that we just can’t stand the thought of anyone speaking against it. Family is a big one. Someone speaks against family you are ready for a fight. Sports teams. How often do people spend time defending our sports team when others take a jab? This comes naturally to us. It is almost instinctive to us.
Here is one of my favorite accounts in the Bible. Here you have Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego, who took a stand. Their stand resulted in suffering persecution. But not just being ridiculed and mocked, but they took a stance even when their lives were threatened by the fiery furnace. What was so important to them that they would take such a stance? What gave them the courage to stand firm in the midst of flames?
What was so important to them that they would take such a stance? To understand this we have to look at the context of the lesson. King Nebuchadnezzar had made a golden statue. 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide. He made a decree that when you hear the sound of all kinds of instruments, “you will fall down and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.” (3: 5b-6)
There they were. Three men. Faced with an terrifying situation. When they heard the sound of music, do they bow down and worship this golden idol? Well maybe not worship… maybe they could just bow down and make it look like they were worshiping the idol. Surely God wouldn’t be mad at them for pretending to worship the idol. Or they could stick out like a sore thumb among the group that bowed down when they heard the music and go and suffer the consequences, not only the looks from those around them for refusing to participate but also the fiery furnace.
What would you do if you were in their shoes? Maybe I should ask what do you do when you are in their shoes? We don’t face the persecution by the fiery furnace. But we do face persecution for the truth of God’s word. Because living our life according to God’s law is going make us stand out, look weird in the eyes of the world and maybe even look evil.
So what do you do? Do you join in and participate with sin so you are not the odd one out? Do you keep silent and pretend to go with it, to make life easier. I mean why not keep our faith private? It would be easier for friends and family. We won’t have to worry about broken relationships or being viewed as strange or different.
What was so important to them that they would take such a stance, to be willing to stand up in front of everyone, to be willing to go before the king and face his judgment? The king after giving them a second chance in his arrogance said, “What god will be able to save you from my hands?” Their response, “We have no need to answer you about this matter. Since our God, whom we serve, does exist…” What was so important to them that they would take such a stance? It was the simple fact that their God does exist.
What God do you serve? I really do think idolatry is at the heart of all sin. What are we loving more than God? And I think that the temptation of our idolatry comes out when we face persecution. Do we serve God or is our idol our reputation? Do we serve God or is the idol pleasure of participating in sin? Do we serve God or is the idol our relationships and keeping those instead of standing on the truth of God’s word. Do you see? We might not bow down to a giant golden idol, but we make pleasure or comfort or relationships our idol and we bow down to it by not standing on God’s word.
What makes God better than the other idols in our lives? For one, he the God that does exist. What has the true God done for us that trumps any false god in our lives? He gave us his Son. Jesus endured the persecution, the mockery, the torture, the crucifixion. He did it to take away the idols in our lives by giving his life, by forgiving us when we bowed down to other idols. He saved us by forgiving us. But this gift doesn’t just last for a moment. Or a week, or a year. It doesn’t simply just last for a lifetime. But it last for all eternity. Which gets us into our next question.
What gave Shadrack, Meshack and Abendago the courage to stand up to the king, proclaim God’s word, and face the fiery furnace. They said to the king, “Since our God, whom we serve, does exist, he is able to save us from the blazing fiery furnace. So, he may save us from your hand, Your majesty. But if he does not, you should now, your majesty that we will not sere your gods, and we will not worship the golden statue that you set up.”
What gave them the courage? I really think two things. 1) God has the power to be able to help them. The God who created everything, the God who rescued the nation of Israel from the had of the Egyptian, their God is the one who is in control. No matter how much power King Nebuchadnezzar thought he had God was in control. And isn’t there great comfort in simply knowing that truth.
Remembering and finding comfort in knowing that God is control, but I think there is something else that gave them courage. They did not expect God to save them. They did not receive a promise that he would spare them from the fiery furnace. They knew very well that the consequence of them not worshiping the golden statue was death. As they stood out among the people, they knew they could die. But trusted that they would live forever.
What can give us courage in the face of death? We could even say it is the same confidence that someone who has been diagnosed with cancer might have. That death isn’t the end. Our time doesn’t end with death. But we have eternal life! They lived their life knowing that they were going to live forever.
Sometimes don’t we view life like unbelievers. That is in the here and now. Live each day like it was your last, we say. Avoid pain. Avoid suffering. Find what brings you comfort. Do the things that make you happy. So often we focus on the here and now that we forget that God has given to us eternal life. We will life forever. That death is not the end of us.
So when faced with persecution, we can have courage. Those that persecute us, have nothing on God. Even when faced with the fiery furnace, we can stand on the truth of God’s word. Because our God has sent his Son to give us eternity. And no king or authority, or persecutor can take that away! Your eternity is secure in Christ and ins his power and grace.
God saved them from the furnace. The king in his anger had the furnace heated seven times hotter then normal which only would emphasize God’s power over the king. When the king and the leaders looked in, they saw four men. We don’t who this messenger is, it could be Christ, it could be a angel. Either way the king had to acknowledge he did not have power before their God and told them to come out.
Their willingness to take a stand for God and worship him only gave a powerful witness to everyone present. After seeing their courage and this miracle he acknowledge their God and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego, who sent his angel and saved his servants, who trusted in God and ignored the king’s command. They gave up their bodies and did not pay homage or worship any god except their God.” I am positive he never became a true believer looking at his history. But in his pagan way he was forced to acknowledge their God.
We take a stand on God’s word, and it serves as a powerful witness. When you refuse to join in sin, when you take those minutes to share God’s word with your family and friends, when you refuse your boss’ request that you work Sunday and miss church, when you tell your grandchildren of the love of Jesus, when we take a stance on God’s word, we serve as a powerful witness.
Yes we can expect persecution. Yes some people might look at the church or you and say they do more harm then good. Yes some people will insult us. Yes relationships may be broken. But these sufferings are only temporary when we view our lives as eternal. We will live forever in heaven.
Today is when we celebrate reformation. When we remember the past and see how Martin Luther took a stance on God’s word. Where his life was in danger for the truth of God’s word. But it is so much more than remembering a man. Reformation at it’s heart, is a reminder to return to God’s Word. To take a stance on the truth of God’s word. Where we can join men like Shadrack, Meshak and Abendago, reformers like Martin Luther, who found courage and comfort, in knowing that whatever may happen to them they have eternity waiting for them. Amen.