THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
October 14, 2007
The Rev. M. Anthony Seel, Jr.
St. Andrew’s Anglican Church
Daniel 3:13-30
Fire Power
On a windy day in July 1994 on the appropriately named Storm Mountain in Colorado, smokejumpers parachuted in to fight a forest fire that was racing up the side of a small canyon. Smokejumpers are elite squads of firefighters who are the first responders to remote out-of-control wildfires. They go in at the most dangerous stage of defense against fires in isolated forest and grassland areas.
What had started on Storm Mountain as a typical forest fire was suddenly whipped by a strong wind into an explosion of heat and flame. Unlike almost everything else in nature, fire travels faster uphill than down. The smokejumpers stationed along a ridge were engulfed in a firestorm so unexpected and intense that escape was nearly impossible. Fourteen died on that ridge.
In a last effort at survival, many of them pulled their shiny, foil-like, fire-resistant emergency shelters over themselves and hugged the ground. Those flimsy barriers were no match for the fury of the Storm Mountain fire. [Homiletics, 1/8/1995]
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego didn’t even have that level of fire protection working for them when they were thrown into a fiery furnace because of their refusal to worship an idol. Their unwillingness threw King Nebuchadnezzer into a rage and pushed him to order them to be exterminated by fire. But he gave them one last chance to change their minds and behavior.
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?" Daniel 3:13-15
As seen in an earlier episode, Nebuchadnezzer is emotional and violent. He gives Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego a last opportunity to change their ways - if not, they will be cast into a fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzer states that no god can save them from this punishment.
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." 3:16-18
The three didn’t feel there was any need to respond to the king because they were
without doubt guilty according to Nebuchadnezzer’s decree; they can offer no defense that
will change that. But the God they serve is more powerful than the king of Babylon. He can
save them, they believe he will save them, but if not, they will still not bow down to
Nebuchadnezzer’s golden statue.
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated.
And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 3:19-21
The fiery furnace was a large smelting furnace constructed out of thick adobe. It had
a large opening for ore, a smaller opening for wood or charcoal and even smaller holes
for pipes connected to bellows to raise the temperature of the fire. It would also include a flue
or chimney. Nebuchadnezzer ordered that the furnace be made seven times hotter. This is a
way of saying that the king wanted the fire to be as hot as possible.
Today, the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management employ over 280 smokejumpers who are strategically placed around the U.S. including Alaska. They are flown in to fire sites and dropped by parachute with fire fighting tools and enough food and water for 48 hours. They are required to be in top physical condition, and to "possess a high degree of emotional stability and mental alertness" (www.fs.fed.us\fire\people\smokejumpers).
Last year (2006), they made nearly 2500 fire jumps (2497) with the most happening from their base in Missoula, Montana. The 63 smokejumpers assigned to Missoula made 310 fire jumps battling fires in the Northern Rockies and 191 other fires in the U.S. outside their region. On one mission, Missoula smokejumpers suppressed a fire that threatened 3500 acres near the Missouri River. It was a day that sported 100 degree temperatures apart from the fire.
[www.fs.fed.us\fire\people\smokejumpers\national-report.pdf]
According to the Canadian Forest Service, "An average surface fire on the forest floor can reach temperatures of 800 degrees Celsius. Under extreme conditions a fire can give off…
flame temperatures exceeding 1200 degrees Celsius" (www.nofc.forestry.ca\fire\faq] That’s 1408 degrees Fahrenheit on average with temperatures exceeding 2128 degrees Fahrenheit.
I tell you all this to give you an idea of how hot it was in the fiery furnace that Nebuchadnezzer sent Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into. To further pinpoint this higher temperature, consider this:
850° produces bright red heat
913° melts bronze
1083° melts copper
1200° produces white heat
1530° melt iron.
This gives you an idea of the normal temperatures inside a smelting furnace. Now, imagine it seven times hotter!
[Nebuchadnezzer] ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace.
Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. 3:20-23
The Babylonian soldiers were ordered to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the furnace. The three were bound fully clothed with outer garments including cloaks and hats. The furnace was so hot that it killed the soldiers as they pushed the three into it.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king."
He answered and said, "But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods."
3:24-25
Nebuchadnezzer questions his court officials and they confirm that only three were thrown into the furnace. Nebuchadnezzer is amazed because he sees four in there. What’s more, they’re all untied and walking around totally untouched and unfazed by the fire. Nebuchadnezzer exclaims that "the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods." Is this a theophany? Is this a genuine visual appearance of God? Or is it an angel? We’re not told, but what ever was going on it compelled Nebuchadnezzer to call Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego out of the fire.
Can God appear in a fire? Of course He can. Can God protect three of His own people who are thrown into a fire. Again, of course He can.
Many here are probably familiar with the Stress Test, also known as the Life Stress Test, or Life Event Stress Test, or Life Changes Stress Test. It goes by many names, but they are all based on the work of Dr. Richard Rahe, a renowned expert on stress-related illness. In Rahe’s assessment, we note the stressful events or situations in our lives in the areas of health, work, home and family, personal and social, and financial.
As you can readily see, there is overlap in these categories. Nonetheless, whether it’s an illness, problems at work, problems with a spouse, child, parent or other person, or any of a host of possible financial troubles, stress comes into our lives and disrupts our well-being. When the fire gets hotter, we respond, somehow, some way, and many times not in the best way.
The heat first gets turned up for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in our first lesson when they are confronted by a furious Nebuchadnezzer. But even in this trying circumstance, they remain faithful to God. How do we respond to our trying circumstances? Do we trust God and act accordingly when the heat is turned up in our lives?
The Stress Test lists 43 stressers, from Death of a Spouse to Divorce to Marital Separation down to minor violations of the law. Crisis happens, and even before a crisis hits us, other stressers inhibit our ability to function at our best. Our lack of faith inhibits God’s desire to who His power in our lives. Remember Jesus in His hometown? Look at Mark chapter 6, beginning in the first verse.
[Jesus] came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.
And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household."
And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
And he marveled because of their unbelief. Mark 6:1b-6a
Unbelief impedes God’s work; faith unlocks God’s power. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego declare to King Nebuchadnezzer that God is able to deliver them from the fiery furnace. Their faith unlocks God’s power - God’s power works with faith and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are delivered.
Fr. Bill Day ordered some booklets for us that are titled God’s Creative Power for Healing. This booklet was written by Charlie Capps. It is not precisely on our topic this morning, but it goes along perfectly with our gospel lesson today about Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers. In any case, this booklet is about faith.
Does God always heal in response to our faith and prayer? No. When God doesn’t heal, is it because we have deficient faith? No again.
Even Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said God could deliver them, but He might not do so. God is sovereign and God will do what best fits God’s purposes. Our part is faith. Believe in God and leave the results to Him. Act in faith and trust that God will do what is best.
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!" Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire.
And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.
Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. " 3:26-28
Because of the faithfulness of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego a pagan king named
Nebuchadnezzer praised the one, true God. What can your faithfulness do for those non-
believers around you?
Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way."
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. 3:29-30
God was honored in Babylon because of the faithful decisions and declarations of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. God also prospered their lives.
Where is the fire that God has called you to face in your life? For Jesus, it was the cross. He
lived His entire life on earth in the shadow of the cross. His life and teachings pointed to the
cross. Jesus did say about Himself, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served by to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45
Where is the fire in your life? No matter how hot, God is with you and He will protect you.
Your part is trusting in God’s presence, power and protection. Will you do that? Will you trust
in God in all things? No matter how high the heat? No matter how difficult the situation?
If so, you can say with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, "our God will deliver us." He is
able and our faith does work with God’s power for God’s good purposes.
