Sacrifices Required to “Obey God Rather Than Man”
Grant S. Sisson
Written April 30th, 2010
I have always been so very proud to be an American. I remember the day I was first eligible to vote. I have participated in many elections over the course of my lifetime. I have never missed a major election, save once – when Edwin Edwards and David Duke ran against one another for the governorship of Louisiana. I abstained from that one, because both candidates were so completely disgusting, morally and ethically.
But in that I am just saying that I have always been a proud citizen, proud that my country has always stood for the cause of human rights and has always been ready to make whatever sacrifice was necessary to further the cause of freedom. Protections against oppression are even written into our basic legal documents – “The government shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, NOR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERSIZE THEREOF.” Combined with our Constitutionally guaranteed rights of freedom of speech and freedom of religion, we seemed to be protected legally. In fact, our Forefathers were so concerned that some future tyrant might attempt to oppress the people that they wrote into the Constitution the Second Amendment – the right to keep and bear arms – so that we, the people, would have the power to throw off anyone who might attempt to oppress us. These things are to be proud of.
It is built into the American psyche for at least four hundred years to fight for what’s right, to keep on keeping on, to outlast our enemies for the sake of our children, even to die for our right to be free. Patrick Henry said it best: “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”
[Patrick Henry also said, “Fear is the passion of slaves” (think of that one in context of the health care “debate”).]
Civil disobedience is a part of our heritage. From the Boston Tea Party, to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, to the Tea Party movement of today, we as a people have demonstrated that we will take a stand for what’s right, even in the face of being charged with violations of the law. Mohatma Ghandi’s entire career was based on peaceful challenge of immoral law. More than that, civil disobedience is a part of our Christian heritage. What did Paul and Silas say when ordered by the civil authorities not to speak in Jesus’ name? “Give me liberty or give me death”? No, even more to the point than that. “We ought to obey God rather than man.” And that one sentence, which resonates down through the ages and speaks to us at this time in American history, establishes a basic Christian doctrine; while we are to respect and obey our rulers, when they violate God’s law we are to peacefully resist at whatever cost – even that of our very lives.
And that is the story of Daniel and his three friends. I have suggested that we start with whatever issue is at hand and make a stand; that’s what Daniel and his friends did when they refused to eat the King’s food. Even with the kosher thing, it wasn’t a big deal, because Jewish law said that it was OK to eat non-kosher foods in case of life or death, but it was a big enough deal to make a point, that point being that we will respect and obey our rulers, but when it comes right down to it, we will obey God rather than man. It was a big enough deal, and early enough on in Daniel’s career in Babylon, to put the King on notice that they would adhere to God’s laws, with an eye toward the future when the pressure to conform to pagan society most surely would be worse. And so I have said that we should take stands in our lives, gently but firmly, and refuse to kow-tow to oppressive thoughts and ideas merely to keep the peace. We need, like Daniel, to learn the signs of the times and to prepare ourselves spiritually for future possibilities.
We all have to decide where to draw the line in our own lives. Many might say that Daniel drew the line a little early, taking a chance with his life over a minor issue. My wife picked up on the fact that I was “out of sorts” on Friday as I was finishing this sermon, and she challenged me. “You know what? I can still be a Christian in a socialist country. It would be sad, and it wouldn’t be like it was before, but God is still in control, and I would still be saved.” I thought about that for a while. I understand that she hasn’t come to the point that I have, and I respect her for her feelings. She’s got to decide where she’s going to draw the line. She is concerned that I miss out on too much of what she thinks is important in life by, what’s her word, “obsessing” over what’s going on in the political realm. But we all have our point. I know Ann well enough to know that she would resist fully and immediately, and resist even to the point of blood, if one of her grandchildren was threatened. That’s just a part of her – that decision has already been made. I know that we have not come to the point of “resisting unto blood.” I hope we never do. But I think we can all see that, left unchecked, where we will be as a nation in the not-too-distant future will be not too pleasant. Ann challenged me over my civil disobedience stand earlier Friday and said, “You’re going to wind up in jail.” Without hesitation I immediately replied, “I may very well.” If it comes to that, I hope she’s ready.
So we in America are really at the point Daniel was when he first got to Babylon. We have just now begun to see what our socialist neighbors are like; Daniel had just met the opposing forces and was getting to know what kind of world he would be living in. We today find ourselves in the crosshairs of a distinctly anti-Christian group of folks who have attained political power, and we know that we’ve got to take control of our country, and our lives, back. We have that opportunity to begin that process this fall. In the meantime it would be good to decide where our lines are, and begin acting like that’s where they are. Taking small stands, like refusing to listen to foul joking or succumb to someone saying, “Just this once” and getting used to being known by worldly people as “prudes.” Taking the heat for saying that homosexuality and abortion are sins. Refusing to do things that we really don’t have a problem with ourselves, but that cast the church in an unfavorable light. Telling people that the evil things done in the name of Christianity over the years are not representative of Christ or His teachings – because the early part of Daniel’s story was not the last of it.
Daniel was successful in impressing the King by his physical health and by his God-given ability to interpret dreams, and the King promoted him above all the other wise men of Babylon. That’s what happens when we rely on God; He provides for us in many ways. But the intensity of the oppression did not end because Daniel stalled the King at the early part of his life, when things were not so bad. In Daniel chapter three there is a particularly chilling story that we know as “The Fiery Furnace”. It happened that in the course of things King Nebuchadnezzar set up an idol, and the rule was that when the music played everyone had to bow down and worship. It doesn’t seem that this was anything unusual, nor was it aimed at the four Hebrews. It was just something that pagan people did.
And so it is with us. When we live under the power of those who do not respect Christ, and are not of the same values as we are, at some point they will impose something on us that we cannot conscientiously abide. At some point there will be a rule that violates our principles, one that is so serious that we cannot capitulate. And if we have not been used to watching our step, if we have not disciplined ourselves to walk with God, if we’re not used to taking the heat for unpopular stands, when the pressure is really on we will stumble and fall.
I used to travel a lot when I worked in the oil patch. That’s a hard life, being away from the family so much. I got really tired of having to attempt to discipline my kids on the phone – it really is just not the way to do it. And there are other problems too. I am blessed by a wonderful wife, one who loves me and our children dearly, but she has a kind of weak spot around the idea of trusting people much. And so I realized that if we were going to make it through the time of our lives when we had to be apart so much that I would have to let her see my trustworthiness in every way I could. So I made it a habit to watch for inappropriate feminine “body language” so that I would not get caught up in something that would damage my marriage.
And boy, am I glad I did. I would tell you a story about how this sort of preparation helped me avoid temptation, but which one? The time I went to Houston for a supervisory development school and a very pretty young lady I’d never seen before sat down at my side in the hotel lobby and began “chatting”? Or the woman playing the piano in the lobby of another motel who invited me to follow her up the elevator at the conclusion of her performance? At these points it was either stand firm or lose everything – and being unprepared is not an option. If you wait until that point to make a decision you’re done. I was really glad that I had begun the discipline of routinely watching for the very appearance of evil, so that I would not have any last minute decisions to make.
And so it is with making our stands in this evil world we live in. There will come a time when we will either stand firm, or capitulate. The issue will be big enough that we cannot avoid it any longer. It will be either do, or die. Daniel, with his friends, disciplined themselves for real trials with the food issue; and then when the fire got hot they were ready.
Literally. Here’s the story. King Neb had set up the idol, and played the music, and the four Hebrews were ready. They already knew what they’d do. There was no decision to make. They had made that decision years before. They refused to bow down or worship the false god. It wasn’t like they made any big deal of it, but neither did they try to hide it. They just did what they had to do. And then the tattling began! Daniel 3:12 says that “certain Chaldeans” accused the Jews to King Nebuchadnezzar. “There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, Oh King, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.” Can you hear a bit of jealously in that? “Whom YOU have set over…the province…”? The King was furious. He called them in, scolded them soundly, and gave them another chance to worship the idol, or suffer death by being cast into a furnace. And here is the do or die time for the Hebrews. If they had not prepared themselves in advance, what do you suppose would have happened? And let me ask you this: if we were in their position, with the spiritual preparation each of us has made to date, what would WE have done? With the scent of fire in your nostrils, would you be able to say, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He WILL deliver us from your hand, oh King. But even if He will not, let it be known to you, oh King, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
What would you do? Men, when you are at a friend’s house, or all alone at home, and the computer porn sites call your name, what do you do? When your wife is completely unreasonable, and she henpecks you to death, and you get a call from someone who invites you to go drinking, what do you do? When you hear someone accusing and blaspheming the Church of the Lord, and they say that they can’t believe anyone could go there and be with all those hypocrites, what do you do?
These men gave their lives to God, even at the point of a most horrible death. With the preparation we have made, can we stand up even against the verbal assaults we hear every day? Literally thousands, if not millions, of men and women have died over the years for the cause of Christ. If you found yourself unexpectedly looking down the barrel of a .45, would you, like Cassie Bernall, be able to say, “Jesus is my Lord, and I WILL NOT turn my back on Him”. Would you, COULD you, be there for Jesus like that?
And so I encourage us all. Decide who you are. Decide to wear the name Christian even when the times are rough, and I mean really rough, not just when you are away from the church building. Begin this very day to draw your line. Make some decisions, then discipline yourselves to stick with it. Do it in little things, before the big things catch you by surprise unprepared.
It is a big thing to be a Christian. For too long people have thought that Christianity was not a big deal, because our example has been to go to church on Sunday and live like the Devil the rest of the week. Don’t be that kind of Christian. Jesus told the church at Laodicea, “I would that you were either cold or hot. But because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.” Don’t be caught unprepared. Be ready, and even if your life is cut short you will live. Be ready, and you will hear the Lord say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter ye into the joys prepared for you.”
I think we all need prayer. I think it would be wise for us all to talk to each other, to challenge each other, and to pray with and for each other.
And if you’re not a Christian, its time to count the cost. It’s time to make the decision. It’s time to decide whether you want to live for a time now, or live for an eternity later. Because those who choose to live for a time now will find that existence in eternity no life to live at all.
Will you give your life to Jesus? Will you come?
