COURAGEOUS FAITH ENDURES
"And they lived happily ever after"! Like so many novels that end that way, the end of chapter two of Daniel intimated that everything was going to be alright now that the lives of the four Jewish young men had been spared . . . and why not?
Daniel and his friends had been rewarded with prestigious positions of honor in Babylon. So it is rather shocking to learn that almost immediately thereafter these same faithful Jews are once again in trouble with the same king - Daniel 3:13-18 . . .
What happened to those devoutly religious Jews in this situation is sort of like a parable of what often happens to "good people" whose commitment to the Lord is evident in every aspect of their lives . . . Practicing one's faith openly incurs the wrath of secularists who jealously guard and resist perceived threats to their immoral standards. In such a society:
When "good people" make the mistake of assuming everything is okay . . . feel free to be the faithful servants of God they have always aspired to be . . . practice their faith unhinderedly, evil rears its ugly head - in many different forms - and seeks to thwart their efforts, take away their freedoms, and threaten their very existence. Such was the case with Daniel and his friends.
Lessons we learn from the fiery furnace ordeal can indeed be applied to us today . . . to difficult situations we as Christians may find ourselves facing in the current cultural war on Christian beliefs and moral values!
Understand, Nebuchadnezzar was not asking these devout Jews to deny the God they worshipped. He was "asking" (ordering) them to give his pagan gods and his golden image equal reverence. Compromise their convictions!
Such thinking is prevalent in contemporary culture. There are folks who vow and declare that in the 21st century we ought to practice syncretism - a coalescence of opposing beliefs, principles, and practices which we would syncretize (reconcile) into a new conglomerate of religious beliefs for the establishment of a new religion.
The idea is that we could establish a new "religious system" by combining the "good" parts of all religions, formulating them into a new doctrine that would require constituents to accept the notion that "God" is a generality rather than a personality, and that the worship of God can take any form anyone chooses.
I misunderstood Pope Francis on his visits to Cuba and the USA, but much of what I observed looked to me as if he may have unwittingly "played into the hands" of those who hold worldly views . . . What I DO understand is what the Apostle Paul declared to the Corinthians - 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 . . .
Folks: The consequences of adopting a "worldly point of view" is made clear in New Testament theology; for example, Paul to the Colossians: "alienation from God, enmity toward God at least in one's mind, unwittingly condoning evil behavior!"
The flip side of the coin of "consequences" gives us the second lesson we learn from the fiery furnace ordeal: Daniel's friends' refusal to adopt the worldly views of Babylon illustrates that faith with courage accepts the consequences of remaining faithful to God rather than adopting pagan ways of life under pressure.
In one of the high points of the Old Testament, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego courageously stood firm in their absolute faith in and loyalty to God, regardless of the possible negative consequences.
What they told the pagan king ought to be inscribed on the minds and in the hearts of all Christians on the face of the earth: "We believe our God is able to deliver us . . . If not, so be it . . . What you rulers of darkness need to understand is this: We will not serve your 'gods' whatever forms they take, or worship your idols. Amen!" Lesson learned: Faith is acceptance of God's Will regardless of the result!
Faithful Christians do not trust in God only when success and prosperity abound in their lives, as if to say, "We will bow down if our God saves us, but if he does not, we will try another god." No! They were confident about what God could do, but they were not presumptuous to say that God would do. To do or not to do would be up to God.
For Daniel, and for all other true and faithful servants of God, one's faith is nothing less than commitment to God's way regardless of where it takes them - victory over evil in the here and now, or through trial to victory in the hereafter, believing with all our hearts that God's Way always triumphs - as it did when an angel of the Lord preserved Daniel's friends in the midst of a fiery trial, as it did when Christ arose from the dead, as it will when we all get to heaven!
The third lesson we learn from the fiery furnace ordeal is that faith in the LORD God is a safe path to follow. We don't know what tomorrow will bring any more so than the non-believer, but we do know we have a security that paganist thinkers and doers may never experience.
Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon's officials saw . . . recognized . . . witnessed with their own eyes what the Most High God worshipped by Daniel and friends - not only could do, not only would do, but - did do - Daniel 3:26-28 . . . "Nor was a hair on their head singed!" Protection - from the Evil One who would destroy not only bodies but souls - is the Promise of the Holy One in whom we trust!
How much more graphic can God make it to us than to impress upon our minds that "Nor was a hair on their head singed"? "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me!" Amen!
Folks: God's deliverance of His servants from the fiery furnace is not meant to suggest that if God does not deliver us immediately during our times of distress then it must be because we did not have enough faith.
As we heard in the earlier confession of these three devout Jews, faithful believers trust God whether God delivers them or not. Yet, we can be sure: God is aware of our faith; God does, at His appointed times, bring blessings to our lives in the here and now, most certainly the blessing of all blessings in the hereafter.
What we need to take away from this miraculous act of deliverance is that God is present with us in our most difficult of times and circumstances. Therefore, nothing comes between the faithful and the Lord their God. To be faithful to Him is to be willing to give our all.
Although the three heroes of our story emerged from the flames unscathed, and the same can be said of so many faithful servants of God throughout history, things don't always work out that way.
German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, for example, a leader in Germany's Lutheran Church, spent most of the 1930s battling Nazi influence that had made its way into the church.
As a man targeted by the Nazis, he was persuaded by his friends to seek refuge in America; so he set sail for the USA in June of 1939 only to go back to Germany a month later, his reason being that God had compelled him to be a voice of truth in the face of Nazi deception and lies: "I have come to the conclusion that I have made a mistake in coming to America," he wrote a friend. "I must live through the difficult period of our national history with the faithful Christian people of Germany."
But when all was said and done, Bonhoeffer did not live to see a spiritual reconstruction in Germany. Convicted of plotting to assassinate Hitler, he was imprisoned and was executed just days before the war ended.
Sometimes courageous stands for God end for better, sometimes for worse. Those who remain faithful to God no matter what the outcome might be in this life already know what the eventual outcome will be. It will be worth it all when we see Jesus!
Said Jimmy Carter after being diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to his brain: "I feel it's in the hands of God, whom I worship, and I'll be prepared for anything that comes."
Let our Prayer of Commitment be: "O Lord, may I be ready and willing to stand for You in ways that bear witness to the world that I love You more than life itself; may I be prepared for anything that comes." Amen.
