FAITH FOR EXILES: LIVING IN BABYLON
RIGHT MINDSET
DANIEL 3:17-18, ESTHER 4:12-14
INTRODUCTION… Right Mindset (p)
There are certain activities and events and things that we do that you absolutely need a particular mindset to do.
I happen to think that a fighter pilot needs a certain mindset. You want someone calm cool and collected, skilled, and also a little full of themselves with a tad bit of crazy. Maybe that is from watching too much Top Gun as a kid, but I would think a successful jet pilot needs to think and be a certain way.
Working at Chick-fila produces a particular mindset (https://blog.gomindset.com/chick-fil-as-secret-sauce). ChickFilA trains their employees on a simple four-part model when serving customers. First, make eye contact. Second, smile and strive to see the customer return a smile. Third, engage personally. Fourth, every ChickFilA staff member has the unilateral power and they are encouraged to offer complimentary food in an attempt to make a customer’s day better. Now I have you thinking about ChickFilA on a day when it is closed. My pleasure.
Being Humpty Dumpty’s doctor takes a particular mindset and the ability to accept limitations. You have to know that Humpty Dumpty is going to fall at some point and there is nothing you can do or no specialist you can call in to put him together again. The mindset is accepting inevitable failure.
A mindset is a way of thinking that can be developed and shaped by experiences, but overall shapes how we view our world and how we shape our lives. We are talking about the right mindset for a believer in Jesus today as we live in a culture that does not encourage faith in Jesus Christ, but rather discourages faith in Jesus. The right mindset for a believer in Jesus is formed by the Bible, experience with God, and viewing our lives and the lives of others through the wisdom God teaches. Not all mindsets are the same.
TRANSITION/SERIES REMINDER
Today we continue a 5-week sermon series (2 of 5) that will focus our attention on a basic truth that not all of us want to admit. We no longer live in a Christian nation and we are living in a land where God is not the priority and just about everything in our culture is designed to pull us away from God. If you are a ‘believer in Jesus Christ’, you are absolutely living in a foreign land. We do not live in a nation rooted in Biblical values, but rather we live in Babylon. Babylon has a completely different mindset than what is presented to us in God’s Word for those of us who are citizens of the Kingdom of God.
I want to again briefly share with you what I mean by… “we live in Babylon.” I do this because part of living in Babylon means people attend church services once a month and they believe that is ‘regular church attendance.’ Chances are some of you did not hear the first message.
In the Bible and in the world, Babylon was a real place. Babylon began in Genesis 11 with the building of the tower of Babel which was an actual tower that people tried to build in order to take control from God. Babel was that place where people on purpose tried to replace God. In the Book of Revelation and in other prophetic books in the Old Testament, Babylon became a symbol of a society that marches to the beat of its own drum away from God and away from His way of living. We live in Babylon.
In this 5-week series, we are going to focus on the life of a believers in God who were forced to live in Babylon and draw from his life principles for us. He lived in Babylon. She lived in Babylon. We live in Babylon. They were pulled away from God. We are pulled away from God. Along the way, I hope we will be able to discern more clearly how our society is changing away from God and how we can apply Biblical principles in your life to live faithfully in a society that only pulls you away from Christ.
WE LIVE IN BABYLON
I cannot explain to you all in one sermon how it is we find ourselves in Babylon and what that looks like, but I will explain this idea little by little each week. We will come to understand that we live in Babylon and today we will dig into Daniel chapter 3 and Esther 4 to find the right mindset for living in Babylon.
ILLUSTRATION… FAITH FOR EXILES (Kinnaman & Matlock, pages 21-24) [adapted]
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ living in the United States today you are caught between two ways of living. There are two ways at war in our society and they most of the time do not get along and do not mesh.
The first way is what is described in the Bible as the way of life in God’s Kingdom. A relationship with God is prized as well as morality and purity and the desire of God to redeem whole families and neighborhoods and for everyone to come into His Kingdom. Believers in God take their definitions of life from the Creator. Believers in God look to Him for answers to vexing questions about life because life is confusing! This first way roots identity and sexuality and politics and money and raising children and all aspects of life in the purposes of God and follows His designs.
The second way is against the purposes of God. The prevailing attitudes and collective values and assumptions about human purpose are not based on God’s Word or God, but rather on self. Babylon teaches that we cannot live with people who are different than us because those people are intolerant and must be punished. Babylon says that sex and sexuality is defined by us and the movements of our own hearts. Technology and the opinion of the masses and the loud minority teach us how to live wisely.
We are caught between two ways of thinking that are at odds. Our culture tells us that now and immediacy is all important, snarky humor is ok, being addicted to wasting time and being distracted is good, follow your heart, and we must be conscious of our image. Not all of those are compatible with Christ-centered living and so we find ourselves living in Babylon.
TRANSITION
We are going to look at two passages today as we think about living in Babylon. Both of these passages describe people who are at odds with the culture in which they live. They need a particular mindset to persevere and endure and make their way each day. The first passage is Daniel 3:16-18 and the second passage is Esther 4:12-14.
3 BOYS AND A KING: MINDSET OF ASSURANCE IN GOD
Our first passage we find Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego caught between what their faith in God tells them and what the king of the land tells them. The Kingdom of God says one thing and Babylon says another. King Nebuchadnezzar sets up a large statue and everyone is supposed to bow down and praise him and pray to him. It came time to bow down and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not. Everyone is bowed down but them.
They felt that they could not and should not.. Their values based on the Word of God stated that they should have no other gods before God in Heaven. Their beliefs stated that they should not worship idols as gods or pray to anyone or anything else other than the God of Heaven. You and I know those beliefs as part of the 10 commandments. I want to be clear on this that this is a big deal. Bowing down to another so-called-god is a big deal. It is a line that God drew in the sand that believers in Him should not cross. This was not minor pressure, but a major deal.
The values of Babylon in which they lived stated that the king was to be worshipped and prayed to and you were to tow the line or you would be punished. You are to worship as the king commands. The king and the state come above religious beliefs. The punishment was pretty severe in that they would be tossed into a fiery furnace to end their lives. Any punishment that ends your life is severe.
How did they respond?
READ DANIEL 3:16-18 (ESV)
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 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. 18 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.”
What does their response to King Nebuchadnezzar tell us about their mindset?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had a mindset of assurance in God. Everything in their culture was telling them to bow down to idols and pray to a false god and yet they could not. They remained faithful to Truth. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had assurance that God would deliver them from the trial. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego also state that even if they are in the midst of punishment and perhaps are not sure of the outcome, they still will not bow down. They anchored themselves in God and assured themselves of His faithfulness. They will be faithful because they believe God to be faithful. That is powerful faith. I personally believe their statement of their assurance in God is the most profound statement of faith in the whole Bible.
APPLICATION
What we are talking about with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is not theory. It is not theory for us! This is practical living based on being sure in God in Christ. You and I are living in Babylon and we are encouraged and told that adopting certain beliefs or values are no big deal and yet those practices and beliefs draw us away from God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego teach us to side with God and be assured that He is right. He is correct.
Now, I am not talking about things that do not matter. I am talking about in the major no-room-for-debate areas in which we are caught in the middle.
Authority of the Bible and the presence of Absolute Truth
Abortion Rights and the Rights of Newborns
Definition of Marriage and the Epidemic of Living Together (cohabitation)
Gender Fluidity and Same Sex Attraction
American Politics and its damaging mix with Christianity
Racism and Black Lives Matter and White Privilege and Social Justice Issues
These things matter in our society and it matters what we believe and how we act. It matters that we are yoked with God and not with the culture. God must dictate what and how we believe about these issues and we must be assured that He is right and good and correct even when our culture tells us we are wrong and evil and incorrect. We must side with God even if our own hearts tell us otherwise. There is a passage in the New Testament that illustrates this principle that the principles of God and our secular culture… do… not… mix.
READ 2 CORINTHIANS 6:14 (ESV)
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
On the level of the context of the passage, we see that a Christian and a non-Christian do not need to be in a dating or romantic relationship or marry one another. That is what this passage means in context. If you are a believer in Jesus, seek a believing spouse. Period. That is what the passage means from the Apostle who wrote it to the people who received it.
On a slightly bigger view, we see that God’s people living in Babylon are going to be at odds with the culture because we have little in common with the culture. Those folks who claim the label ‘Christian’ and have much in common with the culture I would argue are pretenders. The Apostle Paul says that God’s Kingdom is at odds with the culture.
MINDSET
Our mindset must be that we stand our ground with God and be assured He is right. This mindset is not based on emotions or experiences, but rather on God, His faithfulness, and the Truths presented in His Word.
TRANSITION
ILLUSTRATION… Right Mindset (p)
We are talking about mindsets today. A mindset is a way of thinking that can be developed and shaped by experiences, but overall shapes how we view our world and how we shape our lives. There are certain activities and events and things that we do that you absolutely need a particular mindset to do.
I would think that if you are Superman’s workout partner you would need a certain mindset. He is just always going to be stronger and faster than you. When he wants to go out and stop a locomotive or leap a building in a single bound, you just have to know that you have hit your limits. Your mindset might also be to allow him to push you so you workout well and enjoy having a superhero friend.
Being a call center employee absolutely needs are particular mindset. I did this job when I was first married and then again, a few years ago before moving here. I have found that after two hours or so of talking to rude stupid people on the phone that I tend to get rude back. I did find that in the 20 years between my call center jobs that I did indeed grow as a person. A call center mindset is one that expects rudeness and must always respond with kindness, a nice tone, and the ability not to hang up the phone.
If you are a tailor and you make the emperor’s new clothes, you must have a mindset that you will never see your handiwork and chances are the emperor will never like the style. Not seeing the results of your work takes a particular mindset. It is a mindset that enjoys the background and serving and knowing that skill is not always seen immediately.
We have seen one mindset with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and their assurance in God. We find another important element of our mindset when we look in on a woman named Esther.
1 UNCLE AND A QUEEN: GOD PLACED ME HERE
Our second passage, we see that a young woman has won a beauty contest and has become the queen of all Persia. Persia was the successor to Babylon in the Bible. The people of God were still in exile and still facing a culture that opposed them.
In Queen Esther’s day, a government official named Haman hated the Jews and wanted them all dead. He and Hitler would have been good friends. Queen Esther’s uncle Mordecai uncovers the plot to kill many many Jews and he tells the queen about it. His niece is a Jew and also the Queen of Persia.
Esther has no idea what to do. She does not know what to say. Because of the way the royal court is set up, Esther cannot just pop in and see her husband the king. She could die. She has a monumental task to get to the king, uncover the plot, all the while not dying. Her culture and the values of the people she was a part of were literally going to kill her. She sent her uncle a message and said she wasn’t sure what to do. She doesn’t know what is right or wrong and she needs wisdom.
What did her uncle tell her?
READ ESTHER 4:12-14 (ESV)
And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
What does Mordecai’s statement to Esther tell us about their mindset?
Mordecai understood and shared with Esther that she was where she needed to be because God placed her there. She needed to be an influence not far away, but right where she was at. God placed her there. Her mindset should be to discern God’s will and influence the people around her and not be concerned about anything else.
Verse 14 shares with us that Mordecai believed she was the queen to be the one who would defend the Jews. She could be silent. If so, God would raise up a deliverer from somewhere else and His will would be done. He encouraged her to be part of God’s will right where she was and to discern the right path.
APPLICATION
What we are talking about with Mordecai and Esther is not theory. This is practical living. It is not theory for us! You and I are living in Babylon and we are encouraged to make a difference for Him where He places us. Queen Esther is exactly where she needs to be so that she can discern what is best for her people and lead them through troubled times. Everything in her culture was about to flip and millions of Jews would die. She had to discern what to do and how to do it. She had to discern God’s will.
You are right where you need to be. In your family. At work. In this church. In this community. With that team. In that class. Being part of that group. Leading that study. We live in a world that is complicated and anxious and many times calls for us to live unwisely.
How then are we to lead? How do we find wisdom? How then are we to make a difference in our family and at work and in our community when it seems like everything is pressuring against faith and Christianity and right moral living. It is getting more and more difficult to be a believer in Jesus.
The question of ‘how’ reminds me, in a round about way, of a passage from Acts 17. The Apostle Paul arrived in a town called Berea and the people of Berea responded to his message in a particular way that to me answers the ‘how.’
READ Acts 17:10-12 (ESV)
10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.
Paul came to the people in Berea and shared the Gospel. Immediately they went to the Scriptures and saw that what he said was true. The important truth to see in this passage as we combine it with our other thoughts is that God’s Word is that way to discern what is right and what is wrong. God’s Word is wisdom.
You and I will face stress-filled situations because God has placed us in our family, at our work, in this church, in our community, with that team, in that class, and are a part of that group. We are not to bury our head in the sand or hide under a rock, but we are to have the right mindset that God has placed us where we are and we will look to Him first for wisdom. That is what Mordecai told Esther to do. That is what Esther did. A resilient disciple of Jesus will anchor themselves in the Bible and allow the Bible to dictate how they discern truth in the world.
MINDSET
Our mindset must be that God has placed us where we are to seek His wisdom from the Bible and to then share that wisdom with those around us. We to this with gentleness and respect and know that our culture is in upheaval.
APPLYING THE RIGHT MINDSET
Our mindset must be that we stand our ground with God and be assured He is right. This mindset is not based on emotions or experiences, but rather on God, His faithfulness, and the Truths presented in His Word. Our mindset must be that God has placed us where we are to seek His wisdom from the Bible and to then share that wisdom with those around us. We to this with gentleness and respect and know that our culture is in upheaval.
This mindset should be applied when we are on social media. Just because you read it and it sounds good to you does not mean that it is true or should be posted. Our culture tells us that you can do anything or say anything from behind a computer screen. That simply is not true. You can sin behind a computer screen just as you can face-to-face. God does not want you sharing garbage from the internet just because you think it sounds true. Share truth… God’s truth… with the people around you and do it with gentleness and respect.
This mindset should be applied when we are dealing with groups that may be pushing agendas opposite of our beliefs. I am thinking specifically about our local school board which deals with issues from the federal and state level, but are local folks. Be invested in them and encourage them for what they do and how they influence our children. Pray for them. Run for election and be on the school board and be an influence for Christ where he has planted you. As you deal with the school board, go to God’s Word and prayer to discern if an issue is political or religious in nature because our culture wants us to confuse the two. Speak up and stand up for God and let the rest go by.
This mindset should be applied to extracurricular activities. If you are a coach or a leader, bring your values and God to your team with you and do not keep them separate. Don’t schedule practices on Wednesday nights. Avoid Sunday practices and games. Bring the kids along with wisdom from the Bible. Instill in the team that their identity is not found in the sport, but from God Who made them and fashioned Him in His image. Make character count rather than pushing the kindergartener to make a lifetime commitment to a sport so they can make money and be successful.
SUMMARY/CONCLUSION
Your mindset matters as you live in a culture that wars against your Biblical beliefs. Pretty much everything is designed and is conspiring to distract you, impact you, and draw you away from God. You need to be ready. You need to prepare your children. You need to prepare your grandchildren.
Prepare by having the right mindset. Our mindset must be that we stand our ground with God and be assured He is right. This mindset is not based on emotions or experiences, but rather on God, His faithfulness, and the Truths presented in His Word. Our mindset must be that God has placed us where we are to seek His wisdom from the Bible and to then share that wisdom with those around us. We to this with gentleness and respect and know that our culture is in upheaval.
PRAYER
INVITATION
