Dare to Pursue
“Ready to Risk?”
September 10, 2006
Introduction: Risks can be scary. Risks can be life-changing and exhilarating, or they can be disasters. Some risks are easy to take and others come with considerable calculation of the costs. One constant thing about life is that we are going to encounter risks.
Risks scare me. Some risks that I take at times scare others and are of no great consequence to me. Things that other people take for granted are for me scary and challenging.
For instance I love to rock climb. I haven’t done it in a long time because Florida is not exactly a rock formation Mecca. But there was a time in my life where climbing was a thrill I would take at every opportunity. I have been on some pretty exciting climbs.
I remember one time being on a trip with a group of student’s rock climbing in Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. We had several churches on the trip and had spent the day getting students on the rocks and helping them succeed in conquering their fears. At the end of the day, another youth pastor and I discovered that right behind our campsite was an incredible formation that was begging to be climbed.
My friend took the lead and put in anchors as he climbed to secure the rope. We were so excited. It was a tough climb and not really one we wanted our students on. As we went higher and higher we noticed that a group of students and other adult leaders had gathered below us to watch. I think most were hoping to see us make a big mistake that would result in some great laughs at our expense. The one who was not in that category was my pregnant wife.
As we went up I would look back to find her covering her eyes and shaking her head. To her this was a huge risk, but to me it was just plain fun. I was not thinking of falling or hurting myself because I trusted my friend Pete to tie in the anchors and I knew what I was doing. Alana was not as excited.
Getting to the top was a challenge, but when we made it we thought the hard part was over. Typically what we did as we climbed was to repel back down the rope and then the last person on top would pull the rope through and walk down the back side of the rock. We had done this dozens of times. Since Pete and I were the only ones on tip, we decided to drop the rope to our campsite and he and I would walk down together. What we didn’t know was that the back side of the rock was not one you could simply walk down. We had to maneuver our way between rocks and slide along ledges that were only three or four inches wide. At one point, we had to leap from one rock to another. The rocks were about twelve feet apart and if we didn’t stick the landing we were going to fall into about a thirty foot crevasse between the rocks. Thankfully all of this took place out of sight of my panic stricken wife.
Some people hear those stories and they think, “Why would you take that risk?” Others hear that and their blood starts pumping and they think, “Where can I sign up?” Some people live for the thrill of risk taking. I can climb rocks and mountains, but getting on an airplane makes my palms sweat. I have no fear of mice or rats, but snakes make my skin crawl. Needless to say I will not be going to see the movie “Snakes on a Plane.”
Sometimes we get incredible thrills when we risk. Other times the risk becomes disastrous, but it makes for some great video. Check out this clip of some risks gone wrong.
*** Show video of stunts gone wrong.
What is your risk factor? How much are you willing to risk in areas of your life? For some, physical risks are easy and they seem to have no fear of the failure. For others, all risk is scary and it keeps them sidelined in every adventure.
One thing that is true is that our lives are risks waiting to happen. One area that many people are afraid to really risk is in the area of their spiritual and emotional lives. We tend to get into the mindset that if I don’t rock the boat spiritually, then nothing can go wrong and I will not have to face the dangers of failure. Is that where you are in your spiritual journey?
Over the next few weeks we are going to be talking about being willing to take risks with God. We are going to talk about how we can pursue God in the everyday walk of life and how we can live the kind of life that God desires for us. We want to look together at how we can make our spiritual lives deeper, more vibrant and more meaningful in our walk with God. But, it is going to involve risks.
Today we are going to look at a portion of the life of Daniel, someone who risked for God. Many of you know the stories of Daniel defying the king and praying when it was against the law and the miracle of Daniel in the lions den. But today we want to look at a part of Daniels life that is easily overlooked.
God had established the nation of Israel as his chosen people. They were going to live in covenant relationship with God and he was going to bless them and through them bless the other nations of the earth. There are repeated times in scripture where the nation of Israel would turn their back on God and follow the pagan gods of other nations. Every time that happened, God would allow the nation to deal with consequences of their actions. When we get to the book of Daniel, God has allowed the nation to be exiled into captivity by the Babylonians. Because of their rebellion, God has allowed Jerusalem to be destroyed and the people to be taken form their land. We find the actions of the people that led to their captivity described in 2 Chronicles.
“But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.” 2 Chronicles 36:16 (NIV)
The nation of Israel had not listened to the voices of the prophets such as Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, and many others. Instead they had bought into the pagan rituals of the nations surrounding them. Therefore God allowed them to be taken from their homes into captivity.
Now we find Daniel living in the nation of Babylon. He is chosen by the chief official of the king to be trained for service in the Babylonian government. This was a common practice of the Babylonians. When they would conquer the countries around them they would enlist the best and brightest of the young men to be trained in the culture of Babylon and put them to work in the running of their government.
“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god. Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility--young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service. Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.” Daniel 1:1-7 (NIV)
It is important for us to gain a little cultural background into what is happening. Not only are Daniel and the others learning the language and the culture, they are having to submit to the authority of the pagan king. There clothing has changed, their names have changed, and their diets have changed.
In our culture it is hard to understand the meaning behind all of this, but in the day of Daniel it was huge.
Submission to the culture of a nation was also submission to that nation’s god.
Daniel and the others have to submit to the authority of their captors vs. the authority of their God. There is a showdown on the horizon.
In our society today we are faced with the constant challenge of having to submit our lives to the authority of God rather than the authority of our culture.
To fully devote ourselves to God requires willingness to risk.
The pivotal verse in Daniel comes very early in the book. It lays the foundation for all that God does in and through Daniel.
“But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.” Daniel 1:8 (NIV)
Where is it that Daniel draws the line? It is in the food he is required to eat. Now that doesn’t seem like a big deal to us. But it was a huge deal for Daniel.
You see, the food offered to Daniel and the others was first offered to a pagan god. It was sacrificed to him and you were participating in a religious ritual to eat the meat and drink the wine given to a pagan god. For Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, it was a covenant with their God that they refused to break, even given the circumstances in which they were forced to live.
Our circumstances should not diminish our resolve to follow God.
So Daniel and the others asked to have a special diet. It was a risk. They were asking the king’s official to go against the kings wishes. This guy was on the hook for the well-being of the chosen captives. If he didn’t make them succeed he was going to pay with his life.
“Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you." Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.” Daniel 1:9-16 (NIV)
God caused this official to show favor to Daniel and the others by allowing them to have a special diet. He also blessed them by making them look healthier and better cared for then the others.
God blesses our risk when it aligns with his purposes.
God blessed them because they chose to follow the covenant of God instead of defiling themselves with the comfort of the culture. Where did God’s blessings begin? What caused God to bless Daniel and the others?
It is recorded in verse 8. They resolved not to defile themselves. They refused to compromise God’s standard for the standard of the pagan culture.
What was the result?
“To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.”
Daniel 1:17-21 (NIV)
Are you risking to grow in your walk with God? Have you blended into the culture so much that you have no resolve left to stand out and stand apart for God? If so, today is a day to begin taking some risks.
I want to invite you to think of one area that you can begin to resolve not to be like the culture around you. I want to challenge you to take a step to grow in your knowledge and understanding of God so that you can become the person God intended you to be.
As you leave today, I want to encourage you to pick up one of the devotional books. They are two weeks of devotions I have written to help us on our 50 Day Spiritual Adventure. Every two weeks you will receive another set of devotions to help you choose to grow in your walk God. I make no guarantees about what God will do with this material if you use it, but I can guarantee that if you do nothing to resolve in your heart to be set apart for our God, you will never experience the kind of life Jesus intended you to live.
What are you willing to risk? Are you willing to pray everyday for God to move in your life? Are you willing to study God’s word so that he can speak his truth into your heart? Are you willing to fast and pray for God to use you to influence the culture around you?
Daniel and the others resolved in their hearts to be set apart for God and he used them to influence the culture of Babylon. What can God do with you if you resolve not to be defiled by the culture of America and instead take a risk to stand for Christ?
