Fireproof Faith Rests on the Foundation of God's Word

Daniel 3:16-28

16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22 The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.”

Fireproof Faith Rests on the Foundation of God's Word

500 years ago this year, in fact, i.e. in the year 1521, Martin Luther was summoned to stand before the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, and was ordered to renounce his belief that a person is saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Scripture alone.

1,500 years before that, the Apostle Paul stood on trial before Governor Felix and then Festus and ultimately before Caesar in Rome because he preached about Jesus.

500 years before that, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were called to stand before the king and face certain death if they continued to refuse to worship a false god.

Believers of every generation have learned the truth that Jesus spoke in our Gospel Lesson for today:

“You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.”[1]

Now, the last thing I want to do today is to give us a martyr complex. We are not oppressed the way that the Apostle Paul and Martin Luther were. Our feet are not held to literal flames the way that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s were.

Christians in Canada still have very many privileges that would be unheard-of by believers of other generations and in other places of the world. But the point of Reformation Sunday is to recognize how important it is to stand firm on the solid foundation of God’s Holy Word in the face of opposition.

We’re going to examine that in our lives today through the lens of Daniel 3, as Daniel tells us about the 3 men in the fiery furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are already in hot water with Nebuchadnezzar. The King had erected a 90-foot-tall statue and had made a sweeping proclamation across his whole kingdom that insisted that everyone in the land was to bow down to his false god whenever certain music played, and if anyone didn’t, they’d be mercilessly murdered in a fiery furnace whose flames had been pre-lit and were ready to consume anyone who dared disobey.

Poor Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego! They were in an impossible situation! Do they disobey God and save their lives but lose their souls? Or, do they obey God but face certain and horrifically painful death at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar?

What these 3 men say is nothing short of a miracle:

“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”[2]

How could Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be so bold to say such a thing to the king?

Because they knew the Word of God. And that’s no small thing!

We’re told Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were young men[3] – probably teenagers – when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, invaded and conquered their homeland. In the middle of their most formative years, they were led as exiles across a vast desert to a foreign nation that would be their home for the next 70 years.

But the fact that they knew God’s Word meant two things: First, it means that their parents had been diligent in bringing their sons to the synagogue on the Sabbath to study the Scriptures when they were young.

Their parents couldn’t possibly have known that the Babylonians would one day come and carry their children away. They were just faithful as a matter of principle. And it’s a good thing too because of what did happen, i.e. because the Babylonians did come; the Temple was destroyed; their sons were carted off like cattle across a vast desert to a godless land.

And yet, despite all those adversities, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had a solid foundation to stand on in Holy Scripture because of the effort their parents made.

But the other reason they had such a solid foundation for their faith is that these three young men didn’t give up when the going got tough. They didn’t leave their spirituality in Jerusalem. They took it with them. And despite a government that tried to forbid them from worshiping their God, they persisted in their faith, and they continued to grow in the grace and knowledge of God.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were able to be so bold because they knew the Word of God.

And in that Word they learned about a God who can save. They knew the stories of David and Goliath, the walls of Jericho, the 10 plagues of Egypt, the worldwide flood. They knew all those stories from childhood. But those weren’t just stories; they are the true history of God’s power to save.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were able to say, “the God we serve is able to deliver us from [the blazing furnace]”[4] because they had seen that power before in God’s Word.

But here’s where it gets trippy. They knew God the power to save them, but they didn’t have any promise that he would. And so, the biggest miracle in this entire story is not their deliverance from the furnace. It’s these 6 words:

“But even if he does not…”[5]

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were willing to be true to God no matter what, even if they had to burn, because their faith wasn’t based on the prospect of a positive outcome. They weren’t willing to be true to God only when times were good, or only when it was convenient for them. They were willing to be true to God no matter what it cost them – life, limb or liberty. They were willing to give everything for their God and that kind of faith only comes from God.

Like Jesus said in our Gospel Lesson:

Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.[6]

It was God’s Spirit that reminded them of the promise they did have – not that they’d be saved from the flames, but that they’d be saved from sin and from the devil and from the worst that this world could throw at them. They’d be safe in heaven forever after they left this world of pain, even if it meant that they had to burn.

Of course, we know how that turned out. God did save them. Their faith turned out to be not only well-founded but fireproof because of the power and love of God.

What does that mean for you today more than 2,000 years later? It means a lot. It means that you can have that kind of fireproof faith too. And it’s no mystery where that kind of faith comes from. It comes in the same way it did for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

Just as it was important for their parents to take them to the synagogue on the Sabbath to study the Scriptures, it’s important for us to bring our children to church and Sunday School.

There’s a study that came out a couple years ago that shows that 71% of people who go to church today regularly attended church as a child, whereas 78% percent of people who don’t go to church today didn’t attend church as a child. In other words, the habits we form for our children now directly impact their future relationship with God.

So, what are we willing to do for our children to give them a solid foundation to stand on? Are we content to leave it up to them whether they feel like it or not? Do you assume that someone else will step up to teach Sunday School or lead a youth group? God forbid.

Instead, be like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s parents. Take the opportunities while you have them. Encourage the other parents of the congregation. Be a friend to their children. Make it clear that we want them here both with your words and by what you’re willing to do for them.

Bringing our children to God is so important to lay a foundation they can stand on for the rest of their lives no matter what the future holds.

But it’s just as important for us to persist in our faith even when the circumstances aren’t favourable.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego didn’t just exercise their faith when it was convenient or comfortable for them. They continued to worship their God diligently and exclusively even in the face of severe opposition, because their faith meant that much to them.

So, be like them and prioritize your faith. If your parents brought you to church as a child, great! But don’t let your faith stay in Sunday School. Foster it. Grow it through a commitment to God’s Word. Spend time in study with your church family here and in devotion at home. Prioritize your faith and don’t let the world dictate what you bow down to.

But above all, be like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in this one way – put your faith in the God who saves.

As I think about all the things we can and should be doing like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, I’m cut to the heart. I’m haunted by the things I could be doing more for the kids of this congregation and our community. If you were in Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s place could you have been so faithful? Do you prioritize your faith the way they do, or have you let it slide to a back burner somewhere?

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego give us so much motivation and inspiration to be better. But if the story of the 3 men in the fiery furnace is just a fable, and the moral of the story is to inspire us to be faithful to God, then we miss the whole point.

This is the true story about our God who delivers. He delivered Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the furnace. He’s delivered you and me from the flames of hell. He’s delivered us from our sins – from our failures, from our guilt and shame. He has delivered us by sending his Son Jesus.

God loved you so much that he was willing to send his Son to certain death at the hands of a godless government so that you could live. God was so committed to you that he was willing to sacrifice his one and only Son for your sins, not in a furnace, but on the cross so that you could be forgiven.

And what makes this story personal, now, more than 2,000 years later, is that God still tells it. We may not be oppressed the way that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were, but there’s opposition, there’s godless government, there are countless false gods we could bow down to.

But still speaks to you. He hasn’t given up on you despite your disobedience to him. He gives you his Word and through it he gives you his Spirit and a faith that is fireproof – a faith that can stand firm on a solid foundation, a faith that can see through the lies and deceits of the world, a faith that isn’t based on the prospect of a positive outcome, but on the power and promises of our God.

So, don’t get distracted. Don’t let the world dictate what you bow down to. Foster your fireproof faith at all costs. Commit yourself to the lifelong study of God’s Holy Word at all times – not just when it’s convenient or comfortable. And finally, in the face of all the spiritual forces of evil trying to get you to abandon God and forget your faith, rejoice in the promise of Jesus:

Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.[7]

That’s God’s promise to you, and he has the power to see it through. Amen.

[1] Mark 13:9

[2] Daniel 3:17,18

[3] Daniel 1:3

[4] Daniel 3:17

[5] Daniel 3:18

[6] Mark 13:11

[7] Mark 13:13

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It Starts with the Heart

James 4:7-12

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

It Starts with the Heart

Do you know who this is?

It’s Superman!

What makes Superman so super?

How does the old cartoon intro go? Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. He can fly. He can shoot lasers out of his eyes. There are lots of reasons that Superman is so super.

What if we asked a similar question about Christians? What would make Joe Christian a super-Christian?

We started this James series talking about how important it is to be quick to listen. You have to have ears that listen, first of all, to God, but then also to each other. Of course, in that same passage we also heard that you can’t just be a hearer of the Word; you have to be a doer of the Word, i.e. faith without deeds is dead. James also talks quite a bit about the tongue. A super-Christian will keep a tight rein on his tongue and only use it to glorify God, tell other people about Jesus, build other people up. There are lots of things that would make Joe Christian into a super-Christian.

But let me go back to Superman for a second. We talked about his superspeed, superstrength, superhuman abilities like flight and x-ray vision. But we may have missed Superman’s most important characteristic – he has a good heart. Without a good heart, Superman would just be superhuman at best, or a supervillain at worst.

It’s the same thing for Christians. Does God care about what you do and say? Does he want you to have all these characteristics of the “super-Christian”? Absolutely he does! But do you know what he wants even more? He wants your heart.

God wants you to do the things he tells you to do because you want to do them. He wants you to avoid the things he forbids because they’re as hateful and abhorrent to you as they are to him. He wants you to submit yourself to him, to humble yourself before him, not out of a sense of obligation or fear but because you love him and because it grieves your heart to think that you’ve done anything to hurt him.

That’s what James means when he says:

“Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.”[1]

God doesn’t want you to be depressed. He wants you to sincerely repent when you do something wrong.

I’ll give you an example. A Christian is addicted to pornography. She knows it’s wrong. She knows God tells her not to do it. She feels awful every time that she does it. She tries to wash her hands of this sin, as James tells us to do in verse 8, but she has to keep washing her hands of this behaviour because she just can’t put it behind her. She tries and she tries not to sin, but she keeps falling back into it.

If we only focus on our behaviours and forget to “purify our hearts,” it’s like trying to stop your boat from sinking by bailing the water without plugging the leak. The problem is not with our eyes or our hands; it’s with our hearts.

That’s what Jesus says in Matthew 15:

Out of the heart come evil thoughts – murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.[2]

We have to change our hearts to have any hope of changing our behaviour.

Have you ever gone skiing or mountain biking through the woods? It can be kind of dangerous to avoid all those trees. If you’re not careful you could crash and break a bone. But do you know what advice skiers and mountain bikers follow? As you’re plummeting down that mountain at high speeds, don’t think, “OK, I’ve got to avoid this tree and that tree. Oh, there’s another one coming up; I’ve got to avoid hitting that one too.” Think to yourself, “Stay on the path. Stay on the path. Stay on the path. Where does the path go? Here’s another turn. Stay on the path.”

In a similar way, if a Christian wants to change their behaviour, it’s not a mind-over-matter kind of moment; it’s a matter of the heart. What do I love? Whom do I love? What does my love for God make me to want to do?

If I just focus on avoiding the sin, I might be able to avoid it 7,8,9 times out of 10, but there will always be at least one tree I’m not strong enough to steer clear of, one tree I didn’t see, one corner I couldn’t make. But if I focus on my love for God and if I learn to love the things that God wants me to love, then I can change from the source and allow my actions to follow.

And look at the promises God makes you!

Resist the devil.[3]

Boy, that sounds hard. How could we ever possibly resist the most powerful, real supervillain? If we tried to do it on our own, we’d fail every time. But when you submit yourself to God, when you make God the King of your heart, when you let him sit on the throne and give him the reins to your life, James says,

“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”[4]

The devil will run away from you! Not because you’re stronger than the devil, but because God is, and by submitting to God you’re letting him rule your life.

Come near to God.[5]

That sounds hard too! I know what I’ve done. I know that I don’t deserve God’s love. But God has given me an invitation. Jesus himself said,

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”[6]

Peter invites us,

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”[7]

Coming near to God doesn’t mean “making the first step.” It doesn’t mean trying to convince him to like you. It means accepting his invitation and receiving his promise:

Come near to God and he will come near to you.[8]

Confess your sins to God. Humble your heart before the Lord and know that

he will lift you up.[9]

That’s where our hope and confidence come from. That’s what our relationship with God is based on – the forgiving love that we see on full display in the sacrifice he was willing to make for us.

We are not super-Christians. We often fail to resist the devil, but Jesus didn’t. He was tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin.[10] We are not clean or pure; we’re sinners who need to confess our sins every week, every day. But Jesus was the sinless, Son of God, the spotless Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.

It’s no laughing matter what our sins did to Jesus. The sacrifice he made for us was as serious as death itself. It breaks our hearts to think of the price he paid on the cross. But Jesus picks up the broken pieces of our humbled hearts and lifts us up in his forgiving love. He reminds us that he doesn’t love us only when we’re on our best behaviour or because of the good things we do. He loves us purely by grace.

And it’s only the love that God holds for us in his heart that can ever hope to change our hearts. I mean, think about that. If God had no love for you, i.e. if God was an unrelenting task master who only cared about his commandments and your obedience to them, how would you feel when James tells you to submit to him? That’s a terrifying prospect!

But now that you know that your God is a God of love and forgiveness and grace and mercy, a God who is not results-oriented, but relationship-oriented – now that you know who your God is, how much more freeing is it to submit to him? You don’t have to fear punishment; that’s been taken care of by Jesus. You can expect acceptance and compassion because of Jesus.

That’s the power God gives you to change your heart, and once your heart is changed to let your actions follow. God does care about what you say and do, but that’s not what he’s after. He’s after your heart. That’s where Christianity starts. Humble your hearts before the Lord, and know that he will lift you up. Amen.

[1] James 4:9

[2] Matthew 15:19

[3] James 4:7

[4] Ibid

[5] James 4:8

[6] Matthew 11:28

[7] 1 Peter 5:7

[8] James 4:8

[9] James 4:10

[10] Hebrews 4:15

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