But If Not…

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 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. 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.”-Daniel 3:16-18

Today I was down. I’m not afraid to admit it! Going in to the office, by myself on a Saturday is a normal habit, but as I left, my wife said “be safe.” She didn’t say it with a tone of caution or fear, but casually. What gave me pause is that she’d never said it before. I think, having seen an outspoken Christian man lose his life in front of his wife, and having heard it again and again (and having seen the nastiness of people with a political agenda celebrating his death), today IS different. It bothered me, and as I drove in, I prayed. But the Lord led me to Daniel 2 and 3, and Luke 12. I won’t post the entirety of all three chapters, but let me sum them up, and I encourage you, read them for yourself.

In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, and he expected his magicians, sorcerers, wisemen and all to be able, not merely to interpret it for him, but also to TELL him the dream along with its interpretation. No wise man could do it, and, try as they might, they could not coax the dream from him. When word got to Daniel that, in his fury, the king was going to execute all of these “wise men,” he asked for a stay of execution, and he and his three fellow exiles prayed to God, and HE revealed the dream and its interpretation. This pleased Nebuchadnezzar so much that Daniel, Meshack, Shadrack and Abednego were all elevated, and Daniel more so than anyone else.

In Chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar set up a statue that was high, and he expected everyone to worship it (60 Cubits, and each cubit was about 18 inches, so, if my math is correct, this abomination was 90 feet high; I needed a calculator, and to understand that inches were not feet….). Any time the sound of an instrument (makes me wonder if he had wind chimes in mind, he probably did), everyone was to bow down and worship it, and if they did not, they would be thrown in to a fiery furnace…but three young men did not. Daniel is not present for this part of the story, and it makes me wonder if Nebuchadnezzar feared him and his God (he bowed down and paid him homage in Chapter 2), but Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not bow, and told the King that their God would deliver them, but if not, they still would not bow. This infuriated the king so much, he had the furnace they were to be tossed in to stoked to an inferno-like blaze, and it was so hot, it killed the guards carrying the men. And yet, as they fell in, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not die. In fact, another, who looked like a “son of the gods’ walked in the fire with them!

Which brings me to Luke 12 and 13. Jesus commands his followers to be ready and wait on Him. In spite of persecution, in spite of trials, troubles, and infighting His message would bring on their families, Jesus commanded to be ready, both with a defense of the Gospel which the Holy Spirit would provide, and ready in serving Him and His people. He commanded, also to repent or perish! He stood down the religious rulers who made it about following the Law instead of the God who’s finger and Spirit wrote it, and He called people to turn from their religious self-worship to communion with the God of the Universe, which is what the Law is all about! Loved ones, Jesus is still commanding this. He is still calling us, as with Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego, and in His own ministry to be bold, faithfully serving God as we seek His Kingdom that has no end. He lived, died and rose again that we might go from death to life, and He gave us His Spirit to dwell within us so that we could walk in boldness. The world will say “bow or die.” I will continue to say “My God can deliver, but if not, I will not bow.” Will you?

Luke 12

In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

13 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”