Taking a Stand: Daniel 3:1-30 - Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

On my way to work, I drive past a karate studio. There’s a banner out front which advertises “Bullying Prevention Classes.”

It may appear that they’re advertising karate as a way for the bullied to teach their bullies a lesson: bully me and I’ll kick the crap out of you. But I don’t think that’s what they’re advertising. We don’t want the hallways of our schools to look like a Jackie Chan movie. I imagine that learning karate is a way to help young people realize their inner strength while building up their outer strength. It’s about resilience more than hand-to-hand combat.

Still, there always comes a time when you will need to stand up for yourself and what you believe in. But what will you stand for? What might the consequences be for taking that stand?

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego certainly knew what it was like to be knocked down. They were personal slaves of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian King responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem, the burning of Solomon’s temple, the deaths of thousands of Jews, and the exile of the survivors in Babylon. 

Photo by Andy Watkins on Unsplash

Nebuchadnezzar didn’t just take away their homes and their freedom, he took away their identities. Their names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. But Nebuchadnezzar gave them blasphemous names. Shadrach means “command of Aku,” the Sumerian moon-god. Meshach means “who is like Aku?” and Abed-Nego means “slave of Nego.”

Nevertheless, the Lord was with them and Daniel, and they prospered in the king’s service. In fact, Nebuchadnezzar had just promoted them after Daniel had interpreted his dream which foretold Babylon’s demise. You would think such a dream would compel Nebuchadnezzar to change his evil ways. But that was not the case.

One day, Nebuchadnezzar erected a gold-plated statue that was ninety feet high and nine feet wide. He then summoned all his governing officials and demanded that everyone fall prostrate and worship the statue. Those who fail to do so are to be burned alive in the fiery furnace.

When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego refuse to bow down and worship, Nebuchadnezzar is enraged.

“If you do not fall down and worship,” he says, “what god will deliver you out of my hands?”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answer that their God can deliver them from the furnace—but if God does not, so be it. They would rather die than bow down to a Nebuchadnezzar’s god. And we all know what happens next.

What I find so remarkable about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego is that they don’t presume to know what God will do. They are prepared to die a horrible death. They also know Nebuchadnezzar’s conscience won’t be bothered in the least, because he doesn’t have one.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego remind me of brave individuals throughout history, who stood up for God and for righteousness, only to be knocked down, beaten up, imprisoned, or even killed. People like Stephen, the first Christian martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Martin Luther King, Jr., just to name a few.

Lots of people stand up for their religious or political convictions. The phrase “stand and fight” is the rallying cry for both sides of our political. But taking a stand doesn’t make you righteous.

Wars and terror are being waged all around the world by people who believe they are standing up for a righteous cause. They see themselves as part of the cosmic battle of good versus evil. To stand up and fight is to become a hero. And nothing brings people together quite like a shared fight against a common foe.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were not able to take such a stand. There was no personal gain or glory to be had.

It is a miracle that God delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego from the flames. But their faith is the greater miracle. They told Nebuchadnezzar to his face, “you are not God.” Theirs was an act of defiant witness.

In that critical moment, they fulfilled their purpose. That’s why God put them so close to Nebuchadnezzar: to bear witness to him and his empire that God is the King of Kings. And they would have fulfilled that purpose whether they lived or they died.

What is your purpose? What do you stand for? Who do you live for?

It's one thing to stand and fight when you have power, be it physical strength, the power of position, the power of wealth, or the power of numbers. It’s one thing to stand and fight when there’s a pretty good chance you will win, or at least be lauded as a hero.

But taking a Godly stand has nothing to do with gaining power, privilege, or popularity. It’s about bearing witness to who God is and what God desires. You are putting yourself and everything that matters to you in God’s hands so that God can accomplish what God desires.

God's Kingdom springs forth on the shoulders of these individuals who put everything on the line for the sake of justice, for the sake of peace, and for the sake of righteousness.

Do you remember that fourth person in the furnace that Nebuchadnezzar saw in the furnace? That was God standing and fighting by going into the flames with the unjustly persecuted. God stands and fights and wins by Jesus dying on the cross and rising again.

If heaven on earth could be won through war and conquest, we would have arrived thousands of years ago.

But no ruler or empire can thwart the power of Christ who lives and dies and rises again in ordinary people just like you. God uses people like you to change the world and alter the direction of history. Your life is your witness. The only question is, what will your witness be?

So be ready for that moment when God calls you to take a stand and put it all on the line for his sake. When it comes to God’s kingdom and its righteousness, there’s nothing you can lose and everything that you can gain.