But If Not...

Good Morning!!!

Daniel 3:1-18 (English Standard Version)
Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Image
1King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4And the herald proclaimed aloud, "You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace." 7Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
The Fiery Furnace
8Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, "O king, live forever! 10You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. 11And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 12There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."
13Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, "Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?"
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17If 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. 18But 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."

My oldest son leaves for Kenya today. He will be gone until July 11th. This is the sixth or seventh time he has gone to Kenya during the summer months. He will be leading a mission group that will go to four or five orphanages as well as to several churches in Kenya. It’s a long trip – and one that may have some difficulty involved. We tend to think that when a person in a foreign culture is converted to Christianity, their old culture is replaced by the new life in Christ. But just like here, there is a growth process that the new convert must go through – God whittling away the old dead wood of sin. Such is the case in some of the Kenyan churches that are still holding to the old culture concerning women. So there is a task at hand for the mission team. Please pray for Jim and the team as they make their journey. And for the ones they leave at home.

I used the Scripture above because it was the preaching Scripture Jim used when he addressed our fledgling church after his first trip to Kenya in 2002. Sarabeth had just been born a few weeks earlier and Jim, being a father for the first time, was concerned about the trip and what would happen to his wife and child if something happened. He focused in on verses 16 through 18 where the three young Israelites responded to the king stating their confidence in their God. And Jim honed his sermon down to the three words that start verse 18 – But if not…

The three men told Nebuchadnezzar that their God was able to deliver them from the fiery furnace – they believed it with all their heart. But even if He chose not to do so, the three men were going to continue to worship God. How often do we summon such courage? How often do we make such a commitment?

In our modern world of skeptics and nonbelievers, people who stand for God run the risk of being tossed into the “fiery furnace” of ridicule. We have to make a choice – do we truly believe that God is able to deliver us from every danger or do we bow to the world’s golden statues. And are we willing to hang in there even if God chooses to not deliver us from the scorn? I hope we will all be like the three Israelites and be willing to be tossed into the fiery furnace. You may remember the rest of the story – Nebby looked into the furnace and saw FOUR men dancing around – and none of the three Israelites was harmed.

Thank you for praying for Jim and for Angie and the girls for the next few weeks.

Agape’

Mr. Jim