Sermon Tone Analysis

*Inscription: Writing God’s Words on Our Hearts & Minds*

*/Part 60: Living in Babylon/*

*Daniel 1: 1-21*

*/August 28, 2011/*

 

* *

Intro~/Communication card:

·         RNX Survey

 

Prayer

 

*Scripture reading: Daniel 3:26-30*

 

 

Christian Nation?

Q   Are we a *Christian* *nation*?

Not was it or should it, but is it?

Q   More important: How do you think your *answer* will *affect* how you think, respond, and live?

Years ago I read a Christian review of “*Armageddon*;” their big complaint was the lack of reference to the Bible.

Guess what, they *weren’t* *praying* when they said “God” either.

·         If we are a *Christian* *nation* and Armageddon was a Christian movie, that might be a reasonable complaint.

There are *two* *ways* that you can understand our situation as Christians in this America, using the two *main* *cities* of Daniel’s world.

 

1.

Still living in *Jerusalem*: God is honored, at least in theory.

The culture supports your Christian identity.

2.

Exiled in *Babylon*: A city that is at the best neutral to our beliefs, but more likely downright hostile.

This about how this *affects* your *perception*: As Christian nation, we are doing a pretty crummy job, but as a secular nation, we are doing pretty good, considering.

We are now living in *Babylon*.

For the past while much of the Western world has been like Jerusalem, but it has been Babylon for the past while, and I don’t see that changing.

LIving in Godless Babylon

 

Living in Babylon is *not* *easy*, in fact it is pretty *complicated*:

 

Q   So how do we stay *separate*, no longer having our *values*, our *perspectives*, and *attitudes* shaped by it?

Q   On top of all of that, how do we *stay* *separate* while still being a *light* for God in this world?

This is where Daniel comes in: One of the *key* *themes* of Daniel is that it is *possible* to live a *faithful* *life* in exile, surrounded by *pagan* *influences* and *propaganda*.

Daniel and Co. in Babylon

 

Like Ezekiel, Daniel was in that first group of exiles.

NIV *Daniel 1:1-6* ¶ In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

2 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. 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility-- 4 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.

5 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.

6 Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

We know from *Plato* that in that region training started at age *15*, so these young men, who included Daniel and his friends were *teenagers*.

Think back to when you were 14 or 15.

I was 14 I went on my first mission trip.

I was in *Jamaica* for 6 weeks without my family and it was quite a culture shock.

Yet I was still *surrounded* *Americans* who shared my values and beliefs.

We were did our training on a ship were we learned more about God in addition to learning *awesome* *dance* moves.

But *Daniel* and his friends were *forcibly* *ripped* from their *family*, their *culture*, and the *temple*, which was the only place they had to worship God.

Furthermore, this passage describes how the Babylonians were more or less trying to *brainwash* them – being *renamed* after pagan gods, trained in their *literature*, eating their *food*.

·         It’s kind of like the *Borg* – resistance is futile.

And here at the *age* or *14 or 15* they had to *decide* for *themselves* if they would be *true* to their *God* and *how* to do so while in Babylon.

Daniel and his friends navigated this with great *finesse*; they weren’t *bullheaded*, refusing to ever *compromise*.

Neither did they *unthinkingly* *drift* along with the tide.

They’re an example of the *tightrope* we walk, *giving* in at some points, *compromising* at others, and *standing* *firm* at others.

*/1.

/**/When to give in /*

 

*Daniel 1:7*  The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

When they arrived in Babylon, the first order of business was to *change* their *names*.

These weren’t friendly little *nicknames*, nor names that were easier to pronounce like *Ellis* *Island*.

These were political statements:

 

·         Daniel meant “God is my Judge”; Belteshazzar meant “O Lady [wife of the god Bel], protect the king!”

 

·         Hananiah meant “Yahweh is gracious”; Shadrach probably meant “command of Aku [the moon god].”

·         Mishael meant “Who is what God is?”; Meshach meant “Who is like Aku?”

 

·         Azariah meant “Yahweh is a helper”; Abednego meant “servant of Nebo”

 

How did they respond to these *blasphemous* new *names*?

They didn’t throw a *fit*, they just accepted it because it was not a *hill* worth *dying* on.

·         I know who I *am* *inside*, call me what you like!

When to compromise

 

There are many things that happen here is Babylon that we *don’t* *care* *for*, but tackling those causes are *pointless*.

Even if we *could* *win* them, we would have wasted a lot of *effort* and *political* *capitol* that could be spent on *more* *important* *things*.

Q   What are the *name* *changes* and other *upsetting* *unchristian* and *antichristian* things that you have to deal with?

Are there *disrespectful* *comments* made at you work?

*Attacking* attitude on *Facebook*?

People *swearing* around you?

 

Q   How about removing “In *God* we *trust*” from the Pledge of Allegiance and our money?

I think that it is retained because the majority wants it.

But if that changes and it is removed, will that be a battle worth fighting, or do we tolerate it because “we know who we are”?

Self-test

 

We have to ask, as Daniel surely asked:

 

Q   Does this force me to *personally* *dishonor* God and *break* his *commands*, or is something that I find very *distasteful*?

Q   Is it *important* *enough* to *fight* over, knowing that fighting this battle will *keep* *me* from be able to fight *others*?

·         Story of *Starbuck’s* *customer* in drive through.

*/2.

/**/Respectful compromising: The food/*

 

As we read on:

 

NIV *Daniel 1:8-16* ¶ 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.

9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, 10 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.” 11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.

13 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.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.

15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.

16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.

Q   *Why* didn’t Daniel want to eat the *food*?

He said he didn’t want defile himself.

Contrary to what I have always thought, it wasn’t’ because the food was not *kosher*.

The meat may have been, but the wine wasn’t.

·         BTW: I love *good* *study* *Bibles*, they pull out great insight.

Some commentators said (and I agree) that Daniel and his friends *avoided* the *luxurious* *diet* as a way of *protecting* themselves from the *temptations* of the Babylonian culture.

They used their diet to help them keep their *distinctive* *Jewish* *identity* and avoid assimilation into Babylonian culture (which was the king’s goal with these conquered subjects).

·         It’s not that the *meat* and *wine* were *wrong*, and Daniel did eat and drink *later*, but they need to stay separate.

Polite dissent

 

But notice how polite they were: No *religious* *superiority*, no *rudeness*.

They tried to strike a *compromise* – let’s try this.

When I was in *third* *grade* at our local *public* *school*, I was unbeknownst to my parents, given some “real life ghost stories” as reading material.

When they found out, they did not approve, so they negotiated with the teacher to find me other material.

·         Living in Babylon we may be asked to do thing that aren’t only *distasteful* to us, but we feel are *personally* *detrimental*.

The first step is to attempt to *respectfully* *negotiate* a compromise.