As we said at the beginning of this service, the Easter vigil was originally a preparation
for baptism, an all-night vigil kept by candidates before they would be baptized at first light
on Easter morning.
And as part of that preparation, candidates would read passages like we're reading tonight.
They would read passages like Daniel 3, the passage that we just heard read, very well
done, by the way, as they prepared for their new life.
Daniel chapter 3 is the story of three young Israelites who have been taken into captivity
with many of their people and forced to live in Babylon.
But this does not mean that God has abandoned his people, as many thought had happened.
Through the prophet Jeremiah, God reveals that he has actually sent his people into exile
in Babylon to seek its welfare, to be in the city but not of the city, that God might bless
the city through their presence there.
And God has given the same mission to his people all around the world, to live like exiles
in captivity, to be in the world but not of the world, to be an extension, a vehicle of
God's blessing to the nations.
And so this passage, as we look at it, shows us, for those of us who are Christians, three
things about living this life faithfully.
For those of us who are here who are not Christians, it helps us understand why the world needs to be rescued,
why God needs to send his blessing out to the nations.
The three things we'll see are this, the danger of captivity, the way to freedom,
and the God of the furnace.
Let's pray.
Lord, we ask that as we have unfolded your story, as we have opened your word, that you would be true to your promise,
to be the God who speaks through your word.
This is not mere ink and paper.
Lord, this is your voice that we seek to hear.
And we pray that as we hear your voice, that we would come face to face with the living word, Jesus Christ.
And it's in his name that we pray.
Amen.
The danger of captivity.
The Babylonians had a very innovative approach to conquest.
They would conquer a people with their military, and then they would take the best and the brightest of those people into Babylon,
and there they would assimilate them into Babylonian culture.
It was subjugation through assimilation.
It was quite a brilliant tactic.
But it makes one wonder, how do you bring many people from many different cultures and traditions and religions into your city,
and then assimilate them?
And here's where King Nebuchadnezzar's brilliance really shines,
because he understands something about human nature that many of us don't.
He understands this.
He says,
So Nebuchadnezzar sets up a great tower, a 90-foot golden idol,
a representation of all the glory, all the values of Babylonian society,
a monument to human greatness.
And he tells the people,
you can have your own religion in private.
Believe whatever you want in your own home.
But when you're in public,
you must bow to this idol.
When you hear the music,
you will bow,
and if you do not,
you will be cast into a burning,
fiery furnace.
The spiritual conquest has begun.
If you want to control people,
you have to control what they worship.
Because whatever we worship ultimately controls us.
So he builds a statue,
and he ascribes divine value to this statue.
And this is how anything might become an idol in our lives.
We take some created thing.
It could be anything,
such as an object,
or another person,
or a relationship,
or an ideology.
And we imbue it with divine significance.
We set our whole heart on it.
We say to this thing,
or to this person,
or to this ideology,
my life's not worth living
unless I have this thing.
If I lose this thing,
my life is no longer worth living.
You set your whole heart on it.
And it becomes more important to you
than anything.
Even God.
We look at this society,
and we can't imagine
listening to music
and bowing to a great golden statue.
We say,
I would never do such a foolish thing.
Think about our lives here in D.C.
Those of us who live in the metro D.C. area,
we don't bow to a golden statue, do we?
But many of us do bow to other idols.
Perhaps the idol of achievement.
We set our hearts on being respected.
On being successful.
So we begin to elevate our grades,
and our college admissions,
and our jobs,
and our careers above everything else.
We drive ourselves,
and we drive our children to succeed.
We're willing to sacrifice friendships.
We're willing to sacrifice time
with our friends,
with our children.
We're willing to sacrifice our own health.
We're willing to work all the time
through nights and weekends,
which, by the way,
is much easier to do
now that many of us work from home.
I saw a thread on Reddit
a few years back
about the best places
in Washington, D.C.
to cry.
And it became wildly popular.
Now, why would people
want to swap secret places
to cry
in Washington, D.C.?
It's because of the pressure.
People say living here
is like being in a pressure cooker.
You're living in a meritocracy
where you're constantly struggling
to prove your worth.
And so people need to know
that if they
feel the urge
to run out of their office
weeping,
they can find a place
where they won't be disturbed.
Right?
So for those of us
who are Christians,
we may be Christians
in private.
We may believe in
and talk about
and teach Sunday school classes
on the value of Sabbath
and the value of rest
and a balanced life,
the priority of friendship
and family and community.
But in public,
we bow like everyone else.
And there's no difference
between our priorities
or work habits
and those around us.
Or consider the example
of politics.
Many of us can tend
to make politics
more important
than anything else.
And that begins to define
our view of other people.
Surveys show that
we on both sides of the aisle
tend to view
those on the other side
of the aisle,
not merely as people
with whom we might
disagree on policy,
but as evil,
as immoral,
as unintelligent,
as representing
an existential threat
to the future
of our society.
And again,
for those of us
who are Christians,
we may be Christians
in private.
We may believe
that we're all part
of Christ's body,
that we're all one
in Him,
but in public,
we tend to bow.
There's been a big
reshuffling of Christians
over the last three years
who are changing churches,
not for theological reasons,
but for political reasons.
Wanting to be in churches
where their political views
are going to be supported
rather than critiqued.
There are many Christians
who have changed their church
because of their politics.
How many Christians
have changed their politics
because of their church?
The point of these examples
is this.
Everybody worships something.
Even if you consider yourself
non-religious,
and by the way,
if you consider yourself
non-religious
and you're at a three-hour
Easter vigil,
I'm so delighted
that you're here.
And I would love
to talk to you
after the service
and to know
what got you to come.
Did somebody trick you?
But if you consider yourself
to be non-religious,
I guarantee you,
with all due respect,
you are still
worshiping something.
It could be achievement
or politics.
It could be affirmation.
It could be security.
It could be comfort.
Whatever makes your life
worth living,
whatever you can't imagine
living without,
that is your idol.
For those of us
who are Christians,
that doesn't make us
immune to idols.
When we bow
to the same idols
as everyone else,
it means we are in
spiritual captivity.
And we don't have
Nebuchadnezzar to contend with,
but great politicians,
great influencers,
great leaders,
great advertising companies
know this spiritual truth.
If you can control
what people worship,
you can control them.
The real danger
is not physical captivity.
It is spiritual captivity.
That's the danger of captivity.
Now, what is the way to freedom?
This brings us to the climax
of the story.
The music plays,
but these three young men,
Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego,
they refuse to bow.
You need to understand,
they were surrounded
by Israelites,
all prostrate,
and they're standing tall.
Some of their co-workers
tell Nebuchadnezzar,
who brings them up front
of everyone,
and he says,
if you do not worship,
you shall be immediately
cast into a burning,
fiery furnace.
But look at what they say.
Oh, 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.
Now, we know how the story goes.
We know that when they're thrown
into the furnace,
God miraculously saves them,
but they had no idea.
They had no idea
this was going to happen.
This is the Holy Saturday moment
of Daniel chapter 3.
And they're staring
into the unknown,
and they have no idea
what's going to happen.
But if not,
signifies a single-minded
devotion to God.
We know God has the power
to deliver us,
and He might.
But if not,
we will serve Him
and Him alone.
The Reverend Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.'s sermon
on this passage
is by far
one of my most favorite sermons
he ever preached.
And he talks in that sermon
about the difference
between an if faith
and a though faith.
And an if faith says,
if God saves me
from the furnace
or helps me get this job
or makes sure
I have enough money
or helps me feel fulfilled,
then I will worship Him.
It's faith that is contingent
on God holding up
His end of the bargain.
It's transactional.
A though faith says,
though God may allow me
to suffer,
though God may refuse
to answer my prayers
the way I want,
I will still worship Him
and Him alone.
That is a faith
with no contingencies
where we're worshiping God
for God's sake alone.
Now you say,
what does this have to do
with idolatry?
Well, remember,
Nebuchadnezzar allowed
his people to worship
their own God
as long as they also
worshiped his idol.
That way he could still
control them.
And this is the real problem
with an if faith.
With an if faith,
you're not actually
worshiping and serving God.
You are co-opting God
in service to your idol.
When you say,
if God makes me successful,
then I will worship Him,
then the thing that you're
worshiping is actually success.
And you're trying to force God
to serve your idol.
And if your true idol
is success,
then success is your master.
And guess what?
Whoever holds the keys
to your success
is in control of you.
So if your boss
asks you to do
unethical things
in order to be successful,
you'll do them.
That's captivity.
But when you are able
to say,
though God may allow me
to fail,
though I may miss
the promotion,
though I may lose my job,
I will still serve Him
and Him alone,
then the idol of success
no longer has any power
over you.
And you, my friend,
are free.
The only way to be free
is to worship God alone.
If we try to worship God
plus anything else,
we will be taken captive.
So how do we get
a though faith
that leads us to freedom?
Only in the God of the furnace.
We think of this story
as a story of God
miraculously saving these men.
But look what he does.
He could have hurled
a meteor down
and destroyed Nebuchadnezzar
and the idol
and the furnace.
But he does not prevent them
from going in.
He allows them
to be thrown
into the furnace.
And yet,
when Nebuchadnezzar
looks in,
to his astonishment,
he sees four men
walking around
unharmed.
The first three
he recognizes
is Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego.
But he is awestruck
by the fourth man
who looks like
a son of the gods.
This has such a profound
impact on the king
that at that moment
and for a time,
for a time
in the story of Daniel,
he's willing to worship
and honor
the God of Israel.
Christians look at this story
and recognize this
as a foreshadowing
of the coming
of Jesus Christ.
And what we recognize
is that when Jesus
died on the cross,
he went into
the ultimate
furnace
of God's wrath.
But he went alone.
And this begins
to open our eyes
to the way,
the only way,
that we might be able
to have a though faith.
It's in realizing
that Jesus
is the only one
who's willing
to go into
the furnace
for us.
See,
no idol
would ever do
that for you.
Whatever other
thing we worship
gives us
nothing in return.
Never delivers
on the promise
it makes.
but Jesus
is willing
to plunge
into the furnace
on our behalf.
And because
of the cross,
Christians know
that we have
nothing to fear.
Because if you are
in Christ
by faith,
then you know
the worst thing
that could possibly
happen to you
has already happened.
It will never
happen to you.
And because
Jesus went
into that
furnace
of sin
and death
and then
rose again,
he transformed
death
into a
mere doorway.
See,
eventually
Shadrach,
Meshach,
and Abednego
died.
They were
preserved
this time,
but eventually
they died.
And one day
we will all
die.
God does
not promise.
He never
promises to
save us
from death.
God promises
to save us
through death.
The furnace
is really
a metaphor
for the
suffering
that Christians
face
throughout
our lives.
You know,
we read
this passage
and we wonder,
will I ever
have to go
into the
furnace?
Will I
ever be
plunged
into the
furnace?
not if
you have
an if
faith.
With an
if faith
you have
a shot
at living
a long
and reasonably
pain-free
life.
With an
if faith
you have
a shot
at being
relatively
reasonably
comfortable.
With an
if faith
you have
a shot
at fitting
in,
at being
well-liked,
at being
esteemed
even.
With an
if faith
you'll have
a religion
that is a
source of
encouragement
to you
when you're
feeling down,
that gives
you a sense
of meaning
and direction
that provides
some structure
for your
children
and a
source of
friendship
for you.
But someone
else is calling
the shots
in your life.
And you
will never
really experience
closeness
with Jesus
because Jesus
is in the
furnace.
And you
will live
your whole
life standing
on the
outside
looking in.
If you
want to be
free
and if you
want to be
with Jesus
you have
to go
into the
furnace.
And that
means following
Jesus no
matter what
it might
cost you.
And that
means a
hard life
where you
most certainly
will suffer.
But in
that furnace
you will
never be
alone.
because Jesus
Christ is
already there
and he
will always
be there
with you
until he
leads you
out the
other side.
And because
of the cross
you know
you have
nothing to
fear.
See for
those early
Christians
in those
early Easter
vigils as
they prepared
for their
own baptisms
they were
clear on
the meaning
of what
they were
about to
do.
Baptism
my friends
is a
death.
But it
is a
death that
leads to
new life.
That's
why the
early
baptistries
looked like
mausoleums.
They looked
like tombs.
That was
intentional.
You're going
to die a
death and
then emerge
into new
life.
A life
that is
free.
And a
life that
is fireproof.
A life
that no
amount of
suffering can
ever diminish.
Because it
will be a
life that
will go on
into glory
in eternity.
Let's
pray.
Lord, we
thank you for
your word.
We thank you
that you went
into the
furnace.
We thank you
for the
example of
these
exiles
who in
their holy
Saturday
staring into
those flames.
Not knowing
what would
come.
Nevertheless
trusted you.
And we
pray that as
we sit here
in our
holy
Saturday
staring into
the emptiness
of the
tomb.
Wondering
what we
might find
on the
other side.
I pray
that you
would give
us the
same
reassurance.
I pray
that you
would galvanize
us and
strengthen
us to
have a
single-minded
devotion to
you,
knowing that
you already
have a
single-minded
devotion to
us.
And we
pray this
in your
holy name.
Amen.