10/27 Sermon - Stand with Jesus

Stand with Jesus

Daniel 3:16-28

1. Why are we called Lutherans? We do we have that title?

- Because of a man who lived 500 years ago called Martin Luther.

- The Catholic church in the 1500s had rules with an iron fist.

- And it was not a good iron fist. They blasphemed God, twisted God’s Word, set themselves above God, and demanded worship. 

- Martin Luther refused to bend his knee. He refused to worship them. He preached that Jesus was God and Savior, God’s Word alone was our guide.

- At the Diet of Worms in 1521, the whole European world gathered against Martin Luther, the emperor, the pope, all the bishops of the Catholic Church. The demanded that Luther bend his knee and worship.

- He said no. “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures or by evident reason, I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one's conscience is neither safe nor sound. God help me. Amen”

2. About 2500 years ago, Babylon ruled most of the known world.

- The emperor, Nebuchadnezzar, ruled with an absolute iron fist.

- He demanded that people worship him.

- So he built this enormous, 90 foot golden image, maybe of himself.

- He summoned all his officials and governors to one place.

- And at the sound of  a cacophony music from harps, flutes, zithers, pipes, and all kinds of music sounded, everyone had to bow down.

- One simple act. If you didn’t, you’d be thrown into a blazing furnace.

3. All the officials gathered around this golden statue. The music blared. Ever knee bowed to worship the golden statue.

- Except three people. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They said NO.

- They stood tall, didn’t bend their knee, and ignored the music.

- The emperor, Nebuchadnezzar, was furious! He was shaking with rage. These three Jews didn’t worship me or my image? He asks them, “Why?”

- Read 3:16-18. Their confession is so powerful.

- What gave them that kind of faith? The object of their faith, God.

- They had absolute confidence that their God & Savior could save them.

- But even if God chose not to save them from the fiery furnace, they still wouldn’t worship the statue, because God was their life.  

- They stood up with Jesus. That’s all the did. Stood their ground.

- God saved them from the fiery furnace. Not even the smell of smoke was on their clothes. God’s glory spread over the whole empire.

4. What was so different about those three, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego?  

- They didn’t DO anything spectacular or ground-breaking.

- They simply stood their ground.

- That’s what Luther did as well.

- The whole world, whether it was the Babylonian Empire of the full might of the Roman Catholic Church, demanded worship from these men.

- But they said no. Even if that meant being singled out from everyone else, being different, … being thrown into a fiery furnace. 

- Martin Luther and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego trusted in their God, they saw Jesus as their Savior. They knew eternal life didn’t come from this world, but from God.

5. There is a cacophony of noises and music in our world, isn’t there?  

- For Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego it was flutes, harps, lyres, zithers, pipes, and all kinds of instruments. They told people to worship the statue.

- We don’t have that kind of music… but we have other kinds of music.

- We are surrounded by such a cacophony, a blare of music, like… people, friends, politics, phones, social media, the news, money, all these voices, and this music blares in our ears and tells us to worship….

- These voices don’t set up a giant gold statue, but they want our worship.

- “Look here!” they say. Bend your knee. Bow down. “Look here for power, protection, popularity, purpose, money, happiness. Don’t look to your God, don’t worship him.”

- What is it for me, for you? Money, politics, job, family, health?

- What is the music that I listen to?

- It’s hard to not bow down and worship, isn’t it? It’s hard to ignore the music. It’s hard to worship God alone.

6. Stand up with Jesus.

- Being a Chrisitan often involves just standing your ground.

- God doesn’t send us on glorious missions across the sea, or call us to convert millions, or do something grand or glorious.

- God says, “Keep living exactly wherever you are at, with whatever house or family you have. But stand with me.”  

- God says, “Ignore the music of this world. Ignore the broken instruments. Even if the whole world gathers around you and demands your worship, your time, your trust, say ‘no,’ and stand with me.”

- That’s what Luther did. That’s what Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego did. They just said “no” to the world around them, they kept their eyes fixed firmly on Jesus, and they stood with Jesus alone.

7. When we take this attitude, when we stand with Jesus, when we say “NO” to the world around us, our lives will look different, very different.

- The coming election doesn’t really bother us. In the end, it doesn’t matter who is elected. God is in control.

- We love our families. Even when it’s hard, even when there’s problems. We don’t just take the easy way out of separation or divorce.

- We speak up. When we see someone hurting, alone, abused, ridiculed, we speak up and defend them.

- When our culture tells us to live contrary to God’s Word with marriage, sexuality, money, time, whatever it is, we say no, & listen to God’s Word.

- Whatever it is, oftentimes, standing with Jesus just simply means saying “no” to the world around us, ignoring the broken music, and standing with and following Jesus.

8. Why? Why did Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego stand with Jesus? Why did Martin Luther stand with Jesus? How could they say “no” no confidently to the world around them?

- They knew Jesus was their Savior. They believed that Jesus gave them eternal life. They trusted that Jesus could save them even if the whole world stood against them. And if God allowed the world to even kill them, they still wouldn’t worship false gods because eternal life is found in Jesus alone.

- Why should we stand with Jesus? How can we stand with Jesus, when the world demands our worship, when a cacophony of music blares in our ears?

- Because of Jesus. He is our only Savior. Our only source of truth. Our only way to forgive and take away sins. Our only hope of eternal life. Because of him, we can stand with Jesus.