WEBVTT
00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:12.320
Daniel chapter 1, and uh I will be speaking to you on the entirety of the story in chapter 1, and I will read that story now.
00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:16.800
Starting in Daniel chapter 1, verse 1.
00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:25.760
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:34.799
And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God.
00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:41.359
These he carried off to the temple of his God in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his God.
00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:51.759
Then the king ordered Aspenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king's service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility.
00:00:52.000 --> 00:01:04.400
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.
00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:10.480
He was to teach them the language and the literature of the Babylonians.
00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:15.760
The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table.
00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:21.840
They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service.
00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:26.319
Among those who were chosen were some from Judah.
00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:30.079
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:40.480
The chief official gave them new names to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah, Shadrach, to Mishel, Meshach, and to Azariah Abednego.
00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:47.920
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.
00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:54.079
And he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:59.359
Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel.
00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:03.040
But the official told Daniel, I am afraid to ask.
00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:07.840
I'm afraid of my Lord the King, who has assigned your food and drink.
00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:12.479
Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age?
00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:16.080
The king would then have my head because of you.
00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:28.319
Daniel then said to the guard, whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, please test your servants for ten days.
00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:32.240
Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.
00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:42.800
Then compare our appearance with that of the royal young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.
00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:47.520
So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:54.800
At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.
00:02:55.039 --> 00:03:02.080
So the guard took away their choice food and wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:13.599
To these four young men, God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning, and Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:21.360
At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.
00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:28.080
The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:30.800
So they entered the king's service.
00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:42.479
In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:47.520
And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:49.919
Let's pray.
00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:55.520
Father, we thank you for the privilege of having access to your word.
00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:08.560
We thank you that you have revealed yourself to us in these pages, and we ask that you would guide us through the example of your faithful servants to live more fully for you, to honor you with our lives.
00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:11.039
We give thanks and we ask in Jesus' name.
00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:11.919
Amen.
00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:28.480
Throughout my life, I have experienced a variety of times where I moved to a new place and I was in an unfamiliar place.
00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:37.600
I've moved a lot of different times, and every time I moved, it brought with it a feeling of unfamiliarity.
00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:39.040
I was somewhere new.
00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:41.360
I didn't quite know this place.
00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:43.040
I didn't quite know what was going on.
00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:47.920
The culture, the way of doing things was a little bit different.
00:04:48.639 --> 00:05:06.079
For many years growing up, I lived overseas, and when we moved to a different country, uh, it was a different culture, different language, different uh customs, and there was a sense of unfamiliarity that I wasn't quite sure about everything around me.
00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:08.480
Things were a little unfamiliar.
00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:18.319
Then I moved back here to the US, but I moved to a very busy suburban area, which was also quite different than what I was used to.
00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:23.279
Uh very fast-paced, very congested, very different.
00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.000
And I felt a little out of place there.
00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:28.399
It just was new, it was unfamiliar.
00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:31.680
Then after that, I moved to a big city.
00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:37.839
And I lived in downtown Chicago, and getting used to living downtown was a totally new experience.
00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:41.040
I felt like buildings were falling in on me everywhere.
00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:43.439
I longed to see a piece of grass.
00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:45.759
It was different.
00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:52.720
And then, after many years there, I moved to southern Illinois where there's no shortage of grass.
00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:58.399
Every time I moved somewhere, things felt a little unfamiliar.
00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:01.839
Things felt a little different and uncertain.
00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:09.600
The world around me seemed just slightly strange and unusual, and I wasn't sure what to make of it.
00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:17.040
We meet Daniel and his friends in that kind of a situation.
00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:24.000
In a situation where the world around them feels uncertain and unfamiliar.
00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:30.399
Now, you may have moved in your life, or you may never have had that experience.
00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:42.160
But regardless of whether you have or you haven't, living as a Christian in this present world should feel a little bit like moving to an unfamiliar place.
00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:48.000
The world that we live in should feel just a little bit unfamiliar.
00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:59.920
When we seek to follow Christ and we live in a society and around people who don't share that commitment, it can make us feel a little bit like outsiders.
00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:02.480
Sometimes it can feel a little unsettling.
00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:09.920
People around us may not quite have the same way of doing things or the same values or the same priorities.
00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:20.720
We can be in our home country, our passport nation, and yet should feel a little bit like strangers because of our commitment to following Jesus.
00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:23.360
How should we handle that?
00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:31.439
How should we navigate that tension of living in a world that we don't fully identify with?
00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:38.079
Because if we're gonna follow Christ, we need to follow him, but we still gotta live in this world.
00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:43.040
You still gotta go shopping, still gotta do business here, still gotta go to work, all those sorts of things.
00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:44.800
So, how do we navigate this?
00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:48.240
I suppose one option could be just to retreat.
00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:51.600
Try to say I'm gonna avoid people as much as possible.
00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:54.639
I'm only gonna interact with people at church on Sunday mornings.
00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:57.519
I'm not gonna talk to anybody who doesn't share my faith.
00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:01.360
I'm not gonna talk to anybody who doesn't think exactly like I do.
00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:04.399
That could be one extreme.
00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:10.879
Another extreme might be, well, maybe I'll just forget about this following Jesus thing.
00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:13.439
The people around me don't seem too interested in it.
00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:14.480
Why should I be?
00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:17.600
It'd be a lot easier to just give it up and fit in.
00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:27.519
One option to manage the tension of living in this world is to try to retreat from society, not even be a part of it.
00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:32.960
Another option would be to fully become a part of it, to give up following Christ.
00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:39.200
Neither option is what God calls us to.
00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:45.120
And I would suggest that the example of Daniel offers us a better way.
00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:59.840
The example of Daniel and his friends in the narrative we've read offers us a model for living in an unfamiliar society that doesn't quite share the same values that we do.
00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:13.279
Daniel provides us an example of engaging with the world and making an impact while also maintaining his distinct identity as a follower of the one true God.
00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:24.000
When the story opens, Daniel and his friends are taken into captivity in Babylon.
00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:32.639
Says in verse 1 that in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar came and besieged it.
00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:36.720
This happened around 600 years before the birth of Christ.
00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:45.440
Earlier in biblical history, the kingdom of Israel had been divided into two parts because of Israel's ongoing sin.
00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:52.240
Then in 722 BC, the northern kingdom, Israel, was invaded and scattered by the Assyrian army.
00:09:52.399 --> 00:10:03.759
The southern kingdom, Judah, remained, but God repeatedly warned them that if they did not turn away from their sin and turn toward him, that they would suffer the same fate.
00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:06.559
They would experience captivity and defeat.
00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:19.440
This had been promised in the Mosaic law in Leviticus, that if they obeyed, they would experience blessing in the land, and if they disobeyed, there would be defeat and they would be exiled.
00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:26.960
So this was not new information to them, and God repeatedly gave them warning and yet they did not listen.
00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:40.720
And so here in Daniel chapter 1, when Daniel was taken into captivity, this is the beginning of God's judgment upon the southern kingdom of Israel for their sin and their refusal to turn away.
00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:46.480
That doesn't mean that Daniel himself or his friends were personally culpable for the sin.
00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:52.080
They're portrayed as being very upstanding followers of God.
00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:55.679
But the nation as a whole was suffering a kind of judgment.
00:10:55.840 --> 00:11:02.320
And it says that the Lord delivered the king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:06.480
And Daniel and his friends were taken into Babylonian captivity.
00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:16.080
They're taken into a new culture, a new society, a place where they talk differently, they look differently, they think differently, they act differently.
00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:19.120
It was unfamiliar and disorienting.
00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:34.399
And it's clear from the very beginning that this king, Nebuchadnezzar, has no intention to honor their faith in the one true God, the God that we know, revealed in Jesus Christ.
00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:38.799
Nebuchadnezzar had no interest in honoring that God.
00:11:38.960 --> 00:12:00.399
It says in verse 2 that when Nebuchadnezzar came and captured Judah, that some of the articles from the temple of God were carried off to the temple of the God in Babylonia and put into the treasure house of that God.
00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:07.600
The temple in Israel was a sacred site where people came and encountered the presence of God.
00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:21.679
In New Testament times with the coming of Christ, God's presence is not confined to any particular physical location, but the New Testament tells us that we are the temple of God, the people of God, where God dwells.
00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:27.120
In Old Testament times, God's presence was more sporadic, less universal.
00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:34.320
And God revealed himself in the temple in Israel, and there were instruments and objects there that helped them worship.
00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:40.000
Nebuchadnezzar took those instruments and put them in the temple of a false God.
00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:47.679
It was a clear sign that he had no regard for the one true God and had no intention of worshiping him.
00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:54.240
A couple of years ago in suburban Indianapolis, there was a church that was vandalized.
00:12:54.480 --> 00:13:03.039
The cross outside the church was spray painted, and satanic symbols were sprayed all over the church.
00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:08.559
Somebody was trying to communicate.
00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:12.240
I have no regard for your God, and I couldn't care less about your faith.
00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:14.240
In fact, I detest it.
00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:18.720
That's what Nebuchadnezzar was doing here.
00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:22.399
Nebuchadnezzar was sending the message, I have no regard for your God.
00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:24.320
Your faith in God yet.
00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:26.639
Doesn't mean anything to me.
00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:31.679
And so Daniel is taken into captivity along with his friends.
00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:37.279
And it says that they were to learn the language and the literature of the Babylonians.
00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:39.519
Says they were given new names.
00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:41.840
Their identity was being changed.
00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:49.519
They were no longer to be Israelites who worshiped the one true God, that they were to be Babylonians, they were to worship the Babylonian gods.
00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:51.679
They were to learn all about Babylon.
00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:55.039
Their identity was being erased.
00:13:56.240 --> 00:14:05.200
It was living in a world, in a culture, where their commitment to the one true God was not shared, their faith was not understood.
00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:10.720
Their reverence for God was not respected.
00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:17.200
In fact, they were probably mocked, considered to be outcasts because of their faith.
00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:19.440
So how does Daniel respond?
00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:21.840
How does Daniel respond to that?
00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:27.600
The rest of the narrative, and really the whole book of Daniel, tells us how Daniel responds.
00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:33.919
But I like how Rick McKinley describes Daniel's response, which we're about to see.
00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:42.639
He says that in response to the captivity, that Daniel practices participation without assimilation.
00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.960
Participation without assimilation.
00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:50.879
He participates in the society that he's in.
00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:53.120
He makes a contribution to it.
00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:54.960
He gets to know people there.
00:14:55.120 --> 00:15:00.399
But he never loses his distinct set of values and convictions in following God.
00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:10.799
He's around people different from him, but he exerts a positive influence on them rather than letting them exert a negative influence on him.
00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:16.240
Daniel practices participation without assimilation.
00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:24.159
He maintains his distinct identity as a follower of God when he's surrounded by a society that doesn't share the same values.
00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:25.200
How does he do that?
00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:28.480
How does he participate without assimilating?
00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:33.200
How does he maintain that distinct identity in a foreign society?
00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:37.200
Text gives us a couple of indications of that.
00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:42.159
As the story goes on, we see that Daniel makes a commitment.
00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:46.000
Daniel makes a commitment, first and foremost.
00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:55.440
He makes a commitment that he is going to maintain his distinct identity and maintain his conviction about the one true God.
00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:57.120
Verse 8.
00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:03.120
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.
00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:08.559
Daniel resolved not to defile himself.
00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:14.159
We hear a lot about resolve at the beginning of the year, New Year's resolutions.
00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:19.120
People make resolutions that from now on I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that.
00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:22.720
Whether or not they stick is a pretty open question.
00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.360
Talk to them around, well, this time of year.
00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:28.240
I made a New Year's resolution at the beginning of the year.
00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:30.399
Wish I remembered what it was.
00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:33.120
Daniel resolved.
00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:35.120
Daniel made a resolution.
00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:42.240
He made a commitment that he would not defile himself by eating the food that had been offered.
00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:47.440
Up until now, in the narrative, Daniel has been acted upon, but now he exerts agency.
00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:48.559
He acts.
00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:55.039
He makes a decision to define his own life rather than simply being acted upon.
00:16:55.279 --> 00:17:00.080
And the text doesn't explicitly say why Daniel didn't want to eat the king's food.
00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:08.319
It's possible that the food was unclean, according to the Mosaic law, according to Israelite law.
00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:16.400
Or it's possible that the food itself was clean, but it was prepared in a way that was inconsistent with the Old Testament law, the way God told them to do it.
00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:23.519
These Old Testament dietary regulations and food laws are not something that apply to us as New Testament believers today.
00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:31.039
But in Old Testament Israel, they were a way that the people had of honoring God in their distinct cultural setting.
00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:37.839
And so it's possible that it would have directly violated the law that God had given if Daniel were to eat it.
00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:45.839
It's also possible that he simply wanted to maintain an element of distinctiveness over the others around him.
00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:53.440
He wanted to be different in some way, in order to remind himself of who he was, that he wasn't quite like all the people around him.
00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:59.759
Regardless of Daniel's exact motivation, the text says that he resolved not to defile himself.
00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:05.920
He felt that eating the king's food would compromise his distinctiveness as a follower of God.
00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:09.759
And so he made a commitment about the type of person he would be.
00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:16.480
And if we are to maintain our distinct identity as Christ followers, it begins with resolve.
00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:18.559
It begins with a commitment.
00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:31.839
It begins with deciding the kind of people who we are going to be, and it begins by deciding that we are not going to let others steer us away from the resolve that we have to follow Christ.
00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:34.880
I like what D.A.
00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:36.000
Carson says.
00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:37.599
Carson says this.
00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:41.759
He says that people do not drift toward holiness.
00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:46.640
People do not drift toward holiness.
00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:54.000
The kind of person that God calls you to be is not something you are going to drift toward.
00:18:54.640 --> 00:19:01.279
The integrity that God calls you to live with is not something that you are accidentally going to move toward.
00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:09.359
The kind of commitment that Christ calls us to have to his kingdom is not something that we are accidentally going to acquire when we're not trying.
00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:12.960
Nobody drifts toward holiness.
00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:17.359
Nobody drifts towards the kind of life God calls them to live.
00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:20.240
In fact, quite the opposite is true.
00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:21.680
We tend to drift away.
00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:29.920
If left to our own devices and our own desires, we tend to drift away from God over time.
00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:32.559
Sometimes dramatically, sometimes subtly.
00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:36.559
It begins with a commitment, with a resolve.
00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.519
Daniel resolved not to defile himself.
00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:44.960
Have you resolved to honor Christ wherever he's placed you?
00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:51.759
Have you resolved to honor the one true God regardless of what the people around you are doing?
00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:57.920
Daniel maintained his distinct identity by making a commitment.
00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:01.440
He resolved not to defile himself.
00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:04.079
He committed to following God.
00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:11.119
That commitment that he made was an internal commitment that he had to make in his own heart.
00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:15.920
But when we make a commitment like that, it also has to be lived out in how we interact with others.
00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:22.319
The commitments that we make, the resolve that we have, it displays itself in the way that we interact with other people.
00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:28.480
And Daniel, his commitment played out in the way that he interacted with people.
00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:40.880
Because it says in verse 10 that he went to the official and asked not to eat the king's food.
00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:42.559
Verses 8 and 9, that is.
00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:45.359
He asked not to eat the king's food.
00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:52.319
But verse 10 says that the official told Daniel that he was afraid of the king.
00:20:53.440 --> 00:21:06.240
He was afraid that if Daniel didn't eat the king's food, that Daniel's health would wither, that he would look not so good, and that the official would then be in trouble with the king, that the king would have his head.
00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:16.559
Daniel made a request not to defile himself, and it didn't work right away.
00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:21.279
And so Daniel then found a compromise.
00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:24.160
He offered a little experiment.
00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:28.079
He said, Well, let's just test it for 10 days.
00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:33.039
Verse 12, please test your servants for ten days.
00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:38.079
And then verse 13 and 14, he said, At the end of the 10 days, let's see the results.
00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:40.799
And if I look fine, we'll stick with it.
00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:42.960
If I don't look fine, we'll stop it.
00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:49.839
He proposed an experiment to see if his commitment would have a negative impact.
00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:56.319
You see, Daniel found a way to work out his commitment among the people that he was around.
00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:59.759
He found a way to work with people who thought differently than him.
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.720
Who had different priorities and values than him.
00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:05.519
He did so respectfully but clearly.
00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:09.039
He displayed wisdom in how he interacted with people.
00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:14.960
One article I read says that wisdom is practical knowledge about how to get things done.
00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:19.599
Wisdom is practical knowledge about how to get things done.
00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:33.119
The resolve that we have to follow Christ needs to play itself out in wisdom, being able to interact with people and get things done effectively.
00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:39.599
Daniel displays his wisdom through the tact that he has.
00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:42.319
He has tact in how he handles people.
00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:46.079
He's diplomatic, he's respectful, but he's also direct.
00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:49.039
He's able to sensitively navigate the issue.
00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:54.079
He recognized the concern on the part of the chief official, and then he navigated that.
00:22:54.319 --> 00:23:01.119
In other words, for Daniel, being a witness to God didn't mean being obnoxious and intrusive and annoying.
00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:08.480
For us, being a witness for Christ doesn't mean that we have to go out into society and be a bull in a china shop.
00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:18.400
We can interact with people respectfully, tactfully, honor their concerns, honor where they're coming from.
00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:26.559
And yet, as we do so, still maintain our own identity and our own resolve to follow Christ.
00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:28.480
Daniel was resilient.
00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:30.319
His first attempt was not successful.
00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:32.160
He asked and he was denied.
00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:41.279
Sometimes when people cross us, especially if they feel like, if we feel like they're crossing our faith, we might have a tendency to explode, just get upset.
00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:43.039
But Daniel doesn't do that.
00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:46.880
He keeps his composure and he finds another way to address it.
00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:49.519
Daniel has tact.
00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:52.079
He has skill in interacting with people.
00:23:52.400 --> 00:24:01.200
His resolve to follow God displays itself in how he negotiates and works with people who are different than him.
00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:07.279
Maybe as you sit here this morning, you think to yourself, I want that kind of wisdom.
00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:13.440
As I read the passage this week, I wanted that kind of wisdom.
00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:22.480
But I want to encourage you that that wisdom is possible not just for Daniel, but for all those who follow Christ.
00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:30.319
In verse 17, it says this to these four young men, God gave knowledge and understanding.
00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:34.880
The source of Daniel's wisdom was God.
00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:38.880
God was the one who imparted wisdom to Daniel.
00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:46.720
It's not simply that Daniel was born with a great IQ or born with great skills, perhaps though he was.
00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:52.720
But the text explicitly says that the wisdom he displayed and the knowledge that he had came from God.
00:24:53.359 --> 00:25:04.240
And so if you feel that you do not have the wisdom needed to interact with people and to effectively witness for Christ, I invite you to ask God for wisdom.
00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:15.759
James chapter 1, verse 5, James tells us this if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all.
00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:17.599
You want wisdom?
00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:18.960
Ask for it.
00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:23.200
Jesus says, you have not because you ask not.
00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:33.279
If you want to be tactful and respectful in dealing with people, then when you're in situations where people push your buttons, ask God for wisdom.
00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:38.880
When you're in a situation where you don't know how to bear witness to Christ, ask for wisdom.
00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:49.839
When you are in a situation where somebody seems opposed to the gospel and you want to be a positive influence on them, but you don't know how to do that, ask for wisdom.
00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:52.720
God is the one who grants wisdom.
00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:59.279
When we make a resolve and a commitment to follow Him, He will give us wisdom when we ask.
00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:09.279
Daniel maintained his distinct identity by his resolve, by his wisdom in interacting with others.
00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:13.279
But the wisdom that he displayed seems a bit risky.
00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:15.039
And it was a bit risky.
00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:21.279
And so if we are to maintain our distinct identity, we need faith.
00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:23.359
We have to trust in God.
00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:26.559
Daniel did something a bit risky.
00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:28.240
He trusted in God.
00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:36.319
It's clear that the way that Daniel negotiated the situation required him to rely on God for results.
00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:38.079
It wasn't guaranteed to work.
00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:45.039
The text does tell us that at the end of the ten days they look healthier and better nourished than any of the young men.
00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:46.799
So his plan paid off.
00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:49.839
It was successful, but that wasn't a given going in.
00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:56.319
Daniel had to make a commitment from a place where the future was uncertain and the outcome wasn't quite clear.
00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:03.200
And we do not always have all of the information or all of the facts or perfect knowledge of the future.
00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:10.000
Sometimes we simply have to make decisions using wisdom based upon the circumstances in front of us.
00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:16.240
And when we act out of conviction, it requires faith.
00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:23.279
It requires that we trust in God to provide for the situation even when the outcome is uncertain.
00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:35.200
Faith is a trust and a confidence that God will go before us into the future and will take care of things even if we don't know how they will work out.
00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:38.000
I like what Paul Nyquist says about faith.
00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:44.720
He says that faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.
00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:50.400
Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.
00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:56.240
Sometimes we have to walk forward, but we can only understand our path looking backward.
00:27:57.119 --> 00:28:08.480
Sometimes we need to step out in faith even when we don't know how it's all going to go, trusting that hindsight will reveal the providential hand of God carrying us each step of the way.
00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:19.759
We often face uncertainty in life, and managing that uncertainty, negotiating uncertainty, is a key to wisdom.
00:28:21.519 --> 00:28:24.240
Often we have to act in the face of uncertainty.
00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:33.759
And when we don't have a full picture of everything ahead, sometimes we have to act out of our resolve to follow God and a sense of wisdom about what's best.
00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:38.799
Hebrews chapter 11 tells us without faith it is impossible to please God.
00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:42.799
Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:53.200
But when we trust in the character of God, it helps us to act out of conviction and leave the results in his hands.
00:28:54.400 --> 00:29:00.480
Daniel maintained his distinct identity when he was in a world that didn't share his values.
00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:04.720
He practiced participation without assimilation.
00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:12.319
He was a part of society and yet maintained his own unique values.
00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:22.480
He did that by making a commitment to follow the one true God, by exercising wisdom and by trusting in God for the future.
00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:26.960
There's a quote I like by Wilbur Chapman.
00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:32.480
He says this about the way that Christians relate to the world around them.
00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:40.400
He says this it is not the ship in the water, but the water in the ship that sinks it.
00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:47.200
It is not the ship in the water, but the water in the ship that sinks it.
00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:49.519
Think about that for a minute.
00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:55.519
A ship that gets in the water doesn't automatically sink.
00:29:55.759 --> 00:30:00.160
But if the water starts to get into the ship, then it begins to sink.
00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:04.880
Now any ship is at risk of sinking, right?
00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:08.799
You know the easiest way to get a ship not to sink?
00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:10.960
Never put it in the water.
00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:13.200
Can you imagine that?
00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:18.160
Build a nice luxury cruise liner, and then the designer says, This ship is so beautiful.
00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:19.759
I need for her to sink.
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:21.599
Just leave her sitting here on land.
00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:23.200
She won't sink that way.
00:30:23.599 --> 00:30:23.920
Right?
00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:29.279
She won't sink, but she'll be totally useless and will not fulfill the purpose that she was designed for.
00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:34.160
In order to fulfill her purpose, she's got to get into the water.
00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:36.480
That does risk sinking.
00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:41.359
But being in the water, in and of itself, doesn't make the ship sink.
00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:45.519
It's when the water gets into the ship that it begins to sink.
00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:51.599
And so Wilbur Chapman says, it is not the ship in the water, but the water in the ship that sinks it.
00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:58.240
So it's not the Christian in the world, but the world in the Christian that constitutes the danger.
00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:05.440
It is not us being out and about in the world that constitutes the danger, but the world being within us.
00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:09.920
The true danger is not that we might meet people different than us.
00:31:10.079 --> 00:31:18.240
The true danger is that we will fail to maintain our distinct commitment to Christ in the midst of interacting with others.
00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:23.039
We could become a holy huddle.
00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:27.839
We could refuse to interact with anybody other than other believers.
00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:30.400
We could be ships out of the water.
00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:33.920
But if we did that, we would not be fulfilling our purpose.
00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:39.279
Let us follow the example of Daniel with God's help.
00:31:39.440 --> 00:31:46.960
Let us participate in society without losing our distinct identity as followers of the one true God.
00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:48.079
Amen.
00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:12.320
Daniel chapter 1, and uh I will be speaking to you on the entirety of the story in chapter 1, and I will read that story now.
00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:16.800
Starting in Daniel chapter 1, verse 1.
00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:25.760
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:34.799
And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God.
00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:41.359
These he carried off to the temple of his God in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his God.
00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:51.759
Then the king ordered Aspenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king's service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility.
00:00:52.000 --> 00:01:04.400
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.
00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:10.480
He was to teach them the language and the literature of the Babylonians.
00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:15.760
The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table.
00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:21.840
They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service.
00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:26.319
Among those who were chosen were some from Judah.
00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:30.079
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:40.480
The chief official gave them new names to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah, Shadrach, to Mishel, Meshach, and to Azariah Abednego.
00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:47.920
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.
00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:54.079
And he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:59.359
Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel.
00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:03.040
But the official told Daniel, I am afraid to ask.
00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:07.840
I'm afraid of my Lord the King, who has assigned your food and drink.
00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:12.479
Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age?
00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:16.080
The king would then have my head because of you.
00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:28.319
Daniel then said to the guard, whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, please test your servants for ten days.
00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:32.240
Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.
00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:42.800
Then compare our appearance with that of the royal young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.
00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:47.520
So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:54.800
At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.
00:02:55.039 --> 00:03:02.080
So the guard took away their choice food and wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:13.599
To these four young men, God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning, and Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:21.360
At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.
00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:28.080
The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:30.800
So they entered the king's service.
00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:42.479
In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:47.520
And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:49.919
Let's pray.
00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:55.520
Father, we thank you for the privilege of having access to your word.
00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:08.560
We thank you that you have revealed yourself to us in these pages, and we ask that you would guide us through the example of your faithful servants to live more fully for you, to honor you with our lives.
00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:11.039
We give thanks and we ask in Jesus' name.
00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:11.919
Amen.
00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:28.480
Throughout my life, I have experienced a variety of times where I moved to a new place and I was in an unfamiliar place.
00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:37.600
I've moved a lot of different times, and every time I moved, it brought with it a feeling of unfamiliarity.
00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:39.040
I was somewhere new.
00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:41.360
I didn't quite know this place.
00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:43.040
I didn't quite know what was going on.
00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:47.920
The culture, the way of doing things was a little bit different.
00:04:48.639 --> 00:05:06.079
For many years growing up, I lived overseas, and when we moved to a different country, uh, it was a different culture, different language, different uh customs, and there was a sense of unfamiliarity that I wasn't quite sure about everything around me.
00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:08.480
Things were a little unfamiliar.
00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:18.319
Then I moved back here to the US, but I moved to a very busy suburban area, which was also quite different than what I was used to.
00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:23.279
Uh very fast-paced, very congested, very different.
00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.000
And I felt a little out of place there.
00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:28.399
It just was new, it was unfamiliar.
00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:31.680
Then after that, I moved to a big city.
00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:37.839
And I lived in downtown Chicago, and getting used to living downtown was a totally new experience.
00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:41.040
I felt like buildings were falling in on me everywhere.
00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:43.439
I longed to see a piece of grass.
00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:45.759
It was different.
00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:52.720
And then, after many years there, I moved to southern Illinois where there's no shortage of grass.
00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:58.399
Every time I moved somewhere, things felt a little unfamiliar.
00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:01.839
Things felt a little different and uncertain.
00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:09.600
The world around me seemed just slightly strange and unusual, and I wasn't sure what to make of it.
00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:17.040
We meet Daniel and his friends in that kind of a situation.
00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:24.000
In a situation where the world around them feels uncertain and unfamiliar.
00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:30.399
Now, you may have moved in your life, or you may never have had that experience.
00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:42.160
But regardless of whether you have or you haven't, living as a Christian in this present world should feel a little bit like moving to an unfamiliar place.
00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:48.000
The world that we live in should feel just a little bit unfamiliar.
00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:59.920
When we seek to follow Christ and we live in a society and around people who don't share that commitment, it can make us feel a little bit like outsiders.
00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:02.480
Sometimes it can feel a little unsettling.
00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:09.920
People around us may not quite have the same way of doing things or the same values or the same priorities.
00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:20.720
We can be in our home country, our passport nation, and yet should feel a little bit like strangers because of our commitment to following Jesus.
00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:23.360
How should we handle that?
00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:31.439
How should we navigate that tension of living in a world that we don't fully identify with?
00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:38.079
Because if we're gonna follow Christ, we need to follow him, but we still gotta live in this world.
00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:43.040
You still gotta go shopping, still gotta do business here, still gotta go to work, all those sorts of things.
00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:44.800
So, how do we navigate this?
00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:48.240
I suppose one option could be just to retreat.
00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:51.600
Try to say I'm gonna avoid people as much as possible.
00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:54.639
I'm only gonna interact with people at church on Sunday mornings.
00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:57.519
I'm not gonna talk to anybody who doesn't share my faith.
00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:01.360
I'm not gonna talk to anybody who doesn't think exactly like I do.
00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:04.399
That could be one extreme.
00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:10.879
Another extreme might be, well, maybe I'll just forget about this following Jesus thing.
00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:13.439
The people around me don't seem too interested in it.
00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:14.480
Why should I be?
00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:17.600
It'd be a lot easier to just give it up and fit in.
00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:27.519
One option to manage the tension of living in this world is to try to retreat from society, not even be a part of it.
00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:32.960
Another option would be to fully become a part of it, to give up following Christ.
00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:39.200
Neither option is what God calls us to.
00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:45.120
And I would suggest that the example of Daniel offers us a better way.
00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:59.840
The example of Daniel and his friends in the narrative we've read offers us a model for living in an unfamiliar society that doesn't quite share the same values that we do.
00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:13.279
Daniel provides us an example of engaging with the world and making an impact while also maintaining his distinct identity as a follower of the one true God.
00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:24.000
When the story opens, Daniel and his friends are taken into captivity in Babylon.
00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:32.639
Says in verse 1 that in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar came and besieged it.
00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:36.720
This happened around 600 years before the birth of Christ.
00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:45.440
Earlier in biblical history, the kingdom of Israel had been divided into two parts because of Israel's ongoing sin.
00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:52.240
Then in 722 BC, the northern kingdom, Israel, was invaded and scattered by the Assyrian army.
00:09:52.399 --> 00:10:03.759
The southern kingdom, Judah, remained, but God repeatedly warned them that if they did not turn away from their sin and turn toward him, that they would suffer the same fate.
00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:06.559
They would experience captivity and defeat.
00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:19.440
This had been promised in the Mosaic law in Leviticus, that if they obeyed, they would experience blessing in the land, and if they disobeyed, there would be defeat and they would be exiled.
00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:26.960
So this was not new information to them, and God repeatedly gave them warning and yet they did not listen.
00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:40.720
And so here in Daniel chapter 1, when Daniel was taken into captivity, this is the beginning of God's judgment upon the southern kingdom of Israel for their sin and their refusal to turn away.
00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:46.480
That doesn't mean that Daniel himself or his friends were personally culpable for the sin.
00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:52.080
They're portrayed as being very upstanding followers of God.
00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:55.679
But the nation as a whole was suffering a kind of judgment.
00:10:55.840 --> 00:11:02.320
And it says that the Lord delivered the king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:06.480
And Daniel and his friends were taken into Babylonian captivity.
00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:16.080
They're taken into a new culture, a new society, a place where they talk differently, they look differently, they think differently, they act differently.
00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:19.120
It was unfamiliar and disorienting.
00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:34.399
And it's clear from the very beginning that this king, Nebuchadnezzar, has no intention to honor their faith in the one true God, the God that we know, revealed in Jesus Christ.
00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:38.799
Nebuchadnezzar had no interest in honoring that God.
00:11:38.960 --> 00:12:00.399
It says in verse 2 that when Nebuchadnezzar came and captured Judah, that some of the articles from the temple of God were carried off to the temple of the God in Babylonia and put into the treasure house of that God.
00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:07.600
The temple in Israel was a sacred site where people came and encountered the presence of God.
00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:21.679
In New Testament times with the coming of Christ, God's presence is not confined to any particular physical location, but the New Testament tells us that we are the temple of God, the people of God, where God dwells.
00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:27.120
In Old Testament times, God's presence was more sporadic, less universal.
00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:34.320
And God revealed himself in the temple in Israel, and there were instruments and objects there that helped them worship.
00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:40.000
Nebuchadnezzar took those instruments and put them in the temple of a false God.
00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:47.679
It was a clear sign that he had no regard for the one true God and had no intention of worshiping him.
00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:54.240
A couple of years ago in suburban Indianapolis, there was a church that was vandalized.
00:12:54.480 --> 00:13:03.039
The cross outside the church was spray painted, and satanic symbols were sprayed all over the church.
00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:08.559
Somebody was trying to communicate.
00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:12.240
I have no regard for your God, and I couldn't care less about your faith.
00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:14.240
In fact, I detest it.
00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:18.720
That's what Nebuchadnezzar was doing here.
00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:22.399
Nebuchadnezzar was sending the message, I have no regard for your God.
00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:24.320
Your faith in God yet.
00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:26.639
Doesn't mean anything to me.
00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:31.679
And so Daniel is taken into captivity along with his friends.
00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:37.279
And it says that they were to learn the language and the literature of the Babylonians.
00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:39.519
Says they were given new names.
00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:41.840
Their identity was being changed.
00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:49.519
They were no longer to be Israelites who worshiped the one true God, that they were to be Babylonians, they were to worship the Babylonian gods.
00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:51.679
They were to learn all about Babylon.
00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:55.039
Their identity was being erased.
00:13:56.240 --> 00:14:05.200
It was living in a world, in a culture, where their commitment to the one true God was not shared, their faith was not understood.
00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:10.720
Their reverence for God was not respected.
00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:17.200
In fact, they were probably mocked, considered to be outcasts because of their faith.
00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:19.440
So how does Daniel respond?
00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:21.840
How does Daniel respond to that?
00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:27.600
The rest of the narrative, and really the whole book of Daniel, tells us how Daniel responds.
00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:33.919
But I like how Rick McKinley describes Daniel's response, which we're about to see.
00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:42.639
He says that in response to the captivity, that Daniel practices participation without assimilation.
00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.960
Participation without assimilation.
00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:50.879
He participates in the society that he's in.
00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:53.120
He makes a contribution to it.
00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:54.960
He gets to know people there.
00:14:55.120 --> 00:15:00.399
But he never loses his distinct set of values and convictions in following God.
00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:10.799
He's around people different from him, but he exerts a positive influence on them rather than letting them exert a negative influence on him.
00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:16.240
Daniel practices participation without assimilation.
00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:24.159
He maintains his distinct identity as a follower of God when he's surrounded by a society that doesn't share the same values.
00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:25.200
How does he do that?
00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:28.480
How does he participate without assimilating?
00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:33.200
How does he maintain that distinct identity in a foreign society?
00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:37.200
Text gives us a couple of indications of that.
00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:42.159
As the story goes on, we see that Daniel makes a commitment.
00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:46.000
Daniel makes a commitment, first and foremost.
00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:55.440
He makes a commitment that he is going to maintain his distinct identity and maintain his conviction about the one true God.
00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:57.120
Verse 8.
00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:03.120
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.
00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:08.559
Daniel resolved not to defile himself.
00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:14.159
We hear a lot about resolve at the beginning of the year, New Year's resolutions.
00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:19.120
People make resolutions that from now on I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that.
00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:22.720
Whether or not they stick is a pretty open question.
00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.360
Talk to them around, well, this time of year.
00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:28.240
I made a New Year's resolution at the beginning of the year.
00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:30.399
Wish I remembered what it was.
00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:33.120
Daniel resolved.
00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:35.120
Daniel made a resolution.
00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:42.240
He made a commitment that he would not defile himself by eating the food that had been offered.
00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:47.440
Up until now, in the narrative, Daniel has been acted upon, but now he exerts agency.
00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:48.559
He acts.
00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:55.039
He makes a decision to define his own life rather than simply being acted upon.
00:16:55.279 --> 00:17:00.080
And the text doesn't explicitly say why Daniel didn't want to eat the king's food.
00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:08.319
It's possible that the food was unclean, according to the Mosaic law, according to Israelite law.
00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:16.400
Or it's possible that the food itself was clean, but it was prepared in a way that was inconsistent with the Old Testament law, the way God told them to do it.
00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:23.519
These Old Testament dietary regulations and food laws are not something that apply to us as New Testament believers today.
00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:31.039
But in Old Testament Israel, they were a way that the people had of honoring God in their distinct cultural setting.
00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:37.839
And so it's possible that it would have directly violated the law that God had given if Daniel were to eat it.
00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:45.839
It's also possible that he simply wanted to maintain an element of distinctiveness over the others around him.
00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:53.440
He wanted to be different in some way, in order to remind himself of who he was, that he wasn't quite like all the people around him.
00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:59.759
Regardless of Daniel's exact motivation, the text says that he resolved not to defile himself.
00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:05.920
He felt that eating the king's food would compromise his distinctiveness as a follower of God.
00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:09.759
And so he made a commitment about the type of person he would be.
00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:16.480
And if we are to maintain our distinct identity as Christ followers, it begins with resolve.
00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:18.559
It begins with a commitment.
00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:31.839
It begins with deciding the kind of people who we are going to be, and it begins by deciding that we are not going to let others steer us away from the resolve that we have to follow Christ.
00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:34.880
I like what D.A.
00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:36.000
Carson says.
00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:37.599
Carson says this.
00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:41.759
He says that people do not drift toward holiness.
00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:46.640
People do not drift toward holiness.
00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:54.000
The kind of person that God calls you to be is not something you are going to drift toward.
00:18:54.640 --> 00:19:01.279
The integrity that God calls you to live with is not something that you are accidentally going to move toward.
00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:09.359
The kind of commitment that Christ calls us to have to his kingdom is not something that we are accidentally going to acquire when we're not trying.
00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:12.960
Nobody drifts toward holiness.
00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:17.359
Nobody drifts towards the kind of life God calls them to live.
00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:20.240
In fact, quite the opposite is true.
00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:21.680
We tend to drift away.
00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:29.920
If left to our own devices and our own desires, we tend to drift away from God over time.
00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:32.559
Sometimes dramatically, sometimes subtly.
00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:36.559
It begins with a commitment, with a resolve.
00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.519
Daniel resolved not to defile himself.
00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:44.960
Have you resolved to honor Christ wherever he's placed you?
00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:51.759
Have you resolved to honor the one true God regardless of what the people around you are doing?
00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:57.920
Daniel maintained his distinct identity by making a commitment.
00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:01.440
He resolved not to defile himself.
00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:04.079
He committed to following God.
00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:11.119
That commitment that he made was an internal commitment that he had to make in his own heart.
00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:15.920
But when we make a commitment like that, it also has to be lived out in how we interact with others.
00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:22.319
The commitments that we make, the resolve that we have, it displays itself in the way that we interact with other people.
00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:28.480
And Daniel, his commitment played out in the way that he interacted with people.
00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:40.880
Because it says in verse 10 that he went to the official and asked not to eat the king's food.
00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:42.559
Verses 8 and 9, that is.
00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:45.359
He asked not to eat the king's food.
00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:52.319
But verse 10 says that the official told Daniel that he was afraid of the king.
00:20:53.440 --> 00:21:06.240
He was afraid that if Daniel didn't eat the king's food, that Daniel's health would wither, that he would look not so good, and that the official would then be in trouble with the king, that the king would have his head.
00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:16.559
Daniel made a request not to defile himself, and it didn't work right away.
00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:21.279
And so Daniel then found a compromise.
00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:24.160
He offered a little experiment.
00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:28.079
He said, Well, let's just test it for 10 days.
00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:33.039
Verse 12, please test your servants for ten days.
00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:38.079
And then verse 13 and 14, he said, At the end of the 10 days, let's see the results.
00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:40.799
And if I look fine, we'll stick with it.
00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:42.960
If I don't look fine, we'll stop it.
00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:49.839
He proposed an experiment to see if his commitment would have a negative impact.
00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:56.319
You see, Daniel found a way to work out his commitment among the people that he was around.
00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:59.759
He found a way to work with people who thought differently than him.
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.720
Who had different priorities and values than him.
00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:05.519
He did so respectfully but clearly.
00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:09.039
He displayed wisdom in how he interacted with people.
00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:14.960
One article I read says that wisdom is practical knowledge about how to get things done.
00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:19.599
Wisdom is practical knowledge about how to get things done.
00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:33.119
The resolve that we have to follow Christ needs to play itself out in wisdom, being able to interact with people and get things done effectively.
00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:39.599
Daniel displays his wisdom through the tact that he has.
00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:42.319
He has tact in how he handles people.
00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:46.079
He's diplomatic, he's respectful, but he's also direct.
00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:49.039
He's able to sensitively navigate the issue.
00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:54.079
He recognized the concern on the part of the chief official, and then he navigated that.
00:22:54.319 --> 00:23:01.119
In other words, for Daniel, being a witness to God didn't mean being obnoxious and intrusive and annoying.
00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:08.480
For us, being a witness for Christ doesn't mean that we have to go out into society and be a bull in a china shop.
00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:18.400
We can interact with people respectfully, tactfully, honor their concerns, honor where they're coming from.
00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:26.559
And yet, as we do so, still maintain our own identity and our own resolve to follow Christ.
00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:28.480
Daniel was resilient.
00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:30.319
His first attempt was not successful.
00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:32.160
He asked and he was denied.
00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:41.279
Sometimes when people cross us, especially if they feel like, if we feel like they're crossing our faith, we might have a tendency to explode, just get upset.
00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:43.039
But Daniel doesn't do that.
00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:46.880
He keeps his composure and he finds another way to address it.
00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:49.519
Daniel has tact.
00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:52.079
He has skill in interacting with people.
00:23:52.400 --> 00:24:01.200
His resolve to follow God displays itself in how he negotiates and works with people who are different than him.
00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:07.279
Maybe as you sit here this morning, you think to yourself, I want that kind of wisdom.
00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:13.440
As I read the passage this week, I wanted that kind of wisdom.
00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:22.480
But I want to encourage you that that wisdom is possible not just for Daniel, but for all those who follow Christ.
00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:30.319
In verse 17, it says this to these four young men, God gave knowledge and understanding.
00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:34.880
The source of Daniel's wisdom was God.
00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:38.880
God was the one who imparted wisdom to Daniel.
00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:46.720
It's not simply that Daniel was born with a great IQ or born with great skills, perhaps though he was.
00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:52.720
But the text explicitly says that the wisdom he displayed and the knowledge that he had came from God.
00:24:53.359 --> 00:25:04.240
And so if you feel that you do not have the wisdom needed to interact with people and to effectively witness for Christ, I invite you to ask God for wisdom.
00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:15.759
James chapter 1, verse 5, James tells us this if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all.
00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:17.599
You want wisdom?
00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:18.960
Ask for it.
00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:23.200
Jesus says, you have not because you ask not.
00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:33.279
If you want to be tactful and respectful in dealing with people, then when you're in situations where people push your buttons, ask God for wisdom.
00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:38.880
When you're in a situation where you don't know how to bear witness to Christ, ask for wisdom.
00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:49.839
When you are in a situation where somebody seems opposed to the gospel and you want to be a positive influence on them, but you don't know how to do that, ask for wisdom.
00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:52.720
God is the one who grants wisdom.
00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:59.279
When we make a resolve and a commitment to follow Him, He will give us wisdom when we ask.
00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:09.279
Daniel maintained his distinct identity by his resolve, by his wisdom in interacting with others.
00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:13.279
But the wisdom that he displayed seems a bit risky.
00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:15.039
And it was a bit risky.
00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:21.279
And so if we are to maintain our distinct identity, we need faith.
00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:23.359
We have to trust in God.
00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:26.559
Daniel did something a bit risky.
00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:28.240
He trusted in God.
00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:36.319
It's clear that the way that Daniel negotiated the situation required him to rely on God for results.
00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:38.079
It wasn't guaranteed to work.
00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:45.039
The text does tell us that at the end of the ten days they look healthier and better nourished than any of the young men.
00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:46.799
So his plan paid off.
00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:49.839
It was successful, but that wasn't a given going in.
00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:56.319
Daniel had to make a commitment from a place where the future was uncertain and the outcome wasn't quite clear.
00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:03.200
And we do not always have all of the information or all of the facts or perfect knowledge of the future.
00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:10.000
Sometimes we simply have to make decisions using wisdom based upon the circumstances in front of us.
00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:16.240
And when we act out of conviction, it requires faith.
00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:23.279
It requires that we trust in God to provide for the situation even when the outcome is uncertain.
00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:35.200
Faith is a trust and a confidence that God will go before us into the future and will take care of things even if we don't know how they will work out.
00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:38.000
I like what Paul Nyquist says about faith.
00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:44.720
He says that faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.
00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:50.400
Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.
00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:56.240
Sometimes we have to walk forward, but we can only understand our path looking backward.
00:27:57.119 --> 00:28:08.480
Sometimes we need to step out in faith even when we don't know how it's all going to go, trusting that hindsight will reveal the providential hand of God carrying us each step of the way.
00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:19.759
We often face uncertainty in life, and managing that uncertainty, negotiating uncertainty, is a key to wisdom.
00:28:21.519 --> 00:28:24.240
Often we have to act in the face of uncertainty.
00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:33.759
And when we don't have a full picture of everything ahead, sometimes we have to act out of our resolve to follow God and a sense of wisdom about what's best.
00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:38.799
Hebrews chapter 11 tells us without faith it is impossible to please God.
00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:42.799
Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:53.200
But when we trust in the character of God, it helps us to act out of conviction and leave the results in his hands.
00:28:54.400 --> 00:29:00.480
Daniel maintained his distinct identity when he was in a world that didn't share his values.
00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:04.720
He practiced participation without assimilation.
00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:12.319
He was a part of society and yet maintained his own unique values.
00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:22.480
He did that by making a commitment to follow the one true God, by exercising wisdom and by trusting in God for the future.
00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:26.960
There's a quote I like by Wilbur Chapman.
00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:32.480
He says this about the way that Christians relate to the world around them.
00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:40.400
He says this it is not the ship in the water, but the water in the ship that sinks it.
00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:47.200
It is not the ship in the water, but the water in the ship that sinks it.
00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:49.519
Think about that for a minute.
00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:55.519
A ship that gets in the water doesn't automatically sink.
00:29:55.759 --> 00:30:00.160
But if the water starts to get into the ship, then it begins to sink.
00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:04.880
Now any ship is at risk of sinking, right?
00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:08.799
You know the easiest way to get a ship not to sink?
00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:10.960
Never put it in the water.
00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:13.200
Can you imagine that?
00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:18.160
Build a nice luxury cruise liner, and then the designer says, This ship is so beautiful.
00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:19.759
I need for her to sink.
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:21.599
Just leave her sitting here on land.
00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:23.200
She won't sink that way.
00:30:23.599 --> 00:30:23.920
Right?
00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:29.279
She won't sink, but she'll be totally useless and will not fulfill the purpose that she was designed for.
00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:34.160
In order to fulfill her purpose, she's got to get into the water.
00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:36.480
That does risk sinking.
00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:41.359
But being in the water, in and of itself, doesn't make the ship sink.
00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:45.519
It's when the water gets into the ship that it begins to sink.
00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:51.599
And so Wilbur Chapman says, it is not the ship in the water, but the water in the ship that sinks it.
00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:58.240
So it's not the Christian in the world, but the world in the Christian that constitutes the danger.
00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:05.440
It is not us being out and about in the world that constitutes the danger, but the world being within us.
00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:09.920
The true danger is not that we might meet people different than us.
00:31:10.079 --> 00:31:18.240
The true danger is that we will fail to maintain our distinct commitment to Christ in the midst of interacting with others.
00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:23.039
We could become a holy huddle.
00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:27.839
We could refuse to interact with anybody other than other believers.
00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:30.400
We could be ships out of the water.
00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:33.920
But if we did that, we would not be fulfilling our purpose.
00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:39.279
Let us follow the example of Daniel with God's help.
00:31:39.440 --> 00:31:46.960
Let us participate in society without losing our distinct identity as followers of the one true God.
00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:48.079
Amen.
