high on the spirit, hopped up & mystic

after the flame baptism you're fearless

An alternate sermon for Advent 1 from Daniel 3

Today begins Advent already. Did you know that? Are you ready for it???

And it’s pretty bad when you aren’t even ready to get ready…

But, as the rest of the world is gearing up for another packed holiday season; we in the church are getting ready for the end of the world…

No stories of chestnuts roasting over an open fire. No, instead a piece of scripture about an overheated furnace and three martyrs…

…Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had did what Jeremiah told exiles to do. Remember? Settle in. 

And they did, they got jobs. Took out mortgages. Got married. Had kids.

And, by all accounts, they had done pretty well for themselves. They landed jobs at the foreign government. The climbed the ladder to positions of relative authority, even…

But, for all their efforts, all it took was one rash decision by their pagan king, to bring it all crashing down.

King Nebuchadnezzar built an effigy, and legislated that whenever the anthem was played, everyone had bow down to the statue…

Shadrach, Meshach and Abedngo, good Jews that they are, know they can’t obey the king’s decree. And to their credit, they don’t try and draw any attention to their conscientious objection. They just quietly go about their business. 

But, some toadies notice and make a big fuss about the boy’s “lack of patriotism…”

And so Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are brought before the king. 

Feigning benevolence, King Nebuchadnezzar gives the boys one more chance. Smugly smiling, he sits down at his desk. “If you’re ready to bow down boys, well and good. But if not, I’ll carry out my executive order; throwing you in the furnace for your defiance.”

Then, putting his feet up on the desk, he rhetorically asks, “And what god will be able to deliver you from that, my boys?”

Now at this point, we like to imagine that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego defiantly stand up for their faith. 

But, that’s not what actually happens. When the gauntlet is thrown down, the three don’t defiantly stand up to the king. They don’t bravely declare their willingness to die for their faith. They don’t even try to reason with the king.

“O Nebuchadnezzar,” they say, “we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. If our God who we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us.”

The three simply admit there’s nothing they can do! That they have no defense in the matter, that they’re guilty. And if the king’s prerogative is to bully refugees, there’s nothing they can do about it…

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego just stand there. They just confess the truth, that there’s nothing they can do…

But I’ve come to learn, that is what the Christian life looks like. 

Following Jesus isn’t boldly taking the future into our hands. It isn’t standing up to the pagans who would dare to decree that the year's starbucks cups don’t have a creche on them.

Being a Christin is seeing clearly that there’s nothing we can do, that there’s no defense we have of our own accord…

And isn’t that what Martin Luther learned that day he stood before the emperor? When his books were piled up and he was asked if they were his. When he was asked if he would recant what he said in those books. 

And knowing what those books said, Martin knew he couldn’t recant. That there was nothing he could do!

So Martin stood there and said all there was to say. He said a version of what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said long before him. He said he had no defense in the matter. “I cannot recant,” he said. “Here I stand. There’s nothing else I can do. God help me. Amen.”

You see, this is what the Christian life looks like; it’s just dying. Like Martin Luther said, it’s easy to become a theologian. All it takes is living, and dying and being damned…

And that’s how it went for Martin. He was excommunicated. Declared dead to the church and state. 

And that’s how it was for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, wasn’t it?

When they told Nebuchadnezzar they had no defense, the king was perfectly happy to render his verdict, guilty. Dead to rights.

He had furnace was heated past regulation. A couple of the strongest guards called in and told to bind the boys. And then, good to his word, Nebuchadnezzar ordered that three be tossed in the furnace…

Today begins Advent. Did you know that? Are you ready for it?

As the rest of the world is gearing up for another packed holiday season; we in the church are getting ready for the end of the world. In Advent, we prepare for The End. We wait for it, even!

A decidedly different tune than the one playing 24/7 over the airwaves. 

But I’ve come to learn, that’s by design! 

The church has you wait, when the season is demanding ever last second you have to spare. The church has you look for the light, when the days get darker and shorter. The church insists you get ready for the end, when everyone else is getting ready for yet another Christmas. The church does this so you will find yourself standing along with Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, with Martin Luther and the rest of the band of faithful who have gone before you!

After all, long ago in Sunday School we learned that no sooner had Nebuchadnezzar plopped back down in his executive chair, than he jumped back up to his feet, didn’t we? 

We know what happens. 

We know that instead of seeing three corpses in the bottom of the furnace, Nebuchadnezzar sees four people! Four people unharmed by the flames! Four people walking around, free from the ropes that once bound them! 

Then, to top it all off, the fourth person with them, has the appearance of a Son of God!

You see, the church is pushing you into the fire!

*Like you needed any help, right?

The church is pushing you into the fire because this is where your savior shows up!

Isn’t that what you confess in the Creed? “He descended into hell.”

It was when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego put down their defenses, when they were bound by the king’s judgement, when they were tossed in the burn bin; that they met The One we wait on during Advent! 

It was after Martin Luther confessed that he couldn’t do anything, that he was freed to do everything!

Being a Christian isn’t hard; all you have to do is nothing. Or, to put it another way, all you have to do is die!

For the past few weeks we in the church have been receiving a bunch of ads peddling crisis training. Apparently the emergency management agencies just realized the church is in need of effective intervention policies…

Looking over these ads I couldn’t help but think, Jesus has already given us training. He’s already told us what to do; and it’s pretty simple really.

All we have to do is what Jesus has been calling us to all along; die with him.

Today begins Advent. Did you know that? Are you ready for it?

As the rest of the world is gearing up for another packed holiday season; we in the church are getting ready for the end of the world. And truth be told, we’re not ready, are we? We never are!

Why, we barely got the greens hung in time!

And that’s how it’s supposed to go. Advent always sneaks up on us. It always catches us unawares. 

And so, if you find yourself rushing from one thing to the next. If you don’t have the time to wait. Good! If all isn’t calm and all isn’t bright, good! If you feel like, if life hasn’t thrown you in the incinerator, than the grinder, good! If when you look around you wonder when something New is going to break our  tired old news cycle, good!

Good! Because it is in precisely those times and places, that one with the appearance like a Son of God comes and walks among you. 

It is in those places, that Jesus comes and gives you the freedom he has! Gives you his life that isn’t bound by death! Gives you the end of the world, the new heaven and the news earth! Gives you all of eternity, too!

This season there are going to be demands on your time. Too many, in fact. You will not be able to fulfill them all. 

And when that happen, lift up your head, drop your defenses, and confess you’re dead. Dead tired. Dead wrong. Just plain dead. 

And when that confession is uttered, your Lord and Savior will be as closer than the flames. Closer than the guilty verdict. Closer than your breath and heartbeat!

That’s how the Christian life always goes. 

Just ask Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Just ask Martin Luther. 

So you who know this season with all it’s demands has your name; get ready.

Get ready because when your drop your defense. When life binds you up. When you’re thrown in the burn barrel; your savior will come to you. 

He will meet you. And in exchange for your flames; he will give you all he has to offer: His life! His time! His freedom! His joy! And His peace!

Get ready, because it’s going to be a good Advent…