First week of November, we went through our four-year rite of electing a president. And in California, there was another item on the ballot besides who are we electing to be president of the United States. The now infamous Proposition 8 item was on the ballot in California, and this was a referendum item to define marriage as only heterosexual and not to recognize gay and lesbian marriage as a legal construct in California. And of course, as we all know, this ballot passed the referendum and much to the chagrin of those who were hoping it would be defeated. Who want to see gay marriage legalized in the state of California. The great irony is that it was probably the heavy turnout of African-Americans for electing Obama as president that caused it to pass, because homosexuality is quite taboo in the African-American community, and if that population had not turned out in such heavy numbers for Obama, the measure may well have been defeated, opening the way for the legalization of gay marriage in California.
Needless to say, when it was announced that Proposition 8 had passed, the advocates of gay marriage, legalization of gay marriage, rose up in many protests around the state of California and a lawsuit has been filed that has now gone to the California Supreme Court, just saw this in yesterday's news, arguing that the way Proposition 8 was brought to referendum did not follow the procedures of the California Constitution, and therefore was unconstitutionally presented and voted and needs to be struck down, and so that is the current state of this.
But there was a chilling development in all of this in that there is a website called 8maps.com, and when we go to 8maps, if you look by the yellow arrow, through the Freedom of Information Act, they can look up all of the donors who donated to charities or political organizations dedicated to promoting the success of Proposition 8 and they have placed on each street address here, a red marker, a red dot so to speak, of each of these people. And you can zoom in and see right on the street where they live. And if you click on the red dot with your mouse, you get a pop up. I have obviously covered up the name, but here are so-called John Doe. You can see the street he lives on, and that he is a truck driver who works for Yellow Transportation, how much he gave, and the date he gave it.
Lest you say, “Well, he gave 22 hundred dollars,” we go down to the lower right here, and here is a retiree that gave 20 dollars, and their red dot is on the map. The implication is that the activists who are not happy with the passage of Proposition 8 can now single you out, the company you work for, etc., and try to make your life a little more interesting. As I say, a chilling proposition. And I mean, if you zoom in like this, you pretty much tell which side of the street they live on and about how far down the block it is. It wouldn't take that much work to find said person, represented by this dot.
Imagine for a moment, a different issue hitting the United States. An issue of grave concern for religious liberty, and imagine now that the General Conference puts the Religious Liberty Department to work to argue that such measures should not be taken because of the threat to religious liberty, and now a disgruntled spouse or child hands over the McDonald Road church list, and somebody can find all of the members of the McDonald Road church because the General Conference is doing something, and therefore we’re going to put your name on the map for people to make your life interesting. Interesting times we live in, isn't it? Because you see, we don't like being singled out when push comes to shove. We would much more rather hide in the crowd. But I suggest to you that the day is coming when if we are faithful to Scripture, each of us will become red dots on the map for people to find and single us out.
And lest we think we can hide in numbers or out in the wilderness somewhere, I am reminded of Mordecai's warning to Esther, “Look, you’ve been hiding all these years, right?” She has lived a life of compromise. I would not recommend for my daughter to find a husband by having a one night stand. I would not recommend my daughter to hide her faith and pretend she is not something that she's not in order to fit in and not get persecuted. Esther did all of these things and yet Mordecai says, “Look you’ve been hiding, but don't you think in this crisis they’re going to figure out who you are? And your position as Queen will not hide you.” And in these last days, even those who live a life of compromise, if they have had a profession associated with God's truth, are going to be singled out. Don't think that you'll be able to hide.
How are we to face a situation where we can become red dots on the map for people to single out for standing for something specific?
We find a story like this in the third chapter of Daniel, from whence our Scripture reading came this morning. In the first few verses, Nebuchadnezzar appears to be facing a problem. You see, in the previous chapter Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of an image and he was told in that dream that his kingdom would come to an end and there would be a succession of kingdoms. And Nebuchadnezzar apparently doesn't like the message of this dream, and so he makes his own image, which projects a different message. Right? And what was the message he was projecting in Daniel 3? No change from the gold standard. “I am going to make sure that my kingdom never comes to an end, and this prophecy of Daniel will not come true.” And to ensure that this happens he creates a national worship with this image as the symbol. And if everybody will be made to worship a national religion that will help bind us together and my kingdom will not come to an end.
And so, the decree goes out to send your representatives to the plain of Shinar for this grand inauguration of our national religion. And the warning is given that if you don't bow when you hear the sound of the instruments and so forth and so on, that we've got big kilns, fiery furnaces, that we bake bricks in, and these furnaces get well over a thousand degrees when they're fired today. They would fuel them with a mix of crude oil that seeped out of the ground, with wheat chaff, and you could imagine once that gets vaporizing, it's not unlike burning gasoline, and it would glaze the brick on the inside of the kiln into a glassy like surface it would get so hot. And he said, “We’re going to throw you in there and vaporize you if you don't join the national program.”
At this point, the Hebrews are going to have 2 choices. They can believe the lie that we talked about last week where our perception is elevated above God's Word. But when you do that, you make yourself lord of your life and since you’re lord of your life, the only tool you now have to manage your life with is self interest and consequences. And in the ethics realm we call this the moral school of egoism where right and wrong are determined by my perception of how it benefits me. And let's be blunt and to the point. Being thrown into a thousand degree furnace does not strike me as being in my self-interest. And I doubt it would strike you as being in your self-interest. But when we believe The Lie, we are forced to manage consequences based on our perception of self-interest. No one wants to be singled out and Nebuchadnezzar knows that human nature operates on egoistic principles. So if I put a little incentive, I can get everybody on board. And when you believe this lie, that me and my self-interest becomes the most important criteria in my life, you become easily manipulated.
World War II, combat surgeon named Brendon Phibbs. Book called The Other Side Of Time-A Combat Surgeon in World War II. Phibbs was on the cutting edge, the tip of the spear so to speak, of the Allied advance to go get Hitler and dethrone him. He was so far forward that they were sending people back to the M*A*S*H unit. They captured a number of German prisoners one day, and one of them claimed to be an American agent who had been captured previously and had gone back as a spy in the German army uniform. It was verified and there was some question as to why Manfred would take the risk he took of being caught as an American agent in the German army, because you know they would've done exquisite things to him. And Dr. Phibbs writes, "Manfred told me about Captain Jackson. He had been one of the 7th Army G2 officers who had trained Manfred and his fellow agents. Captain Jackson seemed to have been a very perceptive man, because he explained that most people did things only for money or power or some kind of gain, and could not comprehend that a man might do something out of unselfish belief, out of dedication to an ideal.”
Manfred had been told that what he was going to do would highly scare people like that because it was the one idea they could not handle. To see someone who isn't for sale or doesn't do something out of fear. It meant that there were people they could not possibly control by any of the conventional whips or clubs. Hence people who are infinitely dangerous. Manfred had to expect to be called a fanatic by the self seekers, because it was the only way they could justify their own lives. The sight of someone out of reach of any of the impulses that move them would threaten their whole being.
It's interesting that a Nebuchadnezzar did not apparently notice that these 3 Hebrews had not bowed down. And the opportunists in the crowd took quick advantage to point out to Nebuchadnezzar that these 3 hadn't bowed down. Possibly, it was political enemies looking to move their political capital into higher standing with Nebuchadnezzer. Maybe they were even hoping to get the position soon-to-be vacated as these 3 men get thrown into the fiery furnace, but in one way or another Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego suddenly became red dots on the map. Singled out for attention because they weren't with the popular program. And Nebuchadnezzar acts like a man threatened, because these 3 could not be bought or sold. They were on a different moral standard than Nebuchadnezzar was and it threatened him to his core, and he gets totally angry, and enraged at them, and yet he seems to like them at the same time, because he offers them a second chance. "Are you sure you understood my instructions? Let me repeat." And he rehashes, and as red dots on the map standing before a watching world, those 3 Hebrews had to make a choice. “Do I do the practical thing in favor of self-interest and bow down? ‘Oh, I was just tying my shoe, you know.’”
I've often wondered if the ones who turned in Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was the Jewish delegation from Jerusalem, who apparently bowed down. It's highly plausible. Trying to get more favor out of Nebuchadnezzar for their political standing. Very plausible that they may have been turned in by their fellow Jews. Though not guaranteed.
It would have been easy to go back to that story of Naaman after he was healed of his leprosy and his sense of Yahweh is limited to a geographical land, and he says, "Yahweh heal me. I'm not going to sacrifice to anybody else. I'm not going to worship anybody else, but I need to bring this little truckload of dirt back so I have some of Yahweh’s land to worship on." And then he added, "And Yahweh, pardon me, because part of my job description as the chief of the Army is I've got to go into the temple with the king, and I’ve got to help him bow down and so that makes me bow down with him, but Yahweh will know I'm not really worshiping." And Elisha said, “That's fine. Go home, Yahweh bless you.” How easy to cite that as an example to say, “Here's another case where I better bow down. Not show my colors.”
But the problem with that reasoning, in my opinion, is that Naaman was a new believer. He didn't have the full light that most of Israel shared, and he was not in a position where he was being forced to choose how to worship. His going in with the king had no inherent denial of faith in Yahweh. We need to be careful not to construe God's grace on a relatively ignorant heathen man as being permission to turn that action into a norm for us. I would suggest that Naaman is a case like Thyatira, where the Lord said, "I lay no other burden on you."
But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego have been called to bear a heavier burden in a different setting and in a different context. If they believe The Lie they’re going to go with their self-interest. But these young men love the truth. Their ethic was based, not on self-interest, but on self-emptying. That there is something more important than the self. Something of higher value called the glory of God. And they were willing to empty themselves for that higher value. To do the right thing even though it wasn't apparently in their self-interest and safety. And while they did not relish being singled out and becoming a red dot on the map, they did not flinch when time came.
Notice their moral reasoning. After the king gives them a second chance, there in verse 16, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered the king. O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to answer you." I like the old King James. “We don't need to be careful.” “We don't need to be cautious over this one.” The moral duty is clear. “If he wishes, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from a burning fiery furnace.” Our God Who is a consuming fire has no trouble coming into a fiery furnace with us. But a minor detail, and He will deliver us out of your hand, oh king. Ah, so far so good.
But it is verse 18 that shows us that these young men do not believe in this lie of self-interest. “But even if He does not deliver us, be it known to you, O king, we will not serve your gods or worship the image you have set up.” “You see oh king, we do not serve Yahweh because of what He does for us. We do not serve Yahweh because He makes life comfortable and safe. We serve Him because it's His right to be served regardless of whether it benefits our safety and self-interest. This is who we are, oh king, and we are not changing. We respect you, but you have no right to force our conscience in this matter.” Boy, the red dot has just opened up with name, address, everything.
I'd like to suggest that God allows the fiery furnace experience at the end of time, and even fiery furnace experiences now in our lives to separate the egoist Christian from the real deal. You see, egoism is an amazing moral school of thinking because it can masquerade as anything.
I think, for example, of many businessmen in Paris, France, and other places in France, as well. When the Nazis came in how quickly the swastika flag went up the pole in front of their business and the “Heil Hitler's” came out of their mouth, and four years later when the Allies came through, “Oh, we love the Allies. Viva the Allies.” “Well, what about that swastika thing?” “Well, we just did what we had to survive.” But boy while the Nazis were in town, they walked the walk and talked the talk, right? Egoist. It was in their self-interest to act like a Nazi, we’ll act like a Nazi. When it's in our self-interest to act like the allies, we’ll act like the Allies. They don't know who they are, except they just want to survive, so they go with the flow, to fit in.
You can be a Christian for the same reason. You don't really believe by conviction, but it's a nice tradition that you grew up in, and you are comfortable. And by going to church it helps you look respectable so that others will be more willing to do business with you. Particularly here in the Bible Belt in Tennessee. Right? But your Christianity is a matter of convenience. Or better yet, your membership as a Seventh-day Adventist. It's a convenience. If that's the case, when push comes to shove, your colors will change quickly to adapt to whatever new environment comes along.
I once knew a pastor who was essentially agnostic. Bordering on atheist. But he had no other way, he felt, that he could earn a living. All he knew was how to pastor a church. So he walked the walk and talked the talk and preached all the right doctrines. Led souls to Christ. Baptized, etc., and didn't believe a single aspect of it. But he was a good loyal pastor because it paid his paycheck. Paid his bills.
Egoism can masquerade as a Bible-thumping, fundamentalist Christian, and in another setting it can masquerade as a more, you know, progressive Christian, or an atheist, or whatever. And so God allows the cauldron of affliction to come on his people to see who serves him egoisticly, like Mrs. Job. And when the blessings evaporate, they are ready to curse God and die.
Interesting statement in Desire of Ages, page 2 hundred. "He desires us to renounce the selfishness that leads us to seek Him." You see, when we come to Christ, we tend to come first for selfish reasons. “What will it do for me? I want some fire insurance” kind of thing, right? And God says, "I'll receive you that way, but now I've got to teach you how to be self-emptying instead of self-interested." And so He allows trial and tribulation to come even into godly lives like Job, and he promises us that there is a great cauldron coming, a fiery furnace coming, that will sift the self-interested from the selfless.
I believe Daniel 3 and the worship of that image provides the theological background for understanding the mark of the beast in Revelation 13. We have these apocalyptic figures. A dragon, a beast, a lamb-like beast, and an image. And in our evangelistic preaching we love to give a particular theory about who these characters are. I don't disagree with that theory, but I think sometimes we can get so focused on identities of beasts and false prophets that we miss the point. And again, I don't disagree with that interpretation, but I'm not going to focus there. I'm going to focus on what I think is the core point.
When the dragon gives his power to the beast and the beast then has a deadly wound that is healed and the earth marvels after the beast in verse 3, in verse 4 men worship the dragon for he had given his authority to the beast and they worship the beast. The core issue is not who is the beast. The core issue is worship. And men worship the beast and this beast makes war on the saints for 42 months, etc. etc., and he starts sounding very similar to the man of sin in Second Thessalonians 2 that we discussed last week. I believe they're probably one and the same entity. But again, that's not the issue. The issue is that these powers war against the saints because the saints won't worship the way they want them to worship. They become persecuting powers because they try to force conscience. And it comes to the point that the lamb-like beast and the beast go into cahoots and make this image and a worldwide decree for false worship, and like Nebuchadnezzar they try to manipulate people based on self-interest. “Oh, if you don't get on the system to get God's national or worldwide blessing, you're not going to buy or sell.”
Back in the early 80s when I started ministering as a pastor, people didn't believe that they could put cut you off economically. All it takes is about 3 keystrokes and you’re dead now, aren’t you? It's all computerized. And your cash flow will dry up real quick when they freeze your assets. Very easy. But I digress.
It is no accident that worship is an issue of agitation in all churches today because that is where the great cataclysm is going to end, is over worship. And the beast does not care whether you agree or disagree. They only care if you comply. Hence, the mark in the hand. You don't really agree, but it's in your self-interest to obey, so you get the mark in the hand. You go through the motions even though you really don't care. Because you don't want to be a red dot on the map.
Let me put it to you blunt and simple. It's not impossible that our understanding of who the beast is could be wrong. I personally don't think so, but it's not impossible that we may have made a mistake. My point is this. I don't need to know who the beast is, and I don't need to know who the lamb-like beast is, but I do need to know how to worship God. And I need to know how God wants me to worship Him. And if I know that, I can figure out any beast that comes along. But only if I'm not governed and motivated by self-interest, because I believed The Lie that I can manage my own life in my own wisdom and my own strength.
Suggest to you, God is looking for people today, who like the Hebrews of old are willing to be a red dot on the map if that's what it takes to glorify God. Who are willing to suffer for doing the right thing. Whose lives are not managed by self-interest. Who would rather see God's glory be upheld even at the expense of their own life. “They loved not their lives even unto death.”
May God help us love Him enough to put His glory before our self-interest that we will seek how He wants us to worship Him, even if it means becoming a red dot on a map.
Let's sing our closing hymn. We'll try 2 stanzas here as we close. The first 2 stanzas, Faith is the Victory.
Hymn of Praise: #39, Lord in the Morning Scripture: Daniel 3:13-18 Hymn of Response: #608, Faith is the Victory
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Sermon at McDonald Road transcribed by Steve Foster 3/20/09