Confession instead of compromise
Daniel 1:3-21 3The king told Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring some young Israelite men from the royal family or from the nobility. 4He was to choose young men who had no blemish, who were good looking, who had insight into all kinds of wisdom, who possessed knowledge, understanding, and learning, and who were capable of serving in the king’s palace, in order to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5The king assigned them daily rations from the special royal food and from the king’s own wine. He ordered that they should be trained for three years. At the end of training they were to serve the king. 6In this group of young men were the Judeans Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7The chief of the officials gave them new names. He gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah the name Shadrak, Mishael the name Meshak, and Azariah the name Abednego.
8Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the special food of the king or with the wine that he drank. So he sought permission from the chief official, so that he would not have to defile himself. 9God made the chief of the officials favorable and sympathetic toward Daniel. 10Then the chief of the officials said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink. Why should he see your faces looking less healthy than those of the other young men who are your age? You put my life at risk before the king.”
11Daniel said to the superintendent whom the chief of the officials had placed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12“Please test your servants for ten days. Tell them to give us only vegetables, and we will eat them and drink water. 13Observe our appearance and the appearance of the young men who eat the special royal food. Then deal with your servants based on what you see.” 14So he listened to what they said about this and tested them for ten days.
15At the end of ten days, their appearance was noticeably better than that of the others. They were healthier than any of the young men who had been eating the special royal food. 16So the superintendent permanently took away the special royal food and the wine they were to drink and gave them only vegetables. 17As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and insight into all kinds of literature, as well as wisdom. In addition, Daniel also understood every kind of vision and dream.
18At the end of the time which the king had set for them to be brought to him, the chief of the officials brought them before Nebuchadnezzar. 19The king spoke with them, and none of the others were found to be comparable to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they served the king. 20In every matter concerning wisdom and understanding that the king sought from them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and spell casters in his entire kingdom. 21So Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
The Lord reigns. He is clothed in majesty. The Lord is clothed-he wears strength like a belt. Yes, the world stands firm. It will not be moved. Your throne was established long ago. You are from eternity. (Psalm 93:1-2). Amen.
There they were. Four Jewish teens kidnapped from their homes and carried away by their enemies. They were now exiles living in a faraway foreign country.
That’s how the story begins in Daniel 1 for Daniel and his three friends – Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. They were from Jewish royalty or distinguished families. When the rest of the Jews were carried into captivity in Babylon, these four were brought to the palace to serve in the government. Only the best and brightest were picked to serve in the Babylonian government.
They had to immerse themselves in the study of heathen culture. They could do that without compromise. They had to learn the language and literature of Babylon without believing its
falsehoods. They could do that without compromise. They had received new names of Belteshazzar, Shadrak, Meshak, Abednego (or Rack, Shack, and Benny). They could do that without compromise.
They also had to eat “the special royal food” and drink “from the king’s own wine” (Daniel 1:5). They could NOT do this without compromise.
The Jews were permitted to only eat “clean” foods as described in Leviticus 11. They had to be sure the animal was properly slaughtered and its carcass properly drained since God had forbidden his people to eat blood. Also, the meat and wine on the king’s table would have been sacrificed to the Babylonian gods first as an offering to them (Daniel 5:4).
Daniel and his friends would not compromise. They requested permission not to defile themselves by eating the king’s meat or drink his wine. Instead, they asked to eat vegetables. Thankfully, the word for “vegetables” also means “foods sown” so it included grains and breads. (Personally, I can’t imagine living on veggies alone!)
Daniel does not rebel. He does not revolt. He is respectful in his resistance. Ashpenaz, the chief of the king’s court officials, was afraid of losing his head if these four teens lost weight. But he doesn’t become angry or impatient because God caused him to show favoritism toward Daniel (Daniel 1:9).
This had to be the first and last time teenage boys refused food.
The four Jewish teens were tested for ten days eating their special diet. God blessed Daniel’s respectful resistance. God blessed Daniel’s bold confession because he did not compromise God’s Word or will.
How can we today be like Daniel and give a bold confession instead of compromise as we interact with governing authorities?
Admittedly, this is hard to do. St. Paul tells us in our Epistle lesson: “Everyone must submit to the governing authorities. For no authority exists except by God, and the authorities that do exist have been established by God” (Romans 13:1). We want to willingly submit to governing authorities when they are acting as God’s servants. God is working through them to do us good.
We have governing authorities in America who are over us, so we submit to them. But the U.S. Constitution reminds us that “We the people” are the authorities who are also over our government. We elect them and pay their salaries. We are to give them honor and respect as our appointed authorities. They are to listen to and respect our wishes because they work for us.
It’s similar to how your pastors are over you as your appointed spiritual authorities. But you are over us since we are your called servants of the gospel.
Romans 13 reminds us to submit to governing authorities as they submit to God’s will. Then they are acting as God’s servants. Revelation 13 reminds us that governments and governing authorities can switch sides and serve the great red dragon of Satan. When governing authorities are submitting to Satan’s will, then they are behaving as the dragon’s pet as the beast out of the sea.
Jesus teaches in our Gospel lesson, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Martin Luther and our Lutheran confession called The
Magdeburg Confession remind us that we are not to give to Caesar the things that are not Caesar’s.
The pastors in The Magdeburg Confession call for allegiance to both God and Caesar. But when Caesar exceeds his powers, then he is attempting to exert the powers of Christ. They are clear in their writing that this is not about revolution or rebellion. It is resistance. It is holding governing authorities accountable to following their own laws and God’s laws.
God uses governing authorities to curb our sinful natures so that everything is in good and godly order. God is keeping us from anarchy. God also uses us as Christian citizens to curb the sinful natures of governing authorities so that everything is in good and godly order. God is keeping the government from tyranny.
In whatever we do, we work hard to give a bold confession of our Christian faith instead of compromise.
Imagine perfect submission to governing authorities who submit to God’s will and perfect resistance to governing authorities who submit to Satan’s will as driving down the middle of the road. As sinners, though, we will often weave to one ditch or the other along the road.
We will careen into one ditch as we care too much about who the next Speaker of the House or the next President will be. We imagine the right politician or policies will correct our nation’s problems. We fill our time by consuming CNN or Fox News. We allow the government to have more control over our lives and influence over our culture.
We allow our humble submission to become blind, absolute obedience. Absolute obedience is nothing less than worship. Jesus warns in his vision in Revelation 13 that people will worship the beast out of the sea, which symbolizes governments who wage war against God’s saints (Revelation 13:7, 8).
Or we will overcorrect and careen into the other ditch and care too little about what’s going on in government and culture. We sit on our sofa consuming Netflix and Cheetos. We do not know our civics or Constitution. We are not respectful in the way we speak about God’s appointed representatives. We resist – not because what is proposed is evil or wrong or poor policy – but just because we don’t like it.
We can easily swerve from one ditch into the other. We are not fulfilling our vocation – our godly duty – as Christian citizens.
These sinful attitudes and actions always hurt our confession of Christ.
So, what are we going to do?
Confess Christ!
Jesus obeyed and respected his family, religious, and political leaders. He submitted to his mother’s authority as her son when she came to him with an issue at the wedding in Cana. But he also told her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My time has not yet come” (John 2:4). Jesus’ answer was a little cryptic, but he was respectful in his resistance in telling his mother that she could not direct his ministry as God’s Son.
Jesus submitted to the will of the Jewish religious leaders when they arrested him. He submitted to Governor Pilate’s will when he had Jesus scourged and even crucified. But Jesus also resisted the religious leaders when they tried exercising authority over him that they didn’t have. When
Jesus was accused by the chief priests and elders, he didn’t say anything to them, though they demanded it (Matthew 27:12). Jesus didn’t answer one word of Pilate’s questions, though Pilate was surprised by Jesus’ silence (Matthew 27:14). Jesus refused to perform like a circus clown by performing miracles in front of King Herod (Luke 23:8-12).
In these ways of submission and resistance, Jesus gave a bold confession that he was the Christ.
Jesus was the only one who was perfectly respectful in his submission to God’s governing servants but also remained respectful in his resistance when authorities’ actions opposed God’s will.
Jesus is our Example. … More than that, he is our Substitute.
Jesus perfectly drove down the middle of the road. He lived his entire life keeping the Fourth Commandment perfectly toward his parents, religious authorities, and governing authorities. He perfectly submitted to God’s governing authorities. He perfectly gave to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. He never once compromised that he was the Christ.
In these ways, Jesus actively obeyed God’s Word and will. He did this to cover over our sinful attitudes and actions, our sinful disrespect and inactions, our sinful refusal to submit to God’s servants, and our sinful blind obedience to Satan’s servants.
Jesus also passively obeyed God’s Word and will by enduring the scourging and crucifixion by his religious and governing authorities. He went to the cross and out of the grave to pay for our absence of worship of the true God and our abundance of worship toward the beast out of the sea.
Staying in the middle of the road is hard. It’s like being Frodo and Sam traveling the difficult path to Mordor. Or its like being Luke Skywalker by using the light side of the Force while resisting the dark side.
I realize that only a handful of you - and Pastor Klusmeyer - understood those references. 😊
It’s like trying to know what college to attend or career to pursue. Or if you should give money to your alcoholic parent or withhold money from your drug-addicted child.
These are difficult decisions. Continue to study the Scriptures. Keep on discussing how to apply these Scriptures. Pray for wisdom. Trust one another’s sanctified reasoning when they see things differently than you do. Pray for your leaders. Become active in your vocation as citizens – perhaps active enough to be involved in the government in some way so you can serve God and your fellow citizens as their servants.
May God bless us with the wisdom and sanctified spirit to submit to our governing authorities when they are submitting to the Lord as his established servants. May God also bless us with the wisdom and sanctified spirit to resist our governing authorities when they are submitting to the dragon as the beast out of the sea. May God use his governing authorities to curb our sinful nature. May God use us to curb the sinful nature of our governing authorities.
May we repent and receive Christ’s forgiveness through his active and passive obedience. Through it all, we pray that we remain respectful in our submission or resistance. So, no matter what, we are giving a bold confession of Christ instead of compromise. Amen.
The waves have lifted up, O Lord, the waves have lifted up their voice. The waves roar loudly. Mightier than the thundering of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea, the Lord
on high is mighty. Your testimonies stand very firm. Holiness beautifies your house for endless days, O Lord (Psalm 93:1-5). Amen.
(The pastors conclude The Magdeburg Confession by quoting Psalm 93. Whether they are tyrants, antichrists, or beasts out of the sea – all allying themselves with the red dragon of the devil – the Lord on high is still mighty.)