Life in a Hostile World: foreign territory

As I said, it is good to be here. It feels like it's been a little while. A few people have already let me know that I'm a new person, which is only a half-truth. I have been here a few times before.

But I'm particularly excited to be back and among the family that we have here, and particularly because we're going to start a new series today that I think is quite significant.

All the Bible is significant, but this book in particular, I think, is at a really significant point in history.

So I'm excited for us to unpack it and help us understand God's plan in what is a difficult situation, I think, in history.

So how about I pray, and then we're going to get stuck into the book of Daniel.

Father God, I thank you so much for the chance to be here this morning. I thank you for your word.

Lord, I ask that you give us open hearts and minds this morning. I ask that you give me your words, that you'll enable me to speak your truth clearly and faithfully.

And Lord, I pray that the result of us meeting together around your word will be that we're changed.

I ask that your spirit would be shaping us as a result of this time, that we might be more like Jesus. Amen.

Amen.

Just before we do start, I want to encourage you, if it's not your habit yet, to make it your habit.

We're going to work through Daniel for the next, I'm not sure, I think it's about five or six weeks.

At some point in that time, actually have a read of the whole book for yourself.

It's only 12 chapters, so it's a manageable amount.

But reading it for yourself at home will mean that when you come here on Sunday,

you'll actually have a really helpful framework for the stuff that we're going to look at in each sermon.

Because we're about to drop in on what I think is one of the most significant points in history,

we can't just kind of drop in there and then try and find our bearings.

So we're going to do a bit of work really quickly to make sure we know where we are and what we're looking at.

So this might be old news to some of you, and if so, that's great.

But if not, this will help us as we go forward.

So I'm going to give you a quick, very quick history of Israel up to the point that we're looking at in Daniel.

So for those of you who remember, basically in Genesis 12, we've got God chooses Abraham as a unique person,

and he makes some promises to him.

He says he's going to make Abraham into a great nation.

He's going to give him land, and he's going to bless him.

From that point, we kind of see God looking after Abraham's kids and Abraham's grandkids and Abraham's great-grandkids.

And progressively, this nation starts to build momentum in terms of people.

We go through the whole Egypt incident, and then finally, after Moses dies,

this growing nation of Israel steps into the land of Canaan, which is the land that God had promised to them.

They've got to fight and kick everyone else out, but then eventually we get to King David,

and King David is the point where they've beaten their enemies, or God's beaten their enemies.

They're in the land that God promised.

They're a great nation.

They're blessed.

They've got the temple.

God's with them.

Everything's going fantastic.

And they're all feeling pretty great, like, you know, this is the good team to be on.

But along the way, the whole time from the very beginning, God has warned them

that if they don't remain faithful to him, if they turn away to any other gods,

there's going to be consequences.

And after David, which is kind of the high point in Israel's history, there's this progressive slip where they start to ignore God more and more.

They get just kind of comfortable because they've got everything.

They've got the land.

They are a nation.

They feel blessed.

They've got the temple.

They've beaten everyone.

And they start to take for granted God.

They start to ignore the warnings that he's given them.

And they start to think God would never take this stuff away.

You know, we're his people.

We're special.

And with the book of Daniel, they are about to get a rude awakening.

They're about to get a reminder of who God is and how God works.

And so are we.

So look with me at Daniel chapter 1, verse 1.

Daniel 1:1

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand along with some of the articles from the temple of God.

These he carried off to the temple of his God in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his God.

So I've been watching the news over the last couple of weeks, and I'm sure that you've caught at least glimpses of this.

It's the biggest story in the world on Channel 9.

The Melbourne Storm saga.

What a fall from grace.

I mean, I've taken a secret pleasure in this because I'm an AFL fan.

So anything that damages rugby league is good for AFL, I figure.

But I wonder what it would be like to be a Melbourne Storm supporter at the moment.

I mean, this team that you love and that you support and that you're just so excited about, probably even a little bit cocky about, has just lost all credibility.

Everything they'd achieved, everything they'd worked hard for, everything they'd sacrificed for is gone.

The victories are gone.

The premierships are gone.

The popularity is gone.

I wonder if some of the Melbourne Storm supporters are looking for a new team to support.

I noticed on the news there was at least one supporter who walked up to the players' entrance at the Melbourne Storm's home ground,

took off his supporter jersey, threw it on the ground and walked away.

His unbeatable heroes are beaten, are fallen.

And I wonder if that's kind of how it would have felt for Daniel and Israel when this was happening.

They're watching the youngest and brightest men being carted off to another country.

They're watching the articles from the temple, the things they used to worship their God,

being shifted off to be used for some other pagan God in another country.

Their victorious land has been taken over.

Their great nation is now some pathetic little province of the superpower Babylon.

Their unbeatable God looks like he's been beaten.

Looks kind of powerless.

This Babylonian God and this Babylonian army seem to have overpowered what used to be an impressive God.

And I wonder how many people in Israel at that time were ready to take off their God jersey and throw it on the ground.

Were ready to find someone new to follow.

I mean, they signed up to be a great nation.

They signed up to get a land of their own.

They signed up for blessing.

And now it looks like that's all gone.

Now they're going to be servants of some foreign king.

Half the people are being sent away into exile.

And you have to wonder, if God can do something, why doesn't he?

And maybe you know what that feels like in your own life as well.

I mean, when you signed up to follow Jesus, it was great.

He was offering you forgiveness and a new life.

And there was people around you and it was exciting.

And, you know, you wanted to go to church.

You wanted to read the Bible and everything was fantastic.

But it didn't stay fantastic.

You started to realize that over time,

being a Christian doesn't change how many painful circumstances you face in life.

It doesn't change how hard life can get sometimes.

You still have to deal with people close to you, dying.

Maybe you've lost a job.

Maybe someone you care about a lot has given up on following Jesus.

And maybe you're asking the question,

if God can do something, why doesn't he?

You look around at the world, even beyond your circumstances,

you see suffering, you see poverty, you see famine.

And you start to wonder,

start to wonder, has God been beaten?

I mean, we'd never say that out loud.

We're Christians.

We believe that God's, you know, sovereign and in control.

But deep down,

where no one else knows,

do you ever ask the question,

is God still in control?

It'd be really easy to read this story of Daniel

and this book that we're looking at over the next few weeks

and kind of just skim through it and think,

oh, you know, oh darn, things have gone slightly amiss.

I mean, we've heard the Lion's Den story.

We've heard some of the stories of Daniel.

They're great Sunday school things.

But we need to understand how significant this situation is.

Israel is surrounded by a foreign army

in a land that they thought God had given them for good.

People would be fearing for their lives.

Some of the soldiers might have even died.

And now young men, as young as 12 or 15,

are being taken from their families

to probably never see them again.

God's people, God's nation of Israel

is effectively coming to an end.

And so you can understand

why they would be asking the question,

has God lost?

Is God beaten?

Is God still in control?

Plus, it gets even worse.

Have a look with me at verse 3.

It says,

Then the king, once they'd taken away some of the young men,

it says,

Then the king ordered Ashfenaz,

chief of his court officials,

to bring in some of the Israelites

from the royal family and the nobility.

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.

He was to teach them the language and literature

of the Babylonians.

The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine

from the king's table.

They were to be trained for three years,

and after that,

they were to enter the king's service.

Among these were some from Judah.

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

The chief official gave them new names.

To Daniel, the name Belshazzar.

To Hananiah, Shadrach.

To Mishael, Meshach.

And to Azariah, Abednego.

See, not only have they been removed

from God's country,

not only has God's people been broken up

and separated,

not only have articles from God's temple

used for God's worship

been taken somewhere else to worship other gods,

these men are now going to be assimilated.

Nebuchadnezzar is going to make them Babylonian.

They've got to learn the language.

They've got to read the history books.

They've got to know everything there is to know

about Babylon and its culture

and its religion and its spirituality.

King Nebuchadnezzar is on a mission

to remove anything

that makes these men

distinctively Israelite.

Anything that makes them stand out

from somewhere else,

anything that makes them stand out

as belonging to God,

King Nebuchadnezzar

is going to break it away

and make them Babylonian.

And the hard part is

that there's something appealing

about what Nebuchadnezzar is doing.

I mean, sure, these young men

would have been devastated

by what was happening to them,

but it's a pretty good offer

they're getting when you think about it.

They're being offered education.

They're being offered positions

of prestige and respect

in the new Babylonian kingdom.

They'll be serving the king.

That's not lowly public service.

That's a place of significance in society.

They'll be receiving the king's food,

working in the king's palace.

We're talking quality meat, wine, fruit and veg,

and all they have to do

is give up on the God

who it looks like

has already abandoned them anyway.

In a foreign country,

it kind of feels to them like

the rules have changed.

Success and blessing

apparently doesn't come from God anymore.

It comes from doing things

the Babylonian way.

And you know what's funny?

I think our world's not that dissimilar to Babylon.

I mean, we would be forgiven

for thinking our world's not as hostile.

I mean, we live in a country where,

you know, it's fine to be a Christian.

It's pretty religiously tolerant around here.

As long as you don't annoy other people

with the fact that you believe in God,

it's fine for you to believe it.

In Sydney, and in Anglican Sydney,

we're, you know, pretty proud of the fact

that we teach the Bible well

and that, you know, we're really passionate

about finding biblical truth.

Here at St. Paul's,

we're one of six congregations

that are going to meet here today

and every Sunday.

There's a couple of other great

Bible-believing churches

within five or ten minutes from here.

And you could be forgiven

for, you know, starting to feel like

this is home.

This is where we belong.

But it's not.

The Bible makes it clear

from start to finish,

front to back,

all humanity

is at war

with its creator.

We are enemies of God.

By nature,

we're objects of wrath.

We deserve God's punishment.

And if you're following Jesus,

you need to recognise

that the world that you live in

is hostile.

Hostile to the one you follow

and hostile to you.

Whether you realise it or not,

you're in a process

of being slowly assimilated

into the culture of the world.

Every day you live in this culture,

you spend time engaging with people

who worship gods of self,

gods of money,

gods of success,

gods of nature,

and the world is trying to make you

like them.

Trying to remove anything

that makes you distinctively Christian,

anything that makes you stand out,

is now weird

and unacceptable.

One of the most popular books

over the last few years at least

is The Da Vinci Code.

Now, it's popular probably

for a couple of reasons.

It's pretty well written.

That's probably part of the reason

that it's popular.

But I think it's also popular

because the whole point of the book

is it's built around the premise

that Christianity is a big sham.

It's a big conspiracy

trying to trick people.

And so people love

to kind of just debunk those ideas

and kind of see Christianity

as the weird sideline thing.

So our society likes to make the norm

not believing in Jesus.

As we sit here,

there's a growing argument

in politics at the moment

as to whether or not young kids

should learn the Bible

at scripture in school.

Every day you watch TV,

read magazines,

drive past billboards

that make an effort

to display men and women

in a way that degrades them

compared to the way

the Bible shows them.

There is a relentless pursuit

for self-satisfaction

in this world.

And before you realise it,

you start to become

just like the world around you.

Before you realise it,

you start being less offended

by sexually explicit material.

Think about what it's okay

for you to watch on TV

compared to what was okay

to watch on TV

five years ago,

ten years ago.

Before you realise it,

you find yourself

rationalising the little lies

because that's a good way

to get ahead in life.

You're not lying on a resume,

you're just padding it out

so that you can get the job.

That's what everyone else does.

Unless you make a decision

to consciously fight,

to remain distinctive,

to stand out

as a follower of Jesus,

there's a good chance

that slowly but surely

you're going to move

in the other direction.

If you don't realise

that everything in this world

is working to make you

less like Jesus,

then it's going to succeed.

We are slowly being assimilated

by the culture we live in

and we're being convinced

to worship a whole bunch

of things that aren't God.

And there's no denying

that the power of

what this world is doing

is that it's kind of appealing.

Just like these young men

in Babylon had the chance

to be in positions of status,

had a chance to be

in the king's palace,

in our world,

it's the people who ignore God

who seem to do okay.

It's the people who lie

who get rich quicker.

It's the people who are dishonest

and self-absorbed

that seem to be, you know,

have the stuff,

have the things that are supposed

to make you happy

and at the same time

it's the good faithful Christians

that often seem to go

from hardship to hardship

or never get out of a cycle

of constant suffering.

Yet God calls us

to remain distinctive.

He doesn't call us

to leave a hostile world.

He calls us to remain here

but remain distinctive

as Christians.

In 1 Peter chapter 2,

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

just after the passage

that was read for us

in verse 11,

Peter writes these words.

He says,

Dear friends,

I urge you as aliens

and strangers

in the world

to abstain from sinful desires

which war against your soul,

live such good lives

among the pagans

that though they accuse you

of doing wrong,

they may see your good deeds

and glorify God

on the day he visits us.

God is calling us

to stand out for him

in a world

that doesn't want to know him.

And Daniel

is going to show us how.

Look with me at verse 8.

Daniel resolved

not to defile himself

with the royal food

and wine

and he asked the chief official

for permission

not to defile himself this way.

Now God had caused the official

to show favour and sympathy

to Daniel

but the official told Daniel,

I'm afraid of my lord the king

who has assigned your food

and drink.

Why should he see you

looking worse

than the other young men

your age?

The king would then

have my head

because of you.

Daniel then said

to the guard

whom the chief official

had appointed over Daniel,

Hananiah,

Mishael and Azariah

please test your servants

for 10 days.

Give us nothing

but vegetables to eat

and water to drink

then compare our appearance

with that of the young men

who eat the royal food

and treat your servants

in accordance

with what you see.

So he agreed to this

and tested them

for 10 days.

So in spite of the appeal

of what Babylon

has to offer

Daniel still makes a point

of saying no.

But he doesn't say no

to what you might expect

him to say no to.

He's already accepted

a name change.

He's already accepted

the training they've offered him.

He's already moved

to a new city.

But at this point

Daniel stands up

and says no.

Even with everything changing,

everything against him,

there's still a point

where Daniel says

I will not compromise.

But why is it this?

Why refuse meat and wine?

Why refuse a good feed

that's going to keep you healthy?

I mean,

he's accepted a new name

which is designed

to make him feel

like he belongs to Babylon.

He's studied

Babylonian literature.

He's probably even studied

Babylonian religion

and spirituality.

Yet food is the thing

that he will not

defile himself with.

Why?

Well,

there's no such thing

as a free lunch.

Have you ever been out

to lunch with someone

and, you know,

they offer to pay,

it's no strings attached,

it's fine,

they're just feeling generous

and you think,

great, fantastic,

I'll take it,

I'm going to go back

and order seconds.

But then,

half a week later

you get a phone call

and that same friend

needs a favour.

And suddenly it's harder

to say no

than it would have been

if you paid

for your own lunch.

Or every time

you see them after that

they just kind of remind you

that they paid last time

and you owe them.

There's no such thing

as a free lunch

and it was the same

for Daniel.

Daniel knew

that it wasn't just food

that the king

was offering him.

In the ancient world

receiving food

and receiving provision

from someone

like a king

was a way of saying

I'm your servant.

It was a way

of declaring your allegiance

to someone.

And so Daniel

accepted these other things.

He accepted a name

that supposedly

transferred him

away from God

because he knew

who he was

he knew who he belonged to

but he refused

to do anything

that was a willing

and intentional

step away

from his commitment

to God.

He refused

to do anything

that would say

to God

I'm now following

this person.

Daniel remains

distinctive as God

in a culture

that is doing

everything it can

to transform him

and there's two

things that we need

to grab from

Daniel's example

if we hope

to remain distinctive

in the hostile world

that we live in.

Two really simple things

simple to say

but maybe a little bit

harder to live out.

First thing

Daniel knows

when to say no.

Daniel knows

when to say no.

It's really interesting

that Daniel

puts up with all that stuff.

he puts up

with a new country

he puts up

with a new name

he puts up

with training

he puts up

with living

in this new culture

completely

in fact

he even uses

the training

that they give him

to serve

the Babylonian kingdom

he becomes

a significant man

in the king's palace

but there is a point

where he says no.

So I think

sometimes

the temptation

for us as Christians

is to kind of

hide away

from the evil world

that's around us

you know

we kind of look around

and we don't want

to get contaminated

by the pagan people

and their pagan hobbies

and their pagan TV shows

and their pagan movies

and whatever else

we kind of turn up

our nose

at the people around us

and think they're bad

and we're not

and we just keep saying no

and keep saying no

and rejecting all these things

and I think

you know

as Christians

we're almost too good

at saying no

but I wonder

if we get so preoccupied

with saying no

but everything in the world

that we're choosing

that we're missing

the things

that actually matter

see what we need

to learn from Daniel

is when

to say no

Daniel immerses himself

in this Babylonian culture

he doesn't hide in a tent

or hide under his bed

and stay away from anything

that might be remotely bad

he was happy to study

so long as it didn't compromise

his commitment to God

he was happy for a new name

because that didn't change

that he still loved God

he was happy for a new city

because that didn't change

that he still loved God

but he wasn't willing

to eat a meal

that would be his way

of saying

now Nebuchadnezzar

comes first

God is calling us

to be in this world

so that we can be a light

in it

but not of it

the challenge for us

is when do we say no

I mean

in church

we're pretty good

at rejecting culture

throughout the decades

church has worked

really hard

to keep certain things

from the world

outside

you know

some people fought

tooth and nail

to make sure

that the world's music

never made it in here

and drums

finally got in the door

a few years ago

some people

are still fighting

tooth and nail

to make sure

that the church

remains a pointy building

with a cross on the top

because you know

we don't want to

engage with the world's

kind of fancy

technological

air conditioned

comfy chairs

you know

the church is supposed

to have a pointy roof

and uncomfortable chairs

apparently

and

we fight for these things

and we say no

to these things

of the world

but at the same time

we're

embracing

other aspects

that are pulling us

away from Jesus

we're fighting

for things like

pews and music

but we're

progressively becoming

more self-obsessed

less servant-hearted

more sexually immoral

dishonest

we're doing less

and less

about injustice

and suffering

in the world

but hey

at least we don't

have the world's music

we need to let go

of what doesn't matter

we need to let go

of the parts of culture

that have no impact

on how much we love Jesus

in fact

sometimes we can even

use it

and that way

we'll be ready

to recognise the things

that we must

say no to

to recognise

the things

that will lead us

away from Jesus

the things that

compromise

the most important

person

the first thing

we need to learn

from Daniel

is when to say no

the second thing

God is always

in control

trust God

it sounds so simple

trust God

we always say it

to each other

things are tough

trust God

trust him

because he's in control

but you'd forgive

Daniel for

asking the question

has God lost control

wouldn't you

all these promises

land

great nation

blessing

seem like they're

disappearing

it seems like

everything's going

wrong

Daniel's in a

foreign country

and it looks like

God's lost control

but look

at the story

with me again

verse 2

the Lord

delivered

verse 9

God

caused the

official

verse 17

God gave

knowledge and

understanding

the single

most devastating

event in

Israel's history

was not the

point where

God lost grip

on the wheel

but it was an

essential part

of God's plan

for this world

this is God

keeping his

promise to

punish Israel

for being

unfaithful

and even though

Daniel couldn't

see what God

was doing

or how God

was doing it

even though he

didn't know the

details or the

specifics

he trusted him

because he knew

that God was

always in

control

someone once

told me that

my life was

kind of like a

puzzle piece

you know it's

kind of funny

shaped edges

doesn't make a

lot of sense

by itself

but when you

put it in the

puzzle

when you surround

it with all the

other pieces

the picture

becomes clear

and my

perspective in

life and your

perspective in

life is just

our little puzzle

piece

it doesn't

always make

sense why

it's that way

it doesn't

always make

sense what's

happening or

what God's

doing or how

he's doing it

but God can

see the whole

picture

and God has

designed every

specific circumstance

that you face

every event of

your life

every person you

interact with

exactly the way

he needed to

so that your

piece would fit

perfectly within

his plan for

creation

God doesn't

make mistakes

your life is

the detailed

work of a

master craftsman

who is achieving

his unstoppable

plan in his

world

you won't

always know

what God's

doing

you won't

always know

how he's doing

it or why

he's doing

it but you

can be sure

that whatever's

happening he's

doing it

he's still in

control

over the next

couple of weeks

in Daniel we're

going to get to

see a little bit

more about how

God uses an

event like this

exile to achieve

his purposes

we're going to

see how this

monumental fall

from grace

from the heights

of King David

to exile in

Babylon was

part was an

essential part

of God's

plan to

bring salvation

to the world

and even

though he

didn't know

what God

was doing

Daniel knew

God was doing

something and

so he trusted

him

God has

left you in

this world

hostile as it

is

God has

left you here

the question

is will you

trust him

will you

trust his

way even

though you

don't know

how it

pans out

God

our passage

today finishes

with a little

glimmer of

hope

well actually

it's more

than a

glimmer

it's kind

of like a

fog horn

for anyone

who hasn't

got it

yet

look with

me at

verse 15

it says

at the end

of the ten

days they

looked healthier

this is after

the test of

just eating

vegetables and

water

at the end

of the ten

days they

looked healthier

and better

nourished than

any of the

young men

who ate the

royal food

so the guard

took away their

choice food and

the wine they

were to drink

and gave them

vegetables instead

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

at the end of

the time set by

the king to

bring them in

the chief official

presented them to

Nebuchadnezzar

the king talked

with them and

he found none

equal to Daniel

Hananiah

Mishael and

Azariah so

they entered the

king's service

in every matter

of wisdom and

understanding about

which the king

questioned them

he found them

ten times better

than all the

magicians and

enchanters in his

whole kingdom

and Daniel remained

there until the

first year of

king Cyrus

the chapter starts

with us asking

the question

is God beaten

are these

Babylonian gods

suddenly more

powerful

and it ends

with God

reminding us

that he is the

one and only

creator God

this is his

world and there

is none that

compares to him

the wisdom he

gives Daniel and

his friends is

ten times better

than anything the

Babylonians can

muster

and that little

verse at the

end

Daniel remained

there until the

first year of

king Cyrus

what would have

felt like a

devastating

life ending

circumstance

we just get

reminded here

Daniel lasts

longer than

Babylon does

this new

superpower

Daniel's there

when it

falls

Daniel gets

beyond this

disaster

by trusting

God

God's plan

never ends

in disaster

but sometimes

it's the path

by which he

leads us

to the purpose

he has for us

God is at

work in this

world

he has a

plan and an

unstoppable

plan

which culminates

in rescuing

his people

with Jesus

God is still

in control

whether you

can see how

or not

so trust

him

know when

to say no

and resolve

that you

will not

defile

yourself

that you

will not

assimilate

that you

will not

become like

the world

you live

in

God is

in control

so trust

him