Brad Paisley, one of my favorite country music singers, has had twenty-nine number one hits in his career. One of the funniest of these, in my humble expert opinion, is his song “I’m Still a Guy,” released in 2007. In it, Brad tells his wife that even though he might have changed in certain ways because of their relationship, he cannot and will not change the core of who he is. He is very clear to his love: “You’re probably thinking that you’re gonna change me and in some ways well maybe you might; scrub me down, dress me up oh but no matter what, remember I’m still a guy.”
In this song, Brad lays out what makes him… well, him. He might open up and pour out his heart to his wife, he might walk her very feminine dog, and he might even be caught carrying her purse for her while she tries on clothes out the mall, but there are things that, in his mind, are non-negotiable. His identity as an individual is rooted in certain things, and even though he cares deeply for his beloved, he cannot compromise all of who he is for her.
On some points, he is unwilling to budge.
In our two chapters this week from The Story, we heard a number of accounts of individuals who were unwilling to budge on certain issues, unwilling to allow others to make them compromise their identities. Daniel refuses to break the Jewish dietary restrictions, and God blesses him through his faithfulness. Later, he is literally thrown to the lions for his persistence in praying only to God, and not to his king. The Israelites are not willing to give up on rebuilding their city, their homes, and especially the Temple, for they know that their identity as a people is rooted firmly in God.
But my favorite story from this part of the Bible is the story of three individuals, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, or, as my Dad used to call them, Rack, Shack, and Benny. The story goes that King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian ruler responsible for the displacement of the Israelites, decided that he himself was enough of a god to demand worship. This was nothing new during this time—in fact, most rulers believed themselves to be gods, or at least the sons of gods, and most people did not have the power nor inclination to argue with them. Part of the worship that King Nebuchadnezzar demanded was that all of his officials who helped administer justice and government around his empire were to worship a statue of him every time they heard the sound of music. Any who did not immediately bow down and worship the statue at the first musical note was to be thrown into the palace furnace.
Not exactly the ideal way to go.
Enter our protagonists. As we read this week, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were administrators under the king. They, along with Daniel, had risen in rank because of their wisdom and charisma. These three are known and even favored by Nebuchadnezzar, and yet they are good and faithful followers of the Most High God and will not bow down to the image of anyone, even the king. These men had been forced to change who they were in so many ways: they were working as leaders for the very same king who conquered their home, they were surrounded by strange people and living in a strange land, and they had even been forced to change their names so that they would be accepted by the Babylonian masses. But there was one area in their lives they were not willing to compromise, and that was their faith. So important to them was keeping the name of God holy and worshiping only the Lord that they were willing to face death rather than compromise in such a way.
On this point, they were unwilling to budge.
We know what happens. The king is so infuriated with the three that he has the furnace heated seven times hotter than normal and then has Rack, Shack, and Benny thrown in. But the flames do not consume them. No, as Nebuchadnezzar peers into the blaze, he sees four beings standing, unharmed and unburned, and one of them looking “like a son of the gods!” He calls to the three to come out of the furnace, and then begins exalting God above all other gods and reinstates the trio as administrators of the land.
God saves Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from a horrible death because they kept their faith centered on God even when it held the direst of consequences. What a wonderful story of the power of God!
But I have to tell you: for once, the thing that amazes me the most in this story isn’t the saving work of the Lord toward the faithful. No, instead it is the faith of the faithful. Rack, Shack, and Benny hold on to their faith, their identity in God even when it means certain death. And here is the kicker: they did not actually expect to be saved from the flames. They are absolutely and very quickly ready to admit that God could save them if God so desired, but they do not ask God to step in at all. They actually tell Nebuchadnezzar that even if they are not rescued from burning death, they will stand strong in the Lord and not waver in their faith. They were willing to die rather than budge on this.
Friends, what are you willing to die for rather than compromise on?
I’m going to ask that again, because I think it is an extremely important question: What are you willing to die for rather than compromise on? What are the golden statues that you are not willing to bow toward? What won’t you budge on in faith? The church gets a bad reputation a lot of the time for making too many dividing lines. This is wrong. This is right. This is acceptable. This is not. These people are in. These people are out. And you know, it’s not wrong to try to discern good from evil; we are called to do so. But the problem with this is that our world isn’t exactly black and white. There is a lot of gray that has to be dealt with. And I’ve often wondered how much of it is truly worth dying for.
Take Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These people had changed so much of their lives. They had been displaced by a foreign empire. They had been made to adopt new names and new customs. They had to change so much about their identity and situation. They had to compromise on so much. But they knew the line that they could not cross, that they would not cross, and when it was drawn, they dug their heals in the dirt.
I can’t help but think about the Gospel of Mark, when some disciples come up to talk to Jesus. They tell him that they met someone who was driving out demons in Jesus’ name and they told him to stop, because he was not one of them. They would not let him help people, because he was not one of them. That’s messed up.
Listen to what Jesus says in response to them. This is from Mark 9:39-41: “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.”
Whoever is not against us is for us. This is huge. Just because this person was different from them, the disciples did not think that he should be allowed to do the work of Christ. But Jesus rebukes them, and reminds them that the Kingdom of God is for everyone. Not being one of them was not worth dying for.
So what was dying for, according to Jesus? What were the lines Jesus would not cross? Well, we know that Jesus said that there is no greater love than sacrificial love for one’s friends. And we know that in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asks God to remove the cup of suffering from him but “not my will but yours be done.” These two things were worth dying for according to Christ, and he loved his Father and the world so much that he did just that: die for us. Like Rack, Shack, and Benny, Jesus sets the lines he will not cross—he will not allow another to suffer in his stead, and he will not go against the will of God.
Not much different from our protagonists who refuse to go against God’s teachings and will.
So, I ask again, what are we willing to die for rather than compromise on? In a world where so many people are ready to rebuke those who we see as “not one of us,” where do we need to hear Jesus’ words that “whoever is not against us is for us?” Where is God calling us to stand up in faith, and where might God be telling us not to?
I pray that God will help us to discern the difference, and I pray that we are open to it.
Amen.
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