¹ King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. ² He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. ³ So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it. ⁴ Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: ⁵ As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. ⁶ Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.” ⁷ Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the nations and peoples of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ⁸ At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. ⁹ They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever! ¹⁰ Your Majesty has issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, ¹¹ and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. ¹² But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.” ¹³ Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, ¹⁴ and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? ¹⁵ Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

–Daniel 3.1-18 (NIV)

Here is a story in today’s lesson to which we all can relate. It has all the necessary ingredients for disaster, most notably human pride which is the root cause of the problem here that confronts Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. With great fanfare that often accompanies megalomaniacs, Nebuchadnezzar orders that all should worship this false idol of his and he has the power to make dissenters pay dearly. He has the power of death.

As we read this story, we can relate instinctively to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s predicament can’t we? We may not be faced with being thrown literally into a blazing furnace, but each of us deals with those things in life that have the power to destroy us as effectively as any blazing furnace. It may be the furnace of unemployment or chronic illness. It may be the furnace of watching our loved ones grow old and infirm or being struck down by an incurable disease, and observing the heart-breaking spectacle of their human dignity being stripped away from them in the process. It may be the furnace of losing loved ones to death, or of broken families or relationships, or the betrayal of a once-trusted friend. It may be the furnace of growing old ourselves and the related fear of facing an uncertain future because of it. It may be the furnace of not being able to find a mate with which to journey through life or of repeated failure for the various endeavors we attempt. It may be the furnace of addiction or lust or greed or self-centeredness on steroids. Whatever the particular furnace is that we face–and we all face something or other in our lives that can ultimately destroy us or our humanity–we can appreciate the darkness this story describes. Surely the same kind of hopelessness and despair that these various furnaces of life can produce in us were weighing on Jesus’ disciples on Good Friday when they watched his dead body being taken down from the cross and buried. Things looked terribly bleak and they had no reason to hope for a better day.

But the remarkable thing about today’s story is that our protagonists will have none of it. They will not be kowtowed by the threat of death nor will they succumb to the apparent hopelessness of their present situation. Instead, they refuse to worship a false god and they are quite prepared to pay for their decision with their lives. Notice carefully the great humility and faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They have the ultimate confidence in their God to deliver them from their desperate situation and even if God does not choose to deliver them, that is not a deal breaker for them. They still put their ultimate trust in God.

This is the kind of faith that sustains and it is available to us today.

Why is that? How can we have the kind of faith that sustained Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (and countless others), and in fact even eclipse theirs?

Because we have the promise of Jesus’ resurrection and New Creation.

We have experienced the despair of seeing our crucified Lord but we have also experienced his Risen Presence. We know that he is alive and by his death and resurrection God in Christ has conquered death and the powers and principalities of this world.

Because of this great Truth, like our protagonists, we have confidence that God will deliver us as well. He may not choose to rescue us from our present furnaces as we would like, but he will rescue us nevertheless. Just as God completely violated the first disciples’ expectations regarding the manner in which God rescues, so will God deliver us. Think about it. God did not bring Jesus down from the cross. As we know now, doing so would have meant our ultimate condemnation and God does not desire that one of his creatures be lost. But the first disciples of Jesus did not have that perspective. They only understood power and cause and effect, and based on those criteria God did not ostensibly deliver. He did not rescue Jesus from the cross.

But God did deliver Jesus in a much more powerful way. He vindicated our Lord (and those who follow him) by raising him from the dead. And where our Lord is, so will his followers be. Therefore we who follow Jesus can also expect to be raised from the dead and into God’s glorious New Creation one day. That is ultimately why it doesn’t really matter if God rescues us presently from our burning furnace because we know that he has already rescued us from the only thing that really matters in this life, the only thing that can ever separate permanently from God, and that thing is death.

This is why it is mission critical for Christians to have a real Easter hope, a real hope of new life and New Creation that is firmly grounded in the biblical testimony of Jesus’ bodily resurrection. Hope and trust based on anything else is bound to fail. A firm and real Resurrection hope is why Paul could say the following to the Corinthians when he talked about the various trials he suffered during the course of his ministry:

¹ Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. ² Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. ³ And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. ⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹ For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. ¹² So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. ¹³ It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴ because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. ¹⁵ All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. ¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4.1-18).

Here is the secret to living your life with supreme hope and without fear, even when you have been thrown into the fires of a raging furnace. It is the hope that has sustained the martyrs as they went to their death. It is the hope that allows us to defeat despair and all that seeks to destroy and dehumanize us. It is the very Power and Presence of God living in us. It is the Resurrection hope that flows from the conviction that God has acted decisively in history on our behalf to ensure that nothing can overcome us or separate us from his great love for us in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Does this mean that everything will be easy, that our Resurrection faith will allow us to flit through life unscathed or without anguish or struggles? Do you think that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were immune from doubts and fears and struggles? Do you think Peter and Paul were (see above for the answer to Paul)? How about Christians being persecuted around the world today? What about Blandina and the martyrs of Lyons? If you think they were immune from all the human weakness and frailties that beset you, at least initially in their walk with the Lord, think again.

But if you focus on your own weakness, you miss the point because it is manifestly not about you. The point is that they knew their Lord, the Risen Christ, and they made the conscious choice to trust him and rely on his power to sustain them in the midst of their respective furnaces. This resulted in them gaining great power, the power to overcome their fears and failures and brokenness so as not to be overcome by despair and hopelessness.

That same power is available to you today, no matter who you are or what your furnace looks like. This power doesn’t come easily or quickly, but it does come if you are willing to trust and to persevere. You have to take the chance and throw yourself into the abyss, trusting that in doing so you will fall right into the waiting arms of Jesus who is your strength, hope, power, and life. But you do not have to trust blindly. You have the consistent testimony of Scripture and the witness of countless saints throughout time and across cultures who verify the power of the Resurrection hope to sustain.

If you have not done so already, what are you waiting for? Commit your very self to Jesus and learn from him how to draw on his Power and Presence so that you too will not be harmed in the midst of your life’s furnaces. If you want the power to overcome the furnaces of your life, you must develop a real Resurrection hope because only then can you have confidence that you are tapping into the very power of God, a power that nothing in all creation can defeat or overcome.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!