Remaining Faithful: In A Culture That Is Not - Daniel 1:3-17

I grew up hearing it over and over again.  In fact, I am pretty sure that almost every kid has heard it at least once.  I don’t know why, but I think it comes from the default argument of teenagers, and therefore it becomes the default response for parents.  The teen says, “but all of my friends are going to see that rated ‘R’ movie”…“all the other girls are wearing those short shorts”…“I know his parents aren’t going to be home, but everyone else is going to the party”….  It doesn’t  matter what it is, but some activity that seems to violate a family’s regulations is argued by a teenager that the rest of the world’s teenage population gets to participate in that activity.  The response that every parent has down pat, “If all your friends (or everyone else) was jumping off a bridge, would you jump too?”

Imagine yourself in Daniel’s story. You are one of those young Hebrew men that have been chosen to be trained in Babylonian culture so that they can become part of the leadership—possibly figuring that since there were Hebrews living amongst them, that they might respond more favorably to one of their own governing or leading them, or that their particular knowledge of Jewish culture and language might aid the king in his rule. 

You remember your life back in Jerusalem.  Yes there was hunger and poverty in Jerusalem, but not for you.  You lived “in the good part of town.”  Your family had wealth…there had never been a shortage of money or food or wine or anything else.  The tables had always been filled with the choicest of foods—all of it kosher, of course.  It has been prayed over, blessed, and properly prepared to ensure it was free from defilement. 

Now you find yourself far away from home.  Captured and forced to relocate to Babylon.  You find yourself living amongst those who had begged for crumbs outside the gates of your home.  You realize what it is like to be hungry, to be poor, and to have nothing.  Shame settles over you as you understand what it means to be one of those that Yahweh had commanded that you care for.  Y’all have struggled together in the journey to Babylon; y’all have savored the same scraps of food; y’all have faced the same uncertainty, and hungered together, when there was a chance that the food might have been unclean.  Repentance occurred and friendship begun as you learned again what it meant to be equal in the family of the creator of the heavens and the earth.

Then the selection came.  They found out that you were once among the aristocrats of your people.  They gathered you and some of your friends.  “The King wants you,” they said.  Trembling, you enter the palace.  The scroll is unrolled and read, “By declaration of King Nebuchadnezzar, you are to learn our ways.  You will become familiar with our language and our customs and you will become advisors to the royal palace.  You will help us govern these people of yours.  To prepare you for this, you will dine in the palace and enjoy the same food that the king and his court enjoy…nothing will be denied you.  For three years you will live and train here among the royalty of the great Babylonian Empire.”

They send you to be cleaned up and made presentable.  On the way to the bathing pools, you walk by area dedicated to food preparation for the king.  You smell the aroma of the fresh bread baking.  You hear the sizzle of the meat cooking.  You catch a glimpse of the trays piled high with food you have never seen before, but looks more inviting than anything that had ever been served at your house, even when your father was trying to impress his guests.

As you gather with the other men who had been selected, y’all begin talking, straining to be heard over the growling of your stomachs.  What would y’all do?  Many begin talking about how good it will be to be back in the good life—to enjoy the food, the power, the luxury of the king’s palace and be away from the filthy poor.  “God’s finally putting us back where we belong,” they claim.  What about the friendships we had formed?  “Those were friends of necessity, not of the heart,” they claim.  Struck to the heart, you question about the kosherness of the food.  They have an answer for that as well, “God wouldn’t put it before us if we weren’t to eat it.”  A few others begin to see your point…a bond forms between you and them—Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah—names y’all would stick to calling one another, despite the Babylonian attempt to rebrand you with names they could pronounce and spell.  The four of you make a pact to participate in the king’s training, if for no other reason than to be able to look out for your fellows Hebrews in exile, but that regardless of what comes up, y’all will remain faithful and true to God.

You and the others are brought into the dining hall…the food is there before you and the aroma is hitting you like a bowling ball striking the head pin.  You watch as many gather around the table and begin to dig in, eating as if they had not had a morsel in forty days.  You and your friends pull together.  What are you going to do?  How will you remain faithful in a culture that is most definitely not?

We don’t live in Babylon.  It is not the 6^th Century before Christ’s arrival.  We are living in the United States in the 21^st century…but that makes the question even more relevant.

We live in a culture where rich foods of restaurants and homes are thrown in the garbage while children down the street hunger for their next meal.

We live in a culture where there is more loyalty to amount paid for season passes to favorite college basketball and football teams than to God's gift of the church where Christ paid it all that we might be part.

We live in a culture where sexual urges of almost any kind are okay to indulge and sexual abstinence outside the marital fidelity of husband and wife is seen as archaic and unrealistic.

We live in a culture where world resources are ours to do with as we wish rather than belonging to God and we're simply caretakers.

We live in a culture where the color of one's skin or the language someone speaks determines their value rather than understanding all are created equally in the image of God.

We live in a culture where it's acceptable to do whatever it takes to earn wealth forgetting the importance of intimate relationships with family and friends, fairness in business dealings, and the importance of Sabbath rest for ourselves and everyone around us.

Daniel and his companions, with the temptation of the rich food before them, determined to remain faithful to God and His people, said, "We cannot be faithful to God and defile ourselves with this food.  Give us only vegetables to eat. Keep your ribeyes, keep your pork chops, keep your ambrosia, keep your caviar, keep your triple chocolate devil's food cake a la mode.  Give us carrots. Give us green beans. Give us broccoli. Give us avacadoes. Give us asparagus. Give us brussel sprouts. Come back in ten days. You will find us to be in better shape than those gorging themselves on the fine food of this kingdom. "

Ten days later the palace staff place all the trainees side by side. Daniel and his companions were found to be in top condition and far better condition than all the others. 

We read more than that, but that as they continued to remain faithful to God in the midst of that culture full of idols and pagan gods, that God blessed them with strength, wisdom, and insight.

My brothers and sisters, faithfulness to God, even in the face of sacrificing the pleasures others around us seem to be enjoying, will always be remembered and rewarded by God.

How do we do it?  How do we remain faithful? We can follow Daniel's plan.

1) We make the determination that we will remain faithful. It is only with determination that we can succeed. If we are wishy-washy in our thinking it will be too easy to find ourselves mirroring those around us than being faithful to God.

2) We surround ourselves with likeminded friends.  We need companions for the journey. God does not intend us to do this alone. Friends can encourage us. Friends can hold us accountable. Friends journey through the struggle with us  and we with them.

3) Finally, and we see this highlighted in later stories of Daniel and his friends, we spend time in prayer seeking strength and courage from God. It is only with the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit that we can be faithful in all things. If we open ourselves up to God he will give us the strength to remain true for it is in our weakness that God displays His strength in us.

My friends, temptation is everywhere. Everyone else is prepared to jump off the bridge. Will we jump with them?  Or, will we remain true to God?

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!