MPC 1st January 2006.January 1 - Daniel 1 - "The Incredibles"
Matt Rowson MPC 1st January 2006.
One thing that starts to happen when you're working with kids and when you have one of your own, is that your DVD collection begins to take on a whole new look. The collection that used to be mainly Bruce Willis and Harrison Ford movies starts getting overshadowed by movies like Toy Story, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo.
It's a whole new generation of digital, computer animations! One of my favourite computer animation movies is one called The Incredibles.
For those who haven't seen it, I'll fill you in without giving too much away.
You see, the Incredible family used to be superheroes, just like Spiderman, Superman. They used to save lives - rescue people from certain death... but in the movie The Incredibles, society turns against superheroes.
They'd save a hundred train passengers from certain death by bringing their out of control train to a sudden stop moments before it plummets off the destroyed bridge, but then the passengers would sue the superheroes for the bumps and bruises the got in the process. Eventually, rising public liability costs force these superheroes to stop being superheroes.
Their secret identity was to be their only identity.
No more crime fighting. No more wearing undies on the outside. They have to forget about what they were, put it all behind them and try to fit in and live a normal life like everybody else. There's no more being different anymore. No more being special. It's now all about just fitting in.
Today and next week we're going to be looking at the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, and as I started reading through Daniel, it struck me that Daniel and his friends are being pressured into doing exactly the same thing as the Incredibles.
You see, Daniel and his friends, they were special. Not because they had super powers. What made them special was the fact that they were friends with God.
Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were Israelites, and the Israelites were God's chosen people. But as the book of Daniel starts, things are not all good for God's people. Have a look at verses 1 and 2.
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah (Judah was part of Israel), 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.
Here's God's people, living it up in Jerusalem - life's great when all of a sudden the Babylonians invade and Daniel and many others are being shipped off to Babylon as slaves and subjects to the King of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzer.
They were part of God's people, but were now in a land where no-one worshipped God, and where lots of idols were worshipped instead.
We're going to read through the rest of the first chapter of Daniel to see what happens.
3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility -- 4young 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. 5The 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.
6 Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
8 But 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. 9Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, 10but the official told Daniel, "I am 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."
11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12"Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." 14So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
17 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.
18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king's service. 20In 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.
21 And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
Now you're all probably wondering what that was all about, and at least half are probably wondering if it's all about eating your veggies. Well, it doesn't really have anything to do with vegetables... what it's got to do with is knowing who you belong to, and not being afraid to show it.
Remember, just like the Incredibles, there's something very special about Daniel and his friends. Something that makes them different from everyone else. Daniel and his friends belong to God. But the problem for them is that they're now in a different country, where people don't worship God.
And the new world they live in wants them to change sides. They want them to forget about who they were, and blend in with their new society, just like the Incredibles. And this plan of fitting in has 3 parts.
Firstly, look at what they do, in verse 4, Daniel and his friends are to learn the language and literature of the Babylonians - they're off to the Babylon public school to be taught all about Babylon; its gods, its history, its culture... all that stuff.
Secondly, in verse 5 we see that they've also been given the privilege of eating at the king's table - eating the royal food. They've been invited to eat the most expensive food in the whole country, every day.
It's like having the most expensive, prestigious, tastiest restaurant in Brisbane supplying you 3 meals a day at no charge.
And finally in verse 7, they're given new names. Babylonian names.
I remember I was told once how to work out your alternate name - it was actually supposed to be what your stage name would be if you ever became a professional wrestler - those guys who prance around the ring and pretend to beat each other up. But instead of your professional wrestling name, let's call it your new Babylonian name.
What you do is you take the name of the first pet you ever had and combine it with the name of the street that you first lived on when you were born.
My first pet was a dog called Princess and my first street was Patrick Crescent, so my unfortunate professional wrestling name is Princess Patrick. Well, Daniel and his friends are given some weird sounding names, Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
These Incredibles, these friends of God, are being forced to forget about who they really are on the inside, and blend into the world around them.
Now, Daniel and his friends are happy to go to Babylonia Public School, and they're even ok with having their names changed, but there's one change they're not going to go along with.
Have a look at verse 8.
But 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.
In verse 12 he says to his guard, look, just give us veggies and water instead.
You're probably thinking, "why go along with the other changes, but refuse to eat the Kings food?"
That's probably the last one you'd refuse. I know it's the last one I'd knock back!
Some people would say Daniel refused the king's food because it was offered to idols, but as far as we know all the food, including vegetables, was offered to idols as well, so I think there's a bit more to it. There's another reason Daniel and his friends knocked back the royal food. I think it has more to do with the fact that there's... no such thing as a free lunch.
It kind of works the same today. Imagine someone comes up to you and offers to buy you lunch at a really expensive restaurant - like the Pizza Hut. Then the next day they ask you to do them a favour. You'd probably feel obliged to do it.
But in Daniel's day it was even a lot more significant than that, because those who ate at the king's table were showing their allegiance to the king - showing that they're on his side. It was a way of saying that the king is their lord, and they'll be loyal to him above all others.
Daniel and his friends needed to make a choice...
- Will they just fit in with the new crowd and hand over their allegiance to the King of Babylon...
- or will they stand up for the fact that they're different. Will they show that they have another King who they serve?
I mentioned before how the reason Daniel and his friends are now in Babylon is because God's people Israel have been invaded by the Babylonians. Their city destroyed, their land taken, God's temple plundered...
Everything they thought was secure has gone. And it was all because God's people had abandoned their allegiance to God.
From the king down, they have turned away from God. They decided they didn't want to be different, they didn't want to be special, and now they've lost everything.
In the movie The Incredibles, Mr Incredible eventually gets fed up with just fitting in - because deep down he knows that he is different - he's a superhero and he just can't hide it anymore.
Daniel and his friends made the choice, to take a stand and not be afraid to show they're different too. They won't hide their true identity of being God's people. They don't care about the cost, they will give their allegiance to God and to his kingdom.
Because really, the book of Daniel isn't about vegetables and lion's dens - it's all about kingdoms. It's about earthly kingdoms and it's about God's kingdom. And there's a tension throughout the book - which kingdom is more powerful? Which kingdom will last? Which kingdom will you bow down to?
As you start reading Daniel chapter 1 it looks like the Babylonian Kingdom has won. They've conquered Judah, they've taken captives, and they've even looted God's Temple in Jerusalem and taken the treasures back to Babylon to put in the temple of their own gods.
The question God's people would have been asking is - has God been defeated? Is Nebuchadnezzar's Kingdom greater?
Is it time just to go with the flow and fit in - forget about being different?
But a closer look at Daniel chapter 1 shows that in spite of first appearances, God is still in control. In verse 2 it was God who delivered them over to the Babylonians in the first place, and God is still with Daniel and his friends. In verse 17 it says God gave Daniel and his friends knowledge and understanding and they were smarter and wiser than anyone else in Babylon. God was not defeated.
And in Daniel 7 we get this fantastic picture of God's mighty and everlasting Kingdom, an incredible kingdom and we read about the King who rules this Kingdom - a King who we find out in the New Testament is actually Jesus. God's kingdom will smash all other kingdoms to pieces. His Kingdom alone is the eternal one. His is the incredible Kingdom.
That's what Daniel and his friends knew, and that's why they made the decision to give their allegiance to God's Kingdom instead of just taking the easy option of simply fitting in.
So how are you when it comes to choosing which Kingdom gets your allegiance?
Like Daniel and his friends the world that you and I live in is a world that doesn't know God.
And it's a world that wants you to fit in and forget the fact that you're different. It wants you to forget your identity as one of God's people. It wants to entice you to give your allegiance to things other than God, and it may be a costly decision you need to make.
During my first week at Uni, I was chatting with a guy in one of my lectures. We were talking about Rugby League and what teams we supported, I admitted I was a Manly supporter - which didn't get a great reaction. Manly used to be the second most hated team by Sydney siders - Brisbane was number one. Actually that's not true, I think Manly was the number one hated team - (tall poppy syndrome - you know, people are always jealous of the best team).
Anyway, this guy wasn't that impressed that I supported Manly but he laughed it off and said to me, "Well, at least you're not one of them born-again Jesus followers... they're people I really hate!"
I'm thinking what do I say now? Is he going to punch my head in if I say I am a Christian? Well, a bit timidly, and after short pause while I debated the consequences in my head, I said "Actually I'm a Jesus follower too!"
He didn't punch my head in, but that was the last time he ever talked to me.
Daniel's decision was a risky one. To refuse the king's offer to eat at his table could very well have ended in his death and the deaths of his friends. In verse 10 the guard who Daniel made the request to was even scared that the King would have his head because of Daniel's request to refuse eating the King's food.
It was a dangerous decision.
And it might be a dangerous decision for you too.
Let's face it, it's not easy being different. It's not easy being a Christian in a school, Uni, the workplace or sometimes even in your own family.
It's easier to simply fit in with everyone else and do all the things they do, say all the things they say, treat others the way they treat others, have the same attitude towards people and life that they have.
Like Daniel and his friends will you make the choice to be different, to give your allegiance to God's Kingdom and to Jesus the King of God's Kingdom?
Will you make this a year where following Jesus is the most important thing instead of fitting in with the world around you that calls you to be a part of another kingdom?
I'm going to just suggest one thing that will help make this an incredible year, a way that will make the daunting task of being different that much easier, and that is to make meeting together with your church family a number one priority...
Because it's by meeting week-in-week-out with each other, that we are reminded all about Jesus the great King of God's Kingdom, the one who has made us different, who has made us friends with God if we're trusting in him. And it's where we are continually encouraged to live differently, to think differently, to give our total allegiance to God's incredible kingdom, and Jesus the King.