Finding Favor in the Foreign

NOTE: The text differs from the audio. I have a fever and my mental capacity is not what it should be and I’m losing my voice so bear with me. I’m going to try to keep it short this afternoon, but I got a word that needs to be said so let’s get started. Today’s message is called, “Finding Favor as a Foreigner.” That was the only frill you’re going to get today—you have a title where all the important words begin with “F.” I can’t remember what that’s called, but you know what I’m talking about. Daniel 3. Let’s go. While you find it in your Bibles, let me fill you in on what’s going on. So the king of Babylon, a very egocentric, narcissist builds a gold statue of himself that’s 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide. It was probably more of a miracle that thing actually stood upright at just 9 feet wide and 9 stories tall. So since he built this statue and admired his work, the king had everyone worship it. Verse 8. 8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9 They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. 11 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” There will be times in your life where you will feel like a foreigner. Simply put, you will face a time in your life where your life, your history and your being go so contrary to the grain of culture that you will feel alienated. But it is exactly in these types of situations, where God bestows favor. Some might think that there is no favor there because of the difficult predicament of you versus the world, but I assure you that’s exactly where we can find God’s favor in our lives. Shardrach, Meshach and Abednego, stood defiantly against the grain of culture. I want you to know that just two chapters ago, these three people were taken into exile from Judah after Babylon conquered the country. They were not only foreigners, but they were foreigners who were brought out of their own countries against their own will. It’s not like these people chose to be in situation like this. You have to understand that our lives force us into situations that we don’t choose. The horrible thing about it is that we often don’t see how God’s favor can possibly be connected to our lives in a situation like that. Let’s keep reading verse 16. 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” I want you to underline the phrase, “but if not.” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had faith that God will deliver them. I mean, just one chapter ago, the king put a warrant out for their execution because the “wise men” couldn’t interpret his dream and then Daniel got into it and God gave him the vision. So they have seen God’s provision of favor. I’m sure you have past experience of God’s favor on your life. I mean you’re still alive and you’re in this situation. Now, here’s the key—just because God doesn’t do for you this time, the way He did in the past, doesn’t mean that you are out of luck on favor. You see, we just underlined that, “but if not.” When we stick to our guns, our faith, and understand the past promises God fulfills and move forward in our lives against culture, because we don’t worship God for what He does, we worship God for who He is, we find that favor of God in our grind against culture. Let me tell you how this story ends. Three guys fall into the furnace but the king sees four walking around, then he is amazed and has bipolar change of heart and lets them go. But it’s not enough to find God’s favor in our moments of anxiety and unfamiliarity by just sticking to our faith. I’m not saying that there is anything more, but I am saying, that sticking to our faith alone will not help us find all the favor God has for us in our “foreign”-ness. I’ve been doing a lot of counseling lately and you all know that counseling is not one of my favorite things to do and so I’m in a counseling session on Saturday and I’m sick out of my mind and all I want to do is go home and so I ask the guy, why did you want me to sit here and counsel you? You’ve got your life straight together and he says to me, “well, it’s because God put you in my life to add a perspective that I just don’t have.” So goes my next point. You’re in a foreign position because you have a unique perspective. God’s favor places you in your indescribably foreign position so that you can do something about it. 1Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. 4Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. 6The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” 10When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. It required a foreigner to go to Nineveh to preach this word so that they can have disaster averted. Lastly, and this is where I end because my voice is thoroughly gone. God’s favor in foreign situations is found when humility meets boldness. Just because we are new to a situation or just because we’re unfamiliar or just because we’re not jaded, doesn’t mean that we have no right to speak up and cast our vision into a situation. Our country is built on people coming here in meekness and leaving the world as ferocious lions. Here’s the problem: a lot of us think that we shouldn’t do anything because we’re in no position to do anything given our “foreign” situation. But God’s favor is found when we boldly take action despite our “foreign”-ness. Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, was heartbroken because his people were going to face genocide. Mordecai says to Esther, not only a foreigner, but by the grace and favor of God, the Queen: Esther 4:12-14. 12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”