Osceola Sermon / Game: Sorry May 30 th, 2010 Pastor Bob Vale Biblical Focus: Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Scripture Lesson: Daniel 3:1-30 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet 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. DA 3:4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, "This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language: 5 As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes 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." DA 3:7 Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. DA 3:8 At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. 9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, "O king, live forever! 10 You have issued a decree, O king, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes 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, O king. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up." DA 3:13 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, pipes 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?" DA 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O 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 save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." DA 3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22 The king's command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace. DA 3:24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?" They replied, "Certainly, O king."
DA 3:25 He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods." DA 3:26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!" So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. DA 3:28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way." DA 3:30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon. Have you ever played the game sorry? It is a game of chance; by throwing a dice, you move your little plastic colored piece from one spot on the game board to the next and try to get all your pieces to the end before anyone else can. However, if you land on the same spot as another person. You lift up their little colored plastic piece and move them all the way back to the beginning of the game; while at the same time offering a half hearted smile and giving a cheesy, I m Sorry! Emotions can run pretty high in a game like this. I ve seen it before. It can bring out the worst in a person. Why do we use the word sorry in our culture? Sorry, indicates the intent of an apology after we have been wronged or if we have wronged someone else. Three types of sorry responses are given when we have been wronged. 1. The sincere type: Oh I m so very sorry; please let me help make this right in some way. (Action is involved) 2. The casual courtesy type: Racquet ball: I m sorry I got in your way. (However, more than likely this will occur again.) I am just saying this to be polite. Oh I m sorry I cut you off when I was driving. I m sorry. 3. The unfeeling / not heartfelt type: This is the forced I m sorry a parent would have one sibling say to another brother or sister when we were wronged as a child. It really meant nothing, but we did it to simply get out of the situation. One time my parents made us kiss each other on the cheek. That was the most miserable kiss on the cheek ever! Five minutes later both siblings were at each other s throats. How do you handle defeat in your life? In our scripture lesson today there were three men who were thrown into a hot firery furnace, because they would not worship another God.
They were living life by the rules. 1. They had good jobs in the government as overseers of the affairs of Babylon. 2. They served the God of Israel rather than bow down to a golden idol. 3. What did they do wrong? *Even in defeat you need to continue to stand up for your principals: DA 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O 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 save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Illustration: Just last week, I listened to a missionary, who came back from Indonesia. As you know, Indonesia is a predominately Muslim country. Although there are five different religious groups in Indonesia; religious persecution is rampant in that country. Catholics, Protestants, Hindu, and others are literally being murdered for their faith in that part of the world. This missionary told me of a partner missionary, who worked for Wycliffe Translators. He was translating a new Bible into his home language, so his people could read the Holy Bible for the first time. The Muslim men came into the community with their guns and placed all the Christians in an old building. The one Missionary knew there was something very wrong going on here; and as he prayed, he asked God to save him and get him out of this situation, so he could finish his translation of the Holy Bible for his people. He walked out of the building and began walking out of the gate. He walked right by the men with guns and jumped into the river to swim away. Once he was in the river he was noticed and the guns began to shoot at him and he was quickly rushed down the raging river. A few days later, he made it to his village, where they were having a funeral / memorial service for him and the many others who were burned alive in the building they were placed in. To this day, he is still translating the Bible into his native language. There are still places around the earth where Christianity is not welcome. In fact, the Holy Bible is illegal in 52 countries around the world. Aren t you glad you live in the United States where we have freedom of Religion? I know here in America, we are not persecuted for our faith as in some parts of the world. But how do you handle lesser aspects of defeat. 1. When someone cuts you off in traffic: how do you respond? 2. When someone cuts in line at the grocery store; how do you respond? 3. When you don t get that deserved promotion; how do you respond? 4. When you get laid off or the pink slip is inserted into your work box; how do you respond? 5. When life is just not fair; how do you respond? Unfortunately life is tough and there are a lot of Sorry situations everyone has to deal with. When life gives you lemons; do you know how to make lemonaid? Jesus said, in Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Are you a peacemaker in a cruel and unjust world? Do you look for ways to show peace in your world rather than discord? Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek, when we are wronged. Matthew 5:38-42 "You have heard that it was said, `Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Verse 41 talks about walking an extra mile if someone forces you to walk an extra mile. The history behind that verse is that at the time of Jesus, if a Roman soldier sees a man or woman on the road, by Roman law he could confront them to take his pack and walk one mile. However Jesus, it asking Christians to not only go one mile, but go the second mile. Illustration: Do you remember the history of the Roman Glaiators? I remember hearing about their fighting each other to the death in front of crowds of thousands. I have actually been to the collisium in Rome. It is an amazing place. As I was at this wonderful and terrible place; I wondered, how long it took for the Romans to stop this cruel and unusual form on intertainment. As I researched it I read about a Catholic Monk in the 4 th century named, Telemachus. Remember this was over 100 years after Christianity had been adopted as the state religion. This little Catholic Monk felt God saying to him, "Go to Rome." He was in a cloistered monastery. He put his possessions in a sack and set out for Rome. When he arrived in the city, people were thronging in the streets. He asked why all the excitement and was told that this was the day that the gladiators would be fighting and killing each other in the coliseum, the day of the games, the circus. He thought to himself, "Four centuries after Christ and they are still killing each other, for enjoyment?" He ran to the coliseum and heard the gladiators saying, "Hail to Ceasar, we die for Ceasar" and he thought, "this isn't right." He jumped over the railing and went out into the middle of the field, got between two gladiators, held up his hands and said "In the name of Christ, forbear." The crowd protested and began to shout, "Run him through, Run him through." A gladiator came over and hit him in the stomach with the back of his sword. It sent him sprawling in the sand. He got up and ran back and again said, "In the name of Christ, forbear." The crowd continued to chant, "Run him through." One gladiator came over and plunged his sword through the little monk's stomach and he fell into the sand, which began to turn crimson with his blood. One last time he gasped out, "In the name of Christ forbear." A hush came over the 80,000 people in the coliseum. Soon a man stood and left, then another and more, and within minutes all 80,000 had emptied out of the arena. It was the last known gladiatorial contest in the history of Rome. Perhaps there is a cost for being a peacemaker: Just as there is a reward of blessings.
The Personnel Journal reported this incredible statistic: since the beginning of recorded history, the entire world has been at peace less than eight percent of the time! In its study, the periodical discovered that of 3530 years of recorded history, only 286 years saw peace. In the past three hundred years, Europe has seen 268 wars. Moreover, in excess of 8000 peace treaties were made--and broken. President Dwight D. Eisenhower said, I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it. Why: 1. Why turn the other cheek? 2. Why give away your shirt and jacket too? 3. Why walk one mile in the first place and then even go so far as to walk a second mile? Because Jesus is asking us to do this in His name as Christians. Because we are to be different than the rest of the world in loving our neighbor. Because that type of living will turn heads; it will cause people to wonder, it has the potential to be a bold witness for Christ; and ultimately it could change hearts for Jesus Christ. I have a bigger and more difficult question for you today: When you wrong another person; do you have the character to admit it and say the humble words, I m sorry? I remember playing the game of sorry, when I was a child and also playing it when my own children were growing up. The goal was to get your pieces to the end before the others and if you landed on another piece, you would send them all the way back home. Sometimes this move of sending someone back to the beginning came with a bit of anger and even some not so nice words. I saw an interesting video clip of our old friends Carol Burnette, Harvey Corman and Vicki Lawerence play this simple game on the comedy show, Mama s House. Let s watch them play this simple game and see if they are loving their neighbor? Video Clip: Sorry Game on the Carol Burnette Show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjlvgppf40m Play the first part of the video clip up to 2:43 seconds. It appears that Mama s family has some issues playing the friendly game of sorry. How about you? Do you love your neighbor as yourself?
Are you a peacemaker in your life? Are you willing to go the extra mile to help someone else? Are you willing to be perfect as Jesus is perfect? I m here to tell you that these things are difficult to do alone. However, just as there was a fourth person in the hot furnace with the three men, that same presence is in your life to help you become the peace maker you want to be. The Lord was in that furnace and God is with you when things get heated in your life. You too can come out of difficult situations unburned. Not even smelling of smoke. James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Closing Illustration: Once upon a time a farmer s mule fell into a dry well. When the farmer heard the mule s braying and realized what had happened, he determined that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and enlisted their help in burying the old mule in the well and putting him out of his misery. Initially, the old mule was very upset. You would be, too, if you were in a deep hole and people started throwing dirt in on top of you! But as the dirt rained down on his back, the old mule had a thought. He decided that every time a shovel of dirt landed on his back, he would shake it off and step up. And that s what he did. As the dirt cascaded down the well, the old mule kept shaking it off and stepping up. Hours later, the exhausted mule finally stepped over the wall of the well. What was meant to bury him actually helped him! The next time you find yourself trapped in a seemingly hopeless situation, you know what to do: shake it off and step up! James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Let s Pray: