Scripture: Daniel 1:1-16

WORLD COMMUNION SUNDAY

October 3, 2004

Rev. John W. Fowler

From the first chapter of the Book of Daniel, it says:

A couple of years ago I tried to give up sweets completely for awhile. I will actually eat some now and then, but, you know, that is hard. I can remember going through the grocery store and it was as though the ice cream just jumps out of the freezer and wants you to come back and be acquainted again. I still haven’t quite gotten where I can go back to donuts because I just can’t eat one of them — I want three or four or five. I used to have a Sunday School class that on Saturday I would always get two boxes of donuts for. I called it the Donut Class because the youth that met, we had videos and orange juice and they just loved the donuts, and I loved having them left over too. And sometimes I’d get upset with the staff that would find them on Monday before I did and I wouldn’t get to them. But, apparently, as I have been reading about donuts — all this has to do with diet, OK? There is a reason for talking about this: it is a three million dollar industry and one of the things that I found out about this industry is that they are wanting to find a low fat donut. Krispy Kreme says they are going to come out with one. In fact, there is a gentleman up in Chicago who said he came out with one, but the FDA was kind of suspicious of him, and finally — well, he is in prison now — because, you see, what he was doing was, he was going over to another bakery and getting his donuts. He said his low fat donut was only 3 grams of fat and only 35 calories, but it really was 18 grams of fat and 500 calories, because he was just taking donuts from the other bakery and turning around and calling them low fat. He’s in prison for that, so that’s not good; he was lying about that.

But, all this is to say is that Daniel’s diet preference really wasn’t so much health food; it was a decision. It represented something much more than that; it was a decision to put God first in his life. It was a decision: I’m not going to compromise in this, along with his friends.

Has that come up recently? There is a decision to compromise; there is a decision that, really, I’m tired of being different. I’m just going to go along. It’s too hard to have a different opinion, to do it a different way. But, you see, what Daniel represents to us is a young man. And remember — a lot of times we think of Daniel as this bald headed man with a grey beard in the lions’ den, and he was that — but we’re talking about young Daniel right now. We’re talking about a teenager who is making a stand for his Lord. You see, when we do that, God will honor that. It doesn’t mean that it won’t be difficult, but it sure will be worth it because we will be living a life that will inspire others around us.

His name was King Nebuchadnezzar. He was really the most powerful king on the face of the earth, the king of Babylon. He had laid siege to Jerusalem and as he laid siege to Jerusalem, one of the things he did with the royal family is he told Ashpenaz, “Get the cream of the crop. Get the best looking, the smartest, the brightest and we are going to make them Babylonians. For three years we are going to teach them all their culture; we are going to teach them all our knowledge. They are going to think, drink, eat, sleep Babylonia. We are going to change them. And even they are going to eat like a Babylonian.”

And so, they had ordered for the best and the brightest to have the King’s diet. Why did Daniel and his friends not like this? Well, first of all, these foods had been offered to pagan gods, so that would defile a good Jew by any means. And then also, it was food that was unclean. They had hoofs and things that a Jew would not eat. But, for Daniel, they knew that this was terrible; they had been taken away from the homeland, away from family. There was a lot that they had to put up with but they knew that this was a decision they had to make, so they requested, “I don’t want to eat this food. Can we have vegetables and water?”

And Ashpenaz was nervous about this and said, “If you don’t look as good as the others, I’ll not just lose my job, I’ll lose my head.”

So Daniel said, “Well let us do it for ten days; let it be a test.” So he agreed to the test and Daniel and his friends, they looked better than all the rest of them by eating healthy.

Michael Doodle, it says, tells the story of an older couple, well, about eighty-five years old — they had been married for sixty years. The wife was especially health conscious and therefore the husband was very health conscious, not always what he wanted to be, but that’s just how it was. They pinched pennies and finally on the sixtieth anniversary they agreed to splurge; they were going to take an anniversary trip to Hawaii. The only problem is that the plane crashed and they went to Heaven. They met St. Peter at the pearly gates. Peter showed them around and showed them this incredible mansion, beautiful furnishings, and said, “This is your new home.” He said, “Well, why?”

“Because this is your reward in Heaven.”

They went on the tour a little bit more and they saw this beautiful golf course, complete with club house, a spa. There was this tremendous lunch buffet and the man said, “Well, what is this?”

“You have free access to this. It’s all yours.”

He said, “Why?”

“Well, this is your reward in Heaven.”

And he said, “Well, where’s the health food?”

He said, “Well, sir, this is Heaven; we don’t have health food. You can eat whatever you like and never exercise. You’ll never get fat. You don’t have to worry about your blood pressure. This is Heaven.”

With that, the man looked at his wife and said, “You know, if it hadn’t been for all those bran muffins, we could have been here ten years earlier.”

You know, there is some truth to that. Sometimes we think the longer we live the better we are, but, then we think: Heaven’s going to be wonderful, and I like that image of Heaven myself.

Here are four words that spell DIET, but again, this is much more than about the foods you eat; this is the kind of life that you live. They describe Daniel’s life.

Daniel had a life of discipline. A Christian disciple of our Lord knows that disciple means discipline, and to Celebrate the Faith you will see the spiritual disciplines we want you to practice this month: Disciplines of Prayer, Scripture Reading, Worship, Hospitality, and a Live Style of Generosity. These are means of grace. They are disciplines that help us to know our Lord better. D is Discipline.

I is for integrity. One of the greatest ways we can inspire other people and distinguish ourselves from others in this world (tape change) . . . . but also being put in the lions’ den. One of the best ways we demonstrate that our faith is genuine is that we trust God in a time of trial and know that He will be with us. We all have trials but Christian faith makes such a difference in the way that we face those trials. Daniel was a young man that put God first in his life. Jesus was saying the same thing to His disciples when he gathered at that last supper. He said, In this world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.

When we come to the table today we celebrate the good news of Jesus Christ. We celebrate forgiveness of sins. We celebrate that, no matter what we have done, Christ forgives us. He helps us not only to repent with our sin but to deal with the consequences of those sins. The good news is forgiveness, but also it is the good news of resurrection that we celebrate — that Christ is alive and lives today. He has promised us eternal life for our faith in Him. And that is good news that we celebrate in Holy Communion. It is especially a time to renew our commitment to Christ and to serving Him.

Phillip Bliss was someone who grew up in the lumber yards and was converted to Christ. He was a singing evangelist. He would go around with a little portable organ that he had on his horse. He would go from church to church, teaching them to sing the hymns of faith, and one that he had was Dare to be a Daniel; you may have heard it in vacation Bible school.

Her name was Lisa and I remember her well. She was President of our youth group and I remember, it was a week when I was really worn out, and I wasn’t very inspiring to my youth group that night I’m sure, but she inspired me. I remember that school was starting back and she essentially exhorted the youth group that, you know, we need to be an example for Christ as we go back to school this year. And I remember that night — Thank You, Lord; I needed that. I needed that from that seventeen year old who really took seriously that the kind of life we live really does make a difference. Oftentimes though, it comes with a decision: I am going to put God first; I am not going to compromise.

Let us pray.