To Assimilate or Not

  • November 20, 2024
  • /
  • Erin Newton

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Daniel 3 Listen: (5:56)
Read: Hebrews 1 Listen: (2:15)

Scripture Focus: Daniel 3:12

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, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up

Reflection: To Assimilate or Not

By Erin Newton

I love the Bible because it speaks to our culture—even when distantly removed in time. The stories in Daniel have been repeatedly used to speak of Christian ethics in a fallen world.

The story is familiar. The three men taken into captivity are asked to assimilate to the foreign culture. They refuse and are sentenced to death in a fiery furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are tokens for standing up to power and choosing truth over popularity. Their determination to continue in honorable living outweighs their fear of death.

To refuse the king meant severe consequences. This time it meant fire.

The story continues with the miraculous salvation of the three men. They are thrown into the furnace and a fourth person appears—an angel or a theophany of Jesus, perhaps. Whoever joined the men in the fire was a divine instrument of salvation.

There are parallels between the stories in Daniel and the book of Esther. Both involve Judeans sent into the court of a foreign king and asked to conform their lives to the whims of those in power. Daniel and his three friends resist conforming. They consistently reject the king’s commands. Twice they are sent to their deaths. Twice they are miraculously saved.

Esther hides her ancestry and partakes in the customs and system of the foreign kingdom. She comes to the king when he calls for her. She performs the beauty and dietary regimen assigned to her. Her actions are quite the opposite of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

How do we reconcile the different accounts? Yes, Esther was later used to save the Jews and risked her life to do so. Daniel and the three men risked only their lives in resistance.

We have both stories of bold resistance and quiet acceptance to reveal the complexity of life. There are rarely simple answers to our situations. Perhaps God had stirred their hearts to boldness in refusing the king and boldness in obeying the king.

Too often are we tempted to judge one another for making these same decisions. I believe Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were right in in refusing and taking the consequence. I believe Esther was right in joining the king’s court. God used both.

The days ahead will be filled with opportunities and we may disagree on how things should be done. Let us pray that God is moving in the midst of us.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Send our your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling;

That I may go to the altar of God, to the God of my joy and gladness; and on the harp I will give thanks to you, O God my God. — Psalm 43.3-4

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about Stories of Faith :: A Guided Prayer

As we tell our stories of faith, we celebrate every moment—the struggles, the losses, and the miraculous moments of victory. 

Stories of Faith :: A Guided Prayer

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Stories of Faith :: A Guided Prayer

  • October 18, 2018
  • /
  • John Tillman

Daniel 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.”

Psalm 107.2
Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe

“Stories like that make a boy grow bold
Stories like that make a man walk straight”
— Rich Mullins, Boy Like Me, Man Like You

Reflection: Stories of Faith :: A Guided Prayer
By John Tillman

So many times we celebrate the miraculous escapes of the Bible. But we should not forget that even though Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego survived the furnace, they still died in exile as a part of an empire that murdered hundreds of thousands of their family members.

Likewise, we should not spiritualize the response of Nebuchadnezzar. He was not converted, nor did he set in place a government supportive of faith in the true God. He’s just as violent and murderous on behalf of Yahweh as he was in opposition to him.

The king’s declaration shows that he doesn’t understand. He threatens violence against those who speak against God, as if God’s reputation and name need defending by human means.

Nebuchadnezzar’s response is that of an ego-driven, violent, positional leader projecting his own needs onto God. When we place our hope in human government, this is what we can expect.

The only king we should celebrate is the one who appeared in the fire with those condemned.

Today, we close with a guided prayer using part of our reading from Psalm 107. As we tell our stories of faith, we celebrate every moment—the struggles, the losses, and the miraculous moments of victory.

Stories of Faith

Oh, Lord, remind us of your great deeds in our lives and in the lives of others.

Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe

It is important for us—the redeemed—to tell our stories.
We tell them, Lord to celebrate the miraculous.
To laud the Lord of our salvation.
To praise the Prince who enters our struggles with us.

We do not celebrate these stories demanding similar outcomes.
We know and accept that in this world we will have trouble.

We celebrate victories because they show the world
a picture of the ultimate outcome of our lives,
despite the brokenness or current situation of our lives.

Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
prisoners suffering in iron chains,
because they rebelled against God’s commands
and despised the plans of the Most High.

No matter our sins, you call us to redemption.
No matter our wounds, you regenerate and strengthen us.
No matter our trials, you mercifully spare us.
No matter our losses, you grant us your victory.
No matter the manner of our death, we are assured of resurrection by the power of the slain Lamb of God.

He sent out his word and healed them;
he rescued them from the grave.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

Heal us, oh God. And allow us to tell your story.

Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, Lord God of hosts; let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me, O God of Israel. — Psalm 69.7

– Prayer from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Prayers from The Divine Hours available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
Daniel 3 (Listen – 5:56)
Psalm 107 (Listen – 4:12)

Additional Reading
Read More Face Like Flint :: A Guided Prayer
In what ways are we willing to accept victory with Christ but not suffering?
Where do we reach for our swords, when Christ calls out, “No more of this!”…and heals the one we would attack? Are we willing to heal our enemies?

Read More Seeing the Lord :: Readers’ Choice
In the year of disappointment, loneliness, fear
in the year of confusion, desperation and chaos
I saw the Lord.

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