Faithful Presence with Shadrach, Meshach and Abendego - A Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent November 30, 2025
Welcome to the season of Advent,
Happy New Liturgical Year!
This is the season for which our congregation is named.
We are keeping the season of Advent:
a waiting for Christ’s coming into the world.
One way to understand Advent,
and a focus for our readings in this season,
is faithful presence.
We focus on God’s faithful presence in our lives
and we ask that, by God’s Spirit,
we might be a faithful presence
in our communities.
We continue to hear from the prophets in this season.
Last week, Jeremiah spoke into the lives of the exiles;
the Jews who were forced away from their homes,
their families,
their neighbourhoods,
their language and culture
into exile in Babylon.
The message to God’s people
who will be in exile for 70 years is to live.
Seek the Shalom, the wellbeing of your city.
Look for God in your exile because God is there.
Today we hear one of my favourite stories from the bible.
The setting for this story is the exile.
The king is Nebuchadnezzar;
the same king who destroyed Jerusalem
and took many away into exile.
The Exile began in 597 BCE,
about 600 years before Jesus’ birth.
This particular story was written however
many years after the exile.
It was likely written around the year 165 BCE;
about 450 years after the exile.
The Jewish people of that time
were living in terrible oppression,
and could relate to these stories of exile,
just like many can relate today.
Invite scripture readers forward.
Here’s the thing about the book of Daniel - it is satire.
It is intended to be over the top and funny.
I think of it like Saturday Night Live;
you probably shouldn’t get your news there,
but comedy reveals truth in a way
the newspapers can’t.
Like a good political cartoon,
this is comedic exaggeration
is entered to be humorous,
and in its humour,
to bring truth to light.
So have fun with this reading. Laugh. Groan.
It is a caricature.
It is sarcastic.
It is fun.
But it is also life giving.
Congregation - I invite you to participate in the reading. When you hear the names of the Three, Shadrach, Meeshach and Abendegooooow - join in. Let’s practice: you join when you hear Shadrach, Meeshach and abendegooooooow.
Let us turn to God’s Word.
FIRST READING: Daniel 3:1-30
Narrator: A dramatic reading from the book of Daniel.
King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue whose height was sixty cubits and whose width was six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. The King sent for the straits, the prefects, and the governors, the counsellors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to assemble and come to the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. When they were standing before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up, the herald proclaimed aloud,
Herald: “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble,
(Musical ensemble)
Herald: you are to fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.”
Narrator: Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble,
(Musical ensemble)
Narrator: all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Accordingly, at this time certain Chaldeans came forward and denounced the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar,
Chaldeans: O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a decree, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble,
(MUSICAL ENSEMBLE)
Chaldeans: shall fall down and worship the golden statue, and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These pay no heed to you, O King. They do not serve your gods and they do not worship the golden statue that you have set up.
(All except the 3 Gasp)
Narrator: Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought in; so they brought those men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar said to them,
Nebuchadnezzar: Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and you do not worship the golden statue that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble
(Musical Ensemble)
Nebuchadnezzar: to fall down and worship the statue that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire,
(All except the 3 gasp)
Nebuchadnezzar: and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?
Narrator: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king,
Three: O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defence to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.
(All except the 3 gasp)
Narrator: Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face was distorted.
(Nebuchadnezzar looks distorted)
Narrator: He ordered the furnace heated up seven times more than was customary, and ordered some of the strongest guards in his army to
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. So the men were bound, still wearing their tunics, their trousers, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. Because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace was so overheated, the raging flames killed the men who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But the three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly. He said to his counsellors,
Nebuchadnezzar: Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire?
Narrator: They answered the king,
Counsellors: True, O king.
Narrator: He replied,
Nebuchadnezzar: But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god.
Narrator: Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said,
Nebuchadnezzar: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!
Narrator: So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counsellors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them. Nebuchadnezzar said,
Nebuchadnezzar: Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy
against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is
able to deliver in this way.
Narrator: Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were promoted by the king in the province of Babylon.
Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.
I hope you enjoyed this story.
It truly is ridiculous, when you think about it.
The king builds a 90 foot tall golden toothpick
for people to worship:
this would be absurd and impossible to erect.
The repeated symphony of instruments
and cacophony of officials
gathered at the call of the mad king,
lining up to worship his crushingly expensive monument.
This king,
Nebuchadnezzar demands complete devotion
from all the people,
regardless how ridiculous his leadership might be.
This includes devotion from the Jewish exiles
brought to Babylon from Jerusalem.
The penalty for failure: death.
Israel’s Exile meant being forcibly removed
from their land and homes,
with pressure to assimilate to the new culture,
like it or not.
These 3 men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
have already experienced this threat.
In the first chapter of Daniel,
we find out that king Nebuchadnezzar
changed their given Jewish names.
Their names were Hananiah, Michael and Azariah.
The three seem to live with the name change -
for their identity is far greater than their name.
Their identity,
their citizenship,
their family
is with God.
Even being forced to live in Babylon
and serve their oppressive king,
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are Israel.
Israel, God’s chosen people,
are a covenant people,
a promise people.
God makes promises to Israel
and God always keeps God’s promises.
God’s people are also a people who follow,
or at least try to follow,
God’s Law.
Most important for Jews is the Shema.
From Deuteronomy 6:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”
It is very similar to the First Commandment:
I AM the Lord your God.
You shall have no other gods before me.”
As God’s covenant people,
these three refugees can’t worship other gods.
The life of the faithful is to keep the first commandment.
God is God, we are not.
The given names of the three men
contain special meaning.
Hananiah means “God is gracious”,
Mishael means “Who is like God?”
and Azariah means “God keeps him.”
You know that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
could never forget their given names.
God keeps them.
God is gracious.
Who is like our God?
They simply can’t worship that statue.
Their faithfulness to God is impressive.
They believe God can save them,
but they don’t expect God to save them.
“If God delivers us, let him.
If not, we still won’t worship your statue”
In the greatest sense possible,
they follow the first commandment:
they let God be God.
They trust God no matter what happens.
And God is a faithful presence with them.
God always keeps God’s promises.
A fourth person is in the furnace:
someone with the appearance of a god.
Some say it was an angel in the furnace.
Some believe it was Jesus in that furnace.
However you understand it,
God was with them.
God didn’t deliver them from the flames,
but God was with them in the flames.
So is God with us in our trials.
God is a faithful presence in our lives.
God is whispering the word of Hope
amidst our despair.
When we face fire in this life,
God is faithfully with us.
In this time and place we do not have
the threat of physical violence because of our beliefs,
but every single day
we are presented with various kinds of
90 foot golden toothpicks to worship
instead of our God.
Be it celebrity gossip,
Black Friday shopping,
Elbows up,
even our favourite sports teams,
There are many idols,
many little gods we might be tempted
to choose ahead of God.
We all have something that we will put ahead of God.
Even so, God is faithful to you.
Our invitation,
learning from Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
is to be a faithful presence in our own communities.
The three remain faithful
in the foreign land they are exiled to,
faithful to the point of death,
faithful to the point of civil disobedience.
Sometimes being a faithful presence
means civil disobedience,
like when our governments and societies
are taking advantage of the poor,
the widow,
the outcast,
the vulnerable.
Sometimes being a faithful presence
means resisting the culture
when it goes against our God’s will.
Sometimes being a faithful presence
means championing what governments or people
are doing when we see
the vulnerable are being uplifted,
when we see signs of new life.
The call of the Christian is to follow Jesus.
That means we care about the people
who find themselves in the furnace
or afflicted with various kinds of flames.
That means that,
by God’s Spirit,
we live our lives as a covenant people,
as a First Commandment people:
Letting God be God
and trusting in our God no matter what might happen.
God did not deliver Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
from the flames.
But God was with them.
God doesn’t deliver you from your flames.
But God is faithfully present with you
in your flames.
We too can be faithfully present with others
in their flames.
As the story ends,
not only were the three saved,
but the heart of the king was changed.
Faithful presence brings about positive change.
By God’s Spirit,
Resisting all that goes against our God
can bring about positive change.
Evil will not have the last word.
Even if Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
had died in that furnace,
God will still have the last Word.
That word is faithfulness.
That word is life.
In this Advent time,
May we be a first commandment people,
to let God be God,
and know that we are not God.
May we trust and believe that God is always faithful,
even when we find ourselves in the flames.
May God’s Spirit lead us to be a faithful presence
in our own homes and communities.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
