By the title I don't mean, "What are you doing still alive?" I mean what is your purpose? As you see it, why are you here on Earth at this time? Everyone has a purpose, yet probably most of us just drift through life, unaware of anything bigger than ourselves. People who give up their lives, martyrs are aware of a purpose larger than themselves. This is not only Christian martyrs, we see this in the soldier who jumps on a grenade to save his comrades; he is aware of something bigger than himself. Of course, on the negative side, we see this in the daily suicide (murder) bombings in Afghanistan or Iraq. The the person blowing themselves up, they are just serving Allah; and they will be rewarded for their efforts (Paradise, 70 virgins etc.) The Christian Martyr also believes that they are serving God; and they will be rewarded. Yet, Christian Martyrs give of themselves without taking others with them. They only sacrifice themselves for the sake of their God. Martyrdom has been a part of church history since Philip the Deacon in the book of Acts. Their were more Christian Martyrs around the world in the 20th century than in all the centuries before. These people knew what they were living for. I repeat my question, "What are you living for?"Sunday, as a part of our Reading the Bible in 90 days, we considered the story of Daniel in the Lions Den. This is a familiar story, but it can illustrate something about finding our purpose in life. Daniel was a Jewish captive in Babylon. The served the king of Babylon and had been elevated to high position; he was to be the number two man in the kingdom. Only the king would be greater. Needless to say, this made many of the other leaders just a little jealous. Daniel had never compromised his beliefs as he moved up in leadership; in fact he was blessed and progressed because of his beliefs. The other leaders knew that they would never be able to catch Daniel in some kind of scandal; the only way to get him was through his adherence to God and his principles. They set a trap. They went to the king with the proposal that he make a law that people could only pray to him (the king). This sounded good to the king; he had a strong ego. The anti-Daniel faction then sprung the trap. The told the king to write it down as a law. The laws of the Medes and Persians could not be rescinded. The penalty for disobedience was to be cast into the den of lions.
Daniel heard about the law, so he went home and prayed openly to his God in front of the open windows. He could at least had hidden! But, Daniel was a man of principle who would not compromise. Of course his enemies saw him and reported him to the king. The king was upset. He didn't want to kill Daniel, but what could he do. He threw Daniel into the den of lions, with the words that he hoped the God of Israel would deliver him. After a sleepless night, the king went to the den of lions. "Are you still alive, Daniel." Daniel announced that an angel had shut the mouths of the lions and that he was delivered. Now the thing we must realize is that, even though Daniel was not martyred, he didn't know that he would live through this event.
Earlier in the Book of Daniel, his three friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were sentenced to burning in an oven for a similar offense. When given an opportunity to recant their worship of God, they responded with, " . . . the God we serve is able to save us . . . But even if he does not . . . we will not serve your gods . . . " Their belief in God was more important than life itself.
Why was Daniel willing to risk everything to pray publicly? We really need to start at the beginning of the book and see what really made Daniel tick. First, he resolved to obey God in every circumstance. In chapter one he along with other sharp young exiles were set apart by the king to be groomed for leadership positions in the government. They were to be given the finest food. Daniel knew that some of that food wasn't on the list of authorized foods for a Jew, so he pleaded to fed a vegetarian diet. Of course, God caused Daniel to flourish and in a little while all of the young men were eating the same diet. In chapter 2, we find that Daniel was accustomed to praying during a crisis. The king was going to put the "wise men" to death if they couldn't describe his dream and interpret it. Daniel prayed and received the answer from God. In that same chapter, we find that he also acted on what God said. In short, he developed a godly character. There were certain things that he did because he was a man of God.
It has been said that if there is nothing important enough to die for, there is really nothing important enough to live for. Daniel knew this. He was willing to die for his faith. Because of this, his faith was important enough for him to live it out.
What about us Christians? What does it mean to be a Christian? Is it having the right beliefs? Well, beliefs are important. We should have the right beliefs. But, James says that even Satan has the right beliefs -- and he is not a Christian. How about being a regular church attender? This is a good practice, but it doesn't make one a Christian. Baptism? There are different theologies on baptism, but certainly, for all practical purposes, baptism doesn't make one a practicing Christian. Bible reading and prayer? I know of many scholars that really know the Bible -- as literature -- and are not believers. A lot of people pray in a crisis, but don't live the life.
We are called to be disciples of Jesus, not members of a church. The normal invitation that Jesus gave to those who became his disciples was, "Follow me." When a person becomes a disciple of someone, the mentor becomes the model for the life of the disciple. Jesus is meant to be the model for our lives. How do we know him? How can we be disciples? Well, we must:
- Read his words, read the gospels, read theologies -- get to know about him and who he was/is through our reading
- Pray -- regularly -- engaging in a conversation with him
- In our prayers we listen -- and we learn to recognize his voice
- When we hear him, we must obey him -- in our practice we get to know him better
- In all of this, we begin to develop a Christ-like character
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