Imagine a scenario with me. A call goes out to entire communities, by phone, by e-mail, by television. Everyone is to report to their respective town centers on a given day. When they arrive, they will see a statue of the leader of their nation. At the appointed time, everyone is to fall down and worship. And if they don’t…
Maybe this story sounds familiar, except for the bit about the e-mails and phone calls. It should, for it is right out of the book of Daniel. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were summoned to fall down and worship a huge golden image and if not, they would be thrown into a fiery furnace. When they would not, and were about to be sentenced to death, they told the king, “Let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the image you have set up.”
Were these three Hebrews out of line for disobeying the king’s command? Of course not. They were simply following the mandates that will be found in our text today - Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the king. The point here is this: there will be times when we must say with all due respect, “We ought to obey God rather than man.” We are to respect and obey authority, but we are still responsible to an even higher Authority. This may lead to conflict, which could lead to unjust suffering. But Peter will give us in this passage the necessary tools to learn how we can stand strong, even when the flames of the furnace are coming ever closer.
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