This Week's Light Service Sermon

Light Service Sermons for the Month
The Character Qualities of Quality Living
The Quality of Integrity
DATE: February 7, 1999
TEXT: Daniel 3:1, 3b-5, 12-18

Four boys arrived late to school one day after playing hooky in the morning. They all agreed that they would tell the teacher they were late because the car had a flat tire. The teacher seemingly accepted the explanation and politely asked the boys to take a seat. She then said, "I'd like you to take out a piece of paper for a short quiz." After the boys had the paper out and their pencils in hand the teacher continued. "This should be a pretty easy quiz. There's only one question on it. Which tire was flat?"
A woman riding a bus suddenly realized that she had forgotten to pay her fare. She told her friend who was sitting next to her about it and started pulling money out to pay it. The friend said, "Why bother? You got away with it? So what?"
But the woman replied, "I've found that honesty always pays." So she headed up front to pay the driver.
When she returned to her seat she said to her friend. "See, I told you honesty pays. I handed the driver a quarter and he gave me fifty cents change."
An employee looked at his paycheck and noticed he had been overpaid. But he failed to report the error. The next week, the accountant discovered and corrected the error, deducting the overpayment from the next check. The employee noticed his paycheck was smaller than it should be. Another error had been made so this time he complained. When the accountant asked him why he had not complained the first week the employee responded, "I can overlook one error, but when it happens two times in a row, it's time to complain."
Each of these stories, in a humorous way, make a very strong point, a point that hits us right where we live--at the core of who we are. For all three of these stories talk about one of the most important character qualities we can develop, and that character quality is integrity.
Evangelist Billy Graham was asked several years ago what he considered to be the most important thing in life. And without hesitating he said, "Integrity." The interviewer went on to say, "What if I were to give you one billion dollars to evangelize the world. Or what if I was to give you an open door to all of the countries currently not open to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Which would you take?" And Billy Graham said, "I'd still take integrity."
You see, without integrity, we really have nothing to say. If our lives don't match our words, people will ignore us. No one will take us seriously. Integrity is that important. All that we are and do flows out of that one character quality, integrity.
For the last few weeks we've been talking about character qualities that lead to quality living. We started with courage, the character quality that enables us to live life with confidence in the midst of its challenges. Last week we looked at loyalty, the character quality that leads to quality relationships. Today, as we continue the series, we're going to focus on integrity, the quality that sets us free to life live with a clear conscience. And to help us better understand what integrity is all about we're going to look at the story of three men from the Bible who found their integrity put to the test and the insights into integrity that that story gives us. But before we talk about it, let's pray together.
Dear Jesus. We all want to be known as persons of integrity. We all want to be persons of principle. And so we look to you as that model of righteousness by which we order our lives. Help us not settle for that sinful excuse when are tempted to give in to temptation, "But I'm only human." You made us to be more than that. You made us to be your Disciples. AMEN
To help get us thinking together about integrity, I'd like to give you a little paper quiz. You don't have to answer the questions out loud. In fact, I would appreciate it if you didn't. And it's not a quiz that I'll grade. So here are a few questions for you:
1) A friend wants to copy and swap some expensive computer software with you. You know it's illegal. Do you swap?
2) At lunch, your colleagues are running down the work of another colleague who is absent. Do you speak up for the absent co-worker?
3) Your boss asks you to lie to cover up one of his mistakes. Would you do it?
4) I've just preached a really bad sermon. After the service I approach you and ask you for your honest feedback on the message. You know that my feelings get hurt very easily and that all I really want is positive re-enforcement, not the truth. And you know I won't pray for you if you say anything negative. What do you say?
Some pretty tough questions. But the questions all find their answer in one character quality--and that quality is integrity.
In our Bible reading for today we have the story of three men who faced a very difficult challenge to their integrity.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were three Jewish men who had been taken prisoner to Babylon. The Babylonians tried to force the men to take on their culture, but the three of them remained true to their faith and their Jewish heritage.
One day, however, their integrity was put to the test. The King of Babylon had erected a huge statue of himself and declared that everyone had to bow down and worship it. If they refused, they would be killed.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego suddenly found themselves in a difficult situation, for their faith didn't allow them to worship anyone or anything but God. They would either have to keep the faith and die, or compromise their faith and live.
In realty, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had several options. They could have bowed down to the statue physically, while in their hearts they could have worshipped their God. Or, they could have bowed down to the statue for one brief moment and then ask God for forgiveness, explaining to him that it was better to compromise a little and live so that they could tell others about how great God is than to die and not be able to tell others about him at all.
However, they chose the road of integrity. Because Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were deeply committed to God, they refused to worship anything other than him, no matter what the consequences. Some of their enemies noticed that the three men refused to worship the king's statue so they told the king about it. And he ordered their immediate execution. They were to be burned in a giant oven. The king was so angry at the men's rebellion that he ordered the oven heated up four times hotter than normal. And Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were bound with ropes and thrown into that incinerator. The fire was so hot that some of their guards were burned as they threw the men in.
But then something amazing happened. As the king looked at the furnace, he saw four men walking around in the fire. And the fire wasn't hurting them at all. God had sent an angel to protect Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and they walked out of the furnace alive. They maintained their integrity, even in the face of death, and this time, at least, they lived to tell about it.
Based on that story, I'd like to take a few moments to look with you at some of the ingredients of integrity that we might experience its joy in our lives.
1) First of all, as we look at the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, we see that integrity walks the talk.
Over the last several decades we've witnessed a passing parade of very public figures whose reputations have been tarnished due to a breakdown in integrity--from Richard Nixon and Watergate, to Gary Hart and his affair during his presidential campaign, to Dan Rowstankowski, to Bob Packwood, to Jim Bakker, to Jimmy Swaggert, to Bill Clinton. And while some of those people have been able to rebound somewhat, they have never been able to fully repair the loss of trust we had in them. They lost credibility because their walk didn't match their talk. And as I said earlier, once we lose our integrity, people no longer take us seriously because we've devalued ourselves in their eyes.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego not only proclaimed their allegiance to God, they put their words into action. They willingly went to the furnace rather than compromise their integrity. Their walk matched their talk.
I heard one person put it this way, "Live in such a way that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip."
Integrity walks the talk.
2) Second, integrity stands by its convictions.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were willing to die rather than compromise their convictions. They knew what they believed and they stuck by those beliefs.
We live in a world today that cries out for people of conviction, people who will do what they say and stick to their word. People who will keep their promises and resist the temptation to compromise when the going gets tough. You see, people of integrity, people who stand by their convictions, experience joy in life because they live life with a clear, clean conscience. And, to reinterpret a famous advertisement, a clear conscience is a terrible thing to waste.
3) Finally, and most importantly, as we look at the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, we see that integrity is rooted in God.
There's a story about a statue of a Grecian maiden, which stands in a city in Italy. The maiden's face is beautiful, her figure graceful. One day a poor little peasant girl came face to face with the statue. She stared at if for a long time and then went home to wash her face and comb her hair. The next day she again stood before the statue. Then she went home to mend her tattered clothing. Each day she followed the same routine, and eventually, her form grew more graceful, her face more refined, until some thought that she looked like the woman immortalized in the statue. She took on the appearance of the one who had captured her heart.
Integrity is a matter of the heart. And as our hearts are captivated by the heart of God, he molds and shapes us into his image. He makes us people of integrity. He gives us the courage to walk the talk. He empowers us to stand by our convictions. That's what he did for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And he can do the same for you.
A little boy and his dad were walking around a toy store. A clown punching balloon sidetracked the little boy. Every time he punched the clown in the nose, it would fall on its back only to pop back up again. He hit the clown over and over again but the clown would always pop back up.
Dad watched the scene for a while and then he asked his son, "Why do you think the clown comes back up when you hit him and knock him down?"
And his son replied, "I don't know. I guess it's because he's standing up on the inside."
What's happening on the inside, the quality of our character, determines the quality of our lives. And as we live in a relationship with God, as our hearts our molded by his love and forgiveness, he empowers us to be the kind of people who stand up on the inside--people of integrity.
That relationship with God is possible through Jesus Christ. As we welcome him into our lives he transforms us, making us people of integrity.
I encourage you to discover the joy and freedom integrity offers by welcoming the source of integrity, Jesus Christ, into your life. For as you walk with him each day, he'll continually transform your heart, setting you free to enjoy the power of integrity.
AMEN