Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, October 26, 2025
I always enjoy doing “Stand up if’s.” I was reminded of that when a weekend gathering began last Friday night with several “Stand up if’s.” The leader invited us to stand up if:
you knew how to speak three or more languages, if you were a twin, if you had been born in Washington state . . . and many more.
The one I kept thinking about throughout and after the weekend was, “Stand up if you’ve ever met someone famous.” Several people in the large audience stood up, and the leader asked each one who their famous person was. I was sure in my long life I’d met someone famous – at least one — but racking my brain didn’t bring up a name.
It took me a couple of days to come up with someone. The week I turned twenty-one I attended a community picnic in my hometown of Juneau, Alaska, during which my father introduced me to United States Senator from Alaska, Ernest Gruening. His claim to fame at that point was that he had been the first senator to oppose the Vietnam War, but my father met him years earlier when Gruening was Governor of Alaska, and my father delivered groceries to the Governor’s Mansion, which was a couple of blocks up the hill from our house. (There is much more I find intriguing in both my father’s and Gruening’s lives, but I must not venture further down that trail today!)
Sitting in that large gathering Friday night, unable to contribute a famous person I had met, I thought to myself, “Well, we could all say we’ve met Jesus!” However, even though it was a gathering geared toward Christian women, I realized that was probably not true. There were bound to be people in our midst who had not yet met Jesus. I’m sure that the organizers and the speakers had been praying that this would be a weekend when that would happen – that we would all meet, or re-meet Jesus there.
“Stand up if . . .” When you think of all the stories in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, who do those three words remind you of?
I thought first of three men who bravely stood up, despite the threatened consequences of that choice.
Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:13-18 NIV)
Rather than bowing down to a heathen God, they stood up for the one true God, regardless of the consequences.
The king ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than usual, and the three men were bound and thrown into the furnace.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
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.”
Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” (Daniel 3:24-26a)
If you continue reading the story, you see the king becoming an instant convert to the Most High God, although the dire threats he then utters against anyone who dares to say anything against this God show that he has some growing to do!
One more. When I thought of people who “stood up” in the Bible, I thought of a story in the New Testament that always brings a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes.
When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:54-60)
Read the full story of Stephen in Acts 6 and 7. Full of faith, and full of the Holy Spirit, he stood up for Jesus, speaking the truth without fear, and praying – just like His Saviour did – for his killers.
And (here’s where my throat tightens up) the heavens open to his eyes, and he sees Jesus standing up for him!
Thank You, Lord, for standing up for Stephen. Please fill us with Your Spirit so that we, too, will be strong to stand up for You, no matter what. Thank You for your limitless love.