Daniel 6:10-12, 16-23 Faithful

Daniel 6:10-12, 16-23 (Evangelical Heritage Version)

10Now, when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went to his house. It had windows on its upper story that opened toward Jerusalem. Three times each day he would get on his knees and pray and offer praise before his God. He continued to do that, just as he had been doing before this. 11Then these men came as a group and found Daniel praying and seeking favor from his God.

12They then went and asked the king about the decree. “Your Majesty, did you not sign a decree that anyone who prays to any god or person for thirty days except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the den of lions?”

The king answered, “Indeed I did. The order is established as a law of the Medes and the Persians that cannot be revoked.”

16Then the king gave the order, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you.” 17A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the pit. The king sealed it with his signet ring and the signet rings of his nobles so that nothing could be changed with regard to Daniel’s situation. 18Then the king went to his palace. He spent the night without food, and no entertainment was brought before him. But he could not sleep.

19At dawn the king arose as soon as it was light and hurried to the lions’ den. 20As he came near the pit, he cried out in a fearful voice. The king said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God, whom you serve continually, able to rescue you from the lions?”

21Then Daniel spoke with the king. “Your Majesty, may you live forever! 22My God sent his angel and shut the mouth of the lions. They have not hurt me because he found me innocent in his presence. Also before you, Your Majesty, I have committed no crime.”

23Then the king was very glad and said that Daniel should be brought up from the pit. So Daniel was brought up from the pit, and he was unharmed because he trusted in his God.

Faithful

I.

He had lived quite an impressive life. His people had been conquered. As a captive, along with many of his people, he had been taken to the land of the conquering nation. The conquerors didn’t want talent to go to waste, so they trained numerous young people that showed some promise. He was among them; his potential for greatness had been noticed.

After three years of intensive training, he and some of the others had been put into bureaucratic positions that seemed appropriate for each individual. This one in particular didn’t just survive, he thrived. His advice and knowledge had been notable. Because of his insight, his opinions had been sought more than any other bureaucrat. He even had survived the changes of several administrations—no mean feat.

There had been yet another regime change. Darius the Mede had taken over in Babylon. At the beginning of the chapter from which today’s First Reading comes we learn: “It seemed like a good plan to Darius to appoint one hundred twenty satraps over the kingdom... 2Above them there would be three supervisors (Daniel was one of them) to whom these satraps would report” (Daniel 6:1-2, EHV).

Normally the leader of a new regime would put into place all new governors and advisors. Daniel was no longer a young man—he was in his 80s, yet, he was such a distinguished statesman that he had quickly come to the attention of Darius, who decided to keep him at the top levels of the new government.

This didn’t sit well with the rest of the bureaucrats who had been clawing their way to the top for a long time. “The supervisors and satraps kept trying to find a basis for an accusation against Daniel in regard to his administration of the kingdom. However, they were unable to come up with an accusation or any evidence of corruption, because he was trustworthy and no neglect of duty or evidence of corruption could be found against him” (Daniel 6:4, EHV).

That’s the background to today’s First Reading. Daniel had been such a moral, upstanding man for his whole life that they just couldn’t find anything to use against him. Since there was nothing, they decided to use his morality against him, using Darius’ own vanity to create a law that would affect almost noone except Daniel. “Now Your Majesty, please establish the decree and sign a document that cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians that cannot be revoked” (Daniel 6:8, EHV). Bureaucrates are clever. They made sure the law was written in such a way that Darius couldn’t get around his own law.

II.

What would you do if you found yourself in Daniel’s position? He was not the typical prophet. No indication is given that Daniel was part of the priesthood or the religious establishment of the people of Israel in any way. When he had originally been selected for training in Babylon he may have been from some prominent Jewish family, but that’s about it. While he had been serving as a bureaucrat for more than 60 years, he was just a regular guy, not someone prominent in religious circles.

Now he’s in his 80s. Would you want to make waves at that age? The typical octogenarian might think: “I’m old. Just let me retire in peace. Let me live out the last of my days without so much conflict. It won’t be hard for me to keep worshiping God; but I’ll just close my windows and do so in private.” I can see faithful elderly Christians thinking exactly this way and just quietly going about worship alone in their homes.

After hearing the back story, it would be easy to jump ahead to the mouths of the lions in the den. The first verse of today’s reading is very important. “When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went to his house. It had windows on its upper story that opened toward Jerusalem. Three times each day he would get on his knees and pray and offer praise before his God. He continued to do that, just as he had been doing before this” (Daniel 6:10, EHV).

Daniel was not someone who was unaware of the new law. He had heard all about this law. He knew that it had been signed. He knew what the document stipulated as repercussions for his previous mode of worship to God. Undoubtedly, he also knew about the conspiracy against him. He knew he would be watched. He knew they had been out to get him, and would seize the first opportunity to make him the first—and perhaps only—victim of this law.

Daniel knew that his prior worship was well-known. He knew it had been a way for him to testify about his faith in the One True and only God, even though he had worshiped alone in the privacy of his home. To close the windows and go totally incognito would be to admit his God wasn’t really all that important to him. He knew that to continue to pray would be to put his livelihood and his very life in danger. He didn’t run and hide. No changes were made to the way he worshiped. He remained faithful.

It’s no surprise that the other public officials immediately went to tattle on Daniel. This had been their plan all along. Without intending to do so, they paid Daniel a huge compliment. They knew Darius’ decree would not change anything Daniel did—he would not compromise his faith.

Since we are celebrating Reformation Sunday today, I’ll mention Martin Luther, though his situation was somewhat different than Daniel’s. Luther was an official in the church; he was a priest. What he found in God’s Word differed from the official teachings of the church, so he began to challenge them. Though he was unlike Daniel in some ways, he was unswerving in his faith, as Daniel had been. Luther refused to change his beliefs or back down from challenges that threatened his life. He was willing to die, if necessary, rather than deny the Savior-God.

III.

We have almost come to the part of the story most people focus on. Before we get there, however, look at one verse between the sections of today’s Reading: “When the king heard this report, he was very upset about it, but he was determined to save Daniel. So until sunset he worked hard to rescue him” (Daniel 6:14, EHV). Darius was looking for loopholes to his own law. Was there a way he could save Daniel? Was there something he could do that would allow Daniel to live, but still save face for himself?

“Then the king gave the order, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, ‘May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you’” (Daniel 6:16, EHV). Most people of those days believed in many gods. Darius probably didn’t think or believe that Daniel’s God was the only God, but he hoped beyond hope that Daniel’s God was powerful enough to save him through the night.

We know, of course, that God was and God is powerful enough to do just that. Daniel was spared. Whether he saw the angel keeping the lions at bay or not we don’t know, but Daniel knew that it was God’s doing alone that kept him alive through that night.

Judging from his long-held prayer life, perhaps Daniel wasn’t all that concerned. If God chose this time and this way to take him to his eternal home, Daniel was not afraid. On the other hand, if God still had work for him to do, Daniel had no doubt that God could preserve him alive. He knew of Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego and their experience in the blazing-hot furnace some years before; he knew that God had preserved them alive. If God wanted to use him, Daniel, to be another witness to unbelievers, he could surely do so.

God has done far more than rescue the three men from the furnace, or Daniel from the mouths of the lions. Today’s Second Reading gives the heart of God’s Law and Gospel: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24, EHV). All have sinned. God should want nothing to do with us. But all have been justified by his grace. God sent Jesus to do away with the curse of sin by sacrificing himself to pay for sin’s curse in full.

Far more destructive than the mouths of lions is sin, but God has removed sin’s curse from us. What could be more important than that?

Daniel understood the promise of God to deal with the curse of sin and he looked forward to that day. God’s grace and mercy to him throughout his life was the reason Daniel could face possible death with such confidence. He knew that, no matter what, God was with him, even if he had to face a den full of lions.

IV.

“Then Daniel spoke with the king. ‘Your Majesty, may you live forever!’” (Daniel 6:21, EHV). There are no grudges, even against the king and his ill-conceived law. He doesn’t make any accusations against Darius, nor does he excuse him of wrongdoing, but in his simple statement offers his own forgiveness of the king’s actions.

“My God sent his angel and shut the mouth of the lions. They have not hurt me because he found me innocent in his presence. Also before you, Your Majesty, I have committed no crime” (Daniel 6:22, EHV). His prayers before the open window had been a confession of faith in the true God. Daniel now takes this opportunity to make a clear confession of his faith. His confession about the true God is intended to make clear to Darius that, no matter what laws might be in place, Daniel’s first allegiance is to God.

Are you fearless, like Daniel? Occasionally laws take aim at Christians in this country. More often, the people you work with and the policies of your company might take aim at you and your Christian faith. Be fearless as you proclaim the truth. Jesus said in today’s Gospel: “You will be hated by all people because of my name” (Matthew 10:22, EHV). You can expect persecution and threats because of your Christian faith.

What do you say, and how do you say it, when confronted by those who don’t believe? Jesus says: “Whenever they hand you over, do not be worried about how you will respond or what you will say, because what you say will be given to you in that hour. 20In fact you will not be the ones speaking, but the Spirit of your Father will be speaking through you” (Matthew 10:19-20, EHV).

Confess your faith in the Savior-God boldly. Remain faithful to him, as Daniel did. Though God does not promise to preserve your earthly life in any and every situation, he does promise that he has taken the curse of sin, so that your eternal life is assured. Remain faithful, even to the point of death, and you will receive the crown of everlasting life. Amen.