November 16, 2015

“Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the interdict you have signed, but he is saying his prayers three times a day.” When the king heard the charge, he was very much distressed. He was determined to save Daniel, and until the sun went down he made every effort to rescue him. Then the conspirators came to the king and said to him, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no interdict or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.” Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!” A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.

Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no food was brought to him, and sleep fled from him. Then, at break of day, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions. When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?” Daniel then said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. The king gave a command, and those who had accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. Before they reached the bottom of the den the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.” Daniel 6:13 – 24

You see, Daniel didn’t just know the danger he faced, he also knew the promises of his LORD. As a boy, Daniel had heard the stories of God’s great protecting hand, from Noah to Moses to David. Daniel remembered when three of his friends had been thrown into a fiery furnace and emerged unharmed. Now an older man, Daniel could look back and see God’s guidance in his own life as had been brought to his high calling. How could the same God who had sustained him to this point, fail him now? We know the story well. After Darius threw Daniel into the lion’s den, an angel protected Daniel throughout the night. Daniel walked away without a single scratch and the LORD was worshiped throughout Persia. Yet, have you ever thought, “what if God didn’t protect Daniel?” Would Daniel have been any worse off? If God had chosen that moment to bring his faithful believer to heaven and chosen another to proclaim his power to the Persians, Daniel’s eternal fate would have been the same. The greatest miracle with Daniel is not an angel who shut the mouths of lions, but the strengthening of Daniel’s faith to face certain death in order to proclaim the LORD’s name.” (Daily Devotion on Daniel 6:10-12; 16-23. Oct 24, 2011, Michael Schottey, Christ the King Lutheran Church)

How often have we lamented “I don’t know that I would have the faith to…” when we see someone do something extraordinary in the name of faith or simply in the name of humanity? Someone jumps into a burning building to save another, and we think “Would I be brave enough to do that?” And we see someone stand up in the face of injustice, or inequality, or inhumanity, and we say “Would I have the faith to do that?” Most of Daniel’s contemporaries would have thought “Just go through the motions, you don’t have to believe, but it will save your life.” Daniel, however, had a deeper faith. He did more than just face down death, he lifted up his faith and trust in the Lord. If this was his time, he would see his G*d face to face. If it was not his time, he would have greater faith, and so would his contemporaries.

Do we have the faith to say our prayers in public? Do we have the courage to speak about our faith as if they are a guiding force in our lives, even when others tell us it is just superstition? Even when it seems that death may be imminent, or even when it seems that there may be no hope, or we may be persecuted for our beliefs, we can look to Daniel as a model of trust and faith, knowing we too will be saved from the jaws of the “evil one”.

Pastor Dave