“In a hard place”
Daniel 6:6-27 (December 1, 2024)
Welcome, everyone, to Advent – this time of year when we learn how to wait for the coming of Christ. And to help us today, we have an unusual reading for the season: from the book of Daniel.
It’s a really great story! A well-known one, for those of us who grew up in Sunday School. Daniel in the lion’s den. What might this story have to say to us, I wonder – living in the world we do, waiting for the Christ to come?
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The story begins with some familiar things. There’s a crowd of people who’ve got it in for Daniel. Why? Because he’s not one of them. He’s a Jew living in exile.
Here, in this story, we see human rivalry. Jealousy, conniving, manipulation. Prejudice and the politics of power. Sound familiar? Turn on the news tonight and see what you think.
There are people who don’t like Daniel. So they devise a scheme to get rid of him.
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One day they sidle up to the king, and say, “O King Darius, may you live forever!” And this king is susceptible to flattery. He likes to have his ego stroked.
They tell him he should issue a command that anyone who prays to any god, or man other than him – should be thrown into a lion’s den.
It pleases the king. He signs a document. And the scene is set.
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How does faith respond to all this turmoil I our lives? How do we live as Christians among others who may not share our values? Who do not follow the way of Jesus?
Do we lash out, push back, try to grab the levers of power for ourselves?
When Daniel heard the document had been signed, he went back to his house. There, in the upper chamber, was an open window that faced toward Jerusalem. It was Daniel’s practice to pray there three times a day.
He prayed to the Hebrew God, not to the gods of the surrounding culture. Not to the gods of the state. And certainly not to a pompous man.
The law declared: “Pray only to Darius.” Daniel determined: “I will pray to God.”
So that’s what he did, knowing full well that someone would be watching. And that when he was reported, there might be serious consequences.
He meant no disrespect. He was happy to serve the king. But there was a line he would not cross. Not even to save his life.
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Now let me stop there and ask, have there been times when you gave in to pressure and compromised your values? Acted to preserve your place or position? It’s a rare one who has never made some accommodation.
Perhaps we allow things to slide a bit, and then a little more. And before we know it, we’ve drifted a long way from being the kind of people we want to be. The kind of people Jesus calls us to be.
“Seek first the Kingdom of God,” Jesus says. But we let other priorities take over. “What will it profit anyone to gain the world but lose your soul?” he asks. But the world has its attractions and it’s not easy to do the right thing.
This story invites us to examine our priorities. What comes first? To whom do we owe our allegiance?
It’s a simple question. But in the real world, at least the one I live in, it can be hard to untangle all the messy threads that weave their way through complicated relationships, difficult decisions, contested areas of life. The choices we have to make are not always simple.
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What did Daniel do?
He shrugs his shoulder and goes home to pray. He does this in plain sight of all. He’s not rattled by threats, but is steadfast in his spiritual practice.
It’s a brilliant response to the turmoil of the world around him! Evil’s lurking, edicts are ordered, chins are wagging. So? What else is new?
I’m wondering if you have a spiritual practice? What keeps you anchored when the world is shaking? What centres your life and holds it firm?
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I was at a funeral, not long ago, for a friend of mine. One of his grandchildren spoke at the service. He told of coming to stay with his grandparents. His grandfather was an avid reader, as was he, and they would sometimes discuss the books they were reading.
When his grandfather came to visit his family, several months later, the grandson noticed he was still reading the same book! “Grandfather, haven’t you finished that yet?”
“No, I’m not finished,” he replied. “This is my Bible, you see.”
The Bible’s not the kind of book you ever “finish” is it?
What is your spiritual practice? It’s hard to stay rooted in the love of Christ without one.
Our habits can be sporadic. In Advent we’re invited to renew these things. If you don’t have a practice, it’s time to begin one.
Lindsay and I have been reading from a devotional book. In the morning we drink our coffee, light a candle, share a reading, and reflect on it.
I guess you’ve heard: we’re having an Advent Bible Study here at the church and also at Bethany Manor. We read, share, sing, pray.
This is one way we can prepare our lives for the coming of Christ. This is how our faith is strengthened.
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But back to the story. Things are getting tense. Daniel is outed by his rivals, who are secretly rejoicing.
The king, however, considered Daniel to be one of his top officials. He realized, now, that he’d been manipulated into passing this ordinance. But what could he do?
He stewed and fretted. As he gave the command for Daniel to be cast to the lions, Darius said, “May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!”
Did we just hear the king of the Medes and Persians praying to the Hebrew God? It’s hard to say. But I’ll tell you this: there was no one in the kingdom more concerned for Daniel’s safety than Darius. What will happen next?
We’re waiting to find out. What kind of God does Daniel have? Is this God one who saves? When powerful forces conspire against us. When legal systems let us down. Will the LORD come to the aid of faithful souls?
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At the break of dawn Darius arrives at the den of lions. “Daniel,” he cries, “O Daniel, servant of the living God …” Can you hear the anxiety in his voice?
“Has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?” He waits.
And now a voice arises out of the dark den below … proclaiming something about an angel!
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I love this picture on our bulletin cover. Those wild lions look stunned and mesmerized. They don’t seem very ferocious, do they? One of them appears rather playful.
Daniel kneels calmly in prayer while this unseen, lion-taming, angel does its work.
They haul Daniel out of the pit, unscathed. Not a scratch!
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“Do not put your trust in princes,” writes the Psalmist, “in mortals, in whom there is no help. … Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.” (Psalm 146:3-5)
Where is our hope? In whom do we trust?
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King Darius rounds up the conspirators and throws them into the den – a rough form of justice, I suppose.
Then he issues a proclamation, that in all his royal dominion “people should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: For he is the living God, enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed. … He delivers and rescues, he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth …”
It's nice to see a humble ruler who knows his place.
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But wait. Does God always save? If you find yourself in a hard place, will God always, always, step in to bring release?
I ask because maybe some of you have been praying and wondering, in the darkness of whatever trial you face, why help has been so long coming.
In a few moments we will pause on this First Sunday of Advent to remember those whom we have lost. People die. Sometimes disease is not cured. And prisoners do not escape.
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I was reminded this week of one of our forebears. But you probably know this story better than I do! Dirk Willems was a Dutch Anabaptist, condemned by the Church of Rome for his beliefs and arrested in 1569.
He managed to escape from prison, using a rope made out of knotted rags. He crossed a frozen moat. But the guard pursuing him fell through, yelling for help as he struggled in the icy water.
Willems turned back to save his life, embodying Jesus’ teaching to love our enemies. As a result of this, he was recaptured and burned at the stake.[1]
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There is much that is unknown in our life of faith. Sometimes God does not save in the way we expect.
One thing I do know is that our world is very much in need of a Saviour. As am I. Advent announces the coming of One who has been through death and returns to us with the gift of life.
Christ is coming! Not only as the little child of Bethlehem, but as the Saviour of the world who brings an everlasting kingdom. May we welcome this coming Christ. Amen.