As you have watched Christians in the wedding industry coming under fire for holding to their convictions about the nature of marriage as the union of a man and a woman, have you ever wondered if this culture war will ever be fought in our churches? In fact, it already is. Just recently the Iowa Civil Rights Commission released a set of guidelines that specified that churches may be required by state law to avoid causing offense to certain classes of people who are, of course, certain to be offended by historic Christian teaching on sexuality. The commission’s reasoning is that churches often hold events that are open to the public, and thus they must accommodate their practices, not only with regard to their bathrooms, but even including what is said from their pulpits, to public expectations. Of course, virtually every worship service of every church is open to the public, so if we follow the commission’s logic to its conclusion, we would have to assume that the government can regulate our churches, even including the very content our sermons. This would spell the complete end of religious liberty.
Thankfully, I don’t think the Iowa Civil Rights Commission’s bizarre actions here will stand very long. Even a liberal court would seem likely to rule against them. But this episode is an ominous sign for the kinds of battles that may lie ahead for us as religious liberty becomes less and less important to our society, and sexual liberty becomes more and more a dominant force. The churches of Iowa will probably win this particular battle, but the war is certainly not playing out in our favor. Who knows what will happen down the road in five years? Ten years? Twenty years? What will be our place in society if we continue to refuse to bow to its idols?
I have said repeatedly that we must be prepared to suffer for our faithfulness to Jesus. God has given us every reason to trust him enough to be willing to endure whatever this world throws at us. The book of Daniel has made that point to us repeatedly. Today we finish up the first half of the book, which is made up of three stories of faithfulness and three dreams/visions given to kings. The three visions (in chapters 2, 4, and 5) have made the theological point that the kings of this world are nothing before the God of Israel, that their kingdoms are destined to fall, and that Israel’s God is supreme over all and thus will establish a kingdom that endures forever. The three stories of faithfulness that are sprinkled in among these visions are stories that show how that theology works out in real life. When Daniel and his three friends refused to eat Nebuchadnezzar’s food in chapter 1 because of their devotion to the Law of Moses, when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s statue in chapter 3, and now when Daniel refuses to stop praying directly to his God, in all three stories we see faithfulness leading to deliverance and vindication. The rulers of this world threw everything they could at Daniel’s friends in chapter 3, and now they throw everything they can at Daniel himself, but the God of Israel shows himself to be supreme every time.
So this brings us to the current story of Daniel and the lions’ den. If you have ever been to a zoo, perhaps you have had the opportunity to pet some goats, feed a giraffe, or even ride a camel. I bet you have never been able to do any of that with a lion. And that’s why the lion exhibit can be a little boring. From a distance, you can see these huge cats doing what cats do best: lie around. But in Daniel’s case, what was intended as an execution turned out to be what we might call the best trip to the zoo of all time. Daniel got to see the lions up close. This story is very similar to the fiery furnace account in chapter 3. I can imagine the years following that event. Whenever Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego started to tell that story, Daniel would probably say, “Man, I can’t believe you guys got thrown into a fire without getting burned. That is so cool. I wish I had a story like that.” It took many years, but in chapter 6 Daniel finally got a story like that. The stories are very similar, and the takeaway from both stories is pretty much the same. I’ll put it this way: Trust God and remain faithful to him, no matter what the rulers of this world do to you.
It is specifically our trust in God that will enable us to be faithful to him when the world comes against us. If we lose sight of who our God is, if we begin to doubt that he will fulfill every promise he has made to us, if we begin to waver in our conviction that nothing in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ, we will not have the strength to stand when we need to stand. So let us be reminded once again who our God is and why he can be trusted. As we look at this story today, I want to ask and answer two questions. The first one is this:
I see that we learn two things in particular. First, we learn the lesson of faithfulness in all things. Daniel distinguished himself for his excellent service to Darius, just as he had previously distinguished himself for his excellent service to Nebuchadnezzar. Wherever he goes, Daniel succeeds, because he seeks to do all things well. When the Babylonian kingdom fell, Daniel became a loyal servant of the Medo-Persian Empire, and he ascended quickly to the status of one of the three presidents placed in charge of the 120 satraps given the duty of overseeing the kingdom and ensuring the proper collection of tax revenue. In fact, his service to the government was so distinguished that King Darius planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
But Daniel had some opponents. The author doesn’t tell us why they hated Daniel. Perhaps they were jealous of his success, especially since he was nothing more than a Jewish exile in their eyes. Or perhaps he was the kind of supervisor who ran such a tight ship that the satraps under him resented him for it, and his fellow presidents were made to look bad by comparison. Or maybe it was some combination of these two things. Whatever the case, Daniel’s opponents wanted to do something to bring him down, but much to Daniel’s credit, they couldn’t find anything. He had no skeletons in his closet, no charges of dishonesty or fraud or embezzlement or disloyalty or sexual immorality or any of those things that might cause one to lose a high government position. In fact, Ralph Davis says that this story begins with a miracle: a squeaky clean politician! In a day when political scandals are rampant, we can appreciate the integrity of someone like Daniel, who was probably subjected to a number of temptations, given his high position, but as far as his public record went, he was blameless.
Even though one of the primary themes of the book of Daniel is that the kingdom of God will ultimately triumph over all human kingdoms, we should not draw the conclusion that we should be totally opposed to all human kingdoms. Daniel was not. He was a loyal servant both to the kingdom of Babylon and then to the kingdom of Persia. These were both pagan kingdoms, but they were authorities established by God, and they served to maintain some kind of order in human society. Likewise, we should do all we can to seek the good of our nation, of our state, and of our community. It is our responsibility as Christians to pray for those in positions of authority over us. God does not command us to pray for the leaders that we like; he commands us to pray for all who are in authority as we seek the good of our city, state, and nation. And especially at the local level, we have the ability to do a lot of good. One aspect of my vision for this church is that even people who don’t go to church would be glad (at least in some ways) that this church is here in Jackson, glad because they see how much we love our community and serve our neighbors for their good. As we prepare to relocate to a residential area this fall, would you help us think of ways we can be intentional about connecting with and serving our neighbors in that area, thus adorning the gospel with a love of neighbor that commends Christ to our community? Daniel sets an example of faithfulness in every dimension of life, including our daily callings in service to our neighbors and city.
The second lesson we learn from Daniel is faithfulness to God above all. Daniel’s political opponents went to King Darius and convinced him to issue a decree that all prayers for the next thirty days should be offered to him. It doesn’t seem that they were asking Darius to declare himself to be a god, but rather this decree represents the idea that Darius is the mediator for all the gods for thirty days. They want him to declare himself the ultimate high priest, who is there to represent all the gods to his subjects, and to represent his subjects before all of their various gods. This was not a wise thing to agree to, but apparently Darius gave in to their flattery and liked the sound of the idea of him being regarded so highly among all his subjects, so he issued the decree. Now this created a conflict for Daniel. He was a loyal servant of King Darius, but he was also a loyal servant of his God, and he knew that the Word of God would not allow him to give this kind of honor to a mere man. This was very similar to what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced when they were required to bow down and worship Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image. The Babylonian empire pressured Jews to conform to their religious practices. Now here, the much more tolerant Persian Empire does the same. The more things change, the more they stay the same, at least when it comes to the politics of this age.
But there is one significant difference between this story and the fiery furnace story. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were never asked to stop worshiping their God; they were only asked to worship the statue, and whether they went on worshiping their God or not was not the issue. Here, the issue is that Daniel cannot pray to his God directly and still be within the law. He is forbidden by the king’s decree from worshiping his God in any way other than by making his petition directly to the king, a form of idol-worship.
Something about this story that I notice is that Daniel shows no sign of hesitation, no indecision, when it comes to what he knows he is going to do. Verse 10 reads, “When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.” Daniel did not stop his regular practice of prayer three times a day. He did not flaunt his practice, as though he were seeking to make a political statement. He just went on doing what he had always done, kneeling before his window and facing Jerusalem for prayer three times a day. Why did he face Jerusalem? The origin of this practice goes back to 1 Kings 8:46-53, where King Solomon, at his dedication of the temple in Jerusalem, offered a prayer to God asking that, if the people were ever driven into a foreign land, should they face their land and the city of Jerusalem and the temple that he had built, that God would hear their prayer and forgive their sins and give them compassion in the sight of their captors. The temple was the place where heaven and earth met, where God’s presence dwelt with his people. Even though it had been destroyed, Daniel still considered the city of Jerusalem a holy place, a place where he could find access to the presence of God, so he faced Jerusalem when he prayed. He chose to direct his prayer to the city God had chosen to be a place of mediation, not to the pagan king Darius, who had declared himself to be a rival mediator. Of course, the temple and even the city of Jerusalem itself were signs pointing to Christ, the true place of God’s presence with us. So we do not need to face Jerusalem when we pray; we need only to look to Christ as the one mediator between God and man.
Daniel continued his practice of prayer at great risk to his own life, knowing that he would be cast into the lions’ den if he got caught. Think about that for a minute: Daniel did not skip out on his daily practice of prayer even when he was threatened with being thrown to lions! I sometimes neglect to pray when I sleep too late! Can you imagine how we American Christians might respond to a similar situation? We might say something like, “Well, the law is the law. And you know, it’s only thirty days. It will be over before you know it, so we might as well comply and then we can get back to our normal practice in a month.” And if we’re tempted to think that way, it’s because we do not understand the utter necessity of prayer. That Daniel would stop praying, even for one day, much less thirty days, appears to have been to him an unthinkable option.
From Daniel’s example, we learn what we should do when human laws come into conflict with the law of God. Many years later, Peter and the apostles were brought before the Jewish council for breaking the council’s warning not to preach the gospel of Jesus anymore. Peter replied in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men.” That’s the answer when the two conflict with each other. We must obey God, show our supreme loyalty to him above all, and be ready to endure the consequences for it. The real moment of consequence in this story is not when Daniel is thrown into the lions’ den. It is when Daniel falls to his knees before his window facing Jerusalem.
And so Daniel is the perfect example of faithfulness in all things, and faithfulness to God above all. He renders to Caesar that which is Caesar’s and he renders to God that which is God’s. Let us do the same. But where did Daniel find the strength to do this? Where did he find the courage to put his life on the line? He found it from knowing and trusting God. So that brings us to our second question to put to this story:
Before we answer that, let’s finish the story. Daniel’s opponents were spying on him, and they caught him in the act of prayer. So they went to King Darius and reminded him of the decree he had issued before giving him the news that Daniel had broken the law. Darius was distressed because he liked Daniel very much and found him to be a loyal servant. However, as we also see in the book of Esther, the Persians had a certain legal structure that made any decree of the king one that could not be revoked. The king’s decree apparently specified that violators would be cast into the den of lions on the same day that they were found guilty of the offense, so Darius only had until sunset to try to find some legal loophole to get Daniel off the hook. He couldn’t find one. Reluctantly, he had Daniel cast into the lions’ den and sealed the stone over it with his own signet ring. The narrator then leaves us to wonder what is going inside the lions’ den as we follow King Darius back to his palace, where we see him enduring a difficult night. He can’t bear to have any entertainment, he can’t eat, and he can’t sleep. But as he comes to find out the next morning, his night was actually worse than Daniel’s! The next morning he rushed back to the den and called out, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God been able to deliver you?” He was overjoyed to hear the response, “O king, live forever! My God sent an angel to shut the lions’ mouths, and he delivered me because I was found blameless in this matter.” The angel that shut the lions’ mouths plays the same role as the fourth man in the furnace who delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abdnego. Perhaps this is an angelic being distinct from God but nevertheless representing him, or it could be the figure the Old Testament refers to as “the angel of the LORD,” who is a divine messenger, an appearance of God himself in the appearance of a man. The king brought Daniel out and had his opponents, along with their wives and children (a standard Persian practice for a significant crime) thrown in. Just so that we do not think that the lions refrained from eating Daniel just because they weren’t hungry, the author tells us that these people were pounced on and eaten before they even hit the ground. In keeping with the pattern we have seen in the stories about Nebuchadnezzar, King Darius then issues a decree praising the God of Israel.
So, what do we learn about God from this story? We learn, first, that God delivers his people. Verse 23 reads, “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 harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.” King Darius makes the same point when he issues the decree that follows; verse 27 reads, “He [God] delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.” God delivers those who are faithful to him. Even those who go to their deaths, God will still deliver. In Matthew 10:28-31, Jesus says, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” What is the point here? It is not that Jesus’ disciples will never be killed. It is that even if they are killed, they should not fear, because the heavenly Father, who won’t even allow a little insignificant sparrow to fall to the ground apart from his wise, sovereign plan, has them in his hands. Sometimes God chooses to deliver his people by saving their lives in a miraculous way. And sometimes God chooses to deliver his people by enabling them to remain faithful witnesses to him to the point of death, with the certain hope of resurrection to come. Either way, God delivers his people.
So we must be prepared to suffer. Sometimes we will suffer loss, perhaps the loss of reputation or friendships or hopes of advancing our careers or of money or of a certain kind of lifestyle or even our lives. Following Christ is risky business from a worldly standpoint. But from a heavenly standpoint, there really is no risk. How is it a risk to trade something I can’t keep for something I will never lose? We can trust our God to deliver us, one way or another, so let us be faithful to him.
But we also learn something else, not just about what God does but about who he is. After Darius sees this amazing display of God’s power, he says in verse 26: “I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.” Here we learn that God is an everlasting God with an everlasting Kingdom. This story is more than a story about how one man faced a difficult situation. It is a story about two empires battling each other. Darius’s empire goes head-to-head with the empire of God Almighty, and God comes out victorious. God asserts his sovereignty over Darius and over the Persian Empire as a whole by delivering Daniel from death and exposing the king’s decree as a lie. Therefore, Darius rightly concludes that this God is an exalted God, whose kingdom cannot and will not be overthrown.
If you have this kind of exalted view of God, and you really take it to heart, your faith will be able to endure anything. When the enforcers of the new sexual orthodoxy demand that you give homage to their idol and betray the Lord Jesus Christ or face the consequences, you will confidently say, “Bring it on.” Once you have known God, the risks of obeying him don’t seem all that daunting anymore. A den of lions becomes more like a trip to the zoo. So trust God and remain faithful to him, no matter what the rulers of this age threaten.
This story has echoes that resonate right on through to the New Testament. Like Daniel, Jesus was falsely accused by those in positions of power who hated him. Like Daniel, Jesus was arrested while in prayer at a private location. Just as Darius tried to free Daniel, so did Pilate try to free Jesus. Like Daniel, Jesus was placed behind a stone that was sealed by a governing authority. And like Daniel, Jesus emerged from behind that stone victoriously. Of course, the major difference here is that Daniel survived his execution, and Jesus did not. Jesus went through death and came back in victory because God raised him from the dead. This morning your loyalty is either to this man from Nazareth, or it is to the rulers of this age. As the book of Daniel makes clear, if you align yourself with the kingdoms of this world, you will face the wrath of God when he comes in judgment on the kingdoms of this world. The price you will pay for clinging to your idols is what the book of Revelation calls the second death: being cut off from God’s favor forever and suffering the torment of his absence with no hope of reconciliation. That price is too high, and the idols you are clinching simply aren’t worth it. Lay them down, and seek forgiveness from Christ. He offers it to you now if you will turn from your sins and entrust yourself to him. And because following Jesus Christ is a public matter, he summons you to demonstrate your faith in him through baptism, by which you picture dying with him and rising again to new life.
Baptism begins our life as disciples of Jesus and happens once. By partaking of the Lord’s Supper, we show week-by-week that we continue to entrust ourselves to Jesus. I invite all who are baptized believers in Christ who are members in good standing with a church to eat and drink with us today. Take the bread and the cup and declare with these acts that you will give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but Caesar cannot have what belongs to God.