We are going to read it again, God, this story of yours, of ours. We pray that you’ll speak anew, afresh, aloud, so that that which we once knew will be illumined by what you’re saying today. You are here. We are listening. Amen.
Daniel 6:1-28
6 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred twenty satraps, stationed throughout the whole kingdom, 2 and over them three administrators, one of whom was Daniel; to these the satraps gave account, so that the king might suffer no loss. 3 Soon Daniel distinguished himself above the other administrators and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom. 4 So the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for complaint against Daniel in connection with the kingdom. But they could find no grounds for complaint or any corruption, because he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption could be found in him. 5 The men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”
6 So the administrators and satraps conspired and came to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 7 All the administrators of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an interdict, that whoever prays to any god or human, for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the interdict and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 9 Therefore King Darius signed the document and interdict.
10 Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open toward Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously.11 Then those men watched[b] and found Daniel praying and seeking mercy before his God. 12 Then they approached the king and said concerning the interdict, “O king! Did you not sign an interdict, that anyone who prays to any god or human, within thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the den of lions?” The king answered, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 13 Then they responded to the king, “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.”
14 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. 15 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.”
16 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!” 17 A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet ring of his lords, so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no entertainment was brought to him, and sleep fled from him.
19 Then at dawn, the king got up and at first light hurried to the den of lions. 20 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?”21 Daniel then said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” 23 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. 24 The king gave a command, and those who had maliciously 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.
25 Then King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every language throughout the whole world: “May you have abundant prosperity! 26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people shall 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 has no end.
27 He delivers and rescues;
he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth;
he has saved Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Maybe you remember this story from your childhood. A Sunday School teacher in a seasonal sweater taught this story using a felt board. Maybe you remember a vague lesson about how we prayed with all his might and lived through the night. Not a bad lesson, especially because children really love stories with animals. Noah’s ark zoo and animals 2×2. Or Charlotte’s web. We love the animals. We learn from animals.
I hate to break it to you, church, but if I had to get out a child’s felt board to tell this story, the lions wouldn’t be that big.
Don’t get me wrong. Lions are great. When I was in Kenya in September, I saw a pride of mama lions at sunrise. Unforgettable. They were beautiful, and I was very glad to be safely inside of an all-terrain vehicle not on their menu.
But my felt board about this story would not be about the lions. Instead, I’d have a big window that was clearly wide open. Instead of this [SLIDE 5-lions] it would look more like this. [SLIDE 6-window]
Here’s why. Even before Daniel prayed all night surrounded by tawny manes and big fangs, Daniel prayed during the day with the window wide open. [SLIDE 7 – gray] At great risk to himself, Daniel followed a higher law. That’s what makes this story less exotic and more prophetic. That’s why Gandhi considered Daniel to be one of the greatest peaceful resisters that ever lived.[1] That’s why Martin Luther King Jr. preached Daniel to Ebenezer Baptist in 1967, saying “never forget that everything that Hitler did in Germany was legal! You must love ultimately because it’s lovely to love. You must be just because it’s right to be just. You must be honest because it’s right to be honest. This is what this text is saying more than anything else. And finally, you must do it because it has gripped you so much that you are willing to die for it if necessary.”
Daniel: yes, a lion den survivor, but also, hero to two of the greatest peaceful world-changers. As I read it again this week, I began to imagine this story as a series of headlines. That’s probably natural when the news has been thicker this week than the Virginia humidity. As the saying goes, “There are decades when nothing happens, and weeks when decades happen.” When I thought of it that way, Daniel’s story changed from a cartoon felt board images to 3D inspiration and a bracing and current call to live what we believe. So if you’ll allow me to be creative with you, here is how I heard the story this week in today’s language:
[slide 8 – breaking news]
Breaking news: The Darius administration asserts tight grip over localities. Senior officials declare, “There can be no losses,” However, within the Darius administration, staffers describe bitter infighting. Reports have emerged that top leaders have mobilized against a rising star in the administration, named Daniel, who is regionally popular and has gained the trust of Darius himself. Those with knowledge of Darius’ future plans reported that Daniel was about be tapped to a new position before those around him sought his ouster. Staffers report that the anti-Daniel caucus had initially planned to bring Daniel up on fake corruption charges, but those plans were abandoned due to Daniel’s sterling reputation. Instead, they introduced sweeping legislation that seemed to paint Daniel, a devout Jew and refugee, into a corner, along with the King himself. The chilling legislation includes a monthlong ban on all prayer to anyone besides Darius himself, punishable by gruesome death by lions. Did I read that right? Someone close to the process said, “They clearly want to make an example out of him.”
Instead of lions, I imagine the headlines.
Breaking news: Daniel prays with an open window. Neighbors report seeing Daniel praying throughout the day, on at least three occasions. While a few onlookers seemed called for his arrest, citing his violation of Darius Prayer laws, others were inspired. One man who answered on the condition of anonymity said, “Many people have completely given up on virtue and a higher calling, but he hasn’t. This is what real faith looks like. Mark my words: People will remember him.” He has opened a window in many ways, back to you. Trending: #openwindow #prayer
Breaking news: Administration confirms Daniel’s arrest. One of the orchestrators of Darius prayer legislation said, “Justice has been served.” But reporters yelled the question on everyone’s mind: “Is Daniel still alive?” King Darius could not be reached for comment. However, rumors have begun to circulate that Daniel has survived. #openwindow #prayer
Breaking news: A King who refuses to play God. Thousands gathered to hear King Darius, in a moving address that felt like an anthem or a sermon, speak in deeply personal terms to people about who God is. But this time, he was not speaking of himself or a nationalistic God who showed no concern for refugees from Judah. Instead, the King seemed to echo the prayers of Daniel, a refugee who faced ghastly prison conditions and survived by faith. The monarch spoke of the “living God” who cannot be destroyed, who rescues and delivers those in need, whose roar is the creation that is all around us, and who shuts the mouths of lions. Who knew a simple act of resistance, living your faith with the windows open, would have such power? Truly amazing. Back to you.” #openwindow #prayer [slide 9 – gray]
Reading it again, I think of Jesus who faced the same court drama, the same laws meant to ensnare him, and the fangs of Empire, but who opened the window wide on Easter Sunday – not as a kind of holy escape for himself but so that love and light and the kingdom of heaven might come flooding in for all of us.
Reading it again, the story doesn’t feel like an easy felt board story. In fact, it causes me to ask really uncomfortable questions about what it means to leave the windows open in my own life. Maybe you wouldn’t phrase the question this way, but grappling with the hard decisions of how to live out faith is what we do together. It is not easy. It is not always safe. We don’t always get the results we want. But Daniel reminds us that even on our scariest nights, we are not alone in it. God is especially close when those 3 am fears prowl.
The question I’ll end with is this: What’s your window? How will you practice your faith in simple ways without letting lions or headlines overtake you? Maybe you pop the window latch on forgiveness that had been shut hard for a long time. Maybe you open time in your calendar for that service opportunity, even though it is inconvenient. It will let fresh air back into your spirit. Maybe there are policies on the books that hurt your soul or seem contrary to God’s love and your open window prayers take the form of non-violent action, like they did for Gandhi and MLK Jr. Or maybe you simply keep your words prayerful, humble and hopeful even when everyone around you sounds like growling lions so that violence gets fewer headlines. There are many ways to live your faith. What’s your window?
The good news of today’s story is this: One man left the windows open to sincere and courageous faith and then others did the same in their own corners of the world and the spirit blew and the light came in and lo and behold, the lions went out like lambs.
Amen.
[1] Gandhi on Daniel 6: Some Thoughts on a “Cultural Exegesis” of the Bible Daniel L. Smith-Christopher, Loyola Marymount University. Biblical Interpretation 1, 3 (1993) E.J Brill, Leiden, https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/9/859