It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”
So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever! The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” So King Darius put the decree in writing.
Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?”
The king answered, “The decree stands—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”
Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.
Then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.”
So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.
At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”
The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. (Daniel 6:1-23 NIV)
Grace alone. Faith alone. Scripture alone. Have you memorized those three phrases? This is the message of Bible. This is the heritage of the Lutheran Reformation. People ask, “What’s a Lutheran?” What do you say? Here’s a start: A Lutheran believes we depend completely on God’s grace—his undeserved love for sinners. A Lutheran believes we’re saved by faith in Jesus—not by our good works. A Lutheran’s beliefs depend 100% on Scripture—on the Bible, not our opinions. Can you say those phrases with me? Grace alone. Faith alone. Scripture alone.
Those aren’t just catchy phrases. They are the foundation of our lives. What’s the other option? If it’s not grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone, what’s the other option? You. Your works. It’s by faith or by you. “By you” might sound good, until you actually think about it. If you can’t control one drop of rain, can you save yourself? No way. Have you always done the right thing? Said the right thing? Thought the right thing? Always? No way. Depending on yourself for salvation results in doubt. Guilt. Fear. But it’s not by you. It’s by faith. Salvation depends on faith in Jesus Christ. This is what Lutherans believe: Grace alone. Faith alone. Scripture alone.
So what does that look like? What does it look like to live life by faith? Today we hear one example: Daniel. Daniel lived by faith. He had to! Do you know Daniel’s life story? Daniel grew up in Jerusalem, but in 605 B.C., when he was just a young man, Jerusalem was attacked and conquered by the Babylonians and their King Nebuchadnezzar. Worse yet, Daniel was taken as a captive to Babylon. Can you imagine that? Separated from his family. Separated from God’s temple. As a young exile in Babylon, he was trained to serve in the Babylonian government.
Do you know how long he served? 66 years! For 66 years, Daniel served as a wise man in the Babylonian government. Until October 12, 539 B.C. Do you know what world-changing event happened on October 12, 539 B.C.? Babylon was conquered by the Persians. That’s where our story starts. The first task for the new Persian king was to set up his government. So, “it pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel.” The government changed, but Daniel didn’t. He kept serving.
But not everybody liked that. His jealous co-workers “tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel…, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.” Those jealous co-workers tried to dig up dirt against Daniel. What did they find? Nothing. So they decided, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.” Isn’t that a great compliment? “We can’t find anything wrong with Daniel except for his faith in God!”
So those jealous co-workers of Daniel went to the king to propose a new law: “The king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.” What king would say no to that? Imagine having your officials come to you and say, “We love you, O King. Everybody loves you. How about we all just pray to and worship and adore you, O King?” What would you say? “Sure!” So it was signed into law. Only pray to King Darius for thirty days.
The trap was set. Daniel’s faith was being tested. What would Daniel do? When I listen to us Christians today, it seems like Daniel had two options. Option #1: Be brash and disobedient! “The king says you can’t pray? So go to the most public place and pray in the most public way. Attract attention. Make sure your voice is heard. You’ve got to show them who’s right!” Isn’t that what we see Christians do? It seems like faith is supposed to be brash. Loud! Right?
Or, here’s option #2. This is maybe the option in my own heart: Why not just not pray? It was only for thirty days. Why not just not pray for thirty days? Wouldn’t that be easy? How often have you gone thirty days without going to church? I bet that’s happened. How often have you gone thirty days without reading the Bible? I have. No big deal, right? It’s not that important, is it? When our faith is tested, how often don’t we resort to one of those two options? Option #1: Make faith a brash, outward show to get attention. Option #2: Take a break from faith in God.
So which would Daniel do in the face of this awful law? Brash disobedience? Or take a break from God? Which one? Neither. “When Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day, he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” What did Daniel do? He didn’t make a scene. Faith doesn’t make a big scene. Faith isn’t about attracting attention to ourselves. But Daniel also didn’t stop praying. He couldn’t go thirty days without God. He couldn’t go one day without God. He did what he always did: “He went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day, he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” By faith.
I think this is so striking. So convicting. In the face of an awful law, Daniel didn’t even make a Facebook post. At least, not that we’re told. “Did you hear what that king just did? He’s an idiot!” Daniel never would have said that. He respected his king. But Daniel also didn’t hide his faith. His enemies knew where to find him. At home, praying, with the windows open, three times a day, “giving thanks to his God.” When Daniel prayed, he gave thanks to God. For what? For everything. Even if your coworkers hate you, even if your king threatens you, do you know what you can to do? Give thanks to God. Humbly. Quietly. For everything. That’s faith.
Of course, faith is always based on God’s promises. Do you know what promise from God Daniel held on to? Hundreds of years before, when Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, he prophesied. He prophesied that one day God’s people would reject God and be carried into exile. But Solomon added a promise about God’s grace: “If they turn back to you… and pray toward the land you gave their fathers and toward the city you have chosen…; then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you” (2 Chronicles 6:38-39). For Daniel, it had been 66 years in exile. But what did Daniel hold on to? God’s promise to hear and forgive. Daniel lived by faith.
And he accepted the consequences. Daniel’s faith got him thrown to the lions. Want to get scared this Halloween? Imagine a dark pit with a narrow hole at the top. At the bottom are hungry lions. They throw you into the darkness and put a big stone over the top… Ahh! That’s what Daniel’s faith got him. But do you know what he didn’t do? He didn’t complain. They didn’t drag him screaming. He went. How? By faith. If he was going to be saved, who was going to do it? God. Even the king knew it. Darius said, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
Did he? Did God rescue him? “At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den…. ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?’” Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.” “When Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.” Did God rescue Daniel? Yes! Why? “Because he had trusted in his God.” How was Daniel saved? By faith.
It’s really amazing to think about. In this whole story, what did Daniel do? He served quietly and faithfully. He prayed. He trusted in God. That’s it! We make him a hero, but Daniel didn’t really do anything. All he did was trust in God. That’s it! Because who saves? God saves, even from lions. “So why doesn’t God do that for us?” we ask. “God doesn’t miraculously rescue us. There are still car accidents. There is still cancer. There are still broken hearts… Why doesn’t God do that for us?” Because God has done something even better for us. Do you realize that? God hasn’t just kept us from dying. He has rescued us from death itself. How? Through Jesus.
Let me tell the story again, and you see what you think of. There was a man who did what was good. Always. In fact, he never did anything wrong. That made the other leaders jealous of him. They publicly accused him of all sorts of things, but they couldn’t find anything wrong except for his faith in God. The governor tried to set him free, but he couldn’t. This innocent man was condemned to die. A stone was rolled over the cave. That stone was sealed with the governor’s ring. It was over. Except, in the morning, when the stone was rolled away, what did people find? The man was alive! That was Daniel’s story. And somebody else’s too. Whose? Jesus’ story.
What Daniel did, Jesus did better. He was absolutely perfect. The only thing the Jewish leaders could accuse Jesus of was claiming to be the Son of God, which he was! Pontius Pilate wanted to set him free, but he didn’t. So what Daniel suffered, Jesus suffered even more. God didn’t shut the mouths of the lions with Jesus. He let Jesus be crucified to save us. All our sins were forgiven at the cross of Jesus. Then he was laid in a tomb, sealed with Pilate’s ring. It looked like it was over. But on Easter morning, when the stone was rolled away. He was alive. To give us eternal life! By faith. “Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus has done even more for us. Do you see that? Do you believe that? We live by faith.
What does that look like? What does it look like to live by faith? This is where we can learn so much from Daniel. Do you have a government that does unchristian things? What does a person living by faith do? Serve humbly. Show respect. Give your government no reason to criticize you other than your faith in God. Do you have coworkers who are against you? Are there people around you who are looking for any reason to bring you down? Live in such a way that those people can’t accuse you of anything other than being a Christian. And all the while, trust in Jesus every day. He is your Savior. Don’t go a day without the Word of God. We live by faith. Got it?
How do you live in an unjust society? By faith. How do you face the lions? By faith. How do you deal with enemies? By faith. Doesn’t every week bring new fears? How will we face war, when it comes to us? By faith. How will we face death, when it’s our turn? By faith. Do you see what this means? Grace alone. Faith alone. Scripture alone. Even when the lions roar, you have a foundation to stand on: The truth of God’s Word. How will we be saved? By faith in Jesus.
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