Rev. George Miller
Dec 1, 2024
Daniel 6:6-14
It is officially Christmas Season.
Macy’s had their parade. Black Friday shoppers have shopped.
Elvis and Mariah are on the radio.
Part of the Christmas tradition are the
shows and movies – “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “Home Alone” and of course,
“Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer,” whose nose was so bright he was asked to
guide the sleigh tonight.
But…as you grow older, has anyone begun to
have a different take on Rudolph?
We are told that because his nose glowed,
all the other reindeer would not let him play or engage in their games.
However- could there be something else happening?
Could it be that Rudolph shined so bright,
so beautiful, that the other reindeer were jealous of him, and their teasing
was an expression of their own insecurities?
Sometimes the lights that shine the
brightest are the ones that are put out, which may be part of what is going on
in today’s reading and why Daniel ended up in that lion’s den.
First- some history to help us understand
the story.
Once upon a time, Isreal was a united
nation, lead by King David and his son Solomon.
But over time, the north split from the
south.
The north was attacked and taken over by
the Assyrians, which made the south, known as Judah, so so vulnerable to other
nations.
Eventually Judah was attacked by the
Babylonians. They did this in 3 steps.
1st, Babylon attacked Judah in
597 BCE and took their best and brightest people as captives.
Then in 586, they attacked Judah again,
this time not only did they take the best and brightest away in captivity, but
they destroyed the city, including the Temple.
5 years later, they came back to the
ruined city and took a 3rd group of the best and brightest.
Think of the mixed emotions this caused- Either you were considered good enough to be
taken captive and made to live 800 miles away in Babylon, or you were
considered not good enough to be captured and had to live amongst the ruins.
Daniel was among the first of the people taken
into Exile, living in Babylon for the next 50 years, in which Persia became the
next power nation and took over Babylon.
So now Daniel is 800 miles away in
Babylon, under Persian rule…but his heart still belongs to Judah and to the
Jewish God.
Daniel is smart and faithful and he’s good
at what he does, so much so that he receives praise and care from the palace
master.
Soon he gets in good with the King. He is promoted to ruling over the province of
Babylon, made chief prefect over their wise men.
Here Daniel is in a strange land that
worships another god, and somehow he is able to stay true to who he is, his
faith in God, maintain his spirit, keep his hopes in Jerusalem, and be a vital
asset to the king.
In other words- his nose is shining sooo bright
and the king is ready to give him more power.
Which makes all his peers jealous. The prefects, presidents, governors just
can’t stand him.
There is nothing they can write him up for
or criticize him, so they arrive at an idea.
Knowing that Daniel is a faithful, praying
man who continues to keep his faith in the Lord, they come to the king and say:
“Hey- you should create a law- anyone who
prays to anyone or anything but you should be cast into the lions den.”
This must have appealed to the King’s ego,
because he immediately says yes, signing an irrevocable law that bans anyone from
showing their allegiance to anyone or thing but him.
But Daniel…although Daniel knew about this
law, he continued to go to his house, with its open windows, and pray to God
three times a day.
It is basically an act of non-violent
disobedience in which Daniel uses prayer and staying true to who he is as a
form of dissent.
Verse 10 is fascinating and is interpreted
in different ways.
Some people say that Daniel is being very
deliberate.
They imagine that in a brazen act of
disobedience he marched up the stairs, boldly threw open the windows for all to
see and prayed without apology.
Then there are others who read verse 10 with
another take-
Daniel simply continued his daily practice
of doing what he always does, simply doing what he has done every day for
years.
Some say he is not seeking attention or being
a martyr, he is simply giving thanks, staying obedient, and being steady even
if the world seems to be in chaos.
There are those who say that Daniel could
have prayed, just done it in a different time, a different place, a different
pose, making him still faithful to God, but less conspicuous.
But others see Daniel’s actions as a form
of dissent in which he uses his body, quietly prays, and humbles himself on his
knees, a very vulnerable position.
No matter how we interpret verse 10, be it
that Daniel is brazen or that Daniel is simply following ritual, it is clear
that Daniel is brave.
And in doing so he joins the ranks of
those like Hagar, Hannah, Miriam and the
Widow.
Instead of starvation, barrenness, or the
wilderness, Daniel is facing the threat of death head on, and he does so with
grace, humility, and his usual day to day activity.
So often we focus on the lion’s den, on
the miraculous act of God, but today we look at Daniel to see how a brother-in-faith,
a fellow believer acted when faced with adversity.
To lift up and to celebrate that sometimes
it is not the huge acts that show the most faith and courage.
Sometimes it is not the big demonstrations
or shows of grandeur that say the most.
Sometimes it is the small, every day
things we do that show our faith and demonstrates our trust in the Lord.
In some ways, that is what the Christmas
season is about.
That here we are, heading into the
darkest, longest night of the year, and some of the coldest,
and we are putting up our lights, buying
our gifts, making our 20 different sets of Christmas cookies to say-
“Even though things are dark, even though
things feel cold, even though we do not know what 2025 has in store, this is
how we have hope, this is how we show our belief, this is how we demonstrate that
life goes on.”
There is so much power in knowing that
during the bleakest time of the year, we get together and anticipate Emmanuel-
God With Us.
It is a beautiful thing that amidst all
that has taken place and will take place, we find ways to say that we are
preparing to welcome the Lord.
Not the Lord of Persia or the Lord of
Babylon, but the Lord of the World- Jesus Christ.
This year, let us think that with every
card we send, every gift we wrap, every Carol we sing, it is a sign of our
faith, a sign of our belief in God, and a way in which we are true to our
identity.
God has such a wonderful way of working
through people, places, situations, and working through us.
This season, like Daniel, like Rudolph,
may we each find a way to shine; a way to show forth our own uniqueness, our
own bravery,
and God’s life-affirming presence
throughout Creation.
For that, let us say “Amen.”
