Daniel 6
Over the next few months, our morning gatherings will be working through the book of Hebrews, and our evening gatherings through the book of Daniel.
Readings for this week May 29 - June 2
Click here for a pdf of this week’s readings
Day 1 – God With us in Hard Places
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Daniel 6:1-5
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Belshazzar is dead and there is a new king on the throne – Darius is a Persian king; Babylon has been taken over by the Medo-Persians – a new ruler to get used to. And yet Daniel and his people are still in exile, still in captivity, still being forced to serve a foreign king in a foreign land. Daniel would have been over 80 years old at this point, having spent decades in exile. Would he have still harboured hopes of one day seeing his homeland again? Was freedom something he still thought possible, if unlikely? He has been kept in servitude for a long time and, as the new king seems aware of his exceptional qualities, it seems he might be kept thus for a long time to come, possibly the remainder of his life.
And yet he serves, and serves well. He does not refuse to use and develop the God-given talents he has. And the reason is – and the reason he is able to continue to serve foreign kings with integrity and faithfulness to his God – because he knows all that he does, all that he achieves, all that he is capable of, is only so because of God sustaining him. Daniel’s honesty, faithfulness, intelligence and skill are grounded in his worship of his God, whom he knows has placed him where he is and guides him in his work. Wherever God has placed us, whatever the circumstances, we can trust him to be with us and to be able to accomplish the tasks he has given us. Daniel is a model of trust and faithful integrity in hard places.
Question to Consider
Who do you know in strange or hard places who could use God’s help?
Prayer
Lord God, we pray for the refugees of this world, the displaced and homeless. We pray for the two Afghani families soon to arrive here. May we love them and support them in ways big and small. May they experience your love and care through us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – Power for the Powerless
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Daniel 6:6-9
We’ve seen power at work throughout our journey so far through the book of Daniel. We’ve seen the power of kings, often badly, selfishly and incompetently exercised. We’ve seen the power of God in action, subverting the supposed supremacy of said kings, and powerfully sustaining and rescuing Daniel and his friends in the process. We’ve seen how Daniel has used the power his position has given him to faithfully and righteously serve his God. And we’ve also seen – and see again in today’s reading – the petty power grabs of minor officials concerned with consolidating their own tiny fiefdoms of power and control at the expense of those they feel they can exploit.
The question of power is one we face each day of our lives, and not just in the way in which we respond to/complain about/acquiesce in the exercise of power that bosses and organisations and governments have over us. We also, in small ways and large ways, have daily decisions to make about how we use the power that we have. Whether because of our positions in our jobs or our families; through the words that we speak into the lives of others; in the way in which we use the power of our wallets and our resources; whether we reach out to the world with our hands tensed and grasping or open and offering – who will be our model for our attitude towards power? Selfish kings and power-seeking satraps? Or our wise and righteous God and his faithful servant Daniel?
Questions to Consider
Think about your average day. What power do you have? How do you exercise it? How are you using it for the benefit of the powerless?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, open my eyes to the power my place in society gives me and show me how to use it for your kingdom. Show me the ways in which I can empower those without power or voice. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – The Necessary Rhythm of Life
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Daniel 6:10-18
Is Daniel someone who likes to do the exact opposite of what he is told to do? Is he a contrarian who, when specifically told not to do something, goes ahead and does it because they’ve been told not to? Having been banned from praying to his God, and knowing that transgressing this new, hastily implemented measure will result in death, the first thing Daniel does after learning of the draconian law is to go back home and pray. To do the very thing that might now end up costing him his life.
But he doesn’t do it just to be spiteful or rebellious or to make a point (although it is a highly rebellious act and it does make a point). He does it because he has always done it, it has always been a central rhythm of his life to spend time in prayer with his God. No doubt this very practice has been one of the key sustaining features of his life through his decades of captivity in Babylon. The king’s decree strikes at the very heart of who Daniel is: his relationship of loving, worshipful dependence upon his God. And yet the thought never crossed his mind to obey the new law. For what is life without the very thing that sustains it and gives it meaning? It is his nearness to God that counts most with Daniel, not death’s nearness to him. For God is greater than death, and in the cross of Jesus the power of death itself has been cast down and defeated. Daniel had no fear of it, and neither should we. With strong habits of faith and solid rhythms of practice, we can show strength of faith to withstand any challenge.
Questions to Consider
What rhythms are important for sustaining and strengthening faith in this way? How have these rhythms/practices expanded your faith?
Prayer
Holy Lord, grant me courage like Daniel. Show me how to grow strong in faith, without fear and without compromise. Give me the wisdom and discipline to practice the habits of faith that will help me grow. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – Non-violent Resistance
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Daniel 6:19-23
In parts of the world, the rhetoric used by certain Christians fearful of, well, a lot of things – most of which seem to be based around their belief that other people are trying to take something away from them that they believe is theirs by divine right – has become more and more violent and aggressive. Some leaders are very vocal in their call for believers to “fight,” to “defend what’s ours,” to “take up arms,” and so forth. Daniel, faced with the very real prospect of his life being taken away from him, does nothing like this at all. He resists – his whole story up to this point has been one of resistance to the pressures of the acquiescence and conformity his captives want from him – but he does so non-violently, and he does so completely secure in the knowledge that God is with him. No fearful knee-jerk reaction, but calm acceptance of God as his Lord and guide.
Remember when Jesus was arrested in the garden? One of his disciples wanted to actively resist Jesus’ arrest and even attacked someone with a sword in order to stop it happening – something that Jesus was very quick to rebuke. Violence was not the way of Jesus. It was not the way to change the world, overthrow empires – including the empire of sin and death – or embody the love and character of God. Jesus received violence given by others; he did not offer it. It was the faithful, non-violent disobedience of Jesus in the face of the cross – and that Daniel faced in the lions’ den – that changed the world and showed it a new way of being, a new way of transforming people and society.
Question to Consider
Why is violence so problematic as a strategy of resistance?
Prayer
Gracious God, give me the strength to be weak so that in my weakness your strength is seen. Show me the way to resist without violence, but with trust in your Spirit’s ability to bring restoration and peace. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – They Must Have Done Something…
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Daniel 6:24-28
Verse 24 should make us downright uncomfortable, and force us to question the nature of judgement, and to wonder whether the sanction of God’s judgement can/should automatically be applied to events such as this. As much as God’s vindication of Daniel now signals that divine judgement could very well be imminent, such judgement arrives through the king, who seems to wildly strike out, bringing destruction to guilty and innocent alike, perhaps as an overcompensation for his previous lack of attention to the situation and embarrassment at letting it progress so far.
And of course the innocent suffer. The wives and children of the scheming court officials end up killed by the lions. We do not know anything about these women and children other than their familial connection to the officials – it’s the officials’ actions that we know and that have seen this outcome happen. But bad things only happen to bad people, right? They must have done something. The greatest distortion of the gospel, a distortion that for many today has become a default setting, is that comfort and prosperity and a good life means God loves you and has blessed you, and that poverty and pain mean God is angrily punishing you because you have done something wrong and are unworthy of his grace. This damagingly truncated view leaves out the human factor: our culpability in sinfully causing pain and suffering to others near and far – but also our ability to heed Jesus’ call to embody his sacrificial love for others, to mitigate the pain and injustice in this world, and to bring the justice and love of his kingdom to the world.
Questions to Consider
Why is this ‘default setting’ so prevalent? How do we combat it?
Prayer
Sovereign Lord, teach me mercy. Give me your eyes of love for all people and help me be a person of prayer and practicality for all the people of this world you love so much. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)