A sermon preached at Choral Evensong, Sunday 1st May 2011 in St. Columbas
Daniel at his window praying
King ordering Daniel into a den of lions
Lions being like pussy cats
King being shocked in the morning when Daniel is still alive
I just wonder do we need to re-discover the horror of this story, the sacrifice which Daniel faced, the faith which was bold enough to stand up to Government, the wisdom of choosing the battles to fight, where we need to witness to our faith.
Daniel was living at at time of great upset for the Jewish People, people who had been carried away into exile by Babylon and now living in what was Persian exile after the conquest . Under the regime of King Darius. However Daniel had risen through the ranks and had kept his faith in God, despite ridicule and persecution .. he had interpreted Dreams for previous kings, he had interpreted the handwritting on the wall, he had been thrown into the firey furnace with collegues for not recognising and worshipping the King Nebuchadnezzar as God.
Daniel had been through all of this and still had found favor with the king. He had risen to heights within the Persian Empire
So we see he had seen much through his life ... Ups and Downs but God was remaining faithful even in the most desparate of circumstances.
How could he make sense of all of this?
He was faced with lions ... sure and certain danger and death
He knew what it was to face fire, he knew what it was to face an angry king, he knew what it was to speak to royalty, he had been prepared by God.
From this story, and from most, if not all stories in the Bible there is a continuity, a gradual learning to deal with situations, of learning, of taking what has happened in the past and build upon it in order to face the future.
Think of David as a Shepherd, rescued sheep ... to being the rescuer of nations
In the new Testament The disciples from fishermen to fishers of men
I am sure there would indeed have been terror in Daniel mind thinking about what was going to happen to him, but there would have also been a memory of how God had been faithful in the past - through other experiences.
One of the privelliges of parish ministry is chatting with people about their experiences of God today, of hearing in the happy as well as the darkest moments of life. I am convinced that God is a God of experience, of learning, of allowing us to experience stuff in our own time. I know over the past two years in particular there have been situations I have faced which 4 or 5 years ago I would not have coped with the same way but God has been equipping me to deal with those situations.
The same is true I believe for all of us here ... what has happened in our past, God uses for Good, perhaps so that we can understand and support others going through the same. There is a great verse which I love
1 Cor 10:13 ... No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Daniel was called to withstand a great temptation, to give up on praying ... in fear of his Life, he didn’t give in to that temptation but rather relied on his God, took God’s promise to heart and dared to believe.
I wonder when we are faced with anykind of challenge, opposition, circumstance Which all of us will be at some time or another, do we have enough experience of God to rely upon to get us through, do we have that dependancy upon God that will sustain us.
Are we prepared to pray in the good times as well as the tough times, are we prepared to allow God to guide us to do what his will is in the less scary times, in the ordinariness of life and then depend upon him when the winds blow and the storms of life do come.
Let us pray
In darkness and in light, In trouble and in joy help us O Lord to focus on your word and be about the things which help us. In Jesus name we pray Amen
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