Reformation at Epiphany on October 26, 2008

Daniel 6:10-12,16-23 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. ¹¹ Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. ¹² 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 man except to you, O king, would be thrown into the lions' den?" The king answered, "The decree stands-- in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed." … ¹⁶ 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!" ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. ²⁰ 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?" ²¹ Daniel answered, "O king, live forever! ²² 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, O king." ²³ 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.

Stand up for Jesus!

Jesus told His followers to expect persecution: “Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.” (Matthew 10:17,18) I haven’t experienced the persecution of being arrested, imprisoned, or beaten for my faith. Unless our society changes drastically over the next few decades, I really don’t see myself standing up for my faith in front of politicians, judges or the FBI.   

Unless I move to China. There are students from our synod’s Martin Luther College in China right now who could get themselves in deep trouble if the government finds out they’re talking about Jesus. If you have friends in Saudi Arabia, they may ask you not to send religious Christmas cards because the Saudi government checks their mail. So what Jesus said would happen is happening in some places in the world. Christians really are being handed over to councils and really are standing in front of governors and kings.

Any Lutheran who knows anything about the Reformation knows that confessing before kings is part of the thrill of Reformation Day. Martin Luther burned the papal decree that demanded he take back his teachings. Luther stood before the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and said, “Here I stand. I can do no other. So help me God.” The title page of the Augsburg Confession quotes Psalm 119: “I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame.” It stirs Lutheran blood to remember that there are people, then and now, who face pain, punishment, and even death because they confess their faith to people who can hand out pain, punishment, and death.   

It’s just that I don’t expect this to happen to me. But then, I suppose those Martin Luther College students never thought they’d be in that situation, either. And I doubt your friends in Saudi Arabia ever thought their lives would be in danger because they were Christians. And I suppose Martin Luther never expected to stand in front of an emperor, either.

I suppose Daniel never thought he would be in danger because of his prayer life. Other Persian administrators were jealous of this Jewish Daniel’s high position in their government. So they searched through his performance records to dig up any dirt on Daniel, but they found nothing. In fact, they said, “We will never find any basis for charges against Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.” (Daniel 6:5)

What a compliment for this child of God! In order to bring charges against him, Daniel’s enemies were going to have to create a situation where his loyalty to God would conflict with his loyalty to his government. I’ve heard Christians complain of persecution, when what they are being persecuted for is bad behavior or incompetence, not their faith. As Christians, we should live our lives so that the only offensive thing in our life is our faith and our good character.

A delegation of Daniel’s enemies approached King Darius with honey on their lips, but with hell in their hearts. “O King Darius, live forever! We have all agreed that you should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.”

Daniel had a decision to make. Should he try outwit his opponents? Should he pray to God through Darius? Stop praying for a month? Or at least pray in secret away from prying eyes and not in an open window facing Jerusalem? After all, God hasn’t commanded that his children kneel before open windows to pray.

All of this was unthinkable for Daniel. His life of loyalty to God had been lived out in the open. He would not give the impression that his opponents had won. He would not quietly deny his God. He would not blunt his testimony to the heathen. Daniel was no more ready to compromise as an 80-year-old then he had been as a teenager, when he had refused to eat the king’s food which was unacceptable to a Jew.

What about you? Have you compromised your faith by joining in the course jokes, rough language, and office politics? Have you rationalized your immoral behavior by saying that your pet sins aren’t affecting your Christian morals? Have you kept quiet about your faith at work so that people don’t pick on you? Do you keep silent about Christian ethics in politics during this volatile election? Do you keep your head down in school, while your atheist professor ridicules Christianity? If you have relatives staying at your house who aren’t churchgoers, do you stay home so on Sunday morning so they don’t feel uncomfortable?

What if you go out to eat tonight with people who aren’t Christians, and who aren’t interested in being Christians? Would you stop the conversation, fold your hands, close your eyes, and silently pray? Would you pray even though you people are watching? Or, do you hide your faith? Maybe skip praying or pray secretly, so no one notices what you’re doing? How have you rationalized? How have you caved in?

This is a sin that we often fall into. God has placed us into a country where we are free to express our religious beliefs, but we are cowards. We hide our beliefs. We make up excuses about not wanting to offend anyone, but in reality, we are just plain cowards. We read the Bible when no one is looking. We pray when no one is watching. We only speak out when we’re sure no one will be offended. We are afraid of what might happen if someone notices our faith.

Thank God He forgives us. Our Savior is the same God that Daniel prayed to. He doesn’t punish us for our sins of weaknesses. He doesn’t punish us for our shortcomings. Instead, Christ forgives us. Jesus isn’t just a picture on the wall. He is our God, and He proved His love to us when He came down to this world, not to punish, but to love. He went into the pit of hell to save us from all the times we have been afraid to step into the lions’ pit.

When Daniel learned of Darius’ decree, he went to his apartment’s open window that faced Jerusalem and prayed, “just as he had done before.” He prayed this way, not to defy his king’s order, but to speak to his heavenly King in prayer.

When Daniel was tattled on, it was with a heavy heart that King Darius ordered his guards to arrest his most faithful and trusted advisor and throw him to the lions – for the crime of talking to his heavenly Father!

Daniel never received any hints that God would send an angel to close the lions’ mouths. Daniel didn’t know how God would handle his problem, but he believed that the Lord would work everything out for his good. If Daniel was miraculously spared, then God be praised – Daniel would be alive! If Daniel was allowed to become lion food, then God be praised – Daniel would be alive in heaven! Daniel knew that if his Savior could break the accusing finger of Satan, wash off the filth of sin, and close the gaping jaws of eternal death, then He certainly could handle those pussycats.

And the Lord prevailed. When Darius came near the den the next morning, 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, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions.”

Daniel’s cheerful reply shows that he probably slept better in the lions’ den then Darius had in the palace bedroom! Not a single scratch or gnaw mark was found on Daniel. Because Daniel stood up for his faith, the name of the true God was praised throughout the land. King Darius issued a decree throughout the Medo-Persian kingdom (from Iran to Turkey): “In every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” (Daniel 6:25-27)

God will be praised through the lives of His faithful servants – you. The reason we can stand up for Jesus is because He first stood up for us. Christ stood up and fulfilled the promises of salvation. He stood up and went to the cross for us. He stood up for all the times we choose to remain seated. Jesus stood up for all the times we choose to worry. He stood up and was condemned in our place. He stood up and rose victorious from the grave. Christ stood up so that we might be free to live with Him and for Him. This love from Christ moves us to stand up for our Mighty Fortress and the Rock of our salvation.

We don’t know what the future holds for us, but if we ever have to take a stand and risk our safety and health for Jesus, we can sure of one thing – we can face the lions, too. God’s love will lead you to confess the name of Christ “just as you had done before.” Jesus said: “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” 

We’ll be saved from the lions by God’s power. God does things like that. When Martin Luther took his stand before the emperor at the city of Worms, he was as good as dead. Nobody defied Charles V. After Worms, anybody had the right to kill Luther if they found him. But the good doctor lived on for 27 years. He got married, had five children, wrote “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” preached a lot of sermons and wrote a lot more books. He died a natural death, and he was confessing Christ when he died.

Christians stand up for their faith everyday. We do it at work and at school. We stand up for our faith in the voting booth and the hospital bed. We confess Christ when we baptize our child and bury our parent. We proudly profess Christianity with the pictures on our walls at home, the morals we instill in our children, and the ethics we live at work. We confess the name of Christ to the world through our stained glass windows, monies in the offering plate, flyers on neighbors’ doors, missionaries sent around the world, and the prayers of our children before bed.  

Are there lions in your future? Where will you need to take your stand? Who will be the emperor you face? Will he be in China or Saudi Arabia? Or will it be a fiancée who refuses to care about your relationship with Jesus, a child who won’t give up a life of defiant sin, an employer you’ve caught embezzling company funds?  What will be the pain you risk, maybe physical pain but maybe emotional pain? What will be the death you face, maybe real death or maybe dying a thousand deaths? A million Christians can tell us that God saved them from the lions by His power. And He can save us, too. 

But what happens when God seems slow to shut the lions’ mouths? What about the Christians who didn’t make it through their lions’ dens? Luther remained alive, but John Hus was burned at the stake. American Lutherans don’t face persecution, but millions of German Lutherans died when the Roman Catholic forces attacked their lands after Luther’s death. Some Christians have suffered emotional trauma and seen their lives fall apart after they took a stand for Jesus. 

We can handle being thrown into the lions’ den. Either God will miraculously spare us and His name will be praised. Or we will die standing up for Jesus and be with Him forever in heaven, and His name will be praised.

Today is a day to remind us to stand up for the one true God. Don’t ever apologize for your faith. Live it and share it as the most important and passionate part of your life. Daniel wasn’t afraid of offending anybody with his prayers. The apostles weren’t terrified of being thrown in prison and flogged for teaching Christ’s name. And when our gentle and peaceful Savior cleared the temple, He didn’t ask the moneychangers how they felt about moving out of the marketplace. He wasn’t concerned about their livelihoods or the negative fallout against Christianity. He stood up for His God.

Quit tip-toeing on eggshells when defending your faith. Your God is the true God. Praise Him. Publicize Him. Promote Him. Be proud of Him. Love Him. Laud Him. Speak of Him. Shout for Him. Stand up for Him. Amen.