The Cat House | Dana C. Baldwin

Introduction

A. What would you be willing to give up for 30 days? Cable. Probably. Telephone. If you’re a teen, probably not. Television. If you had to. Air Conditioning. Now that would be a real challenge. What about your faith? Don’t answer too quickly. Think about it for a moment. Could you give up reading your Bible and praying for 30 days? You can only answer that question if it is something that you would have to give up. If you don’t read and pray then there is nothing to give up. But if your faith is important to you, then would anything make you give it up?

B. Of course, none of us live completely faithful lives all the time. We are not perfect. But could you for 30 days set your faith aside? This is what happens in Daniel 6. The government issues a decree that all within the kingdom must turn all faith to the king. If there are prayers to be offered, they will be offered to the king. If there are sacrifices, they will be offered to the king. If there is worship, the worship will be to the king. For the next 30 days, the king will become God. There is little confusion. When this proposal is suggested to the king, he thinks it’s a good idea. If you are king, then the next step is divinity. And for 30 days, the king is to be a god.

C. Last year, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series. This annual baseball event, had not happened to the Boston Red Sox since 1918. During last year’s season, a website asked this question of Bostonians. “If the ‘god of all things baseball’ said to you, ‘I will let the Red Sox win the World Series this year depending on what you are willing to do in return.’ How far would you be willing to go to bring the World Series to Boston? Thousands answered. The top five from each week were posted. Here are some of the answers:

Doug said, “I would be willing to use the same dental floss for three weeks straight.”
Suzanne said, “I would be willing to hand wash all the team’s dirty socks for the rest of my life.”
Sami said, “I would be willing to listen to ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ on loop until my ears bleed.”
Joseph said, “I would be willing to give up my wife of 19 years…”
Arthur said, “I would be willing to trade my mother in law.”
Stephen said, “I would be willing to tell my wife where I’ve hidden her credit cards.”
Josh said, “I would be willing to give away all my worldly possessions and live my life as a bum in New York.”
Chris said, “I would be willing to do anything, I’d sell my soul if I had to.

Daniel’s Faith

A. Daniel is in his 80’s when all of this takes place. He has faithfully served God for his entire captive life. He is so well-respected that the king of Persia, Darius, intends to make Daniel the top administrator over the entire kingdom. But there are those who cannot stand the idea of Daniel being over them. So while they stroke Darius’ ego, they use political intrigue to rid themselves of Daniel. The king, of course, doesn’t see what is going on. He too concerned about being divine to see the small details. The edict is signed into law and with it Daniel must make a decision.

B. Daniel had a long standing habit. Three times a day he would go to his room and pray. He would open his windows which faced Jerusalem and he would pray. This is what Solomon had said when happen when the temple was dedicated. Those who talked the king into being god for a month knew this. And with the ink on the paper establishing this new law still wet, these conspirators watch Daniel to see what is going to happen. And Daniel does what he has always done. He goes to his house, opens his window which point toward Jerusalem, kneels, and prayers.

C. The law could not go without punishment. Darius regrets his decision to be god. But Daniel is to be punished. And into the lion’s den he goes. Darius can’t sleep. He can’t eat. He knows he has messed up. And he doesn’t know what to do except to wait for the next day to arrive. When the rising of the sun, Darius discovers that Daniel’s God is gracious. Daniel is saved. There is a reunion between king and Daniel. So much is Darius convinced about the graciousness of God that he writes another decree telling everyone in the kingdom must fear and revere Daniel’s god.

So What?

A. Once again we are faced with making sure that we do not assume from this text that the lesson is our faith means that everything will work out well. There is nothing in the text that leads us to believe that Daniel thought that the lions would not be hungry that night. There is nothing in the text that leads us to believe that Daniel thought that nothing would happen to him if he prayed. Doing the right thing does not guarantee a positive outcome. Just in the same way as doing the wrong thing doesn’t guarantee a negative consequence. Life isn’t fair and God is not a good luck charm.

B. This text does encourage us to see the importance of faith in difficult circumstances. But the real significance is that Daniel refuses to leave his faith in the shadows. He didn’t have to open the windows to his house. He could have prayed in dark solitude and may not have been found out. But to do so would have violated the pattern that he had established and then the law would have won. He refused to hide his faith. Like the children’s song, we cannot hide our lights under a bushel but will let it shine.

C. Daniel did what he did because he recognized that there was one greater than Darius. He did it because the law could not keep him from honoring his God. He did it because to give up his faith for 30 days was tantamount to saying that his faith was worthless. So what would you give up for 30 days? Would you give up your faith? Your praying? Daniel’s light and momentary suffering was far outweighed by the one who called him to live for him. May we hear God’s call in our own lives without avoiding the easy way out. Prayer.

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