10-29-23 Grace-Tucson Sermon

Daniel 6:10-12, 16-23 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke

Reformation Day Sunday, October 29, 2023 “The God You Serve Shuts Lions’ Mouths”

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to pet a lion? I get it if that question seems strange to you, but I have seen some videos where, for example, a man raises an abandoned lion cub. At first, it’s a small animal that seems very friendly, but lions get to be much larger. And while I can maybe imagine petting a young lion cub, I am not sure that I would feel very safe or comfortable petting a fully-grown lion. These videos show adult people and adult lions hugging and petting. Even with a well-trained lion, I think there is reason to be a bit cautious with an animal so powerful and potentially dangerous. There are, after all, stories about what can happen on the other extreme, where well-trained animals did attack their human companions.

Petting a lion might be a thrill, a bit unnerving, certainly exciting, maybe a bit scary, but I could imagine something like that under the right circumstances. What about the wrong circumstances? What about a hungry, trapped lion? What about multiple lions that have all been intentionally kept at a state of being hungry enough to devour anything that comes their way? What about lions that are so hungry and so angry and so powerful that when people are dumped into the pit in which they are housed, they don’t even reach the ground before being ripped to shreds?

That’s an actual description of the lions in the lions’ den in the account of Daniel. We read portions of that account as our Second Reading today from Daniel chapter 6. We heard how Daniel was indeed thrown into a den of lions according to the command of the king. We didn’t read the whole context, and you might know or might have been able to assume some of what came before. Daniel was an official serving under the king in Babylon. For several different kings, none of them godly, Daniel had faithfully served in the role into which God had placed him. And he served God as well. There’s one clear indication of that in the verses we read: that Daniel had a daily routine, a habit, a practice. Every day he would pray three times a day, kneeling in front of a window that opened in the direction of the city of Jerusalem, the place where Daniel knew God’s temple had been.

Well, not everyone loved the fact that Daniel was very successful as an official for the king. Daniel had risen in the ranks and had left some others behind. In fact, Daniel was about to be promoted to be over the entire kingdom, something about which the other high officials were very jealous. They were trying to find a way to stop it. They were trying to find a way to interfere with Daniel and to prevent his rise in power. And they searched for a way to do it, and could only come up with one thing. If they were going to get Daniel in trouble, it would have to have something to do with the way he worshiped God. As far as they could determine it, there was nothing else. There was no legal reason to get him nor any way to convince the king he was doing something wrong. So these men made one up.

They encouraged the king to sign a law that said you may only pray to the king. You cannot pray to any god.

You cannot pray to any other person. Only him. And the penalty if you disobey is being thrown to those lions we mentioned before—the hungry, powerful, vicious ones.

I may wonder what it would be like to pet a lion. I know I want nothing to do with those lions. Even being too close to the edge of that pit could be terrifying.

Now what would you do if you were Daniel?

Actually, let’s back up a little bit. Wouldn’t it be great to have people react to your life the way that the other officials reacted to Daniel’s? If your neighbor wanted to find a way to get you in trouble, and I hope he doesn’t, wouldn’t it be great if what he could conclude about you is, “The only way to do it is going to have to do with someone being a Christian”? And I don’t mean that you should necessarily pray by the window or make a grand show of anything. Daniel was just doing what he always did. He prayed three times a day by his window facing Jerusalem, and even when the lions threatened, he did the same thing.

Would you? If someone said, “If you pray to God, you get serious consequences,” don’t you suppose your response might go something like: “I don’t need to pray in front of the window, or out at the restaurant. I can still pray, but I will make sure that I do it in secret”? Don’t you think that you would be willing to change a lot of things around in your life if it meant escaping from hungry lions? In fact, don’t you think that there are times when you avoid things that God wants you to do because you are worried about the consequences, just as if they were hungry lions? I mean, how many excuses can we come up with not to tell someone about Jesus or invite them to church? They might be angry. They might say no. And we can run away from these opportunities like we’re running away from hungry lions, when really those situations are much more like the cuddly little lion cubs. Sure, something could go wrong. There are still sharp teeth and claws. There might be an unpleasant consequence, but those situations are not going to rip us apart.

Daniel puts many of us to shame when he just goes on doing what he has always done, even when the lions might get involved.

And then the lions do get involved. The other officials tattle to the king about Daniel’s actions, and the king’s hand is forced. He can’t change the decree that he made. The only thing that can happen is for his most trusted advisor to be thrown into the pit with the hungry lions.

But Daniel had a God who shuts lions’ mouths. He sent an angel to protect his servant. And those powerful, famished, vicious creatures left him alone.

We’re not told exactly what Daniel thought through this incident. Did he expect God to rescue him as he did? Perhaps. Did he expect that the lions would end his life? That is possible as well. But either way, Daniel could still move ahead with confidence in God. The God he served doesn’t have power only over lions. He has power over all things. And that means he has power over sin and death. What Daniel knew only as a promise of God you know as that promise fulfilled. The Savior that Daniel was waiting for has a name that you know: Jesus. Daniel did not need to fear even death because Jesus would one day die for him.

While Daniel is presented as a wonderful example for us and as godly man, that does not mean he was perfect. Like every human being born, he was a sinner. He showed such a steadfast faith not because of who he was, but because of who God had made him to be. We can say the same about another man that comes to mind so readily today, Martin Luther. Luther faced ferocious lions in a way that you and I never have. He wanted to do nothing more than preach and teach what the Bible says so that people could understand it clearly, but the Emperor and the Pope stood opposed to that. And they went so far as to excommunicate Luther and put him in a situation at that time where his life was always in danger. And when Luther had opportunities to quietly trust God, not make a big deal of things, just go ahead and live his life in peace and security, he did what God’s Word compelled him to do. He showed steadfast faith. He acted like Daniel leaving his window open and kept right on praying and preaching and confessing. That’s who God made him to be.

And he did it because he knew his Savior. He knew how Jesus had once faced earthly authorities who threatened his life for doing nothing more than being godly. In fact, in that case, it was absolutely true. And when his heavenly Father allowed the snarling lions to circle closer and closer, Jesus prayed to him, “your will be done.” And the Father did not shut the mouths of those lions. He unleashed the full fury of his own righteous anger on Jesus his innocent Son on the cross where he bled and died for you and for me. And he tells us, “Because of this sacrifice, as a free gift, heaven is yours and nothing on earth can harm you or take that away. Believe it. Confess it. Live it.”

You will face lions in your life. You will be tempted to stop serving and loving God and to instead save your own skin or maintain your own comfort. And it could be one of those situations where the threat is real and severe just like those vicious lions. Or it could be the other kind of threat, that just doesn’t rise to that level but in your head it still feels like it does. You don’t need to be stronger than lions. You have a God who has given you salvation. You have a God who has given amazing promises. Serve him. Pray to him. Confess his love. And do not be afraid. The God you serve shuts lions’ mouths.

The Text: Daniel 6:10–12, 16–23 (EHV) 10Now, when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went to his house. It had windows

on its upper story that opened toward Jerusalem. Three times each day he would get on his knees and pray and offer praise before his God. He continued to do that, just as he had been doing before this.

11Then these men came as a group and found Daniel praying and seeking favor from his God. 12They then went and asked the king about the decree. “Your Majesty, did you not sign a decree that

anyone who prays to any god or person for thirty days except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the den of lions?”

The king answered, “Indeed I did. The order is established as a law of the Medes and the Persians that cannot be revoked.”

16Then the king gave the order, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the lions’ den. The king said

to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you.” 17A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the pit. The king sealed it with his signet ring and the signet rings of his nobles so that nothing could be changed with regard to Daniel’s situation. 18Then the king went to his palace.

He spent the night without food, and no entertainment was brought before him. But he could not sleep.

19At dawn the king arose as soon as it was light and hurried to the lions’ den. 20As he came near the pit,

he cried out in a fearful voice. The king said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God, whom you serve continually, able to rescue you from the lions?”

21Then Daniel spoke with the king. “Your Majesty, may you live forever! 22My God sent his angel and

shut the mouth of the lions. They have not hurt me because he found me innocent in his presence. Also before you, Your Majesty, I have committed no crime.”

23Then the king was very glad and said that Daniel should be brought up from the pit. So Daniel was

brought up from the pit, and he was unharmed because he trusted in his God.