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Life in the Den
Good morning Saints! Good morning Sinners! My name is Matthew
Swanson, and I am a senior in the International Baccalaureate
Program at Gateway high school. I enjoy running, playing Frisbee
and volleyball, and playing the drums. I have been attending
Community Presbyterian for 11 years and have been a member of
Student Leadership for my entire high school career. I am planning
on attending the University of Florida this fall and am very
excited for this next stage of my life. We pick up todays story in
a time of danger in the life of Daniel. He has been living in
Babylon under pagan rule since he was a youth. Located about 50
miles south of present day Baghdad, Babylon had become the capital
of the Persian Empire, and gained a reputation for ungodliness.
Several of the satraps, local officials, had appealed to king
Darius about a new decree. This decree made it illegal to worship
anything other than him for 30 days. They had done this because
they were jealous of Daniel and the kings favoritism for him. They
had investigated his past, trying to find any dirt they could but
to no avail. Daniels record was spotless. So they decided that they
had to bring him down with the one thing he was known for; devotion
to his God. Once the king agreed to this decree, the satraps went
to Daniels house, where they found him praying as per usual, and
they went to the king to inform him of Daniels illegal activities.
Heartbroken, king Darius threw Daniel to the lions because the laws
of the Medes and Persians, the kings own heritage, prevented kings
from repealing their own decrees. But we begin the next morning
after Daniel spent all night with the lions.Todays text comes from
Daniel 6 verses 19 through 23.19At the first light of dawn, the
king got up and hurried to the lions den. 20When 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? 21Daniel answered, Oking, live
forever! 22My 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, Oking. 23The 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.THIS IS THE WORD OF THE LORD!
Dear Lord, I ask that you use me and my words for your divine
purpose and that you set aside all distractions that are present so
we can fully grasp your meaning from the word. In your glorious
name we pray. AmenAs I was writing this sermon, pondering the
various ways I could approach the story of Daniel, something very
striking occurred to me about the character of God. The one thing
that he desires throughout the entire Bible seems to be the only
thing that we humans cannot give him fully and that is our
obedience. Adam and Eve, Jonah, the Israelites, and even Simon
Peter all fall short of complete obedience to God. We fail as a
species at each turn to deliver the thing our creator dearly wants
from us. Deuteronomy 12:28 tells us to28Be careful to obey all
these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well
with you and your children after youThis illustrates Gods desire
for our obedience of his rules as well as promises us good things
to come if we simply obey his commands. This is similar to Lukes
portrayal of obedience in his gospel where he describes the man
that builds his house on sand, disregarding the Lords advice, which
results in his house being carried away by the sea during a
storm.Dr. B.J. Miller once said, its easier to obey God than to
deal with the consequences of disobedience.Daniel knew this, which
he demonstrates through his obedience to the Lord. His life had
taught him that God rewards obedience with safety and peace of
mind. When Daniel was a teenager, he was brought to Babylon along
with the most handsome, strong, and intelligent young men in order
to be indoctrinated to the ways of the kingdom. The Lord told
Daniel and the other Jews to abstain from indulging in the feasts
the king prepared because he didnt want them to taint themselves
with lavish food. Daniel convinced the guards in charge of feeding
him and his friends to only serve them water and vegetables. At the
end of the week they were stronger and more fit than the other men,
which God did to reward their obedience. Now, this doesnt mean that
if we drink water and eat vegetables that God will give us all
sculpted bodies. But what it does mean is that the Lord our God
loves and rewards obedience, which Daniel learned early on.The
story of Daniel resisting the temptation of luxury reminds me of my
second period class last year. Mr. Sissons AP US History class had
become infamous for its daily what do you know quizzes. These short
bell-works verified whether or not the class had been keeping up on
reading and taking good notes. The class was simple enough; read,
take good notes, and get good grades. Well, as work piled up from
other classes, several of my peers began falling into the
temptation of cheating. Soon, the what do you know became a
classroom affair, with almost every one getting answers from
someone else. I remember thinking how easy it would be to just skip
a day of notes and get the answer from the smart girl next to me,
who was also cute; but then I realized that times like these, when
sinning would be so harmless and easy, are the situations that test
a persons obedience to God and his call to abstain from sinning.As
we see in todays passage, Daniels trust in the Lord as well as his
obedience in the face of his own execution serves as a Christ-like
example of how we as Christians should live. Jesus experiences an
identical situation as he faces his own execution by crucifixion.
Like Daniel, Jesus was innocent in Gods eyes, and in order to
fulfill the Lords divine purpose he had to be put to death. Jesus
obeys his Father throughout his entire life, constantly praying and
asking for guidance, even until his own death. Jesus, the ultimate
example for our lives, made obedience to God a priority, setting
aside his pride and humbly following the mandates of the creator.
Something of this importance shouldnt be ignored by us Christians.
Things havent changed; the Lord still desires our complete
obedience. He even gives us a perfect example in his son, Jesus.
Christ, for us, exemplifies the instant, selfless, trusting
obedience that our Father so dearly desires from us. And yet, with
such an incredible example we still pretend we dont hear God
knocking on our hearts. But what exactly does God want from us?
Surely his call for us to pick up our crosses and follow him was
nothing more than a metaphor? True, but the metaphor tells us that
we need to shoulder lifes burdens and still continue our pursuit of
Christ. Even so, life isnt all about withstanding the difficult
times; God wants us to obey him in the easy tasks as well. For
example, one thing God wants from everyone is a relationship with
him. This means speaking with, and listening to the Father on daily
matters. In one region of Africa, the first converts to
Christianity were very diligent about praying. In fact, the
believers each had their own special place outside the village
where they went to pray in solitude. The villagers reached these
prayer rooms by using their own private footpaths through the
brush. When grass began to grow over one of these trails, it was
evident that the person to whom it belonged was not praying very
much.Because these new Christians were concerned for each others
spiritual welfare, a unique custom sprang up. Whenever anyone
noticed an overgrown Prayer path, he or she would go to the person
and lovingly warn, Friend, theres grass on your path!Daniel prayed
several times a day, so he could keep a strong connection to God,
the source of his wisdom and success. But no matter how many weeds
have accumulated on the road between you and the Lord, they can
always be uprooted, clearing the way to the father. However, even
more than God loves obedience, he hates Sin. Sin is the opposite of
the Lord and when we are full of sin, we remain apart from Him.
Wielded by the Great Deceiver, sin corrupts, injures, tempts, and
destroys. And yet, something so evil surrounds us daily and we take
little notice. A man purchased a white mouse to use as food for his
pet snake. He dropped the unsuspecting mouse into the snake's glass
cage, where the snake was sleeping in a bed of sawdust. The tiny
mouse had a serious problem on his hands. At any moment he could be
swallowed alive. Obviously, the mouse needed to come up with a
brilliant plan.What did the terrified creature do? He quickly set
up work covering the snake with sawdust chips until it was
completely buried. With that, the mouse thought he had solved his
problem, so he went about with life as he normally would, trying to
remove the sleeping snake from his mind.Daniel knew he was
surrounded by sin. His relationship with the Lord helped him to
overcome the evil around him and prevail as a figure of
righteousness. Even so, Daniel came face to face with a physical
embodiment of sin when he was thrown into the lions den. The lions
served as the sin of the world, ready to devour Daniel whole. And
what could he do? Nothing but trust in the Lord. He had fallen,
literally in this case, into an environment so full of sin that it
threatened his very life!Christ, battled with sin when he was in
the desert. Because he was fully human, Jesus was susceptible to
the pull of temptation, but his trust in the Lord and his
insistence on obeying His commands allowed Jesus to overcome Satan
and his lures. Christ, though overcoming sin at every turn, must
bear the sin of all humanity because it is Gods will that Jesus
acts as our perfect sacrifice. Both Daniel and Christ must confront
sin in one way or another. We face a similar fate, though we often
perceive it as something much less dire. Our constant interaction
with sin isnt as harmless as we like to believe it to be. Hardly a
day goes by that we do not have to choose between compliance to
what is expected by this world and our loyalty to the Lord. The
story of Daniel keeps us alert to what is at stake every day. But
despite all these consequences, we shouldnt lose hope. Remember the
little white mouse that simply covered up the sleeping snake?
WellAs it turns out, the man took pity on the little mouse and
removed him from the cage. No matter how hard we try to cover or
deny our sinful nature, it's fool's work. Sin will eventually awake
from sleep and shake off its cover. If it wasnt for the saving
grace of the Master's hand, sin would eat us alive. And that is
truly good news! The Lord our God is always able to save us from
any trouble we may get ourselves into. He wont necessarily shield
us from all harm, but with him in our hearts, all pain is bearable
because we have a limitless supply of joy within us. God is our
shield and portion, and he fulfills this role dozens of times
throughout the Bible. For Daniel, He sends an angel of the Lord
down to shut the mouths of the lions. You see, the sin Daniel was
thrown into was nullified by the Fathers saving grace. And Daniel
remained safe during his time in the pit because of his obedience
and trust in God. Daniel is rescued by the king, who becomes
overjoyed at seeing Daniel alive, against all odds. Christ also
undergoes a variation of rescue. Three days after his crucifixion,
his resurrection serves as the rescue that God promised him from
the start. Jesus is saved from the clutches of Death after his
entire life spent trusting and obeying the Lord because he too was
found innocent in the eyes of God. Christs resurrection is his
proof that God provides rescue for his people. Too many times are
we left wondering why our God, our Protector, doesnt save us from
lifes evils. However, we often miss the help that God sends our
way. The friend, advising us against sneaking out of our house to
go to a party, or parents that let us burn our fingers on the stove
so that we can learn, or the coworker that lovingly tells us were
going down a path of sin, these are the people that God uses to
help us avoid the pain that accompanies our sin. But despite His
divine help, we still manage to fail. We cheat, we lie, we have
impure thoughts, and we do this with the knowledge of what God
wants us to do somewhere in the back of our minds. Fortunately for
us, we have a forgiving creator, one who loves us, failures and
all, and who promises that nothing can snatch you from my hand.
That is truly the good news, that we are saved. So, if nothing else
this morning sticks in your head, please remember these few points.
God wants our obedience, he hates it when we sin, but he is always
standing by to provide rescue when we need it. We might not always
be obedient. History proves that we, the people of God, struggle to
follow his commands. This leads to our sin, which is also
inevitable. Born into a world of sin, we Christians must obey the
Lord and trust in him if we are to make it out of this den of lions
alive. And last but not least, we can rest easy knowing that our
Father, the great shepherd, loves us in unimaginable ways, and is
eternally present, to rescue us from evil. Father, thank you for
being our savior, even when we dont think we need saving. Thank you
for forgiving us when we mess up, and for forgiving us again, when
we do the same thing. We ask that you help us be obedient, in the
easy and the hard things, so that your will be done through us,
each and every day. We love you, Amen
Life in the Den
I. God Wants Obediencea. Daniel is obedientb. Christ is
obedientc. We should be obedientII. God Hates Sina. Daniel faced
the lionsb. Christ faced the crossc. We face our sinIII. God
Provides Our Rescuea. Daniel is rescuedb. Christ is resurrectedc.
We are saved
19At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the
lions den. 20When 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?
21Daniel answered, Oking, live forever! 22My 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, Oking. 23The 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.Sources:
sermonillustrations.com; flickr.com; preachingtoday.com16
