DANIEL 6:1-9 A PROPER WITNESS

Written by , Rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia
 

¹ It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, ² with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. ³ Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. ⁴ At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. ⁵ Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”
⁶ So the administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king and said: “O King Darius, live forever! ⁷ The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king 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. ⁸ Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” ⁹ So King Darius put the decree in writing.

Our call as followers of Jesus is to live lives that are above reproach. But as Daniel’s life illustrates, that will not result in our being above trouble or attack. If our lives truly exhibit the integrity that comes with living in obedience to God, then the world will be challenged by our radically alternative lifestyle. As Jesus told his disciples before he went to the cross, if the world persecuted him, it will persecute us also (John 15:18-21).

The key verse in this passage for us should be, “⁵ Finally these men said, ‘We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.’” Just because we call Jesus our Lord it does not directly follow that any negative reaction from the world is necessarily due to that identification. Notice the jealous leaders of the kingdom attacked Daniel because of his faith only after they could find no other reason for doing so.

We always have to be on our guard when it comes to confusing the “O” words. A godly witness in the world comes through obedience to God. Our motive must be to obey God rather than to “make a statement for God.” The latter motivation is where we run into problems. Too often our witness is compromised because the attention comes from our being obnoxious for God. When people attack us because we have done something to provoke that response, the result is a negative witness to God. We need to constantly be evaluating our motives and discerning whether we are following Jesus or our own sense of righteousness. Whenever we realize that our self-righteousness is causing our words and actions we need to repent and resubmit ourselves to God.

It is one thing to get punched in the nose for jumping between the bully and his victim and quite another for taking a swing at a bully.

Make me like Daniel in the eyes of the world, Lord God. May I live a life of integrity to your will and one in which the only criticism comes from the difference between your will and the way of the world. Help me to be clear as to what suffering I bring on myself and keep me from being too quick to “sanctify” it in my own mind by ascribing its cause to being your disciple. Amen.

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