Standing Out Like Daniel

The book of Daniel records about only two weeks worth of Daniel's long life in exile. So we don't really know, like, a full picture of what his whole life looked like. I'm sure he wasn't perfect because no man not named Jesus ever was perfect. But in a Bible that's full of heroes that had really serious character flaws, huge fails, huge sins, and even at times just utter distrust of God, we still consider them heroes. Daniel stands out.

If the satraps couldn't find any dirt on him, then three different rulers were impressed by him so much so that they gave him authority in their kingdoms, he must have lived a very faithful life and been a man of integrity. And it was apparent to everyone around him.

I wonder if we can stand out like Daniel did. I wonder if people see that when they look at us talking about the things that Daniel did.

I want to go back to what Daniel didn't do.

1. He doesn't fold because he doesn't seem to fear.

He stays faithful to God as he and his friends have been doing since the beginning of his exile over 60 years before. He's been through this kind of thing before. He can trust in an outcome because he trusts in a God that has always come through for both him and his friends. And it's a simple concept, but it may be the hardest thing to do for us humans to not be afraid, to be at peace in the midst of something so scary.

I'm thinking of the disciples. And it draws me to remember the words of Jesus after he's resurrected. And he appears to them in that room and he says, first thing, he says, “Peace be with you.” And just in case they didn't get it, he said it again. “Peace be with you.” He said things like, “Do not be afraid.” He said things like, “Don't let your heart be troubled or fearful. Trust me.” So I ask again, what would it be like if we were not afraid? You know, you can be scared and still not live in fear. How could you live if you lived without fear?

2. He doesn't start a fight.

Daniel, as well as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, like we talked about before, could have responded in several ways to this proclamation. Daniel approaches opposition a lot like Jesus would later on the religious leaders of his day and Roman and corrupt Jewish governments. And I think that there's a lot to ponder about the way that Daniel handles this very tricky situation. He could have whined.

He could have written a letter to the management. He could have tipped poorly. He could have gotten back at them. He could have started a revolt or a protest. He could have found some slander about these satraps and shared it. He could have blasted them on social media. He seemed very content to just simply continue being a God follower and to not be afraid to do it publicly, as he had become very well known for since early on in his life.

3. He openly shares his faith

…Even if it's going to get him killed. It's incredibly clear the impact that Daniel and his friends have had when faced with exile and constant threat of death.

You witness changes in actual authentic worship from characters like Nebuchadnezzar. You saw how Darius seemed to cherish Daniel as a friend and expressed at least a little faith that his God would save him. And then he worshiped him publicly to his whole kingdom. Man, that is cool. And I think we can have that effect on people, too.

How do we stand for faith in 2025? There's a few ideas that just come to mind. There's definitely more. But maybe we can have the courage to say things that need to be said, but be wise and filled with love and compassion when deciding how to share those things. Maybe we can grow strong and genuine friendships with unbelievers and earn the gift of their trust to be able to speak into their lives over time. Maybe we can be that one person at the office that's known for integrity and being trustworthy, hard working and authentic. And maybe we don't use our computer keyboards as weapons.

I'm going to share a couple of true stories, starting with kind of a hard one to hear. It's attached to a very serious issue, but this is not about the issue. I want you to hear me on that. In my small town of Mount Vernon, there's an old school public square. Sometimes people gather there to promote things and to protest things. And one day I was driving around the square and I noticed some pro and some anti abortion protests and picket signs and a lot of people on both sides and they were really fired up and it was getting ugly and I get it. Emotionally charged subject. But what happened next had me kind of shook. A guy runs out in front of my moving car and plants his God hates abortion sign on the windshield of my car and starts yelling at me and shaking his fist. I fought off a couple of really strong temptations in that moment, but when I got away, a wave of emotions ran through my heart and mind. I do not support abortion. Just want you to know. But I love you no matter what you have been through in your life. That's all I'm saying. Love you. That guy had more murder in his eyes than I have personally ever encountered before or since. It hit me hard. I thought, what if he did that to an expecting and scared mother? What if I had been a person who had contributed to an abortion in some way and I was hurting and processing through that and trying to heal. How would that affect me? What if I was already leaning in that direction? What if it pushed me over the edge? We got to do better when we disagree that not only does it work, it doesn't look anything like Jesus. It's not the way Daniel conducted himself in Babylon.

Here's another true story, and a much better one. Heard this about a preacher that wanted to play softball. He joined a rec league, got put on a team, and he just went and played. Those guys he played with were pretty rough around the edges. A lot of shady things happening in the dugout. But he played it cool. He didn't tell anybody who he was or what he did. He just played softball. And at one point during a game, a church member saw him playing and came over and talked with him for a few minutes near the field. And some of his teammates overheard the conversation. Later, they cornered him. “Hey, man, are you a preacher?” He actually said, “No.” He went back to them later and said, “Yeah, I'm a preacher. I just didn't want to make a big deal about it.” Over time, with the relationships that he built with his teammates, most of them came to follow Jesus because a guy went to play some softball and just be who he was. A loving follower of Jesus, and lives are changed. To me, seems like there's a lot more power in the shy preacher than in the angry protester.

So what does it feel like to be in exile for most of your life? I don't think we really have to wonder. Because we are in exile. We live in actually a modern archetype, Babylon. In our culture today, there's a lot, a lot of similarities, a lot of little C gods out there because of Jesus. We have a little bit different today than Daniel did. We know the gospel. We've seen the history there we are the image of God, but we're still waiting on our homeland for him to come back and take us there for good and fix everything and make all things new. And we carry around with us the Holy Spirit. We carry him though, in a foreign and fallen world.

We're called to bring good news and be light while we're here. And I think Daniel shows us a lot about how to live faithfully in exile and do so in a way that will help bring change to people's hearts for God. 1 Peter 2 says this:

Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul and conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evil doers, they will observe your good works and they will glorify God on the day that he visits.

What if we dedicate ourselves as a church to living faithful lives in exile, to never speak the truth in anger while at the same time being committed to not fear, to share the truth in love. What does it look like to conduct ourselves honorably and by doing so inspire people to glorify God like Daniel did? Now we have a good example to follow in Jesus. We have a good example to follow in Daniel. We worship the God of the Bible. We follow his Son. We live with his Spirit in us. And what happens out there? Politics and all the issues and those are not unimportant. But being followers of God is more important. The Bible speaks God's truth, so let's champion that. Let's be salt and light. Let's preach the word in season and out of season. Let's love our enemies. Let's pray for those who persecute us. Let's make every effort to live in peace with everyone.

I find it really interesting the way King Darius talked to Daniel and about Daniel, he used this language. He did this twice. May your God whom you continually serve your God. That is really cool. To be identified by an unbeliever as a servant of God who we continually serve. Do we live in a way, somebody might say that about us one day. Cause who knows, there might be a Nebuchadnezzar or a Darius or maybe just a neighbor or a coworker that's watching you right now, watching how you live, learning about your God who you continually serve. And maybe one day it'll rub off and they'll decide to serve him too.