“Trial by Deceit”

Scripture: Daniel 6:1-12

Today is Pentecost – the day we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church. (Acts 2:1-41) It’s the day when God’s promise that he “would never leave us” is fulfilled. (Deuteronomy 31:6-8 & Hebrews 13:5-6) It is also, I believe, the day when Satan came to the realization that not only had he gained nothing in Christ’s crucifixion, but in fact, had lost it all. But the time for his final surrender has not yet come, and he would continue to seize the opportunities for more mischief and more damage to God’s people.

This isn’t to say, though, that Pentecost is when Satan’s work began. It was simply the day when the world, which at one time had been solely in his domain (Matthew 4:1-11), would be opened to the Lord’s salvation. Israel would no longer have sole possession of God’s grace – now all nations could experience the redemption and cleansing that comes through the blood of Christ. And not only could the people from all nations realize the promise of Godly presence, but they would also come to understand the hatred and deceit that defines Satan.

Both Israel’s legacy of God’s love and the world’s loathing would now be ours, just as it was Daniel’s. But no one gets God without Satan sticking his nose into the mix.

Read Daniel 6:1-5

Timothy Bagwell writes:
Jesus avoided conversations that tried to persuade by analyzing fine points of the law (cf. the scribes and Pharisees). Rather, he helped people picture the kingdom of God, and he invited them to see themselves in the picture.
--Timothy J. Bagwell, Preaching for Giving: Proclaiming Financial Stewardship With Holy Boldness (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 1993), 55.

For Daniel, obeying the law wasn’t a matter of sacrifice - it was an opportunity to come closer to his Lord. He was intimate with God, he was focused on God, and nothing – not the world, not pagans, not masters or conquers - could come between them. But this would never stop the worldly from trying.

And they are still trying! And as often as it happens, I continue to be amazed that they would even care! Why should it make any difference to others whether we are disciples of Jesus Christ or not? But the more I think about it, it seems that it isn’t so much that people stand against the Church, but that it is Satan who objects to our faith, and he uses humanity to do his bidding, just as the Almighty does.
It was Satan who put temptation before Adam and Eve; it was Satan who put jealousy in Cain’s heart; it was Satan who hardened the hearts of Israel during the Exodus; and the list goes on and on until it is far longer than we have time to relate. It is the great Accuser who tears our relationships apart, he is the one who corrupts our faith, and he is the one who causes great dissention in the Church of today. And the greater our faith is, the harder he works to disrupt it.

And so it was with Daniel. His service to Darius was exceptional, and the other administrators and all of the sub-administrators didn’t like it. His heritage was different, his faith was different, they saw him as an outsider, and he had to go. Why couldn’t they see this Hebrew as a good example, one who they could learn from, one who could put them in a good light with the king? They couldn’t, because Satan told them a lie - that Daniel was a threat to their positions – and they believed it. He turns our benefits into liabilities; he turns our blessings into curses; he turns the joy of Almighty God into a burden on our lives.
And for Daniel, the plot would only get thicker and thicker.

Read Daniel 6:6-9

They could find no fault in Daniel, so they decided to come against him in faith. That’s Satan’s work - he puts pride in the heart of Darius, and uses the officials of the land to accomplish it. Remember that Pentecost morning, when the faithful began to speak in tongues, and the Spirit was roaring through the house, and people began to gather to find out what was happening? One man in the crowd, in response to the question “What does this mean?”, replied “O just ignore them – they’re all drunk!” Everyone could not only hear the disciples, but they could understand them. And because the phenomenon couldn’t be explained, it was ridiculed.
Satan? You bet! But on Pentecost, a large portion of the crowd listened just the same, and heard the message that Peter was to offer, and 3,000 would be baptized and come to faith in Jesus Christ.
But what about Daniel? The deceit of the governmental officials was taking place, and the king, even though he had great trust in the Hebrew, fell for their ruse, and the order was given. Everyone would be required to worship the king, without question and without exception, for an entire month. Including Daniel.

Read Daniel 6:10-12

But Daniel wasn’t about to comply. Deceit or no deceit, edict or no edict – his God was still his one and only God, and he promptly turned to the only source of truth to help him through this situation.

Do you know the song “I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together.” The third verse reads “Sometimes the church is marching, sometimes it’s bravely burning, sometimes it’s riding, sometimes hiding, always its learning.”(“We Are the Church”, The United Methodist Hymnal, The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, 1989, pg 558)

This hymn isn’t about the church as an institution – it’s about the church in you and me. Sometimes our faith is under attack, sometimes it is in doubt, sometimes it is gloriously proclaiming Christ, sometimes it is retreating, sometimes it is strong, and sometimes it is completely silent. That’s where Daniel was that day – under attack – and in faith, he knew that he was not going to be able to withstand the assault by himself. So, in defiance of the king’s order, he turns to God, in prayer, for help.

Daniel didn’t have a body of believers that he could to turn to – no church, no synagogue, no faithful friend. He was alone. He had been placed in an exalted position in the nation’s government, but even that did him no good. Not only was his faith under attack, but the continuation of his physical existence had become very uncertain!
For 3,200 years, the faithful of Israel have been pushed and shoved and beaten and stomped on, and faith survived even though many of the people haven’t. For 2,000 years, the Body of Christ has suffered a similar fate, and faith has not only survived, but it has, for some reason, grown. There has never been much hard physical evidence to support the claims of Christianity, and yet, faith has lived on in the lives of millions upon millions of souls.

I believe that Pentecost – the explosion of faith – is an ongoing event in the lives of God’s people. The Spirit of Pentecost has sustained the faithful in times of trial, in times of exile, in times of conquest, in times of burning and hiding and fleeing. This is the same Spirit that would be with Daniel as he faced judgment for his refusal to turn away from the Living God. The Spirit was with the disciples as they moved from days of despair, to days of fear, to days of realization, and into days of faithful ministry. This Spirit would be with Saul on the Road to Damascus, and in Ananias’ house, and in ministry to the gentile world. That same Spirit has been with Christians for 2,000 years when they have struggled and when they have rejoiced, and is with us today.

Pentecost isn’t just about speaking in tongues or a wind that howled through the lives of thousands – it is about overcoming the deceit and hatred of the world, day by day, through the power of the Spirit of God. Pentecost isn’t about the burning or the hiding or the abuse that comes our way – it is about proclaiming the grace and glory and promise that comes to us from the Incarnate God, the Son the God, the Redeeming God – the one who we know as Jesus the Christ.
Our faith will constantly be under trial – not from God, but from Satan. Satan knows that his defeat is near, and that Jesus’ victory cannot be stopped or delayed, but he will continue to try to break the spirit of the faithful.
Daniel’s trial isn’t over – we’ll see more of it next week. And our days of trial aren’t finished, either. But Daniel knew that his God would never leave him, and we know that we will never be forgotten or abandoned, and that is the good news that we must share with the world, even as they plot and scheme to destroy us.

Live in the Spirit, and while the world does their worse, know that we have the Best!