Four Beasts - Daniel 7: 1-18

 It has been quite some time since I have had an opportunity to teach on the book of Daniel. The last time was for a group of college students who wanted to return to the stories they learned growing up in Sunday School. Once we hit chapter seven, we were out of those teachings. For many, this is not a story that they knew was contained within the pages of the book of Daniel. 

Chapter seven starts a series of four visions that Daniel has. All of a sudden, we shift from Daniel’s present situation and context as a captive in Babylon serving the various administrations to an unknown time in the future. 

Think back to the first week in this sermon series where we were in the second chapter of Daniel. Daniel offered to interpret the dream of the king, who had placed an odd demand on all of the wise people in Babylon - to tell him the intrepration of the dream only after they could tell him what the dream was in the first place. Of course, no one could so he was going to kill them all until Daniel intervened. In this chapter Daniel was telling the king what his dream was and what it meant. Now in chapter seven we have a shift and Daniel is the one having the dream. However, it still has to do with the same idea from chapter two - the rise and fall of human kingdoms what are replaced, ultimately, by God’s everlasting Kingdom. 

Daniel’s dream was about four beasts - some which are recognizable and others that are not. The first beast looked like a lion, but had eagles’ wings. This beast is known for its brute force that is absolutely uncontrollable, until its feathers are plucked off, and it becomes docile and human. 

The second beast looked like a bear on it’s hind legs, but with tusks. It had come to devour other nations in conquest. Then a third sort of looked like a leopard, but with four wings and four heads, signifying the dominion that it held over other nations. The fourth beast couldn’t even be described apart from the words terrifying and strong - it simply came to destroy as much as it could. 

Each of the beast was a strange sign of the powers to come - probably represented by certain kings, none of whom as named. Throughout the years, scholars have made guesses about which kingdom each beast may represent, but the truth is what is more important is the twofold message that one, human power is limited but God’s power reigns and remains and two, only God knows the timing of when this revelation will come to pass. We can guess, but in our humanness, we don’t know the time. 

What I appreciate about Daniel sharing his visions is that he does not do so in order to show off, make himself seem better than others, or to lift up his own name. In fact, he is troubled by the visions. Instead, he does so because he feels compelled to by God for God’s purposes. 

As we continue to journey with both the book of Daniel and Benedict on the path of Christian humility, the next step is prudence. This step goes against our inner desire to be different from others or to make a name for ourselves. Instead, we find our identity, in its fullness, in God alone. 

Have you ever met someone who truly does not care for their own will to be done? I find that such saints are the people who give without expecting even a “thank you” in return. They are the ones who give in secret and give in abundance, not because they have a lot, but because they feel so blessed by God. 

A few years ago, the custodian at the church I was serving passed away. She was beloved in the community, but it wasn’t until after her passing that we truly realized just how much she did for the church. Because she did it silently. Without seeking her own glory. And in doing so, she set and example in humility for all around her. 

The next two steps in humility - silence and dignity - are meant to train us in patience. What a difficult word! I have yet to meet anyone who says that they excel in patience. And I am in awe of Daniel receiving this vision. If it was me - I would have all sorts of questions starting with “when, Lord?” But then again, I know that I am not a very patient person. I don’t like the idea of enduring or not knowing. But it is only when I have the fruit from these two steps of seeking to live in a spirit of patience that I can speak to others with gentleness and be heard. 

Even if the midst of such a shocking dream, Daniel is truly a man of few words. Think about this, friends. If you had a dream like this, how long would it take you to explain it to someone? Probably not the few short minutes that it took us to read this scripture together today. We are people who like to be forceful and abundant with our words. We want people to hear us. 

And if anyone should want someone to hear him, it’s Daniel, who has been given this powerful vision from God! 

Yet, he chooses his words carefully, and guided by God for the sake of God. 

For the last several weeks I have been in a training about how to have conversations where we truly hear one another. Truly listen deeply. And the way that we do so is by setting out really simple rules and a pattern for sharing and listening that is easy to follow. The pattern is that there is a prompt - someone shares about it from their perspective for two minutes - then any can ask them a follow up question using the words “I’d be curious to know.” But if their follow up question becomes too wordy or complicated or sounds like they are just sharing their opinion in the form of a question we stop and try again. 

Why? Because all too often we don’t ask questions to listen - we ask wordy questions to assert our own authority. We feel like the more words we speak the better off we look, but miss the point of shining the light of Christ through our word and our thoughtfulness with those words.

The final step of humility is that one bears their heart to God in all things and in all places - whether in prayer, work, service, or study. 

There is one more aspect of the beasts that we didn’t name before - the horns. The horns are a sign of strength and power, but they were also speaking arrogantly, which caused it to be plucked up. 

The little horn and even the beasts, only had a heart for themselves. They wanted to make there presence and kingdom known. But Daniel showed a different way to live - not just in recalling this vision, but in all of the passages that we have looked at over this past month - as he sought to have the heart of God leading him. 

Friends, as we end this series, I ask again - where are you on the journey of Christian humility? And by what heart is your life being lead - one of your own making or one that follows Christ alone? Amen. 

“Fiery Furnace” - Daniel 3: 1-30

 Out of the book of Daniel there are two stories that I remember from growing up. Every evening my parents would gather my brothers and I on the couch to read Bible stories together. We had all sorts of picture Bibles. Most of the pictures were animated and tame. But not so much for this particular story. It is hard to hear the words of being thrown into a fiery furnace, let alone depict it in a picture. Yet, as hard as this story is to think about, it still speaks to us today. 

Nebuchadnezzar, probably the same Nebuchadnezzar who repented last week when Daniel interpreted his dream, has done exactly what God predicted. He ends up building this large gold statute to honor himself and his leadership. More than that, he expected people to stop and venerate the statute by bowing the way to show that they saw him as a god. 

But these three men, who as a child, I simply thought as those guys with the hard names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refuse to bow before the statute of Nebuchadnezzar. In retaliation, Nebuchadnezzar decides that they must give their lives - tossing them into a furnace of fire. Only they don’t die. Instead, when the observers look into the fire, they see not three people, but four - with an angel protecting the three men. 

Nebuchadnezzar has another “ah-ha” moment and calls Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - and again praises the name of God. Only this time he takes it a step further. Instead of simply lifting them up in the leadership structure, as he did with Daniel, he says that anyone who spoke out against them, would be torn apart limb from limb. 

When Benedict was speaking about the ladder of humility, the third step is obedience. Now in relationship to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, what I am about to say is going to sound odd. Step Three - submit yourself to your superior in obedience, out of love of God. So how did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego live into this step of humility if they weren’t obedient to the one who looks like their leader - Nebuchadnezzar . Remember that Benedict is writing to people who are to be in relationship with Christ. The person who is charge (words that I use loosely) and they are to submit to that person because they trust that person is seeking and submitting to Christ in their lives and are seeking to be led by God alone. 

This type of humility does not require Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be obedient to what is ungodly - which bowing down to a statue of a man who has made himself into a god certainly is. We are to be obedient to God, not to what is against God. When Benedict asks monks to submit to their superiors, this was to be someone who was to point the community to Christ. They are known for their relationship with God, which has been tested and seen as fruitful by the community as a whole. And we submit to the superior because we trust that they have the best interest of our spiritual life in mind. 

In my community the person I submit to is Mary. I remember when I joined the community and Mary asked me first how I saw myself serving on the worship team. I love to write liturgy and it seems like a good use of my skills. Mary received what I said, but then asked if I would become a dean - which is a person who teaches and provides pastoral care. This was something that I never considered. I thought I was too new. But Mary asked me to pray about this opportunity, while gently closing the door to my idea to help write liturgies. I then prayed and came back to Mary and said “yes”, I would serve. That is the type of obedience that Benedict is talking about. And this is certainly not the type of leadership that Nebuchadnezzar showed.

So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were obedient to God. 

The problem, friends, is when we believe that we do not need to consult with the wise people who have a vibrant relationship with God. You know the type of people I’m talking about right? They might not be the named leaders. Might not have a position. But they are the people who listen to you and pray with you and want the best in your spiritual life. Do not think you are being obedient to God without asking others to examine what you are discerning with you. Those who can hold you accountable and remind you that we do not seek to be obedient to God alone. We all need people who can help usher us into deeper spiritual growth while allowing us to see the areas that we are blind to. Which is why so few people seek to truly be obedient in the spiritual life. 

The fourth step of humility is perseverance when obedience is difficult. It would have perhaps been easy for the trio if they were asked to do what met the status quo, was of benefit to them and aligned with their beliefs - but this is not usually the case. So they were obedient to God, even when it was difficult and had the very real potential to cost them their lives. So step four, weaves together both obedience and self-denial. 

Obedience without any sting or pain is easy. 

What Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did was difficult. 

Which leads us to ask if we would do the same thing? Would we accept the challenge of obedience to the point where it requires our perseverance or would we give up and give in? Would we abandon the way of Christ for our own comforts? And would we let ourselves be brought low so that God can be esteemed?

The fifth step of humility is repentance. Now we don’t see this step of humility from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - they had nothing that we are told of in this particular story that they needed to repent from. But we do see some sort of repentance from the king. 

When we screw up and sin - when we distance ourselves from God and break relationship with other people, we need to confess that. To bring it before God and ask for forgiveness. 

Now, we might not be building tall statues of ourselves, but we do break covenant with God. So, church, what does confession look like in your life? And who are the people around you that encourage you to acknowledge your offense and bring it before God? 

Benedict actually had his monks confess their faults to an abbot - someone who had authority over them. It wasn’t the job of the abbot to scold them. It was the job of the abbot to point them to God. Why? Because left to our own devices so many of us would never bring our shortcomings and sin before a holy God. We would rather pretend that everything is okay than to have an honest conversation with God about the state of sin in our lives. 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego show us the character of true humility - no matter the cost. What is interesting about this path of humility today is that no one was making another person take it. People chose to follow because it was the desire of their heart - to set themselves aside and to grow closer to God. So, brothers and sisters, what will you choose? Will you choose the path of humility no matter what? Amen.