Narrative Lectionary Program Year – Daniel’s Hope in God
Daniel 6:6-27
Free Additional Resources for Study & Sermon Preparation
Furthering the Power of God’s Story – Narrative Lectionary Commentary
by Pastor Ron Valadez
Who doesn’t remember this gem from Sunday school? I can still remember the artwork in my children’s Bible of this story. I can’t think of a better story to begin our Advent journey with. Not only is it a great story, but it’s chock full of all the things about this season that we hold dear, and then some.
No matter your gender, class, location, or color, we have all needed heroes at some point in our lives. As an adult, I still do. I’m still a Star Wars fan well into adulthood. I still watch superhero movies. My family is currently in the middle of watching the Harry Potter movies, again. And I don’t just watch these movies because their “cool.” I watch them because they give me hope, in spite of the fact that I know they aren’t “real!” They are stories of heroes that inspire, that give us purpose, that re-energize our humanity—that help us learn more about who we are and how we relate to those around us. And heroes come in all shapes and sizes.
This is who Daniel was to those first Jews that shared this story during the Exile. They shared a story of a hero that was not afraid of the powers that be, at a time when they needed a hero the most, when the chips were down and hope was fleeting. And it doesn’t matter whether the stories contained in this book are historically factual. What matters is what they did for the people who read and shared them, both then and now. (For more examples of Daniel as hero, see Daniel as one of the knights of old in Bel and the Dragon, or Daniel saving a damsel in distress in Susanna).
The book is divided into two main parts, chapters 1-6 and 7-12. The first half containing the narratives of the hero Daniel, and the last half containing the apocalyptic visions of said hero (the only full-fledged example of apocalyptic writing in the Hebrew scriptures). The chapter we have this week is the last of that first half and probably the best-known story from this book, except maybe The Fiery Furnace. Similar to the story of Joseph from two months ago, Daniel has found success in the eyes of the king, even to the point of being placed in charge of the entire kingdom, under only the king. As often happens, there were those that tried to help Daniel fail, and in the kingdom of a weak king, they succeed, at first anyway.
Daniel is thrown into a lion’s pit, expected to be eaten alive, only to be found in the morning unharmed and proclaiming that God found him innocent. It’s easy to get caught up in the miraculous saving of Daniel here, especially with all this talk of superheroes and wizards and such. However, I’d argue that the real miracle here, or at least an equally engaging miracle, is the effect that heroes like Daniel have on us. Is it that Daniel survived which gives us hope? Or, is it that Daniel stood up for what was right, did not waiver in his commitment, and was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of his people, which in turn inspired his people to not give up on hope? I’m going with the latter.
This week would be a great opportunity to explore who our heroes are today, both historical and fictional, and what they mean to us—whether they be people like Nelson Mandela, Marsha P. Johnson, or Wonder Woman. This would also be a good time to explore our own heroness. Whether we like to admit it or not, we are seen as a hero to someone else, and we can either dismiss that, or try our best to live up to it.
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Contemporary Resources
Why Lunch Ladies Are Heroes, Ted talk by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Wordplay and Narrative Techniques in Daniel 5 and 6, Bill T. Arnold, Journal of Biblical Literature - There’s a fascinating word study here on “finding” and “seeking.”
Why Heroes are Important, by Scott LaBarge, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University
A Good Read
The Hero With A Thousand Faces
by Joseph Campbell
Since its release in 1949, The Hero with a Thousand Faces has influenced millions of readers by combining the insights of modern psychology with Joseph Campbell’s revolutionary understanding of comparative mythology. In these pages, Campbell outlines the Hero’s Journey, a universal motif of adventure and transformation that runs through virtually all of the world’s mythic traditions. He also explores the Cosmogonic Cycle, the mythic pattern of world creation and destruction. As part of the Joseph Campbell Foundation’s Collected Works of Joseph Campbell, this third edition features expanded illustrations, a comprehensive bibliography, and more accessible sidebars. As relevant today as when it was first published, The Hero with a Thousand Faces continues to find new audiences in fields ranging from religion and anthropology to literature and film studies. The book has also profoundly influenced creative artists—including authors, songwriters, game designers, and filmmakers—and continues to inspire all those interested in the inherent human need to tell stories.
Video Resources
Song
David Bowie, Heroes, w/lyrics
Daily Devotional Feed
Free Dramatic Reading For This Text (NRSV)
Readers: Narrator, Presidents, King, Daniel
Narrator: So the presidents and satraps conspired and came to the king and said to him,
Presidents: O King Darius, live forever! All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an interdict, that whoever prays to anyone, divine or human, for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into a den of lions. Now, O king, establish the interdict and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.
Narrator: Therefore King Darius signed the document and interdict. Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open toward Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously. The conspirators came and found Daniel praying and seeking mercy before his God. Then they approached the king and said concerning the interdict,
Presidents: O king! Did you not sign an interdict, that anyone who prays to anyone, divine or human, within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be thrown into a den of lions?
Narrator: The king answered,
King: The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.
Narrator: Then they responded to the king,
Presidents: Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the interdict you have signed, but he is saying his prayers three times a day.
Narrator: When the king heard the charge, he was very much distressed. He was determined to save Daniel, and until the sun went down he made every effort to rescue him. Then the conspirators came to the king and said to him,
Presidents: Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no interdict or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.
Narrator: Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel,
King: May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!
Narrator: A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no food was brought to him, and sleep fled from him. Then, at break of day, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions. When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel,
King: O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?
Narrator: Daniel then said to the king,
Daniel: O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.
Narrator: Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. The king gave a command, and those who had accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. Before they reached the bottom of the den the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces. Then King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every language throughout the whole world:
King: May you have abundant prosperity! I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: For he is the living God, enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion has no end. He delivers and rescues, he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth; for he has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.