Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open towards 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.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, August 22, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Daniel’s prayer is an act of protest. King Darius has passed an unjust law, and Daniel isn’t having it. He knows the consequences, but he cannot in good conscience obey.
Because we are flawed humans with flawed egos, we as a society frequently pass laws that are unjust. They declare certain people inferior, ineligible for equal treatment under the law, unable to make their own decisions about their healthcare or who they can marry or what spaces they can be in. We attempt to somehow enforce an ideal society that fits into one group’s particular worldview, so that group (the dominant, privileged group) can feel secure.
Daniel and his people were “other.” They were conquered, subjugated, forced to live far from home. Yet they refused to give up their identity as God’s beloved children. So Daniel, who represents them as a whole, puts his life on the line in his declaration of faithfulness to God.
How many people do we try to “other” in our own lives and societies? How does God’s call to radical welcome make null and void the distinctions we use to force others to behave in ways that make us comfortable? How willing are we to stand up for and with our “othered” brothers and sisters against unjust laws?
Where am I called to action against injustice?
