Giving Thanks in Trying Times
Daniel 2:17-23
November 24, 2013
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Giving Thanks in Trying Times
Daniel 2:17-23
Many of you have the same custom on Thanksgiving
Day. Sometime over the course of the
meal, before or after or in between, you will go around the table and everyone
is expected to identify and describe something that they are thankful for.
Those who do this year after year have a well-rehearsed
litany. They know this is coming, so they are thankful for the same things
every year. They recite it quickly to
get it over with. But, guests are always caught off guard, even if they have
been warned.
Some
really struggle with this custom because they understand the magnitude of the
question, “What are you thankful for?” They may stammer or stutter a bit because
they know that the answer to this question will reveal what they truly
value. When you answer this once-a-year
question, you tell everyone at the table, this is what is most important to
you. So you don’t want it to sound trivial or shallow, or else people might
think that you are trivial or shallow.
In our scripture today, Daniel gives thanks to God for
wisdom and strength to remain faithful in trying times. This is what he thinks is most
important. In a few moments, you’ll see
why these are the qualities that matter.
Over the course of this message I’d like you to think
about this question. What are you
thankful for? What do you truly
value? What is most important to
you? Figure out the answer to this
question and you’ll come closer to God than you were before. First, let us
pray:
Lord, you have given so much to each of us. Grant us one
more thing – a grateful heart. Help us
to enter your gates with thanksgiving, and your courts with praise.[1] Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
For Daniel things were going from bad to worse. He was far from home, and home was rubble
burned and scarred. He was young and at
that stage in life when the future is supposed to open up before you like a
flower; but the flower was crushed under the boots of a Babylonian army. They had encircled his city, Jerusalem, broke
down her walls, destroyed her Temple, ransacked and looted her homes, and
carted off the best and the brightest across a thousand miles of desert to
serve as glorified slaves in Babylon.
Daniel was one of those bright young men who were ripped from their
homeland.
Daniel was a man of faith and so decided he would make
the best of a bad situation. He used the
talents and abilities God had given him to bloom where he was planted.
His gifts and skills and positive attitude did not go un-noticed; so, he
was recruited for an internship to serve in the King’s palace. He would spend three years learning the
language and customs and all that it took to become a valued adviser in
government service. This was about as
high as an out-of-towner could expect to go, so this was a plum opportunity for
Daniel.
Daniel did so well
in this program that even the King thought him ten times brighter than the native born boys who had a head
start in language and customs. Daniel
may be far from home, and may be a prisoner; but he was now at least a prisoner
in the King’s palace and there were worse places he could be.
Then the King began to have a disturbing dream, and the
Bible says, “his spirit was troubled
and he could not sleep.”[2] Night after night he had the same dream and
it was driving him crazy. This was long
before Freud and the development of modern psychological theory, so, he called
in his consultants, the magicians, the
enchanters and the sorcerers. He
told them that he was having this worrisome dream, and he wanted them to tell
him what it meant.
They were only too eager to strut their stuff so they
asked him to tell them the dream. The
Kings had evidently worked with consultants before. He knew that if he told them the dream, they
would give him some kind of answer, any kind of answer, whether it was true or
not. He wanted to verify their
deliverables, so before he signed the contract, he said if you know your stuff,
if you really know your stuff you will first tell me what I dreamed. Do that,
and then I’ll believe your interpretation.
The consultants are looked at each in panic other like
students who hadn’t studied for a test.
They said, “Your highness, you
don’t understand, we can’t tell you what you have dreamed, but we can certainly
tell you what it means. So just tell us what you dreamed, and we’ll tell you
what it means.”
The King was pretty cranky. He hadn’t slept in days. He raised the stakes. He said, “If you don’t tell me what I’ve
dreamed you shall be torn limb from limb, and your homes shall be laid in
ruins.”[3] It
was time to put up or shut up. He had it
up to here with sycophants and hangers-on.
He was ready to clean house. If
you couldn’t cut the mustard you would be fired, which in this case meant that
you might be literally thrown into a fire.
His edict applied not only to those in upper management, but even on
down to those who just completed their internship.
That
meant Daniel and his friends were also on the hook. The ink was barely dry on their diplomas when
they are drawn in to this royal battle.
They hadn’t asked to be included in this, but there they were, almost
finished before they had a chance to begin.
I
want you to follow what Daniel does next, because this can serve as a model for
you the next time you face a difficult situation. First he goes to the King to ask him for more
time. Then he goes to his friends to ask
them to join him in prayer. Finally, they go together to God.
That’s
not a bad paradigm for dealing with any important problem. Most of the bad decisions we make, we make
because we feel rushed. We are
uncomfortable in the situation, and only what that feeling to end, so we reach
for an answer that is quick and easy. We
just want to move on, whether we are ready to do that or not. We want instant answers before we even
understand what the question means.
Daniel
could not fake an answer to the King’s question, “what did I dream?” There
was no way to bluff that, so he asked for time.
The King gave it to him. Most
people will, if the problem is important enough. Most understand that it is better to do it
right, than to do it right away. Those
who do not, who are too impatient, usually add to the problem, rather than take
it away.
The
next thing Daniel did was to gather his friends together for prayer. We do that
a lot in the Church, though sometimes we’re not sure why? Do numbers make the prayer more
effective? Does God hear better when
many people ask for the same thing? Is
group prayer like getting out the vote?
Does God answer the prayers of those with the most votes?
I’m
not sure that’s it. When Daniel invited his friends to pray with him I think it
was more for his benefit than God’s.
When we pray in groups we find encouragement in each other. We have a
sense that we are part of something greater than ourselves. When we pray in
groups we think a little more about what we are praying for. We don’t want to be heard as being shallow
or trivial, so our prayers become less shallow and less trivial. Our prayers become more corporate, more
concerned with others and less concerned about ourselves.
As
Daniel prayed for an answer to the King’s question, he did so not just to save
his own skin, but also to save the lives of his friends and even those who didn’t
think much of him at all. His prayer was for all the people who found
themselves on the receiving end of the King’s anger.
God
is gracious. God gave the answer to
Daniel. He saw the King’s dream and
understood its meaning. Before he goes
to the King with this good news. Before
he goes to collect the royal reward that will surely follow, Daniel pauses for
a thanksgiving service. There was no
turkey or football. It was just pure
thanksgiving. He prayed:
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
To
whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes the time and season;
He
removes the kings and sets up kings;
He gives wisdom to the wise and
Knowledge
to to those who have understanding;
He reveals deep and mysterious things;
He
knows what is in the darkness,
And the light dwells with him.
To
thee, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise.[4]
Notice,
in Daniel’s Thanksgiving service, he identifies first the one to whom he gives
thanks. Blessed be the name of God.
The Lord is the one to whom we give thanks.
A
friend of mine observed:
I am amazed at how easily Thanksgiving is accepted
in our country. As far as I know none of
the atheist groups are trying to get rid of it.
No one thinks their rights are violated by Thanksgiving. On that day, we shut the country down, but no
one will march on the capitol with placards saying, “Down with
Thanksgiving. Why is that? Why do we get away with all this
government-sanctioned piety in the country?
Perhaps it is because our souls all long to give thanks. It is what they do best. It is what souls were designed to do.”[5]
We
all have this instinct but many don’t know how to direct it. That’s why some have fallen into the habit of
calling this Turkey day. It’s easier to
celebrate the slaughter of a defenseless bird than it is to acknowledge that
there may be someone other than myself who is responsible for the blessings I
enjoy. If I recognize a power greater
than my own, I will have to come to grips with the reality that I don’t know
all the answers nor do I have the strength to meet all situations.
That is why Daniel
thanks God for wisdom and courage and strength.
These are the things that really matter.
Daniel more than most understood how quickly the blessings we take for
granted can be taken from us. He knew
how quickly the security of a strong wall could be broken down. He had seen the
Babylonian army do just that. He knew
how trust in our own ability to repel an invader could be erased in a moment of
national turmoil, how your world can be changed in an instant – and so do
we. We have also seen how vulnerable we
are.
That’s
why Daniel prayed for wisdom and courage, because an enemy who can attack out
of the blue cannot destroy these blessings from God. That’s why we pray for wisdom and courage as
well, and why we give thanks when God provides them.
If
around your Thanksgiving table someone asks you to identify what you are most
thankful for, consider carefully your response because it identifies what you
think is most important. There are blessings
that God has given you that give you joy, a warm home, a loving family, and a
good job, even your health. Then there
are blessings that God gives you that are essential to your soul – faith, hope,
love, wisdom, strength, and courage.
These are qualities that can only be given away, but never taken
away. They are the gifts for which we
ought to truly be thankful.
I
close with one of those thoughts that float around the internet. I don’t know who wrote it or where it came
from, but it captures the heart of this message.
I
asked for strength that I might achieve,
He made me weak
that I might listen.
I asked for health that I might do greater things,
I was given grace that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy,
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of
men,
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of
God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I received nothing that I asked for,
All that I hoped for.
My prayer was answered.
So, give thanks with
grateful hearts, for all that God has given and all that He promises yet to
come.
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