Standing Firm: Faithfulness in Small Things

In the early 1980’s, researchers conducted a study examining identical twin brothers who pursued radically different lifestyle choices. And though their names weren’t revealed in the study - we’ll call them Dan and Tim. But in their radically different choices: Dan became incredibly athletic, focusing on muscle training and diet regimen, while Tim, despite sharing identical genetics, did not.

And this almost goes without saying, but the result was that Dan, became much healthier, putting on muscle weight and having better overall general fitness, while Tim’s body atrophied - resulting in quite the stark contrast. I know which of the two guys I’d want on my team.

But how did this happen? Did Dan one day wake up and say, “Ya know, I think I’m gonna get jacked today,” while Tim decided not to? Of course not. It happened slowly over time... as Dan trained himself to become bigger, faster, and stronger, Through small, but meaningful decisions. “Am I going to go to the gym today…?” “Am I going to eat McDonald's over a healthy home-cooked meal…?” Those sorts of things. The point is, It was faithfulness in small things that led to big things.

And this is not merely the case with health and fitness, for it is also true with our spiritual health and fitness. And the story of Daniel in Daniel chapter 6 shows us this.

See, when I was young, and I heard the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den, I used to think: “Boy do I sure hope I’ll have faith like Daniel.” And I often heard things like “WON’T YOU DARE TO BE A DANIEL?” And even though the people who said this probably didn’t mean it this way, the way I took this was that faithfulness for God would often boil down to a few BIG MOMENTS in my life, and then I would have to choose whether or I would “DARE TO BE A DANIEL.”

But what I came to realize was that this kind of thinking, is just as silly as thinking the differences between Dan and Tim boiled down a few big decisive moments in their lives. Because it doesn’t work that way! And the story of Daniel shows us this.

And so looking to our text this morning, we are asking the question, HOW can we “Dare to be a Daniel,” Or. How can we stand firm in as followers of Jesus Christ in the face of a threatening and God-hating world? And the answer is: By being faithful.

But how do we do that? 3 ways:

To stand firm we must be faithful:

1. In the small things
2. In the big things
3. In trusting God for the greater things.

Last week, in chapter 5, we saw the fall of the Babylonian Empire, which was represented by the golden head of the statue in Daniel 2. And this paved the way for the rise of the Medo-Persian Empire, symbolized by the statue’s silver chest and arms. And so by the time Daniel chapter 6 takes place, we are dealing with an old and faithful Daniel, who outlived the Babylonian empire, which fulfilled one God’s many promises. So this isn’t the young 16-ish year old Daniel that we met back in chapter 1.

After the Medo-Persian empire overthrew the Babylonian empire, it became the largest empire that the world had yet seen, and eventually covered Turkey, Egypt, and parts of India and North Africa, as well as Babylonia.

The Persian Empire consisted of 127 provinces (or kingdoms), and many of the rulers of these provinces, if not all of them, where considered kings, With Cyrus the Great being the head of the Empire and ruler over all the provinces, even calling himself the “king of kings” on his tomb inscription. So King Darius wasn’t the king of the Medo-Persian empire, he was the king appointed over Babylon.

So Darius comes in, and in keeping with the Persian’s methods of conquest, He sets up his cabinet to rule the city, and uses people from the empire he just conquered - which included Daniel. As verses 1 and 2 tell us, He then sets up his kingdom in Babylon to be run by 120 satraps who report to three commissioners, one of whom is Daniel because not only was Daniel the 3rd in charge in Babylon when it fell, but he had heard of Daniel’s unique gifts and accomplishments.

So then, as verse 3 tells us, Darius plans to make Daniel 2nd in charge to him, and have the 120 satraps who report to the other 2 commissioners, who in turn report to Daniel, who then reports to king Darius. Which results in the other leaders getting upset, and wanting to take Daniel out.

So that’s the background of what’s going on here in this text, which leads up to the situation of these other two jealous commissioners eventually getting Daniel thrown into the lion’s den. And I said eventually, because they really had to get creative in order to get Daniel in trouble.

See, what happened was they tried to find some dirt on Daniel, Because after all what politician doesn’t have dirt on them? Or so they thought. But, as verse 4 says: “they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.”

Now, a couple of comments here before we move on. First off, if this situation reminds you of the fiery furnace situation back in Daniel chapter 3, that’s because it should. because they are VERY similar. Not redundantly similar, but complimentary similar.

See, in both situations we have followers of God being salt and light in the midst of a dark world, and it results in that dark world hating them and wanting to destroy them. But this shouldn’t surprise us in the slightest. It really shouldn’t. Because if we live a faithful life in the small things, as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah did, it WILL draw negative attention from the surrounding world. But this really shouldn’t surprise us, Because this is exactly what Jesus told us would happen.

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

John 15:18-20 ESV

See… it’s to be expected. it comes with the territory. And if it’s NOT coming with your territory, Then what’s that saying? it’s saying one of two things. Either A. you’re not being faithful in the small things - which is why no one is ever upset with you about your faith, Or, B. you’re not living with and serving the people around you like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah all did. which also, ends up with you NOT being faithful in all of the small things you should.

In Jeremiah 29, After being exiled from their homeland, the Jewish people had moved out of the city and started their own little Jewish community, so they wouldn’t be assimilated into Babylon’s culture and religious beliefs. But then God sends the prophet Jeremiah to them, saying: “Don’t do that.” “Sure, don’t assimilate, but also don’t be separate.” And He told them that because they were trying to be separate. Instead, keep your Jewish identity and religious beliefs about me, “Work for the good of whole city. “Work for the prosperity and the peace of Babylon.”

And did you notice that’s exactly what Daniel is doing in Babylon? He doesn’t say: “Oh I could never serve these evil pagan babylonians and work for the good of their pagan city” He doesn’t do that, But nor does he assimilate and start living like they, by being involved in the normal political corruption of his day. Instead, He is functioning as Salt and Light, which is exactly what Jesus calls us to be.

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:13-16 ESV

When it comes to this salt and light principle lived out by Daniel, we notice two effects it has upon the city. First, it draws people to Daniel, and secondly, it drives people away from him - people who despise and hate him for it.

And that’s how it ALWAYS works. King Darius loves Daniel and thinks the world of him, while some of the other leaders hate Daniel and want him dead. They can’t stand that he’s an outsider who refuses to take part in their pagan and corrupt customs. And they are jealous of him and hate him because of it.

And yet, how often are we completely shocked by this when we don’t make friends and influence people for refusing to be unfaithful in even the small things. And yet we shouldn’t. We should expect it! In fact, We should REJOICE IT IN IT

²² “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! ²³ Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

Luke 6:22-23 ESV

Our goal is Christians is to live a faithful and uncompromised life, which requires being faithful in the small things, just as Daniel was, which will, make no mistake about it - absolutely SHOCK the unbelieving world.

When I worked for Geek Squad in the cities, My boss was pushing us to sell setup packages for computers, that would remove all the bloat software, update them, and basically clean out all of the junk that the computer companies put on them. And one day when I didn’t sell that service to someone who bought a mac computer, He asked me why not? At first I was surprised he was even asking, because anyone who knows anything about computers, know that Apple doesn’t sell their computes with bloat software on it, But when pointed that out to him, do you know what he told me? He said: “Yeah, I know, but the customers don’t know that, so sell them it anyways.” And when I explained how my moral & religious standards didn’t allow me to do that, He said, “Well I’m not a fan of your standards.”

Now, I did bite my tongue from saying: “Well I’m not a fan of your dishonest and shady business standards,” But point is, Being salt and light doesn’t mean people are always going to thank us for it... Sometimes they will, but many times they won’t, and if you hang around any church long enough, you’ll quickly find the same is sadly true with the church.

But regardless of whether being salt and light draws people to us or drives them from us, we must remember that we aren’t responsible for the fruit we are merely responsible to be faithful in small things and trust the Lord for the fruit.

Do you know what one of the obstacles to faithfulness is today for Christians? It’s thinking that being salt and light means DARING TO BE A DANIEL in a few key BIG SITUATIONS. Now don’t get me wrong, that’s definitely important, When your boss tells you to be a thief and rip people off, you have to draw a BIG line in the sand there and be willing to lose your job over it. But situations like that, aren’t even the half of it. Not even close. Instead, being salt and light is, most of the time, is about being faithful in the small things, which in turn leads to faithfulness in the big things.

To stand firm we must be faithful:

1. In the small things

So I just said that being salt and light means being faithful in the small things, which in turn leads to faithfulness in the big things. So after the other leaders can’t find any dirt on Daniel, they realize that they are going to have to invent dirt in connection to Daniel’s God whom he faithfully serves. So they go to the King and trick him into signing a really foolish law, that forbids everyone from praying to anyone but him for 30 days, on the penalty of being thrown into a lion’s den. And they lie and say that all of the counselors and governors agreed that this was a good plan.

And so the king foolishly signs off on this without even bothering to check with Daniel, and signs it into law as an injunction, which cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians. We don’t really know the reason why he did this. Maybe it was to inflate his ego, maybe it was meant as a display of the Medo-Persian government’s strength, warning all would-be usurpers to think twice, We don’t really know, but we do it was a really foolish decision.

Which is how a lot of really foolish decisions often get made. by not seeking wise counsel before making. I mean all Darius would have had to do here was ask Daniel what he thought, and Daniel would have pointed out the trap immediately. But nope - Darius had to learn the hard way that not everything that glitters is gold. all because he foolishly didn’t seek out godly counsel. So Christian, don’t make his same mistake. GET WISE and GODLY counsel for decisions in your life. talk to your pastors, talk to your deacons, talk to wise Christians friends, lest you make a foolish decision that cannot be revoked.

As Verse 10 tells us, after learning that the document has been signed, Daniel is at a major decision point in his life. which very well may result in the end of his life in a brutal and horrifying manner. But this wasn’t so much a BIG “DARE TO BE A DANIEL” moment of faithfulness, instead, it was the natural response to many little moments of faithfulness over time. And I say that because of what verse 10 says.

¹⁰ When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.

Daniel 6:10 ESV

Do you see that? “AS HE HAD DONE PREVIOUSLY.”

When it comes to learning a skill, there is a common saying we have all heard, which is:

“Practice makes perfect”

But that’s not entirely true… Because if you practice something WRONGLY you really aren’t going to improve. Instead, you’ll simply learn to do it the wrong way. And this holds true even if you are only doing it wrong 10% of the time. which is why, a more truer statement is:

“Perfect practice makes perfect”

The point isn’t that you’ll get it perfect every time by just saying: “I’m gonna DO IT PERFECT!” It doesn’t work that way. Instead, the point is, you’re committing to practicing it right EVERY SINGLE TIME, without shortcuts, without compromises.

And it’s that kind of faithfulness in small things that leads to faithfulness in BIG THINGS! And Daniel is a prime example of this. Which is why church, living for God at a young age builds a foundation for living for God at an old age. I don’t remember the older pastor who said this, But the quote goes like this:

“As an older man I am living off the dividends of a faithful youth.”

And this is precisely what we see with Daniel, who now as an old man, is able to open his windows boldly and publically pray and worship Yahweh God, even in the face of hungry lions!

Do you know how backwards we have this as evangelicals? TOTALLY backwards. And it’s because we’ve bought the lie that says,

“Small matters of faithlessness don’t lead to big acts of faithlessness.” It’s such a destructive lie.

Why does the man who’s watched pornography off and on for most of his life end up committing adultery later in life? Because he’s living off the dividends of an unfaithful youth.

Why does the man who always justifies his anger and refuse to forgive eventually become physically and emotionally abusive? Because he’s living off the dividends of an unfaithful youth.

Which reminds of how my pastor in the cities, once spoke of another pastor friend of his who was suddenly arrested after beating up his wife, And he said: “That’s when I realized I needed to start taking my sinful depravity seriously.”

And the way we take it seriously is by being faithfulness in the small things, which leads to faithfulness in the big things. What kind of things? Here’s how one commentary I read this week answered that:

I recall being overseas… and hearing from a married couple why they had not been in morning worship that day: their young daughter had been invited to the birthday party of one of her friends. So they were “forced” to miss worship. [They spoke] Nothing about a courteous phone call [to the other family], indicating they would drop off a gift on Saturday [since]… the party conflicted with their Sunday worship, [and so] their daughter would not be able to attend the party. But no; [instead] there was this “have to” mode of thinking.

Make no mistake about it church, small acts of unfaithfulness lead to big acts of unfaithfulness. And we know this… at least if we are honest about it with ourselves we do… Deep down, we know that accepting that birthday invitation on the Lord’s Day is not only unfaithfulness, but we also know it’s failing to live as salt light as we should… How could it not be? Instead of saying: “I’m sorry, we’ll drop off a gift or come once church is out because we are followers of Jesus and He commands us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together” We convince ourselves that it is “the loving thing to do.” and to not go would be to appear “judgmental and legalistic about it.”

And yet, our small acts of unfaithfulness not only result in a missed opportunity to be: Faithful to our Lord, Faithful to our family, Faithful to our church family, But it also results in us being unfaithful to the great commission Jesus gave us to bring and faithfully live out the gospel of Jesus Christ before the eyes of an unbelieving world.

Yes, I know it won’t be popular taking these kind of stands... Trust me… I know... I know our kids might get upset with us if they miss the birthday party, sports game, or play they signed up for, But who ever said faithfulness in small things would be popular? Just ask Daniel… It wasn’t popular, and it made him some very real enemies.

Do any of us really think Daniel wasn’t at all tempted to give in here? After all, where does the Bible say you have to open your windows when you pray? Plus, it’s only 30 days… Why not just wait it out? And look at all the good Daniel was doing in the position he was in… pointing people to Yahweh God and being in a position to protect and care for God’s exiled Jewish people… Do you realize how incredibly EASY it would have been for Daniel to capitulate and respond in an unfaithful way, believing that the ends justify the means - even though they NEVER do.

And yet, he didn’t. Why? Because:

¹⁰ When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.

Daniel 6:10 ESV

Not only did Daniel simply behave as he always had, But did you notice how he prayed? On his knees with the window opened and his eyes fixed upon Jerusalem, the city of God.

To stand firm we must be faithful:

As verse 10 mentions, Daniel kneeled and prayed 3 times a day with his eyes faced towards Jerusalem in keeping with the instructions set by King Solomon for those living outside Jerusalem in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. And Daniel did so, in the face of hungry lions, because he realized that he wasn’t facing some minor religious inconvenience, he was facing a matter of whether or not he would keep the first commandment to “have no other Gods before me.” Church, this is what ALL small acts of unfaithfulness boil down to… which means they aren’t so small after all, are they?

And we can see the issue of idolatry at play in the very types of prayer that Daniel was praying. Verse 10 says he began NOT with petition asking God to save him from the Lion’s den, Oh no. He began with THANKSGIVING TO GOD And why…? Because Daniel recognized that every breath he had up to that moment was a MERCIFUL and GRACIOUS gift from God… And to go to without recognizing this and complaining that his breath might be unjustly taken from him would an act of UNTHANKFULNESS, which would be an idolatry issue.

Then, in verse 11 tells us that the men came and found Daniel praying, who at this point, after his prayers of thanksgiving, was making petitions and pleas before God. OK, so is that when he finally got around to the prayers about the Lion’s den. Maybe… But there’s a reason most commentators I read this week believe that Daniel was praying more for God’s people than himself. Because if you look at the content of Daniel’s prayer in Daniel chapter 9, it’s centered upon praying for the welfare of God’s people. Which means that Daniel’s life was one that was patterned after the 1st and 2nd great commandments.

²⁸ And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:28-31 ESV

Daniel’s faithfulness in small things led to faithfulness in big things, which strengthened empowered him to live out his faith before the eyes of an unbelieving world who hated him for it. And that, I believe, is the biggest miracle in Daniel chapter 6. Not God merely stopping the mouth of lions... but God opening the heart and mouth of a sinner like Daniel to praise God’s name even in the face of death. Which is why the message of Daniel 6 isn’t, “Come on now everyone… let’s DARE TO BE A DANIEL - Hooyah!” Nope… not at all. And while Daniel’s faithfulness is something to strive after, striving after it without the grace and work of God in our life is MERE MORALISM - not MERE CHRISTIANITY. It’s trying to dead lift 500 pounds when we’ve never stepped foot in the gym! And if we do that, We will not overcome the ultimate lion’s den to come which is the wrath of God.

There’s only one reason, and one reason alone, that we can stand firm and live a faithful life, and it’s because Christ did it perfectly on our behalf, when he lived a perfectly faithful life in the small things - following ALL of God’s holy laws, The big things - even willing to face death on a cross, While trusting God His Father for the greater things - which included His glorious resurrection from the dead. And because of this, we can now live a faithful life before Him know that He is our judge and savior.

Daniel’s name means: “God is my Judge” And until we come to humbly accept this and appreciate it, we cannot stand firm, nor live a life of faithfulness in small things that leads to faithfulness in big things.

Is Christ your judge and savior? Is He your faithfulness? If so, By God’s grace and power, Fear God, and fear nothing else, which will equip you live a life of faithfulness for His glory and our eternal joy!

Let us pray

This is the manuscript the sermon was preached from, so the recording may differ in places.