ORLANDO, Fla. –“How many of you feel like you are in transition?” asked the Rev. Sanghyun James Lee, pastor of Korean Community Presbyterian Church, Columbia, S.C., in his sermon at the 2013 national gathering of the Fellowship of Presbyterians (FOP) and ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians held Jan. 30-Feb. 1 in Orlando, Fla.
Looking at Scripture, Lee said that Daniel’s life defined the challenges of transition, and then gave a brief overview of Daniel’s story. Daniel was one of many of the captive Israelites taken to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar, and he rose in power to “serve the king that destroyed his nation.” Later in his life, under the new Persian King Darius, Daniel became one of the three advisors to the empire, and this, said Lee, is where the Scripture text for the sermons comes in.
Daniel’s enemies contrived a simple plot to destroy him. They tricked King Darius into banning all prayers to anyone besides him for 30 days.
Lee asked, “How did Daniel respond to the decree? Look at the passage:”
“Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” (Daniel 6:10 NIV)
Daniel went to his room, he said. Having heard the king’s decree, Lee said that Daniel could have “raised the issue with the king. Why didn’t he try to change the decree?”
Of all the exilic and post-exilic leaders, “Daniel is the most puzzling,” said Lee. “He survived and thrived in all transitions. In fact, he rose to power, but he didn’t try to use his influence for himself or his people.”
Daniel didn’t mobilize people as Ezra did, or build as Nehemiah did, or save anyone as Esther did, said Lee. In fact, when his friends were thrown into the fire, Daniel was noticeably absent.
“When we put it all together, we get a very reserved and private person,” he said. “What did he contribute to God? … There is something more than just prayer” in Daniel’s story.
Lee looked again at the passage, this time in a different light:
Scene one: Daniel learned about the decree and went home.
Scene two: The upstairs room.
Scene three: With windows open, he got down on his knees.
Scene four: Daniel prayed.
“What I don’t understand in this series of events is scene three,” Lee said. “If the whole thing was about prayer, he could have gone into the closet and prayed. He didn’t have to stand before the open window and pray. Why did he pray with the window open?”
Lee said that it wasn’t ego or legalistic pride, but “what was at stake was not the act of prayer itself, but the prayer that was offered toward Jerusalem. Daniel had a hope that his people return to Jerusalem as promised by God’s prophets. He held onto that hope every day.”
Lee said it’s unknown what Daniel prayed that day at his open window, but a glimpse of chapter 9 may give a hint of his prayer. Lee specifically mentioned verse 17:
“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.”
“Throughout his time of transition, Daniel prayed passionately. He wanted to hear the voice of his Master. He gave all his strength to listen to God,” Lee said.
The problem of the world today, said Lee is that “a person cannot hear the voice of his Master … The problem in our world and church today, is not transitions and changes and crisis. There were crisis in the past, and this is not the last one we will face. The problem is whether we will hear the voice of our Master.”
“Daniel gave all his strength to listen to the voice — not his earthly master — but the voice of his heavenly Master,” said Lee. “For 70 years Daniel did not forget the word of the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah, and he held on to that.”
“Like a soldier holding up the battle flag, Daniel held up the flag of hope that day. Standing before the window, toward Jerusalem, he kneeled down and he kept hope alive,” said Lee. “Brothers and sisters, we are not in the business of transition. We are in the business of hope.”
“As we face our crisis, what we have is hope,” he said. “Daniel kept his hope alive for 70 years. This is the lesson of Daniel. Let’s keep hope alive. This morning, let’s keep the prayer of Daniel alive.”