Last week we started a series called STAND so that we can consider how to stand with God and for God during this New Year. We are learning lessons from Daniel in the Old Testament, and today we are going to look at how to STAND UP for what is right. I should let you know that I did not plan for this topic to come up this week, and with the events that took place on Wednesday, I considered dropping this message all together, but then I realized that Daniel actually does have something to say to us in light of our current situation.
We aren’t going to learn from Daniel when to stand up for what is right because God is going to ask each of us to do that in different ways and at different times. God might want you to stand up and say something privately to a friend who is blind to a problem in their life, or God might want you to speak to a larger issue that needs to be addressed in our community and world. There are different times and places when we will be asked to stand up, what we can learn from Daniel is how to stand up when God asks us to.
It’s important to know how God wants us to stand up because what we saw this week is how NOT to do it. God’s ways are not filled with arrogance, pride, and a hatred that leads to violence. God’s ways are filled with humility and work for reconciliation and peace. If the fruit of God’s spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, then those qualities need to be seen when we stand up, and we will see these at work in Daniel. What we can learn from Daniel are four principles of how to stand up for what is right when God asks us to.
If you remember from last week, the nation of Israel had been destroyed, and King Nebuchadnezzar had forced God’s people into exile all across Babylon. The finest young men in Israel, those who might one day rise up to be leaders of the nation, were forced into the king’s service and indoctrinated into the Babylonian culture and religion. The goal was to get these young men to renounce God and leave their faith so that they would never be able to help rebuild the nation. Daniel was part of this group of leaders, and while he was indoctrinated into the culture of Babylon, he was willing to stand out for his faith and not eat food that had been sacrificed to the pagan gods. Because Daniel honored God, God honored him. God gave Daniel greater wisdom and discernment than any other leader, and God gave him the ability to interpret dreams, and this is now how God is going to ask Daniel to stand up.
Daniel 4:4-7, 10-18a
So the king had a dream and let’s be honest, it doesn’t take a genius, or even an expert in dream analysis, to figure it out. We can do this. A tree that is large and powerful and provides a place for all to live is clearly the nation of Babylon. A messenger from heaven would be the message of God who says he is going to cut down the tree, or destroy the nation, and drive the king into the wilderness. If we can figure this out, then chances are that all the wise men the king first asked for help could have figured it out as well. They knew what the dream meant, they just didn’t want to tell the king because they didn’t want to be the ones to give him the bad news. They were afraid that to stand up and tell the truth would cost them their lives, so they simply said, “we can’t do it.”
So then Daniel is called in. Daniel was known for having the gift of interpreting dreams, and when he hears the dream he has to immediately know what it means because it is plain to see. The real question for Daniel was whether or not he was going to stand up and tell the king the truth. Like the wise men before him, he could lie and tell the king that he couldn’t interpret the dream, or he could stand up and speak God’s truth. Daniel stood up for what was right, and from him we can learn a lot about how to do this ourselves. Daniel 4:19-27
We believe that Daniel is about 40 years old here, which means that for several decades Daniel has been serving the king. Daniel is trusted and he has been so helpful that the king had made him second in command. The king trusted Daniel’s wisdom and insight. He knew Daniel was honest in his counsel and honorable in his living. There is a strong relationship between these two men which allows Daniel to speak courageously and honestly. What we see here is that CONTEXT is important.
Anytime God asks us to stand up for what is right, it is important for us to think about the context. Are we speaking privately to a friend who is going through a difficult time? Are we speaking to a family member whose behavior concerns us? Or are we speaking publicly about a social issue that is complex, or an injustice we want to see changed? The context is important because we will speak in different ways in different situations.
Beyond the public and private context, there is also the context of relationship for us to consider. Too often we see people stand up and speak out without any regard for others. I decided to read the comments from an online article this week and I have to say it was pretty toxic - which is I why I don’t usually read them. Here were anonymous people standing up for what they thought was right but in the process they were tearing down others - people they didn’t know. There was no context of relationship. There was no willingness to listen or consider what others were saying or thinking or feeling. We are living in an age when people can quickly and easily stand up and speak out for what they think is right without giving thought to a larger context or how their words and actions might impact others.
What a blessing it would be if all of us would take the time to walk in someone else’s shoes for a while before we comment on what we think they should do. The more we can understand people, and listen to their life experiences and perspectives, the more thoughtful and helpful we can be when we do stand up and speak up for what is right. It is always more powerful when we stand up within the context of a healthy relationship or at least after taking the time to listen. Respect and regard for others is needed.
This leads us to the second thing we learn from Daniel. When Daniel stands up for what is right, he does it with COMPASSION.
Before Daniel gives the king the bad news about the dream, he starts by saying that he wished the dream was about the king’s enemies and not him. Daniel cared for the king. Think about this, the king had destroyed Daniel’s nation, removed Daniel and all his family and friends from their homes and nation, and was indoctrinating Daniel with the goal of getting him to forget his God and renounce his faith, and yet Daniel still had compassion for him.
Compassion is an important principle for us to hold on to when God calls us to stand up for what is right. Compassion is the fruit of love, patience, kindness and gentleness all rolled into one. Compassion helps us have self-control so we don’t say the first thing we think of. We always need to stand up with compassion. We may disagree on many things, and we may see things from a radically different points of view, we also might see vastly different ways to solve the world’s problem, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still have compassion for one another.
When we look at the social and political climate today, it’s clear there is not much compassion. We didn’t see compassion this week, we haven’t seen a lot of compassion this past year, and if we are honest, we haven’t seen it for a long time. We no longer disagree with people, we set them up to be our enemy and seek to silence them and destroy them. Here’s the problem with that, Jesus told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. In many ways, Nebuchadnezzar was Daniel’s enemy, but Daniel still had compassion for him. If we can’t stand up for what is right with compassion, then maybe we need to consider if we should stand up at all.
Daniel’s compassion was also seen when he pleaded with the king to repent so that God might have mercy and turn things around. This is the kind of compassion we need to have when we approach a friend about problems we might see in their life. It’s ok to approach someone about a sin we might see, or a problem that concerns us, but our motivation has to be love, and our words have to be gentle.
The Apostle Paul said, Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. Galatians 6:1. Yes we need to stand up for what is right and say something, but we need to say it in the context of a healthy relationship and allow our words to be filled with love.
This leads to the third principle we learn from Daniel. We don’t stand up to CORRECT people but to CONNECT people to God. Let me say that again!
Daniel didn’t speak up because he knew he was right about the dream, he spoke with compassion to try and get the king to humble himself and connect with God. He was working to reconcile the king to God. He was working to bring peace. Here is a good question we need to ask ourselves in any situation where we think God is asking us to stand up for what is right: will what I’m going to say or do help CONNECT people to God?
This is most important when we are thinking about speaking to someone one to one. We don’t point out a problem to correct them, we point it out to help connect them to God. If we see a problem and can’t wait to point it out because it will make us look good, or show others how smart and faithful we are, that’s called pride - not compassion - and Jesus spoke to this. Jesus said, don’t point out the speck of dust in someone else’s eye when there is a plank sticking out of your own eye. If we are speaking up without compassion, that plank in our own eye is pride, and we need to step back and evaluate our own heart. We need to ask ourselves, is my desire to correct this person or to connect this person to God.
Daniel’s desire was to connect the king to God. He wanted the king to humble himself so he would know the love and power of God. Daniel spoke in the context of a relationship, he spoke with compassion, and his goal was to connect the king to God.
There is one final thing for us to consider. Are we being CALLED to stand up for what is right. Daniel was literally called by the king to come and speak to the problem. Once Daniel was called by the king to speak, he had to ask if he was called by God to speak. Daniel could have just interpreted the dream and left it at that, but he didn’t. He knew he was called by God to stand up for what was right and to speak with compassion and work to connect the king to God through repentance.
Before we speak publicly about an issue or privately about a concern we have for a friend, we need to first stop and pray. Is God calling us to stand up? If God is not calling us to stand up, then maybe we need to work quietly and prayerfully behind the scenes and support those God has called. Maybe our role is to support someone else, or work to bring context and compassion to the situation. Maybe God will use us to try and connect everyone in the situation to God and not just watch people argue back and forth about what is right. Knowing what God has called us to do is vital and we might want to make this our first step and not the last.
There is a hymn that has become a favorite for many people called Here I Am Lord and the chorus asks this very question. Here I am Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.
Is it I, Lord? Are you calling me to stand up for what is right? Is this the cause I am to champion? Is this the situation I am being called to step into with courage and compassion? If we are being called to stand up for what is right, if we are being called to speak up for God, then we need to ask to lead us. All around us we see how not to stand up for what is right. More division and anger is not the answer, the answer is more compassion, a deeper context and healthier relationships in which to speak, and goal of connecting all of us to God.
Next Steps
Stand Up
From social media to the streets, we see many examples of how NOT to stand up for what is right. Let us pray for the “soul” of our nation, so that we all might learn how to stand up in ways that honor God and one another.
Raad Daniel chapter 4.
What was Daniel being called to stand up and do? What was the king calling him to do? What was God calling him to do? How is the fruit of God’s spirit seen in Daniel’s words and actions?
Four principles we learn from Daniel about how to stand up.
1. CALLED.
● When have you experienced God’s call to stand up for what is right?
● Is there a situation right now that you are feeling called to address? Ask God to show you your purpose and lead you in the process of standing up.
2. CONTEXT
● Where do you need to reach out and build healthier relationships so that you can stand up more effectively?
● Whose shoes do you need to walk in so you get a better understanding of different viewpoints?
3. COMPASSION
● When have you not stood up with compassion? What were the consequences?
● When has someone stood up to you with compassion? How did that make you feel? Did it change the situation?
● Where do you need to have more compassion and show more compassion to others?
4. CONNECTION
● Ask God to guard your heart from pride so you don’t seek to correct people but connect people to God.
● Who do you know that needs to be connected to God? How can you pray for them and reach out to them with compassion this week?
