Daniel’s Amazing Thankfulness

DANIEL’S AMAZING THANKFULNESS

DANIEL 6:10

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. During his years in the White House, President Harry Truman began an unusual Thanksgiving tradition. Every year since, United States presidents have used the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to pardon a turkey. A preselected bird is brought into the Rose Garden and the Commander in Chief grants that big bird a pardon. The saved turkey is then ushered to a Virginia farm where he is granted immunity from the carving knife.

2. This crazy ritual always provides levity for those who watch, but it also gives each of us a great reminder at Thanksgiving. But for the grace of God, we are all turkeys headed to slaughter. Our merits haven’t gained his favor. It is simply by his pardon alone that we are saved. It’s a Thanksgiving reminder we can’t afford to forget. [Houston Chronicle, May 27, 1997, p. 8A]

B. THE SIGHTS & SMELLS OF THANKSGIVING

1. At my mom’s house each Thanksgiving is a large gathering of family. Several tables are loaded with food: the Turkey with its delicious stuffing, the mashed potatoes & gravy, the green bean casserole, pecan pies, a ham, lemon squares, sweet potatoes, and many more. Wonderful smells waft around the room.

2. All the couches are full and extra chairs have been brought in for the crowd. Tables for eating are set up all over the living room.

3. Everyone is greeting each other and smiling, anticipating the happy feast. The sounds of conversation, laughter, and background noise of football games fill the rooms with a blaring noise which we all have missed and are glad to hear again; It’s Thanksgiving!

C. TEXT: DANIEL 6:1,3-5,7,9-10

It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom...3 Now Daniel so distinguished himself...that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4 At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel... but they were unable to do so. 5 Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.” 7 [So they] all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except [the King], shall be thrown into the lions’ den. 9 So King Darius put the decree in writing. 10 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.

D. THESIS; “DANIEL’S THANKFULNESS WAS AMAZING BECAUSE…”

I. AMAZING BECAUSE OF HIS HIGH POSITION

A. MEN WHO CLIMB TO THE TOP…

1. Men who climb to the top of corporate or political ladders usually do so because they are strong, self-reliant types who count on their wits and their subordinates to keep their competitors at a disadvantage. They believe in themselves and their powers. When everything depends on your own efforts, you don’t have to be thankful to God for your achievements.

2. Paul Tillich, says, "The reason most of us do not respond to ’thank you’ or do not say ’thank you’ is because we instinctively realize that it makes us somehow dependent on that person. If I thank you, I am saying that I am dependent on you, and I am publicly affirming it before God and people.”

3. Pride is the root of such thinking. The Bible tells us that God gives us the ability to produce wealth; that God determined when and to whom we would be born. Most success is due to factors beyond our control. This means that arrogance should be replaced with thankfulness.

B. DANIEL’S DEPENDENCE

1. Daniel, even though he was Prime Minister, never lost sight of who had elevated him to his lofty post.

2. Daniel knew that if God wanted him in that post, no mere man could bring him down. Therefore it was all the more important to please God and stay close to God, for God was his lifeline, his friend, and his confidant.

3. Daniel was not ashamed to acknowledge his dependence on God, privately or publicly (and God felt the same way about him).

4. Thanksgiving is our acknowledgement that we are dependent on God for all His acts of deliverance and all His blessings in our lives.

5. While Corrie ten Boom was living in a German concentration camp, her entire body became infested with lice, making a bad situation worse. She was complaining about it one day, and her sister reminded her of the Bible verse that says, "In everything give thanks," and she challenged Corrie to give thanks for the lice. Corrie's response was, "How can I give thanks to God for lice?" But she made a choice to offer thanks for the lice anyway. Later, she found out that the lice had actually protected her from the assaults of the German soldiers.