Christianclimateaction.files.wordpress.com



Daniel – A Book of Defensive Disobedience and ResistanceOur Biblical Mandate for Civil Disobedience and Non-Violent Direct ActionTalk originally given on May 30th 2020 by Martin NewellThis talk is going to be mainly based on part of a book by John Dear, “The Sacrament of Civil Disobedience”, pp 33 – 37 [1]. It is also influenced by Daniel Berrigan’s book “Daniel” [2], as well as adding my own reflections.This book of Daniel is the only apocalyptic account in the Old Testament. John Dear quotes David Daube as saying it is “a veritable charter for civil disobedience by a minority”. He says it is “The most explicit account of nonviolent civil disobedience in the Hebrew Scriptures”. That “Mark’s Gospel cites every Chapter of this book” [3] and that Jesus modelled Himself and His ministry on Daniel. Jesus certainly uses the title of the ‘son of man’ or ‘the human one’ that is prominent in Daniel, and quotes this scriptural text before the Sanhedrin for example: “You shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mk 14:62). According to John Dear, Daniel is “one of the most revolutionary works of ancient literature” and “next to the Gospels, [it] is one of the strongest manifestos ever written on nonviolent resistance and loving disobedience to ruling authorities”. He quotes Daniel Berrigan, “We have in Daniel, a book about worldly power - and about the powerlessness of the believing community – revealed (ironically) as a new form of power… It is a story of providence, not success. A story of obedience [to God] and it’s risks.” For John Dear, “Daniel… is a parable of nonviolence”. Daniel was written during a period of fierce persecution of the Jewish people, to inspire and encourage them to nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience. It was written at a time of nightmarish persecution, of nightmares and dreams, as shown in this book: a time of vicious Empires and ‘beasts’, but whose time is shown to be limited.At the start of the book, Daniel and his friends are unknown figures. However, they are drawn of from their occupied and oppressed people and chosen to serve in the service of the King or Emperor, in royal household of the Emperor, in Babylon, the richest and most powerful city in their known world. In this way, they are perhaps a bit like Moses, who was born to an occupied and oppressed people and family, but was adopted into the household of Pharaoh, and likewise later rose up against it. So Daniel and his friends become part of a relatively privileged elite. They are to be – unusually - educated and given a good diet. Their first act of disobedience is right in the first chapter. It relates precisely to that diet, in that they refused to eat the food that was given to them, as it was unclean. (Daniel 1:3-16) Their strategy is one of combining faithfulness to their God with crafty survival, not confrontation. Like the midwives in the book of Exodus, they are not looking for trouble, just to survive while being true to themselves (Ex 1:15-20). They are peaceable, even courteous. They have the courage to make a request of the chief steward, to let them off eating the unclean food, and just t give them vegetables. Their courage and trust in him is rewarded. The steward is open to their request, but worried about getting in trouble for disobeying the direct orders of the Emperor, which is itself and act of lawbreaking, and is always a potentially capital offence. Daniel asks for a trial period, and he and his friends are rewarded for their faithfulness with fine health – and wisdom. Immediately after this first moment of courage, comes another one, in Chapter two. In the face of the Kings threat to execute all the wise men of Babylon, Daniel dares to approach the King (although perhaps he had nothing to loose, such an action is still risky) to ask for a delay his order. Daniel uses the time to seek God in prayer, and to seek the advice and support of his friends. Then, with yet more courage, taking his life in his hands, he went back to the King to tell him of the coming end of his reign, and in fact of his Kingdom, as well as coded predictions of the coming of the Messianic Reign of God that will never be destroyed (Dn 2:44) . Daniel is rewarded for his courage, and his faith and trust in God, not just with his life but promotion to “a high position [as] ruler over the entire province of Babylon... in charge of all its wise men”, along with his friends. (Dn 2:48-49). A similar act of courage in Chapter 4 sees Daniel once again interpret a dream as meaning the end and humiliation of the King’s reign. And a third in Chapter 5, where he interprets the ‘writing on the wall’. But we will come to that later.We are only in Chapter 3 and already we come to the second act of civil disobedience in Daniel. The King sets up a golden statue and orders that everyone must worship it. For a biblical people, there is a clear reminder here of the golden calf of Exodus (Ex 32). For us today, we may be reminded that Pope Francis for example has spoken of the return of the worship of the “golden calf, [which has] found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly human goal”. We are told that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refuse to worship the idol and are sentenced to death by being put into the furnace. The text challenges us to ask ourselves, what are we willing to risk in refusing to worship the golden calf of our times?They are brought before the King, who is “furious with rage” against them (Dn 3:13) and they refuse to be cowed by anger or threats of the death sentence for disobedience. In fact they tell him, “If God can save us… may God save us… but even if God will not … know oh King, that we will not serve or worship your statue”. Their only concern is unflinching faith and trust in God. Their concern is faithfulness, not success. Success – in their case, survival – is not irrelevant, but it is a second order concern. It is faithfulness that is their first concern. This is true for us too, in relation to our struggle to protect the climate and God’s creation, which is a true revelation of God’s presence with us. Notice that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refer to the idol as a mere ‘statue’: they do not dignify it with titles, but describe it as what it is – something dead and without life or importance. Can we speak as clearly to in our time and place, of the idols of our times?I’m sure we all know how this story goes. The three are thrown into the furnace to die, but God rewards their faithfulness and courage and they survive. In fact, they are not only found alive, but, still in the furnace, they are singing to God and blessing the Most High (cf 3:24-90 [4]).Many nonviolent resistors have found inspiration in these words. Martin Luther King Jr quoted this story of the fiery furnace in his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, likening the jail cell to the furnace or the lions den. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they have raised their voices in prayer and song to God in police or prison cell. Christian Climate Action members have sung beautifully – and perhaps not so beautifully (!) of the Amazing Grace of God in such places. And maybe like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, like civil rights activists and others before them, the fire, the punishment of being locked up, “in no way touched or caused them harm” (Dn 3:50).God did reward these people for their faithfulness. And the King ordered a decree honouring their God. Daniel Berrigan says, “here we see the effects of an act of divine obedience”. This highlights the Biblical insight that those who trust in God, even to the point of death, will be protected by God. This of course does not necessarily mean that they do not die. Jesus died, St Paul died – both executed by the authorities, the governments, of their time. That is one reason why we need the Resurrection. God is just, but this life, life in this world and society is often not. But God will bring justice and justification in the end, even if not in this world. God will be faithful to God’s promises. Our task is to be faithful to God’s ways, including justice and non-violence.Moving on now to Chapter 6, we find the third act of disobedience in Daniel. By this time, Daniel is one of the most powerful people in the Kingdom – the Empire of Babylon. He is one of three presidents or administrators, over twenty satraps, responsible only to the King for the management of the Kingdom. Daniel refuses to obey the King’s edict to worship and pray to him alone. In fact, he very carefully makes a public statement of faithfulness to God and disobedience to the edict - that is to say, the directly proclaimed law – of the King. The text points out the “windows of his upstairs room faced towards Jerusalem”. Why is this detail included? I can only conclude that the point is that he was deliberately praying next to his open, upstairs window for all to see. Otherwise, why mention the window? Although it seems it may have been a custom to pray facing Jerusalem, it was certainly not obligatory in order to keep God’s Law, to be a faithful Jew. Daniel’s faith, like ours, only requited that he pray, not that he pray publicly, not that he face Jerusalem. If he had acted as he did in chapter one – avoiding trouble, just trying to combine faithfulness and survival – he could have prayed away from the window, somewhere he would not be seen. But as a prominent citizen, a prominent man – a man with privilege, status and relative freedom and power – he knew he had an extra responsibility not just to do what was right, but to be seen doing what was right – perhaps a bit in contrast to recent events with Dominic Cummings... Daniel was making a point. He had to take the risk of public disobedience, of the ‘cost of discipleship’ in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s well known phrase. He had to make a point. He had to be seen risking his freedom, his position, his comfort, his privilege, his reputation – even his life. If he couldn’t do it, then what about all those other faithful Jews, struggling to find the courage to do what was right and be faithful to God when it might be even more likely for them, cost them their lives?As we know, Daniel is thrown into the lions den, and God once more keeps him safe. When he emerges, as amazing perhaps are his gentle and sweet words to the King – full of forgiveness and prayer (6:22-23) Only saying, “I have never done you any wrong, O king”. His response is perhaps an exemplar of John Dear’s proposal that we seek to practice disobedience that is not just ‘civil’ - that is to say, not just ‘polite’ or ‘respectful’ but ‘loving’: we are called as Christians to seek to practice ‘loving disobedience’. According to John Dear and others, Daniel was written during a period of violent persecution of the Jews, and of violent revolt and resistance – the period of the Maccabees. This makes it even more significant that Daniel and his friends never use violence in their resistance. They are peaceful, courteous and respectful, in contrast to the atmosphere in the books of the Maccabees (see note 4 again). In this context, it is also worth noting that in chapter 2, where Daniel provides the King with an explanation of his dream, that Daniel does not only save the lives of the Jewish heroes, but also intervenes for the lives of the heathen Babylonian sages whose lives are threatened.Understanding this book – with its apocalyptic dreams, nightmares and stories – can also help us understand the other apocalyptic stories in the Bible. For example, in the Gospels, such as where Jesus says “See, the days are coming where not one stone will be left upon another… when the abomination of desolation will be where it ought not to be” etc (Mark 13) , as well as the Book of Revelation. This will help us understand that these too are about faithful, patient, steadfast resistance to injustice, idolatry and oppression. That they counsel patient persistence and fidelity, in nonviolent disobedience to such ruling authorities and their idolatries. The Book of Daniel contains the promise: the nonviolent resistor will win the victory, both in these stories we have examined, and in the visions – or nightmares – of his nightmarish times.All the visions in Daniel have a common theme. They are about the time limited nature of Empire, which can be summarised in the words of the Book of Revelation: “Babylon has fallen” (Rev 18:2). They are given to encourage and give strength to those who resist: that it is not hopeless, that all Empires come to an end. That despite their claims, they are not eternal. That in fact, ultimately, Empire itself will come to an end.In Chapter 2 the Great Statue has ‘feet of clay’ (Dn 2:31-43) literally collapses and falls. In Chapter 4 a madness comes on Emperor Nebuchadnezzar, which can only be avoided by repentance and mercy to – which is to say service of – the poor (and whoever saw such an Emperor be merciful to the poor – their Empires were built on exploitation and theft). The hand writing on the wall in Chapter 5 is writing “God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting”. The Beasts [6] in Chapter 5 is given “a time, two times and half a time”. The Reign of the Ram and the Goat in Chapter 8 will be broken – but with “no hand intervening (Dn8:25). Only the Sovereignty of the Human One is an Eternal Sovereignty. The Empires always claim to have a Divine mandate. They assert that they will last forever, that they are eternal like God. They claim that ‘there is no alternative’ (Margaret Thatcher’s claim - known as ‘TINA’), that in the words of Francis Fukuyama, history has come to an end [7], since capitalism is inevitable. They claim that this particular Empire has won the final victory. But in fact they will only last “a time, two times and half a time” (Dn 7:25 and 12:7). That despite appearances and despite their propaganda, they are not eternal, they are not inevitable, they are not like gods. There is an alternative. They – and in our times they include global capitalism, corporations, the state - are not all powerful. The visions tell us that God’s angels – those who nonviolently resist- can win. In fact, they will ultimately win. They will win the victory over these ‘demonic forces’ (Walter Wink). Like the Beast that is defeated by – who? The Son of Man, the Human One, the Mortal One (Dn 7) – the hero of this book? Or the Messiah, whose Kingdom or Reign is eternal. The Beast is brought to court and judged (Dn 7:11) and is killed by the Son of Man. We should remember this when we are in court for our nonviolent resistance to relationships of injustice, violence and exploitation. Who is being judged? As in the Gospels, at the time it looked like Jesus was being judged by the Sanhedrin and Pilate and Herod. But history and the eyes of faith tell us otherwise, see things the other way around.That is why, as Ched Myers says, as quoted by John Dear “the Gospel of Mark portrays Jesus as the Human One [Son of Man] – come to overcome the violence and oppression of the worldly powers, through the nonviolent resistance of the Cross”, inspiring the disciples to a revolutionary – and therefore illegal – nonviolence – against legalised violence, injustice and exploitation. Which we see in these days happening not just to God’s people, but to the whole of God’s Earth, God’s creation. Let us pray that we may be emboldened and strengthened by the example of those gone before us and the Biblical witness we are given.NOTES: 1 – The Sacrament of Civil Disobedience – John Dear – Fortkamp – 1994. This book is unfortunately out of print and virtually impossible to obtain.2 – Daniel - Under the Siege of the Divine – by Daniel Berrigan SJ – Plough Publishing House – 1998 (first edition)3 – it might be more accurate to say Mark’s Gospel refers to every chapter in this book. This book is certainly the most referred to Scriptural text in Mark’s Gospel. The other Synoptics follow this pattern too.4 – Daniel 3:24-90, and Maccabees 1 and 2, are in the Greek Septuagint version of the Scriptures. In many Bibles these are found only in the Apocrypha5 - the vision of the statue with the feet of clay (Dn 2): of the tree that grew and was cut down (Dn 4): of the disembodied hand writing on the wall (Dn 5): of the four beasts (Dn 7): of the ram and the goat (Dn 8): of the angel Gabriel with the prophecy of the seventy weeks (Dn 9) : and the other visions of angels and end times: (Dn 10,11, 12) 6 – or perhaps ‘Monster’7- See “The End of History and the Last Man” - by Francis Fukuyama, 1992 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download