"My spirit was troubled within me"
Daniel 7:1-3,15-18
All Saints C, November 4, 2007
A Sermon by Fr. James Haney V
Pop quiz: How many of you are familiar with the prophecies of Daniel ch7? Good. You pass. Some kinds of Christians put heavy emphasis on Daniel 7. For some kinds of Christians, this is the most important chapter in the Old Testament. But most Episcopalians are blithely unaware of Daniel 7. Which is a very good reason to look at it: Daniel ch7 p813
This part of Daniel is an apocalyptic text. That means it's got strange imagery. That means it's in the same genre as the book of Revelation. There are certain types of Christians who spend an inordinate amount of time with Daniel ch7. They're the same ones who spend a lot of time with the book of Revelation and try to match up all the strange Biblical images with current events. You know the type: the horns on the beast represent the nations of the European Union; the mark of the beast is a computer barcode. You've probably heard people who read Revelation that way. Well, these Christians try to do the same thing with Daniel 7. That makes this chapter seem like a strange choice for an Old Testament lesson for All Saints' Day. And yet, when we look at what this chapter says, and what it doesn't say, we find a message of hope for living in our world today. So let's take a look.
In v1, we're told that the prophet Daniel saw these visions during a dream. v2 He relates that he saw a vision of great winds stirring up the sea. Remember, the Jews were desert people. Thus, just about any time they mention the sea in scripture, it's going to be a negative image. For them, the sea was a place of storm and danger and chaos.
And sure enough, out of this chaotic sea, in v3, Daniel sees 4 great beasts coming out of the water. And then our OT lesson skips over the description of the beasts. And you can see why. They seem more appropriate to Halloween than to All Saints Day. v4 The first beast is like a lion with eagles wings, but the wings are later plucked off. v5 The second is like rampaging bear with tusks. v6 The third is like a leopard with bird's wings. v7 The fourth has iron teeth and ten horns.
Now, the modern apocalypticists look at these 4 beasts and try to match them up with current geopolitics. Almost all of them associate the lion who loses it's wings with the collapse of the British Empire. And they link the bear either to the former Soviet Union or to modern Russia. But then they disagree about the leopard and the 4th beast.
But chances are, the vision wasn't originally so much about the 20th or 21st century. Instead, it's about Daniel's time. It's most likely about the world of the early centuries B.C. Not the British Empire or the Soviet Union. But the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and maybe even the Romans.
But whether you look at these beasts as ancient or modern, the common denominator is this. Kings, empires, rulers, nations rise and fall. As they rise and fall, they may wreak havoc on the earth. They may unleash destruction in various ways. That's the message of Daniel's dream.
So Daniel sees these chaotic visions, and he's upset: v15. "As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me." Daniel sees these forces in the world around him, and he's worried and terrified. Perhaps you are, too.
We have many people worried about the situation in the world today, from terrorism to war to global warming. It's pretty rough out there. It's also a rough time in our nation's history. We're very divided as a people. We're already gearing up for a presidential election that's still a year away. We have people on both sides promising peace and prosperity, if only we elect them, and forecasting disaster if we elect their opponents. It seems like the clouds of darkness are all around.
But then, I have to remember that dark shadows are nothing new. I grew up with Vietnam and Watergate. The threatening shadow of the mushroom cloud loomed large. My parents grew up under the shadow of Hitler and Stalin, with World War II and Korea. My grandparents grew up in a world of Czars and Kaisers, of World War I, the Russian Revolution and economic depression.
In every age there are beasts that rise from the sea. The Babylonians, the Persians, the Romans; the Nazis, the Soviets, the Terrorists. And with Daniel, we can say, "My spirit is troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrify me."
Daniel ch7 contains these dark visions. But it also offers us three images of comfort. Yes, the geopolitical beasts may snarl and rampage and destroy. But we are given three messages of comfort.
Message 1
In v9, Daniel sees an image of a throne room. And on the throne is the Ancient One, the Ancient of Days. This is an image of God. end of v10 God sits in judgment over the beasts. In v11, the 4th beast is destroyed. In v12, the other beasts are stripped of their power. The first message is clear. God is sovereign.
Tyrants and oppressors are temporary. But God is forever. God is in charge. And God will make things right. That's the first message.
Message 2
Perhaps the most important image in Daniel 7. 13 "As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being (or if you look at the footnote, one like a Son of Man) coming with the clouds of heaven." This is a quasi-divine being. Not an earthly ruler in the usual sense, but God's heavenly agent.
For Christians, the image is clear. For we follow someone who claimed to be this Son of Man. Over and over again, Jesus used this title to refer to himself. He used in our Gospel lesson this morning. Jesus didn't claim to be the Son of God, which was generally a title referring to a human Messiah, or a human king. Instead, he identified himself as this Son of Man, God's divine agent.
Over and over again, Jesus resisted the temptation of seizing earthly power. At his trial, he was asked, "Are you the messiah?" The earthly king who will free us from the Romans?
And he replied, "You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven."
Jesus was not claiming to be the next earthly ruler. That would simply make him the next in a long line of beasts. He was playing for much bigger stakes, stakes that the nations of the world, stakes which the beasts knew nothing about.
In Daniel's vision, v14, this Son of Man is given "dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed."
Message 1: God is in charge. The beasts will be judged and stripped of their authority. Message 2: God's divine agent, the Son of Man, will be given total authority, and he will rule forever.
And finally, Message 3.
v18 "The holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever--forever and ever."
The other word for "holy ones" is saints. The people of God. Those who have gone before us in faith in the past. And God's faithful people in the present. We are promised a glorious inheritance. God's kingdom. The eternal kingdom of the Son of Man. Forever. And if that's not long enough, Daniel adds, forever and ever.
If your spirit is troubled, hold on to this good news from Daniel. God is in charge. He has sent his Son. And he is bringing his kingdom for all of his faithful people. The beasts will not win. Terror and division and destruction are not permanent. God will prevail. And we will share in his victory.
And in the meantime, we have the freedom to live in that confidence. Through our baptisms, we are given a citizenship that transcends citizenship in any earthly country. We are made citizens of the Kingdom of God. That means that we don't have to place our ultimate trust in presidents or politicians, in the military or the markets. The kingdom and the power and the glory belong solely to God.
That doesn't mean we abandon this world. That doesn't mean that we use religion as an escape from the world. After all, Jesus came into this world to live among us. Jesus gives us work to do in this world. But for Christians, life in this world no longer has to be business as usual. We've been given the freedom, if we choose it, to begin to live in a new way.
We're given the chance to begin to live into the freedom of God's kingdom. That gives us the freedom to live in a way different from the rest world. That gives us the freedom to try to love a little bit more, to care for our neighbor just a little bit more, to help the poor and the weak just a little bit more. It gives us the freedom to live more and more in anticipation God's perfect kingdom, rather than being paralyzed by the problems of the present world.
The message of Daniel is that we don't have to waste our time in fear and fretting. In this life there may be geopolitical beasts who snarl and rampage. They are for now. But God is forever. And his is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Forever and ever.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Rev. James P. Haney V
Good Shepherd, Wichita
November 4, 2007
