Today is All Saints’ Sunday, not to be confused with All Saints’ Day which was back on November 1. So umm, have a thing!
Luke 6:20-31; Ephesians 1:11-23; Psalm 149; Daniel 7:1-3,15-18
The book of Daniel is kind of an interesting one. Half of it is pretty easy to understand — there’s the accounts of Daniel in the Lion’s Den and the Fiery Furnace. Those are the parts of Daniel we know and can remember. The other half of Daniel is a lot weirder. It reads kind of like the book of Revelation, and a lot of it leaves us scratching our heads in wonder at exactly what all these strange images mean.
But in a number of ways, Daniel and Revelation have the same purpose: they’re both written to people who are in need of hope. Daniel is what is called “apocalyptic literature”. Now, when we hear the word “apocalypse”, we think of the end of the world and chaos and all kinds of bad things. But that’s not what the word really means. ” Apocalypse” is a Greek word meaning “lifting of the veil”, or “the revealing of something hidden”. Apocalyptic literature shows things going on in the world that we don’t usually see.
Both Daniel and Revelation do this through the use of visions, though Daniel offers a lot more explanations of what is going on than Revelation does. Our lesson from Daniel today is one of these visions. Daniel has a prophetic dream, where he say four beasts coming up out of the sea. First he sees a lion with the wings of an eagle. Its wings were torn off and then it stood up on two feet. Next was a bear with an armored mouth. Then a leopard with four heads, and finally a frightening beast with iron teeth and ten horns. Finally this last beast was slain and all were stripped of their authority. Then someone looking like a man came and was given authority to rule over all people in an everlasting rule.
Daniel, in his vision, asked someone near him what it all meant. The four beasts were four kingdoms, but the most important was the person who looked like a man, who was God. And the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and hold on to it forever and ever.
This is just one of many visions in Daniel, yet all of them have the same message: don’t stress about what’s going on around you, because God is in control and no matter what happens those who follow him will come out on top. Jesus says something quite similar in Luke. The blessings that Jesus speaks are directed at people who are stressed — either because of poverty, hunger, mourning, or hatred. Even while suffering on earth, there is a great reward to come in heaven.
This is part of what All Saints’ Day is all about. We remember those who have gone before us in the faith, who lived lives just like ours, and who now live triumphant with Jesus. We look forward to participating with them in Christ’s eternal reign, not because of anything we have done, but because of Christ.
All Saints’ Day reminds us of the hope we all have — that because Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised to life, we have forgiveness of sin and eternal life through him. This is the hope we have for ourselves, and for our loved ones. During communion we’ll be reading the names of some of those who have gone before us. I’m sure we’ve missed some, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less important to us. It’s particularly special to read these names during communion, because as we come to the Lord’s Table, we’re getting the smallest taste of the biggest party in all of history — the party that all the saints triumphant are having with Jesus. It’s the same party that we are still looking forward to, an eternal celebration of the wedding of Jesus to his bride, the Church.