Home » Bible Tuesday for All Saints Sunday, 2016

Bible Tuesday for All Saints Sunday, 2016

Bible Tuesday for All Saints Sunday, 2016

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18

In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream: 2I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, 3and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.15As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. 16I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all this. So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter: 17“As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. 18But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever—forever and ever.”

Ancient Israelite forms of literature included the apocalypse. Apocalyptic literature satirizes occupying forces, in this case Babylonia, and reveals that God is ultimately in control of all things. The books of Ezekiel and Daniel both fit into the apocalyptic category. In the New Testament, Revelation does as well.

While the book of Revelation is entirely a vision relayed by John of Patmos, and has that eerie dream like quality to it, the books of Daniel and Ezekiel includes whole chapters of straight forward accounts, with a few chapters of apocalyptic visions mixed in.

The setting of the book of Daniel is that Babylonia has conquered Israel. The armies have hauled away the educated, the wealthy, and the religiously/politically powerful back to Babylon. The farmers and tradespeople have been left in Israel to ply their trades and pay hefty tariffs to Babylonia. Once in Babylon, the young Israelites are separated from their families and brought into the royal courts for reeducation; Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, are among them. These four young men show particular faithfulness to Yahweh during their “captivity” which earns them both great punishment for their rejection of false gods, and great favor for their honesty and faithfulness. Daniel ends up head of the King Nebuchadnezzar’s advisers and diviners. When Nebuchadnezzar died and his son rose to the throne, Daniel had the above dream. It was chosen for today’s lectionary because it mentions that though Daniel sees in his vision four kings from the region’s greatest power, yet, by the power of God, Israel will be restored to it’s kingdom.

Psalm 149

1Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful.

2Let Israel be glad in its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.

3Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.

4For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory.

5Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches.

6Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands,

7to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples,

8to bind their kings with fetters and their nobles with chains of iron,

9to execute on them the judgment decreed. This is glory for all his faithful ones. Praise the Lord!

This psalm echoes Daniel’s prophecy. While Daniel was prophesying to people in exile, this psalm seems to be written to Israel as it leaves exile and defeats those who usurped their lands and homes.

At night on their couches – at home during dinner, as they eat, not as poor people do, sitting on the floor, but as wealthy people do, reclining on backless couches.

Their king – Judah is restored to its earliest days when God alone with their king and they had no palace or throne, only the Tent of Meeting that housed the Arc of the Covenant.

Ephesians 1:11-23

In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;14this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

15I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason 16I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

As usual, Paul presents so many concepts and his language is so complicated that one could write a PhD dissertation just on the above pericope. As you do not want to read a dissertation and I do not want to write one, please allow me to focus on a few phrases/concepts.

“live to the praise of his glory” – Paul is saying that those first disciples who believe in Jesus and live faithfully, evangelizing and witnessing as they go, are also praising Christ in their daily living.

“may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation” – As Paul traveled throughout the Roman Empire, preaching and teaching the good news of Jesus, he encountered people who claimed to be followers of Jesus but believed in all kinds of screwy things. Since no gospels had been written yet, and the baptismal creeds left a lot of room for interpretation, variation in beliefs about Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit is understandable. In the above passage from his letter to the congregation in Ephesus, a city filled with temples to the Roman gods, it is quite pastoral of Paul to pray that they would receive the spiritual gifts of wisdom and revelation. With these gifts, this congregation can discern what is true and real about God and what being propagated by heretics.

Luke 6:20-31

0Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. 24“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25“Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. 26“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

27“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.29If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Since the above passage is part of the Sermon on the Mount, we assume it was preached to the huge crowd that had gathered around Jesus. But note the first words of this passage, “He looked up at his disciples and said…” This passage is to those who are following Jesus. It is too early in Jesus ministry to call any of these Apostles (the sent ones) yet, but in Luke, the disciples are different than the crowds. The disciples include the twelve and the women who provide for Jesus out of their own means. To these in Jesus’ inner circle and to those who have traveled with Jesus for this trip, Jesus teaches how God views human dignity.

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” – 90% of Jews under Roman rule were poor. While this cannot be found in Hebrew Scriptures, the Jewish authorities in Jesus’ day taught that to be poor was to be cursed by God. Jesus turned that on its head. The verses after this one are related, “Blessed are you who are hungry…” whether spiritually or physically, God will feed you through the good news of Jesus.

“Woe to you…” Throughout the gospel of Luke, Jesus teaches that those who have now, whether wealth or fame, happiness or comfort, will lose it in the kingdom of God. If you have these things, it is at the expense of those who do not have. “Whoever has two coats must give one away.” God calls the faithful to share wealth, food, comfort, not hoard it, or merely exchange it with friends who also have wealth.

Jesus teaches that we are to treat others as we would want to be treated. In the Kingdom of God there is no room for vengeance. But Jesus does not teach that his followers should be doormats. That is not how we or anyone want to be treated! To love our enemies does not mean to have warm, snuggly feelings about them. Jesus admonishes us to have the kind of love for our enemies that wishes them no harm, that is “patient, kind, not boastful, does not seek revenge”.

“If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other.” In this culture, to be struck backhanded was to be shamed (just as in our culture) and treated as a lesser person, but by giving the other cheek, you are demanding that the one who strikes now use the palm and treat you as an equal.

If someone takes your coat away, do not withhold even your shirt.” In Hebrew law, one could not make another be naked. The shame was not on the naked one but on the one who forced a fellow human being to be naked. By giving the coat thief even your shirt (in a culture that did not wear tidy whities or pants), you are actually loving with “tough love”, posing the question, “Do you really want to bring such same on yourself? There is a better way.”

“Give to anyone who begs from you.” In today’s United States, we have taught ourselves to ignore hitch hikers, street beggars, those whom we encounter who ask for gas or food. Do these beggars really need what we have? Do they deserve our help or are they just scamming us? Folks scammed others in Jesus’ day too, yet Jesus adjures us to quiet our skepticism and carefully give to those who beg.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In these final days before an entirely too long election season, Jesus’ admonition is badly needed. We grieve Jesus when we vilify our opponents. We want our side to be given some slack; folks should look at the heart of our candidate, at his/her intent, not his/her gaffs and spurious past acts. So then, we must cut our opponents and those who support them the same patience and compassion we expect. And Jesus is speaking about much more than just election seasons. What an incredibly hard thing Jesus is insisting we do!