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Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
Have you ever been waken by a nightmare? Or perhaps by something that went bump in the night. We have all felt that fear before. Sometimes the feeling passes as fast as the dream is forgotten or as we realize that it was just the wind. But sometimes we lie there in the dark and the fear won't go away. Perhaps if we go back to sleep too fast the nightmare will start again or perhaps the sound was an intruder and not just the wind.
We live in a world where a lot of things go bump in the night and frighten us out of our peaceful rest. We worry about loved ones: Children or parents; will they be OK. We were all awaken from unconsciousness by the attacks of 9/11. And the threat of terrorism is still with us. What will become of the war?
What can we do in the face of these fears? A lot of people voted this past week thinking that one or the other candidate could fix the war or social security or national security or …. And perhaps the right or even the wrong candidate can do something. But there is always a new nightmare waiting to go bump in the night and wake us to fear.
The Bible tells us that Daniel had a scary dream. And the dream disturbed him. Daniel lived in a time when God's people were in captivity. Jerusalem had been conquered and the Israelites had been carried off to Babylon. Daniel was among these exiles and he lived and worked in the palace of the king.
It was while he was there in bed in the palace in Babylon that he had what we would call a nightmare. In it were four monsters. One was like a lion with eagle's wings, but it became like a man. Another one was like a bear. It had three tusks and it was told to devour many bodies. The third was like a leopard with four wings and four heads. And the fourth had iron teeth and eleven horns.
Then Daniel saw an Ancient man. He sat on a fiery throne. This ancient one sat in judgment and condemns the fourth beast to death. He also judged the other beasts and spared them but he took away their dominion. Then Daniel saw one like the "son of man" and that one was given dominion of all the earth forever.
Daniel says that these visions troubled him and terrified him. He didn't understand what they meant. So he asked one of the attendants in this courtroom what all this meant. He was told that the four beasts represent four kingdoms.
Now the question that everyone raises is what four kingdoms do they represent? The answers are many. One theory says that they referred to the four major empires that ruled in the near east from Daniel's time on. These would be the Babylonians, the Medes, The Persians and the Greeks in that order. That is the scholarly consensus, but some try to lump the Medes and Persians together and make the fourth kingdom the Roman Empire. Others try to make the beasts correspond to nations existing today.
But what is important is not who the kingdoms are, but what will happen to them and to us. The attendant tells Daniel, "The Holy Ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever - forever and ever." Who are these Holy Ones, these Saints? We are! We and anyone throughout time who has placed their trust in God. The Good News is that in the end God's people, the saints, will inherit God's kingdom for all eternity!
It is no wonder that Daniel was troubled by his vision. I am sure that many of his fellow Israelites were troubled too. What would become of them. Would the Babylonians or any of the other great empires of the ancient world destroy them? Would God's people cease to exist? Would their faith and way of life die out?
In the same way we often have troubling vision and night mares. These nightmares include beasts both terrifying and real. One is a beast of terrorism that destroys and threatened our freedom. Another is a beast of war that threatens our peace and families. Another is the beast of an unknown future that threatens our well being. And these visions bump us out of our rest and leave us in the dark, frightened and disturbed.
Holy Gifts for Holy People! In the Methodist Church we don't usually talk much about communion. We think it's important because Jesus said to do it in remembrance of him. But we don't take much time to talk about it. We just do it. One of the reasons we don't talk about it is that Christians have different ideas about what is actually going on when we say that the bread and the juice are the body and blood of Christ. And we don't want to get bogged down in theological questions; we just want to enjoy remembering Jesus and his disciples. We want to enjoy the experience.
But let's talk about communion today. The elements of communions, bread and grape juice, are essentially common everyday things. It's food. We eat bread and drink juice practically every day. In fact we take such things for granted. In any other setting these things would go unnoticed. But not here. Here the bread and cup are treated special. We place them in a prominent place in the sanctuary. We drape white cloths over them and speak religiously about them. We surrounded them with candles, crosses, and other religious symbols.
Why are this bread and the contents of this cup different? They are special because one day Jesus the Son of God took an ordinary piece of bread, and after blessing it he broke it. He gave it to his disciples and said, "This is my body broken for you." This grape juice is special because one day Jesus took a cup of wine and said, "This is my blood." That food was holy because Jesus made it holy. He chose to transform it from common food that fills the belly to spiritual food that fills the soul. And he gave that food to his disciples to bless them. This bread and grape juice represents that food. Jesus told us to break bread and share a cup in remembrance of him. And when we do that his Holy Spirit feeds us. Holy gifts! Not because they are intrinsically different from other food in and of themselves. They are holy gifts because God has set them aside for a holy purpose.
God is in the business of taking ordinary thing and turning them into holy things. God takes ordinary things like bread, wine, nails, boards, and stables and turns them into something holy. Likewise, God takes ordinary people and turns them into holy people. Last Thursday was All Saints Day. All Saints Day is the day when we remember and celebrate the contributions of the saints, or holy people. People like Peter and Paul the apostles. Or Ruth and Deborah in the Old Testament. Or John, Charles, and Susannah Wesley. Consider for a moment Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary was an ordinary girl. She may have been only 13 or 14. Her family was not powerful or rich. She was promised to a carpenter, not to a king or leader.
Yet we honor this ordinary first century Jewish girl. We call her "Saint" or "blessed." The Eastern Orthodox paint pictures of her. The Roman Catholics venerate her. We Christians do not treat her as an ordinary girl.
Why is she special? She is special because one day an angel from God came to her and said, "You are favored, God is with you." She is special because God chose her to give birth to the Savior of the world. She is holy because God made her holy. God took a young Jewish girl and transformed her into Saint Mary the Mother of Jesus the Savior of the World.
God takes ordinary people and makes them holy by speaking a word to them and setting them aside for a holy purpose. That is what God has done to us; made us holy people, saints. We're ordinary people. We're not kings or billionaires or world leaders. We're just normal people.
But one day God sent his Son to ordinary people. And Jesus spoke to ordinary people and said, "Blessed are the Poor." You can't get much more ordinary than the poor and God blessed them. He said, "Blessed are those that hunger and weep." Have you ever hungered or wept? Then you are blessed by God! When we receive Jesus, the author of the blessings, we receive the blessings themselves. Through Christ ordinary people in common situations are blessed by God!
Paul made this same point in different words in his letter to the Ephesians. He said, "When you...believed in him, [you] were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit."(1:13) When we first believed we were blessed or graced with the Holy Spirit the presence of God with us. And through that Holy Spirit God gives us wisdom and guidance. Then Paul prays that they may know what is the immeasurable power that is in Christ Jesus. Paul goes on, "God 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."(1:20) The power of God's blessing was demonstrated in Jesus resurrection and ascension and now this power dwells in us who believe in Jesus.
Holy Gifts for Holy People. Sainthood is not only for people who lived in Bible times. It's not only for those who have gone on to glory. Sainthood is available to all. When we give our lives to Christ, he comes and lives in our hearts. And he gives us the power of God like the power that was demonstrated at his resurrection.
Claim your Sainthood. Ask Christ to come into your hearts if you never have. If you have already given your life to Christ then claim the eternal power and glory that is yours in Christ Jesus.
Holy gifts for holy people. When you come today to receive communion, don't come as the world comes to receive bread for the stomach. But come as Saints to receive Christ who fills and nourishes the soul.