[November 4 will be my first Sunday as pastor of Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, Ohio. Over the past several years, it's been my habit to share some of my studying and reflecting on the Bible passages on which I'm going to preach the following Sunday here on my blog.
[Unlike my previous congregation, where we usually focused on just one of the appointed lessons for the week, Saint Matthew reads all three lessons, as well as the appointed Psalm, each week. To read more about the Church Year, from which the three year cycle of lesson plans, known as the lectionary, come, see here.
[So, I intend to present a bit of information/reflection on each of the upcoming lessons and go a little more deeply in exploring the passage on which I'll base my sermon that week. (The first, usually Old Testament, lesson is generally thematically linked to the Gospel lesson each week.)
[The whole purpose of these "passes" at the Bible lessons is to help worshipers more fully prepare for taking in the message of the lessons.]
General Comments:
1. We'll be using the Bible lessons usually appointed for All Saints Day. That's November 1. In recent years, the day has come to actually be celebrated on the Sunday after November 1. The reason for this is that it's an important day on the church calendar, often used by congregations to remember those of their members who passed away in the preceding year, but few folks are available to show up to celebrate and remember the "faithful departed" when All Saints Day falls in the middle of the week. So, moving the commemoration of the day to the following Sunday makes sense.
2. From the standpoint of the New Testament, a saint is any sinner who has repented for sin and believed in Jesus Christ.
Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
1. The first lesson for All Saints Sunday comes from the Old Testament book of Daniel.
2. Daniel is often referred to as a book of prophecy. That categorization is okay as far as it goes. But it's more accurate to describe it as an apocalyptic book. The Greek word from apocalyptic comes means revelation. Daniel in the Old Testament and, logically enough, Revelation in the New Testament, are the Bible's only examples of apocalyptic literature. (You can read a little bit more about apocalyptic literature and the ambiguous attitude Lutherans, starting with Luther, have had about it in this piece about a passage of Revelation.)
3. Broadly, Daniel can be divided into two main sections. Chapters 1-7 are a narrative account of Daniel and of others during the deportation of many Israelites to function as slaves, sometimes, as in Daniel's case, in very important positions, in Babylon. The deportation happened in about 605BC after Babylon had conquered Israel. (Our lesson, drawn from chapter 7 does present a vision of Daniel's)
Chapter 8-12 presents a series of apocalyptic visions from Daniel.
4. Daniels' strange visions should be read primarily as a critique of the nations in his world. They should also be seen as an affirmation that God will vindicate those, who in spite of persecution and hardships, remain faithful in following Him. In that sense, Daniel's visions have broader implications for all who believe in Jesus Christ. As Jesus says in our Gospel lesson for this week, His followers, those who live under the reign of God, are members of a "topsy turvy" kingdom.
I'll present thoughts on Ephesians 1:11-23 and on Luke 6:20-31 tomorrow, hopefully.
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