So…
How many of you all like horror movies? You people are weird!
I, on the other hand, watch the promo’s for those things and then I can’t sleep at night. I saw a promo for a TV show I think, called Devs (I assume for deviants) and already I know I am not watching it.
And just like there is a group of folks who like the horror genre, there are those that love apocalyptic. Think “Zombie Apocalypse”. On the one hand, if that person is sitting next to you, they know what to do if a zombie shows up at your house. The problem is that they are at their house! Psyche1
Besides what if the apocalypse isn’t about zombies. Right now, there are some that think the Coronavirus is the apocalypse and so are stocking up on bottled water.
Not really sure how those two things go together!
Any of you old people remember the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”? And we said, “no way”! No computer can just shut down life support!
Alexa, turn up the heat!
So, what if you put together a horro movie with an apocalypse? You end up with the seventh chapter of Daniel’s story!
Yep! That’s were we are. Daniel is seeing a vision of the future, and written down, it is considered “apocalyptic literature”, that is the bible’s vision of the end of times.
And, just so you all know, there is more of it scattered in both the Old and New Testament, and a lot of it echoes similar themes as the ones here in Daniel.
The details are often different, almost as though different witnesses are seeing the same things from different angles, but the grand themes seem to be pretty much the same: things go bad, rulers local and cosmic arise to challenge God and God’s people, things look bleak, all is lost, God’s people suffer, then God intervenes and judgment comes, and God’s victory is celebrated.
In the end it is really good news, but like movies and books, you gotta get to the end to see the victory!
Whether it be in Daniel, or the Revelation, or Matthew’s gospel, the pattern seems clear, but the details aren’t.
Now it would be helpful at this point to remind everyone of a few things. One is the preaching pact that this church and I have: I preach and teach what I believe, you are not obligated to agree with me! And note: that applies to prophecy and apocalyptic literature as well as anything else.
Another is that while in the contemporary marketplace there is a lot of teaching and preaching about the end times, most of what you will hear comes from a tradition in the church other than what most Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutherans, and even Catholics and the Orthodox have believed.
There are some that are convinced we have entered the last days, but keep in mind Christians have believed they were in the last days since Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after the resurrection.
The early church struggled with seeing wars and famines, wide spread diseases, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, tornados, and all the rest and were convinced Jesus was coming then.
And the church ever since has seen the signs and panicked. Even the Apostle Paul had to remind people to take off their white robes and get back to the work of the gospel, because as Jesus made clear, no one knows when the end will be.
And nothing has changed. We still don’t know. We are still supposed to be doing kingdom work at full tilt until the end arrives, and then we will see and know.
So, reading Daniel 7 and beyond comes with a reminder.
Daniel was experiencing his vision about 500 years before Jesus birth. God gave him a picture of the end of time that compressed into view all the troubles of God’s people as well as God’s final grand victory through Jesus.
Daniel later asked when these things were to take place, and the answer was, “that’s not for you to know”. Not only was that above his pay grade, as it were, it was also not helpful to know.
What you need to know, now as then, is that troubles will come, but you are to remain faithful, because God in the end will be victorious.
Note the last couple of verses in today’s reading: “As I continued to watch the vision that night, I saw what looked like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, and he was presented to the Eternal God.
He was crowned king and given power and glory, so that all people of every nation and race would serve him. He will rule forever, and his kingdom is eternal, never to be destroyed.”
In times such as these, with rumors of wars and famine and pestilence and the earth shaking, and even Coronavirus, we are to be living faithfully, taking care of the least of these, and continually praising God, just like Daniel.
Amen!
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