Christ The King
Sermon
We seem to live in the Age of the Celebrity. Or at least, there is a very definite cult of the celebrity around. Celebrities of every description, whether sports stars or royalty or stars of television and screen, are big news and we seem to have an expanding number of magazines devoted to their lives with endless gossip about them. Even the fact that we refer to such people as 'stars' says something about how brightly we expect them to shine in our lives.
Perhaps our own lives are now necessarily so risk-free that we need celebrities to bring us colour and excitement. Celebrities are invariably wealthy and can therefore live exotic life-styles in exotic locations, such as the rest of us can only dream about. And they can take the sort of risks that we might envy and which we can share from the safety and comfort of our armchairs, such as high-speed cars or round-the-world yacht races or parachute-jumping.
Human beings have always needed heroes to emulate and admire and these heroes always become larger than life. Some are frank myths, such as the ancient Greek heroes of old, or the super-hero cartoon characters of today. Others are human beings, but as their reputations grow, so their exploits are increasingly reported in mythological ways and legends grow around them.
In times of extreme national stress such as war, perhaps we need heroes even more, for they bring us hope. We can cling on to our heroes and especially to their courage and fortitude and believe that all is not lost.
The Book of Daniel was written during a time of extreme and vicious persecution of the Jews by the invading Syrians led by Antiochus 1V Epiphanes, a leader notorious for his cruelty. Although the book purports to relate events which occurred in the fifth century BCE, it is actually a novel set in that time but referring in code to the time at which it was written, around 165 BCE. It is based on the life of Daniel, a young Jewish hero who was taken to Babylon in the exile of 626 BCE. Thus the novel refers to 'Babylon' but is actually talking about the currently hated and despised Syrians.
The Book of Daniel is an early example of apocalyptic literature which was popular from around 200 BCE to around 100 CE, so from just before to just after the time of Jesus. In the early days, Jews suffered persecution, but in the later days, it was Christians. The literature starts with the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament but finishes with the Book of Revelation in the New Testament.
Apocalyptic literature is rich in visions, images, codes and secret numbers and is concerned with the future. This future is invariably one of peace and plenty, but to arrive at such a future the present evil powers must be overthrown and this necessitates a fearsome time of human horrors and cosmic disasters leading into the time of peace.
The Book of Daniel is part of the Old Testament Wisdom literature, but a very different and distinctive part of it.
In today's reading from Daniel 7, Daniel has a vision of the heavenly court, where God (the 'ancient one') takes his rightful place on the central throne. Perhaps it is this image of God as an Ancient One with white hair that has given rise in our own day to the popular but somewhat childish understanding of God as an old man with a long white beard. Borrowing heavily from the Book of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1), God's throne is described in terms of a fiery chariot and fire issues forth from God himself.
In the Bible, fire is often symbolic of God's presence. Thus Moses encountered God by a burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6), Elijah called down fire from heaven to defeat the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:20-39), Isaiah was cleansed by a burning coal (Isaiah 6:1-8) and tongues of fire settled on the heads of the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13). But here in Daniel's vision, God's fire also denotes judgment of the nations, who are depicted as wild beasts in verses 11-12 (missing from the lectionary selection).
In contrast to the beasts are the 'tens of thousands' of those serving God in the courts and 'one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven.' When the book was written, this 'Son of Man' probably represented the chosen people, those who would form God's kingdom on earth. But significantly, this is the expression which Jesus chose to refer to himself and this is the only place in the Old Testament where the phrase occurs.
When we read the remainder of today's passage, we can see the parallels with Jesus. 'And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him' resonates with the idea of Christ being present at the beginning of Creation, sharing in the creative work of the Father (John 1:1-18, Colossians 1:15-20, Philippians 2:6-11). The passage continues, 'To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.'
In the original meaning, this would reassure Israel that although they were now experiencing oppression and persecution, in the end they would enjoy victory over all this evil. Indeed, in the missing verses (11 and 12) we learn that the horn that was speaking arrogant words was put to death, thus indicating the fate of Antiochus Epiphanes. Now, in hindsight, we see the meaning as referring to Jesus, to Christ our King. Even though we continue to experience suffering and disaster (and need our earthly heroes to help us cope with it), in the end we will enjoy victory over sin and evil and will begin to experience the peace and plenty of God's kingdom.
Of course, through Jesus we learn that he is not the sort of king envisaged in this passage in Daniel, for his power is not like that of Antiochus Epiphanes or any earthly ruler but is God's power, manifest through love and forgiveness, courage, endurance and suffering.
Christ our King is a king with a difference. He is human yet divine, ordinary yet kingly. But if we hold fast to him throughout all our experiences whether good or bad, we too will experience eternal life, the life of the Kingdom of God.
Perhaps our own lives are now necessarily so risk-free that we need celebrities to bring us colour and excitement. Celebrities are invariably wealthy and can therefore live exotic life-styles in exotic locations, such as the rest of us can only dream about. And they can take the sort of risks that we might envy and which we can share from the safety and comfort of our armchairs, such as high-speed cars or round-the-world yacht races or parachute-jumping.
Human beings have always needed heroes to emulate and admire and these heroes always become larger than life. Some are frank myths, such as the ancient Greek heroes of old, or the super-hero cartoon characters of today. Others are human beings, but as their reputations grow, so their exploits are increasingly reported in mythological ways and legends grow around them.
In times of extreme national stress such as war, perhaps we need heroes even more, for they bring us hope. We can cling on to our heroes and especially to their courage and fortitude and believe that all is not lost.
The Book of Daniel was written during a time of extreme and vicious persecution of the Jews by the invading Syrians led by Antiochus 1V Epiphanes, a leader notorious for his cruelty. Although the book purports to relate events which occurred in the fifth century BCE, it is actually a novel set in that time but referring in code to the time at which it was written, around 165 BCE. It is based on the life of Daniel, a young Jewish hero who was taken to Babylon in the exile of 626 BCE. Thus the novel refers to 'Babylon' but is actually talking about the currently hated and despised Syrians.
The Book of Daniel is an early example of apocalyptic literature which was popular from around 200 BCE to around 100 CE, so from just before to just after the time of Jesus. In the early days, Jews suffered persecution, but in the later days, it was Christians. The literature starts with the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament but finishes with the Book of Revelation in the New Testament.
Apocalyptic literature is rich in visions, images, codes and secret numbers and is concerned with the future. This future is invariably one of peace and plenty, but to arrive at such a future the present evil powers must be overthrown and this necessitates a fearsome time of human horrors and cosmic disasters leading into the time of peace.
The Book of Daniel is part of the Old Testament Wisdom literature, but a very different and distinctive part of it.
In today's reading from Daniel 7, Daniel has a vision of the heavenly court, where God (the 'ancient one') takes his rightful place on the central throne. Perhaps it is this image of God as an Ancient One with white hair that has given rise in our own day to the popular but somewhat childish understanding of God as an old man with a long white beard. Borrowing heavily from the Book of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1), God's throne is described in terms of a fiery chariot and fire issues forth from God himself.
In the Bible, fire is often symbolic of God's presence. Thus Moses encountered God by a burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6), Elijah called down fire from heaven to defeat the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:20-39), Isaiah was cleansed by a burning coal (Isaiah 6:1-8) and tongues of fire settled on the heads of the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13). But here in Daniel's vision, God's fire also denotes judgment of the nations, who are depicted as wild beasts in verses 11-12 (missing from the lectionary selection).
In contrast to the beasts are the 'tens of thousands' of those serving God in the courts and 'one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven.' When the book was written, this 'Son of Man' probably represented the chosen people, those who would form God's kingdom on earth. But significantly, this is the expression which Jesus chose to refer to himself and this is the only place in the Old Testament where the phrase occurs.
When we read the remainder of today's passage, we can see the parallels with Jesus. 'And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him' resonates with the idea of Christ being present at the beginning of Creation, sharing in the creative work of the Father (John 1:1-18, Colossians 1:15-20, Philippians 2:6-11). The passage continues, 'To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.'
In the original meaning, this would reassure Israel that although they were now experiencing oppression and persecution, in the end they would enjoy victory over all this evil. Indeed, in the missing verses (11 and 12) we learn that the horn that was speaking arrogant words was put to death, thus indicating the fate of Antiochus Epiphanes. Now, in hindsight, we see the meaning as referring to Jesus, to Christ our King. Even though we continue to experience suffering and disaster (and need our earthly heroes to help us cope with it), in the end we will enjoy victory over sin and evil and will begin to experience the peace and plenty of God's kingdom.
Of course, through Jesus we learn that he is not the sort of king envisaged in this passage in Daniel, for his power is not like that of Antiochus Epiphanes or any earthly ruler but is God's power, manifest through love and forgiveness, courage, endurance and suffering.
Christ our King is a king with a difference. He is human yet divine, ordinary yet kingly. But if we hold fast to him throughout all our experiences whether good or bad, we too will experience eternal life, the life of the Kingdom of God.
