It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
Stories
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit
Series V, Cycle C
Object:
As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. I 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: "As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever -- forever and ever." (vv. 15-18)
It was Thanksgiving Day, 1994. Hadley and I were spending the holiday at her family's home in Eufaula, Oklahoma. For the first time in three years, the entire clan would all be together. This included Hadley's stepsister from Atlanta and her boyfriend, Rob. We felt sure this was an omen of an impending engagement, which meant we would all have to be on our best behavior.
It has been my tradition to watch the Dallas Cowboys play football on Thanksgiving Day. This year would be no different. It was Cowboys versus Packers. Rob, an ex-college player for the University of Georgia, planned to watch the game with me. Things were working out well. Male bonding was taking place. I sensed the need to grunt. Rob and I were connecting, and this would be important if an engagement were announced.
As the game progressed, it became apparent that Rob had an overwhelming interest in the game. He was rooting against my Cowboys. Now you have to understand, I'm a big Cowboys fan and have been for more than 25 years. On my honeymoon, we flew to Chicago and rented a car so we could drive to Milwaukee to see Dallas play Green Bay.
Did I say I was a big Cowboys fan? I meant I'm a HUGE Cowboys fan.
I didn't expect Rob to be a Cowboys fan. After all, he's from Atlanta. It would even be all right if he rooted for Green Bay. But he wasn't rooting for anybody. He was only rooting against the Cowboys. But I had to stay cool. After all, this guy was a prospective brother-in-law.
Due to injuries, Dallas was forced to start third-string quarterback, Jason Garrett, who had little NFL game experience. This was not a good sign for the Cowboys. Consequently, it was not a good sign for me in my current predicament.
As the game wore on and the Packers began to take control of the game, Rob started talking trash about "da 'Boys." He hated everything about the Cowboys -- the owner, the players, the coach, the stadium with the funny hole in the roof, and the uniforms. Nothing escaped his wrath. He delighted in reminding me at every possible moment that my team was "getting drilled." My potential future brother-in-law was a closet jerk celebrating his coming-out party.
I bit my lip and swallowed my pride. All I could say was, "The Packers are dominating, but the game isn't over yet." I kept repeating this every time Rob reminded me of the score. I knew there was little hope for the Cowboys in the game. Still, I was trying to convince myself there was. What seemed like the longest first half in the history of the sport of football finally ended with the Packers ahead with a score of 17-3.
Have you ever felt like giving up? Like all hope was gone? Life gets that way sometimes with things far more important than football games. We can easily feel so overwhelmed, can't we?
Well, consider this. The second half of that Thanksgiving Day Cowboys game saw one of the greatest comebacks in football history. Jason Garrett led the Cowboys to 39 second-half points and they beat the Packers 42-31. Much to my satisfaction, Rob was silenced. And the old Yogi Berra adage proved true: It ain't over, until it's over.
Rob began to celebrate too early. His problem was that he was shortsighted. And if the truth is told, we all are at times. When the going gets tough, we often tend to be shortsighted. It's human nature. This is why the book of Daniel was written.
During the writing of the book, the Israelites were under the Greek rule of the dastardly Antiochus Epiphanies, who tried to force Hellenistic culture down the throats of his Hebrew subjects. Antiochus executed those who owned the Hebrew Bible, sacrificed pigs in the temple, and hung the bodies of circumcised children around the necks of their mothers' corpses. You can see why the future looked bleak. There seemed to be no hope.
In the midst of this persecution, the book of Daniel was written. In chapter 7, Daniel has the future revealed to him in a series of dream-visions. He dreams of four great beasts rising out of the sea. The lion with eagle's wings portrays the Babylonian Empire. The bear stands for the Median Empire. The leopard is Persia. The dreadful beast with no name is the Hellenistic kingdom of Alexander the Great. From the eleventh horn of that beast emerges Antiochus IV. But Daniel tells us, "It ain't over."
See, there is a fifth kingdom, a kingdom that will be run by one who "looks like a human being" -- literally "like a son of man." Sound familiar? That's the term Jesus used to describe himself. And Daniel said, "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" (7:14).
What Daniel is saying is that kingdoms rise and fall, but the kingdom of God will last forever. No matter how bleak things can appear at times, there is reason to hope. In the Son of Man, God is available in a new way.
It was Thanksgiving Day, 1994. Hadley and I were spending the holiday at her family's home in Eufaula, Oklahoma. For the first time in three years, the entire clan would all be together. This included Hadley's stepsister from Atlanta and her boyfriend, Rob. We felt sure this was an omen of an impending engagement, which meant we would all have to be on our best behavior.
It has been my tradition to watch the Dallas Cowboys play football on Thanksgiving Day. This year would be no different. It was Cowboys versus Packers. Rob, an ex-college player for the University of Georgia, planned to watch the game with me. Things were working out well. Male bonding was taking place. I sensed the need to grunt. Rob and I were connecting, and this would be important if an engagement were announced.
As the game progressed, it became apparent that Rob had an overwhelming interest in the game. He was rooting against my Cowboys. Now you have to understand, I'm a big Cowboys fan and have been for more than 25 years. On my honeymoon, we flew to Chicago and rented a car so we could drive to Milwaukee to see Dallas play Green Bay.
Did I say I was a big Cowboys fan? I meant I'm a HUGE Cowboys fan.
I didn't expect Rob to be a Cowboys fan. After all, he's from Atlanta. It would even be all right if he rooted for Green Bay. But he wasn't rooting for anybody. He was only rooting against the Cowboys. But I had to stay cool. After all, this guy was a prospective brother-in-law.
Due to injuries, Dallas was forced to start third-string quarterback, Jason Garrett, who had little NFL game experience. This was not a good sign for the Cowboys. Consequently, it was not a good sign for me in my current predicament.
As the game wore on and the Packers began to take control of the game, Rob started talking trash about "da 'Boys." He hated everything about the Cowboys -- the owner, the players, the coach, the stadium with the funny hole in the roof, and the uniforms. Nothing escaped his wrath. He delighted in reminding me at every possible moment that my team was "getting drilled." My potential future brother-in-law was a closet jerk celebrating his coming-out party.
I bit my lip and swallowed my pride. All I could say was, "The Packers are dominating, but the game isn't over yet." I kept repeating this every time Rob reminded me of the score. I knew there was little hope for the Cowboys in the game. Still, I was trying to convince myself there was. What seemed like the longest first half in the history of the sport of football finally ended with the Packers ahead with a score of 17-3.
Have you ever felt like giving up? Like all hope was gone? Life gets that way sometimes with things far more important than football games. We can easily feel so overwhelmed, can't we?
Well, consider this. The second half of that Thanksgiving Day Cowboys game saw one of the greatest comebacks in football history. Jason Garrett led the Cowboys to 39 second-half points and they beat the Packers 42-31. Much to my satisfaction, Rob was silenced. And the old Yogi Berra adage proved true: It ain't over, until it's over.
Rob began to celebrate too early. His problem was that he was shortsighted. And if the truth is told, we all are at times. When the going gets tough, we often tend to be shortsighted. It's human nature. This is why the book of Daniel was written.
During the writing of the book, the Israelites were under the Greek rule of the dastardly Antiochus Epiphanies, who tried to force Hellenistic culture down the throats of his Hebrew subjects. Antiochus executed those who owned the Hebrew Bible, sacrificed pigs in the temple, and hung the bodies of circumcised children around the necks of their mothers' corpses. You can see why the future looked bleak. There seemed to be no hope.
In the midst of this persecution, the book of Daniel was written. In chapter 7, Daniel has the future revealed to him in a series of dream-visions. He dreams of four great beasts rising out of the sea. The lion with eagle's wings portrays the Babylonian Empire. The bear stands for the Median Empire. The leopard is Persia. The dreadful beast with no name is the Hellenistic kingdom of Alexander the Great. From the eleventh horn of that beast emerges Antiochus IV. But Daniel tells us, "It ain't over."
See, there is a fifth kingdom, a kingdom that will be run by one who "looks like a human being" -- literally "like a son of man." Sound familiar? That's the term Jesus used to describe himself. And Daniel said, "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" (7:14).
What Daniel is saying is that kingdoms rise and fall, but the kingdom of God will last forever. No matter how bleak things can appear at times, there is reason to hope. In the Son of Man, God is available in a new way.
