The Revised Common Lectionary's Old Testament reading for this "All Saints' Day" is Daniel 7:1-3, 18-15. The reading is one of those which, for the sake of brevity, omits a large middle section of text, in this case that which is found from verses 4-17. Verses 1-3, an introduction in the text to one of Daniel's dreams, seem to be provided in the lectionary in order to set the scene for the assurance of verse 18: "But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever--forever and ever."
In the context of Daniel's sense of terror produced by "the visions of his head", such an assurance is indeed comforting (7:1, 15). Beset by the horror of strange beasts representing the arrogant and violent kingdoms of the earth which were oppressing Daniel's people, the assurance that the "holy ones" of a God greater ("the Most High") than even the kingdoms will reign is good news indeed. But something is missing.
Between the terror and the comfort is the revelation to Daniel of "one like a human being", the "Son of Man" whose coming to the fore signals the arrival on earth of "an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away" (7:13-14). Though "the holy ones" or "saints" are to "gain possession of [that] kingdom", their inheritance is not conditioned by themselves but by him to whom "was given dominion and glory and kingship"--the Son of Man himself (7:14). The saints do not move from terror to comfort by virtue of any inherent right of theirs to rule but by judgment of him who holds the power to judge (7:22, 26). Without the "one like a human being", the "holy ones" do not rule at all.
In fact, we may go beyond the scope of Daniel's vision to say that, without the Son of Man who determines their way to the kingdom, the saints, though they should rule, are doomed to go the way of the arrogant and violent kingdoms to which they were once enslaved. Like the "fourth beast" of the vision, "terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong", the saints without the Son will too "devour, break, and stamp" all who come under their authority (7:7). Without the Son, they will do to others that which they would not have had others do to them.
Jesus, whose favorite self-designation was "Son of Man", defines for his followers the shape of that dominion which will last. "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mk 10:42-45).
On this so-called "day of the dead", then, let us give thanks to God for "the great cloud of witnesses" that surrounds us, but let not them be our focus; let us look to Jesus, "the pioneer and perfecter of our faith" (Heb 12:1-2).
-Joe
Showing posts with label saints. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saints. Show all posts
Friday, November 1, 2013
Thursday, March 1, 2012
praying forgiveness
Within the span of a week I've had two opportunities to share some insights on the Lord's Prayer (Mt 6:9-13). Here's what I've found:
The prayer defines its addressee in the first line, "Our Father, the one who is in the heavens". While it may seem obvious to some Christians that we would address God in prayer, the fact that Jesus specifies only God as the recipient of our prayers cuts against the grain of some traditions in which other spiritual authorities are also invoked. Within the Lord's Prayer there is no mention of the saints or ancestors of human religion/culture.
The prayer features seven verbs. The first three verbs are pleas for the Father to do something for the Father's own sake. These accompany nouns with possessive pronouns in the second person singular. I call this "a pattern of possession or belonging to the second person" who is, in this case, God. The three verb-noun combinations then are:
May it be kept holy/sanctified--your name
May it come--your kingdom
May it be done--your will
All are pleas pertaining to God. Disciples pray, as Jesus taught us, for God to guard/protect/keep God's own prerogatives as the creator of the world. While human beings can participate in the glorifying of God's name, the coming of God's kingdom, and the doing of God's will, all are ultimately the work of the Father himself. Only the Father can protect his name, kingdom, and will from the humans who inevitably fail to honor God. Our shortcomings simply expose the need to pray to the Creator, and reveal why we should begin in prayer with pleas that pertain to God for God's sake. It is upon God's heavenly name, kingdom, and will that the same might be established on earth, and so we address the only One who can bring about these realities. We plea to God not to give up on the establishment of God's name, kingdom, and will upon the earth in the face of our sin.
After we have put first things first, the things upon which everything else is founded, then we begin to pray to God about the things that belong uniquely to us as frail human beings. Here come the next four verb-noun combinations.
Give us today--our daily bread
Forgive us--our debts
Do not bring--us into temptation
Deliver--us from the evil one
If in the "pattern of possession or belonging to the second person", that is, "to God", the pronoun was "your", the final four verbs pertain to "our" or "us". In other words, the second set of verb-noun combinations forms a "pattern of possession or belonging to the first person plural", "to us". After we have asked God to do some things for God's own sake, upon which our own survival also depends, now we begin to plea for God to do some things for us. Give us daily bread. Forgive us our debts. Do not bring us into temptation. Deliver us from the evil one. All four pleas refer to situations unique to the human condition. We are the ones in need of bread--not God. We are the ones who have debts (or sins or trespasses)--God has none. We are tempted--God is not. We must be delivered--Satan poses no threat to God. All of these predicaments are truly ours. And thus, as before, we speak to the only One who can help us.
Now, regardless of whether the pattern is "your" (to God) or "our" (to us), each verb is a plea for God to do something. God is the subject of doing, whether it be for God's own sake or for ours. That is the case--with one exception. Only one verb of the seven appears twice--to "forgive." If we have prayed for God to forgive us our sins, we must also pray that "we forgive those who sin against us". If we have prayed for God to forgive our debts, we also pray that "we forgive our debtors". The two, in fact, are dependent one upon the other. It is in the act of forgiveness alone that our agency and God's overlap. God forgives us as we forgive one another. We express our "godliness", our "god-likeness", through forgiveness. We "are perfect as our heavenly father is perfect" (Mt 5:48) in no other way but as we extend love without condition to our fellow human beings. We "complete" the love of an already "complete" God as "we love one another" (1 Jn 4:12).
If therefore we do, as Jesus commanded, "pray then in this way", forgiveness will be the spirituality of our lives; reconciliation its fruit; and peace the kingdom come--"on earth as it is in heaven".
-Joe
The prayer defines its addressee in the first line, "Our Father, the one who is in the heavens". While it may seem obvious to some Christians that we would address God in prayer, the fact that Jesus specifies only God as the recipient of our prayers cuts against the grain of some traditions in which other spiritual authorities are also invoked. Within the Lord's Prayer there is no mention of the saints or ancestors of human religion/culture.
The prayer features seven verbs. The first three verbs are pleas for the Father to do something for the Father's own sake. These accompany nouns with possessive pronouns in the second person singular. I call this "a pattern of possession or belonging to the second person" who is, in this case, God. The three verb-noun combinations then are:
May it be kept holy/sanctified--your name
May it come--your kingdom
May it be done--your will
All are pleas pertaining to God. Disciples pray, as Jesus taught us, for God to guard/protect/keep God's own prerogatives as the creator of the world. While human beings can participate in the glorifying of God's name, the coming of God's kingdom, and the doing of God's will, all are ultimately the work of the Father himself. Only the Father can protect his name, kingdom, and will from the humans who inevitably fail to honor God. Our shortcomings simply expose the need to pray to the Creator, and reveal why we should begin in prayer with pleas that pertain to God for God's sake. It is upon God's heavenly name, kingdom, and will that the same might be established on earth, and so we address the only One who can bring about these realities. We plea to God not to give up on the establishment of God's name, kingdom, and will upon the earth in the face of our sin.
After we have put first things first, the things upon which everything else is founded, then we begin to pray to God about the things that belong uniquely to us as frail human beings. Here come the next four verb-noun combinations.
Give us today--our daily bread
Forgive us--our debts
Do not bring--us into temptation
Deliver--us from the evil one
If in the "pattern of possession or belonging to the second person", that is, "to God", the pronoun was "your", the final four verbs pertain to "our" or "us". In other words, the second set of verb-noun combinations forms a "pattern of possession or belonging to the first person plural", "to us". After we have asked God to do some things for God's own sake, upon which our own survival also depends, now we begin to plea for God to do some things for us. Give us daily bread. Forgive us our debts. Do not bring us into temptation. Deliver us from the evil one. All four pleas refer to situations unique to the human condition. We are the ones in need of bread--not God. We are the ones who have debts (or sins or trespasses)--God has none. We are tempted--God is not. We must be delivered--Satan poses no threat to God. All of these predicaments are truly ours. And thus, as before, we speak to the only One who can help us.
Now, regardless of whether the pattern is "your" (to God) or "our" (to us), each verb is a plea for God to do something. God is the subject of doing, whether it be for God's own sake or for ours. That is the case--with one exception. Only one verb of the seven appears twice--to "forgive." If we have prayed for God to forgive us our sins, we must also pray that "we forgive those who sin against us". If we have prayed for God to forgive our debts, we also pray that "we forgive our debtors". The two, in fact, are dependent one upon the other. It is in the act of forgiveness alone that our agency and God's overlap. God forgives us as we forgive one another. We express our "godliness", our "god-likeness", through forgiveness. We "are perfect as our heavenly father is perfect" (Mt 5:48) in no other way but as we extend love without condition to our fellow human beings. We "complete" the love of an already "complete" God as "we love one another" (1 Jn 4:12).
If therefore we do, as Jesus commanded, "pray then in this way", forgiveness will be the spirituality of our lives; reconciliation its fruit; and peace the kingdom come--"on earth as it is in heaven".
-Joe
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)