All Saints Day (2014)
THEME OF THE DAY
This is inspired by the saints and the love of God. The festival and the assigned texts focus on the Christian life (Sanctification), with an appreciation that this does not happen apart from God’s work on us (Justification by Grace). There are also eschatological elements/themes to be explored in relation to these themes.
Psalm 34:1-10, 22
This lesson is a thanksgiving for deliverance from trouble, traditionally attributed to David when feigning madness before Abimelech, whom he ultimately overcame. (In the actual event reported in 1 Samuel 21:10-15, David tricks Achish, King of Gath.) We have previously noted that many scholars have concluded that references to David in the psalms may have been a way of using him to represent the inner life of all his subjects and so of all the faithful (Brevard Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture, p. 521). In that sense this song is about the help we can count on from God in the midst of our troubles. The psalm is acrostic, with the first letter of each line following consecutively the order of the Hebrew alphabet.
The lesson begins with a brief hymn of praise, referring to blessing [barak] Yahweh at all times (vv. 1-3). The psalmist claims to have sought the Lord and been delivered (vv. 4, 6). Yahweh’s angel [malak, referring both to a messenger and to Yahweh's power] camps around all who fear [yare, referring to obedience and proper relationship with God] him (v. 7). We are told to taste and see that Yahweh is good [tob], and those who take refuge in him are blessed/happy [ashere] and are never in want (vv. 8-10). The style here is typical of teachers of Hebraic wisdom (Psalms 1 and 37). The Lord is said to redeem [padah, which also means "free"] the life of his servants not condemning those who take refuge in him (v. 22).
Application: Sermons on this song might depict the Christian life (Sanctification) as taking refuge in God. These saints are never in want and are blessed (which entails their happiness). The character of happiness in Old Testament times, reflecting on how we might find happiness today in holiness and right relation with Christ, could receive further attention.
Revelation 7:9-17
The lesson is taken from an apochryphal book of the late first century expressing hope for salvation after a world-ending new creation. Although parts of the book may predate the fall of Jerusalem, it is likely that it achieved its present form during the reign of Emperor Domitian between 81 and 96 AD. Christians were being persecuted for refusing to address him as lord and god. Though the tradition ascribes the authorship to John (1:1, 4, 9; 22:8), it is by no means clear that the author is one of the disciples. However, the book’s Semitic Greek style does suggest its author was Jewish. It relies heavily on eschatological images of the book of Daniel and other Old Testament texts (see 1:7, 12, 16; cf. Daniel 7:3; 10:5-9). This lesson is a vision of the multitude of the redeemed, transpiring between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals (opened by the lamb [presumably Christ] in 6:1).
The multitude of every nation is said to stand before the lamb robed in white (symbolizing righteousness and victory). They carry palm branches (also symbolizing victory) (v. 9). A praise psalm is offered regarding salvation belonging to God and Christ (v. 10). Angels stands around the throne of God and also around elders and four living creatures. They worship God, singing a sevenfold ascription to God (vv. 11-12). In dialogue with an elder, John learns that those robed in white are those who have weathered persecution and been washed in Christ’s sacrifice (vv. 13-14). Those who endured persecution (probably a period of distress prior to the end times) have a favored position, standing before the throne of God. They worship him day and night, receiving shelter (v. 17). They will also hunger and thirst no more, enjoying comfort from the heat (Isaiah 49:10; Psalm 121:6) (v. 16). The lamb at the center of the throne will be the shepherd of those who suffered. He will guide them and God will wipe away their tears (v. 17).
Application: This text invites sermons that teach and proclaim the vision of the end time and its relevance for everyday life (Eschatology, Sanctification, and Social Ethics).
1 John 3:1-3
The lesson is found in a treatise or sermon by an unknown teacher in the Johannine tradition, probably aiming to clarify the proper interpretation of the gospel of John. Unlike the gospel, this early second-century work was not concerned to address the relation of Christian faith and Jewish traditions, but it is concerned like the gospel with the proper testimony about Jesus in the Christian tradition. The book addresses segments of the Johannine community that have broken away (2:19; 4:1; 2 John 7). The dispute was over Gnostic or Docetic doubts about whether Jesus was truly a human being and whether his death on the cross was a sacrifice for sin (1:1-3, 7; 2:2; 3:16; 4:2, 10; 5:5).
This lesson is a discussion of how loving relations are expressed in right conduct. The author advises that the Father has given us much love [agape] and that we should be called children [teknon] of God. The world does not know the faithful, for it does not know him (v. 1). He further proclaims that we are God’s children now; what we become has not yet been revealed. When Christ is revealed we will be like him (v. 2). All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure [hagnizo] (v. 3).
Application: Sermons on the lesson might clarify and proclaim that by God’s grace we have been made saints and then describe what it might look like (what lies ahead when Christ comes again). Justification, Sanctification, and Eschatology are the highlighted themes.
Matthew 5:1-12
We have previously noted that this gospel is an anonymous work based on oral traditions about Jesus (though traditionally attributed to Matthew, one of Jesus’ disciples [9:9]). The book may well have been written in the last third of the first century in Antioch, for its Bishop Ignatius seems to quote it as early as 110 AD. That it is written in Greek seems to rule out the disciple as its author. This lesson reports Jesus’ teaching of the Beatitudes from his Sermon on the Mount, which is only also taught in Luke (6:17-23). The sermon itself proclaims God’s favor of those who aspire to live under his rule. It is so named because in it Jesus names various characteristics that contribute to or characterize the faithful’s blessedness (happiness). These are not conditions for receiving blessings but depict the eschatological age which is dawning (Eduard Schweizer, The Good News According To Matthew, p. 88).
The lesson begins with Jesus going up to the mountain, and after sitting down with his disciples he teaches them (vv. 1-2). Being seated was the usual position of Jewish rabbis while teaching. The poor in spirit (those with a deep sense of spiritual poverty) are said to be blessed [makarios, happy], for theirs is the kingdom of God (v. 3). Likewise, blessed are those who mourn as they will receive comfort, those who are meek for they will inherit the earth, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled (vv. 4-6). Also blessed are: 1) the merciful, receiving mercy (v. 7); 2) the pure in heart (those with single-minded sincerity), for they will see God (v. 8); 3) the peacemakers called children of God (v. 9); and 4) the persecuted, for there is God’s kingdom (v. 10). One with a pure heart seems to refer to a person not embarked on a course of evil and not seeking to deceive his neighbor (Eduard Schweizer, The Good News According to Matthew, p. 93). Jesus adds that we are blessed by people who revile and persecute us (v. 11). Then we are told to be glad for our reward is great in heaven, for in the same way Christians are now persecuted this happened to the prophets before the church (v. 12).
Application: A sermon on this gospel can clarify what the Beatitudes are (see last sentence of the first paragraph above). This is also an opportunity to clarify what saintliness is, the balance between extremes (Sanctification).
