Based on Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18, Ephesians 1:13-17, Luke 6:20-28
For much of human history, there have been rulers and those who were ruled. Kings, Queens and Emperors ruled over a defined region and all of the people in that area were subservient to and protected by that ruler and their soldiers. Human kingdoms have come and gone countless times since the first recorded human king in ancient Sumer almost 5000 years ago. Monarchs likely came into being to bring order and structure to newly civilized people and also to protect them from others who would take away their people and their wealth. What began as a secular or managerial position ultimately morphed into a position that carried with it a divine sanction.
Thus, a key aspect of royalty is that it is divinely bestowed or at least blessed by the main god of a people. We see throughout recorded history that monarchs are not only the most ruthless or politically astute people in a group, but that their rule is said to be ordained by divine favor. In fact, Egyptian Pharaohs and Emperors of China and Rome were all considered divine and to be worshiped. The kings of Israel, while not being worshiped as divinity, were anointed by God’s emissaries and received God’s blessing.
Even though the rulers were supposed to have divine sanction and look out for their subjects, the truth is that it was never easy to live under a human king. Kings were often most interested in expanding their own wealth and power and their subjects often suffered terribly. The uniqueness of Israel during the first part of their existence in the Promised Land was that their king was God, and they lived in a kingdom empowered, overseen and protected by God who ruled with unconditional love and without oppression.
Our scripture readings for today speak to us about how we are to understand living as subjects in God’s kingdom. The Book of Daniel is challenging to understand. It was written very late in comparison to the rest of the 1st Testament – probably during the oppressive reign of Greek kings. Our reading for today has Daniel interpreting his own dreams and visions of living in God’s promised kingdom. Daniel envisions four great beasts rising out of the sea. These were metaphors for the last four foreign kings who ruled over Israel – the worst being the ruler Antiochus Epiphanes IV of Greece. Though the beasts were mighty and terrible, Daniel is assured in his vision that “the holy people of the Most-High [God] will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever – yes, for ever and ever….”
The writer of the letter to the Ephesians states in our reading today that no matter what is happening in the world, that those “included in Christ” and the Holy Spirit are in fact God’s people whose inheritance in God’s kingdom will be redeemed. They will receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that they might know God better and know the hope that living in God’s kingdom will be a huge improvement over human kingdom living. A hope built on a promise that God’s kingdom includes all of those (living and dead) who have ever been part of the Body of Christ.
In Luke’s Gospel reading, Jesus teaches about the blessings of God’s kingdom living verses woes of those living in the upper echelons of human kingdoms. The blessings of God’s kingdom living come to those who are marginalized and oppressed by the human kingdoms of this world. Blessings come to those who are hated, excluded, insulted and rejected because they believe in the Messiah, Jesus. Belief in Jesus the Christ brings blessings in this life and in the life to come. Kingdom living can commence as soon as anyone believes in their heart that Jesus is their Lord and Savior – and it never ends!
Kingdom living was well known to our ancestors. In fact, many of our ancestors left Europe in order to escape living under the oppression of kings and their constant wars. Our spiritual ancestors the Jews also knew what it was to freely live in God’s kingdom (aka the Promised Land) and then to choose to live under human kings. They chose the latter over the former – even though they were told what human kings would do. In 1Samuel 8, the prophet speaks these truths to the people who have said “Give us a king to lead us”. Samuel replies for God “…This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve…some he will assign to be commanders…and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and others to make weapons of war…He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage [and do the same]…you yourselves will become his slaves….”
The history of Israel’s human kings is for the most part a story of incompetence and disaster – the final blow being the exile to Babylon. During the Exile, the prophets began to speak about how the Israelites could find themselves once again under the rule of YHWH, the King of the Universe. They prophesied that the success of the people Israel was dependent on the people’s obedience to God and to God’s rule of their lives, and not on an earthly king. The hope of the people lay in the coming of God’s “anointed one” or “messiah” who would bring about kingdom living on earth. This kingdom would bring peace and prosperity to the faithful and judgment for God’s enemies - and it was a kingdom that would neither oppress nor end.
About 400 years after these prophecies came John the Baptizer and then Jesus of Nazareth. The first proclaims the coming of the Messiah and the second claims that the kingdom of God has arrived. We believe, some 2000 years beyond the time of Jesus, that the kingdom of God did begin in earnest here on earth with the birth of Jesus – and that its fulfillment will come when Jesus returns in glory.
We are currently live in-between, but we can choose kingdom living now – today. We do this by accepting the powerful freedom that God gives us to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever ways they are present in our lives and our world. We do this by obediently living the teachings of Jesus, the living Word of God. We do this by giving our allegiance only to God, the King of the Universe. We live today in God’s kingdom when we realize that kingdom living is not just for those physically alive, but it includes all believers who have come before us – that great “Cloud of Witnesses” who we remember this day. Like the Israelites of old, we can choose to be subjected to human rulers with all their frailties, injustices and oppressions, or to live in God’s just and unconditionally loving kingdom, which will have no end. To me the choice is clear. Thanks be to God, the King of the Universe – amen!