sermon - Daniel: dreams

Prophetic Dreams

            When people think of the book of Daniel, most often, they think of Daniel in the Lion’s Den.  This book is one about a tragic time in the life of the Hebrew people.  Israel has been conquered by the Babylonians and the educated and skilled people have been taken captive, into exile back to Babylon.  As they enter life in the captive land, they are encouraged to assimilate into the culture and ways of the Babylonians including their religion.  This is a story of resistance, a story of people seeking to stay faithful to their God despite chaotic times, and it is a story of hope that even though the present is not very favorable, the people find hope that God will establish a better future.  And it is a story of dreams. 

            We started our sermon series on dreams with Jacob, who dreamed of a ladder connecting earth to heaven.  In this dream, Jacob was awoken to the sacred right there, in the very place where he slept.  It was also a sacred dream that reinforced Jacob’s call that he and his descendants would be God’s people.  Last week took us to Egypt where Joseph had a dream that he, the youngest brother, would rise to power over his older brothers.  In this story there were several other dreams including that of Pharaoh.  These dreams were prophetic, speaking to things in the future and Joseph was able to interpret these dreams so the Egyptians could prepare for a long season of famine. 

            Today, we continue with prophetic dreams, dreams held not by God’s people, but like Pharaoh, the oppressor of God’s people.  The first dream we heard was that of Nebuchadnezzar, but instead of sharing his dream with others he demands that others must tell him the dream and then interpret it for him.  Those in his court cannot tell him his dream, but Daniel has a true gift.  Here, in the land of exile, in a land where Daniel has taken great risks to stay faithful to his God, he has the opportunity now to not only interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream but also share what he dreamt.   “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, ²⁸ but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come

            So Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar his dream, his dream is of kingdoms, starting with the current kingdom moving far into the future.  As each kingdom comes after Babylon, they are slightly weaker and weaker.  Unlike the dream of Pharaoh and Joseph, this dream takes us long into the future and there seems to be no immediate action that can be taken.  There is no calling to stockpile food in order to prepare, it just is.  As Daniel gets to the end of the dream, listen to the language:  the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.  Does this sound like the texts we use at Advent?  Isaiah also speaks of a future kingdom, an eternal kingdom of King David, a Kingdom that we now speak of as that brought to us through Jesus Christ.  And as Daniel concludes his interpretation, giving credit to God in heaven, Nebuchadnezzar responds:  Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”  And just like Joseph, Daniel is given a position of authority within the Babylonian Court. 

            For a people in exile, to know that their God is present with them, is sending them a message of hope, even though it is through their oppressor, they find encouragement, they have a new anchor in which to place their faith, they have something to lift them up out of the chaos and stress of these trying times. 

            Over time, a new king came to rule over Babylon, king Belshazzar, and this time it is Daniel that has a dream.  Daniel’s dream parallels that of King Nebuchadnezzar, in that it is predicting future kingdoms.  As his dream concludes he has this vivid image of:  In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,^[a] coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.  Again, we have this prophetic vision of the Messiah. 

            Professor:  Juliana Claassens

Share this:  Daniel 7 assert that God is not just a far-away removed deity, but that God is present in the chaos of this world: moving, acting, and intervening in the real life struggles of the believers who are yearning for a Liberator God.  Sometimes when we switch on the morning news and read the newspapers over a cup of coffee, we may feel a bit like Daniel, frightened by devouring monsters in his night visions, when we seek to wrap our minds around everything that is happening in our country and around the world. However, the belief and hope in a Savior that enters exactly where the forces of chaos seem to be most rampant is what allows one to get up and face the day. 

            God, through these dreams, sent the people hope despite being in exile, despite being in captivity, despite being oppressed by outside forces.  We, continue to live as a part of that dream, on the other side of it, on the side where God has sent the son of man, the redeemer, the liberator and yet, we know there are still forces of oppression in this world, there are still vices that we need liberated of.  When we find ourselves struggling in hard times, what is our anchor?  What is our hope?  We have the eternal kingdom of God, the eternal reign of our loving Creator, we are a part of this on-going story, this on-going dream.  God is not done with the world yet.  The people of God have endured through amazing trials and tribulations and the promise of God’s presence in their lives has strengthened them. 

            The forces of oppression in our lives today are varied.  They can be disease, unemployment, under employment, addiction, poverty and homelessness.  They can be global structures where we just feel powerless.  And God’s people do not stay silent, there are various groups being a voice for the voiceless, being a witness to God’s goodness in the world, speaking out on behalf of the environment, dedicating their careers to mental illness treatment and care.  So many people seek to be a part of God’s dream, a part of the redemption of this world, a part of the liberation, witnesses of God’s presence in this world  Amen. 

summer series: Dreams

This summer, I thought it would be fun to do a summer sermon series on the various dreams found in our scriptures.  So, as we begin with this first dream, often referred to as Jacob’s ladder, I will share a bit of background on Jacob.  The story really begins with Abraham and Sarah, called by God to leave their land and follow God.  Eventually, Sarah and Abraham have a son named Isaac and now the next generation has been born.  Isaac marries Rebekah and has twin sons: Esau and Jacob.  During her pregnancy, Rebekah seeks the Lord and learns:  And the Lord said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.”

Esau is born first which secures him the birthright of the eldest son.  Jacob was rather cunning and bought his brother’s birthright from him for a bowl of stew.  Then, with the help of his mother, Rebekah, he is able to trick his father, Isaac, into giving him the blessing instead of Esau.  Between taking his brother’s birthright and his father’s blessing, Esau and Jacob are no longer on speaking terms, in fact, Jacob flees with the fear that his brother just might kill him. 

            It is here that today’s passage begins, a younger brother, destined by God to break the cultural norm of birth order, fleeing for his life.  As night fell, Jacob found a place to rest and as he slept, he had a dream.  President of Princeton Seminary, Rev. Craig Barnes says this:  You see, when it comes to dreams, the only good ones come from God. And God insists on just giving them to us. The most important dreams are things like being loved, having a child, beholding beauty, discovering your purpose in life, finding joy in your work, or finding a friend who will stick with you through anything, even the truth. Those dreams, the things for which we yearn most in life, come only as blessings from God. And blessings can only be received.

            As Jacob falls asleep, he dreams of a ladder, a ladder connecting the earth to heaven and going up and down on this ladder are angels.  What I think is interesting is that God is not up at the top, God is not up in heaven sending his message down the ladder through the angels, but rather, we are told that the Lord stood beside Jacob.  And then Jacob was given a promise, if you compare this message from God to that given to Abraham it is almost the exact same.  God promises, that Jacob will have numerous descendants and this land will be his.  But more importantly, all the families of the earth shall be blessed^[d] in you and in your offspring. ¹⁵ Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go. 

            Perhaps before this dream, Jacob knew that he was to inherit his father’s blessing, perhaps he knew that he was going to assume the role of the elder brother even though he was the younger, but it is not until this dream, that he truly understands that this is not a role of power but a blessing, a gift from God, a sacred calling. 

            How often in our lives, we seek to climb the ladders before us, if you are in the corporate world, we even call it the corporate ladder.  We want to climb up, we seek promotions, we seek job security because we then have financial security.  But how many awful stories have we heard of people climbing and climbing and climbing only to destroy their own lives? 

            Jacob has to learn to live into who he is, and that God is with him and God will journey with him where ever he goes.  As Jacob awakens from this dream, he proclaims:  Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”  As we seek to grow in our professions, or in our daily journey, God reminds us through this dream to do so with God alongside of us.  Jacob could have lived his life for his own gain, but God desires for his life to be one of blessing. 

            I’ve met a handful of people in my life that had rather prestigious careers and had some sort of divine intervention and changed their course in life in order to be more connected to serving others.  One couple I met gave up their dream of retirement and moved to a rural area in order to be full time volunteers for the mission program our church was involved with. 

            Now, I have had some rather vivid dreams, if they have any kind of religious meaning, most of the time they are of me showing up on Sunday morning without a sermon.  But imagine, waking up from a night of sleep, of having such a powerful dream, that you proclaim: Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”  What a wonderful dream, to awaken one’s self to the presence of God all around us.  And to awaken to a promise that in Abraham and in Jacob God has promised a blessing upon their descendants.  All the families of the earth shall be blessed.  What an amazing dream to live into.  Summer is a time for dreaming.  Some of us are trying to embrace the dream of being a part of God’s blessing, some of us are trying to embrace the dream of God’s blessing extending to all, some of us are somewhere in between.  But the dream of Jacob’s ladder continues into today’s world.  God is standing beside us, the angels are ascending and descending the ladder to heaven, and the promise of blessing is flowing for us to receive but also for us to give.  We know there is much pain, suffering, and struggling in this world, and together, as Christ’s disciples, we are called to be agents of blessing.  God had a new dream for humanity, and so God called Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be a great and mighty nation but also to be a people of blessing, bringing God’s love and peace and joy into this world.  We too are called by God, as a congregation to dream a new dream, to be a people that imagine a ladder to heaven with angels ascending and descending, with God standing next to us, reminding us that we are blessed to be a blessing, and encouraging us to remember:  Surely the Lord is in this place.