Living into the Vision (All Saints Sunday)
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Our first reading today begins with the words, “Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed.” And Daniel’s vision was weird! It was confusing. In fact, he says it was downright terrifying. Maybe that’s why Daniel remembered it.
And indeed, most of the “visions” we remember in the Bible are like that. They’re strange, they’re mystical and they’re open to even stranger and conflicting interpretations.
But in fact, “visions” can come in many ways, and they’re not always weird. While some of the visions that God gave people were indeed in the form of strange dreams or ecstatic trances, at other times God gave people “visions” through simple, regular things that they saw. For example, one time the prophet Amos saw a basket of rotted fruit in the market, and he understood that God was telling him that this was how the people of God were living. At other times, God gave people visions through what we might call “gut feelings.” So, for example, in last Sunday’s first reading, the prophet Jeremiah just knew in the depths of his being that the days were surely coming when God would make a new covenant with his people.
And in one sense, today’s Gospel reading is a “vision” as well. With these words, Jesus is giving his disciples a vision. It’s a vision of what God’s coming future will look like – a future where the poor and disenfranchised of this world are made inheritors of God’s kingdom; where the hungry are filled; and where those who mourn are comforted.
And it’s important to remember that these words of Jesus were originally spoken to people who actually were experiencing these very things in their lives. Like the prophets, who were given visions in times of great upheaval and distress, the folks who were listening to Jesus were generally not comfortable middle class folks who were griping about inflation and the cost of gas.
Many of them really wondered where their next meal might come from. Many of the folks listening to Jesus were not merely people who wondered if their party would win in the midterms or not. They were, literally “disenfranchised” people living under Roman occupation. And those folks listening to Jesus were often people who were physically dumped on by the world and by others, and while they might have loved to hear a vision which included “blessed are you”, they probably didn’t so much like the “love your enemies and pray for those who abuse you” part.
And yet even – and perhaps especially – to folks in those situations, Jesus lifted up a vision. And the vision of the beatitudes is a vision which assured Jesus’ first listeners, and which assures us, that God:
- Notices what’s going on in the world around us, even and especially when things are terrible – and that might have been surprising to folks back then – as it is to some folks now – who might have been tempted to say, “that’s great Jesus, because it sure doesn’t seem like it!”; and yet, Jesus shows up in the world and lives among the mess precisely to show us that God does indeed notice…
- There is hope beyond the pain, the suffering and even the evil of this world – but that hope is finally in God’s redemption, not in human progress. The vision Jesus lifts up tells those going through pain and evil that they “will be filled”, not that eventually they’ll figure out how to get their comeuppance and exact revenge. Indeed, this vision uncomfortably lifts up the possibility that there may even be redemption for the evil people, otherwise Jesus wouldn’t tell us to pray for them…
- Can and will redeem the world in God’s own time and in God’s own way – but the vision invites us to live into it even now; even if our own efforts don’t make it happen; and even if what we’re doing and how we’re living doesn’t get noticed or seem to make a difference…
This is the vision, says Jesus. But don’t just listen to it and think about it. Don’t just feel a spark of hope in your heart. Live into the vision right now. Begin even now to live in the light of what you know is coming in the fullness of time.
And maybe that’s why the Beatitudes are one of the readings for All Saints’ Sunday. Indeed, the Beatitudes aren’t simply pious reminders of how God loves the poor and downtrodden. And they’re certainly not to be interpreted as meaning that God will reward us more if we suffer. Instead, they’re a vision of God’s promise beyond this world that Jesus calls his saints to live into right here and right now.
And this is the thing about visions in the Bible. Whenever God gives somebody a vision, the purpose is never to scare them, to confuse them, or even to give them a warm fuzzy so they can sit back and wait for God to act.
Instead, the purpose of a vison is to call people to live into the vision in anticipation of the fulfillment of that vision. And I think that’s what Jesus is doing with this vision in the Beatitudes.
And so the beatitudes are really Jesus’ call to live into the vision of the kingdom of God. And that’s often not an easy thing to do. Yet we can take steps each day to live into the vision of Jesus. And sometimes, living into the vision can be done by:
- Remembering the promise and the vision each day, because sometimes it’s easy to forget in the midst of all the nonsense and noise of our lives. I was talking to the kids about remembering the promise of baptism on All Saints Day. And one of my favorite recommendations from Luther is to begin every day remembering that you’re baptized – that is, the promise that God gave to you is certain in the midst of an uncertain world. And sometimes, simply remembering the promise – the promise of God’s presence, help and forgiveness no matter what – is what gives people the strength and courage to get out of bed and face whatever the world dishes out…
- Not participating in the ugliness and nastiness that seems so rampant in the world around us. Jesus could have told his disciples to more loudly curse those who cursed them – but he didn’t. And I often think about that when I read headlines in my newsfeeds that say things like, “Listen as Jones destroys Smith!”, which I take to mean “this is Jones refuting the idea or opinion espoused by Smith.” But in our public discourse lately, it doesn’t seem to be enough to show that an idea is wrong – it’s necessary to “destroy” the other person. Now I’m not naïve enough to think that it will change public discourse all that much if Christians are people who simply refute bad ideas, but who won’t seek to “destroy” other people. But it is a way to give the world a glimpse of the kingdom, and it is a way that we can personally begin to live into the vision of Jesus…
- Acting simply because it’s the right thing to do. Jesus’ vision says that in the coming kingdom of God, the hungry will be filled. And so we feed the hungry, not because we believe that we have the power to end world hunger, but because that’s what we do to literally give people a foretaste of the kingdom. Jesus’ vision says that those who mourn will be comforted. And so we comfort others, not because we can end all the pain and suffering in the world, but because in that moment we live into, and share with others, the promise of the coming kingdom. It’s great to try to change the world, but living into the vision is more often about acting faithfully even when it doesn’t seem to make a difference or get noticed…
Sometimes, on All Saints Sunday, we remember the people who we think did extraordinary things to live their faith. And we should remember and thank God for people like that.
But all of us can live as saints when we live into the vision of Jesus. And while that might involve extraordinary things that people will remember and talk about after we’re gone, mostly living into the vision involves simple, daily things. Living into the vision each day is about remembering God’s promises to us and to others. Living into the vision is about living as God’s people, even if others around us don’t. And living into the vision is about acting in such a way that the people around us are given a foretaste of the coming kingdom of God.
Amen.