1.
Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation
of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our
Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word this morning is
taken from Daniel 7:9-18 (READ TEXT).
It’s entitled, “Kingdom, Power, and Glory,” dear brothers and
sisters in Christ.
2.
You know the words: “For Thine is
the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever.” Although we
say these words at the end of the Lord’s Prayer, they really aren’t part of the
prayer addressed to “Our Father, who art in heaven,” as taught by Jesus
in the Gospels. The oldest and best manuscripts of Matthew and Luke don’t
contain these words. Where do the words
come from, then? They have their source in several Old Testament texts,
especially Daniel 7. Verse 14 says of Christ, the Son of Man, that he was given
glory, power to rule, and a kingdom. So, the extra phrase tacked onto the end
of the Lord’s Prayer is referred specifically to the One who taught the prayer,
namely God the Son. Jesus has the kingdom, the power, and the glory. He’s
received them from God the Father, the “Ancient of Days.”
3.
The prophet Daniel saw all this in a
vision God gave him. The Babylonians had taken Daniel as one of their first exiles
from Jerusalem when the captivity was just beginning. At the time he was a
promising young man who in fact became a very highly-placed civil servant,
first for the Babylonians and later for the Persians. Still, Daniel and some of
his friends in captivity found out firsthand what happened when government orders
clashed with their most holy faith. The Babylonians threw Daniel’s friends into
the fiery furnace, and the Persians put Daniel himself into a den with lions. Not
only did the Lord miraculously rescue Daniel and his friends, he also gave
Daniel visions to encourage him and others—like us—in facing such situations.
So, the point of this sermon, building on the point of Daniel’s visions, is
that Christ has the kingdom, the power, and the glory. Over that, we can
rejoice.
4.
Are we disappointed, though? The enormous
popularity of any number of reality TV programs tends to show that people are
fascinated by things like kingdom, power, and glory. We want such things for
ourselves. We’d like to say, “Mine is the kingdom, and the power, and the
glory.” By ourselves we’re not going to get kingdom, or power, or glory in
the end, though. What we have coming to us is none of those, but rather God’s
judgment. By contrast, Christ has earned kingdom, power, and glory, and he
shares his kingdom with us.
5.
Sometimes it’s tempting to ask
people what they would do if they had a vast kingdom, massive power, and lots
of glory. For example, what if they had the wealth and the influence of a
Howard Hughes? You might remember that this 20th century
billionaire’s possessions eventually broke him. They didn’t break him
financially, for he died a very rich man. Still, he was broken. He spent his
last few years as a loner, fearing that what he had would be taken from him. Howard
Hughes died a broken man. He was broken socially and psychologically, you might
even say spiritually.
6.
“Well, not everyone is broken by
wealth and power,” someone might say. “I’d like to try my hand at them.”
Let me tell you a story. A college
senior ran up to his favorite professor one day, bursting with news. The
student had just learned that he’d been accepted into a very prestigious law
school. “Then what?” asked the professor. The student said, “I’ll get
a job at a big law firm, argue lots of cases—possibly before the Supreme
Court—and make a great deal of money.” “Then what?” asked the professor.
The student said, “I’ll provide well for my family and make sure my kids
have the best education they can get.” “Then what?” asked the professor.
The student said, “I’ll retire after a long and successful career, free to
go where I want and do things I like to do.” “Then what?” asked the
professor. The student said, “Well, I suppose I’ll die.” For his part, the
professor still asked, “Then what?” 1
Adapted from The Lutheran Hour, “We Must Appear,” July 6, 2003.
7.
This student figured he’d done a lot
of long-range planning, but as the professor’s question shows, his thinking was
frightfully shortsighted. The psalmist said to God, “You have made my days a
few handbreadths” (Psalm 39:5). Of course, the possibility exists that
Christ may return before any of us die. Then what? Then we face judgment. The
Ancient of Days in Daniel 7 is pure and holy. He sits in judgment, and the
books are opened. If we think we’re going to stand before him with what little kingdom,
power, or glory we ourselves can muster, we’re in for a rude awakening.
Puny human matters of kingdom, power, and glory—even the ones that seem
impressive to the world right now—will pale into insignificance before him. By
ourselves, all we get is judgment from God, resulting in banishment from his
presence forever.
8.
That’s why it’s so good that Christ
has earned kingdom, power, and glory. In Daniel 7, he’s called one
like a Son of Man. He receives God’s everlasting dominion and kingdom. “This
eternity, or this everlasting kingdom, can’t be conferred on any mere creature,
neither angel nor man, for it is a divine dominion.” 2 AE 15:291. Of course,
the term “Son of Man” was a favorite self-designation of Jesus, our
Lord. He repeatedly called himself the Son of Man. Whatever else that term
means in reference to him, it certainly means that he’s human. In Daniel 7
there are dreadful and fearsome beasts, but Christ comes as one of us. He gains
our confidence, winning our love by loving us first.
9.
Yet, though this Son of Man is one
of us, there is something different about him in Daniel 7. He doesn’t come from
the sea, where the beasts came from. Nor does he come from the land, where we
are. He comes on the clouds of heaven. He receives power and worship that
should only be for God, since Christ is the Man who is also God. To be clear: as the only-begotten Son of God,
Jesus from all eternity had divine power, did divine works, and was worthy to
receive divine honor and glory. As the Man who is also God, He also had these
things according to his human nature from the first moment the Word became
flesh in the incarnation.
10.
Still, Daniel 7 tells of a time when
Jesus is awarded kingdom, power, and glory. A parallel passage from the
Book of Revelation says: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power
and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (5:12).
Christ is the Lamb who was slain. He placed himself before God as a sin
offering for the world. As such, he put up a price far more than the total of
glory that could be concocted by all the world’s power. He offered himself as a
ransom more valuable than all the kingdoms of this world. God raised this
once-sacrificed One, and thus showed that the offering was fully made, the
price fully paid. Then Christ ascended into heaven. Like Revelation 5, Daniel 7
seems to tell of Ascension Day from a heavenly point of view. From an earthly
point of view, Jesus ascended on the clouds. He was hidden from the sight of
the apostles. But then he appeared in heaven to receive kingdom, power, and
glory. He deserved it because he had done the saving work of living and
dying for us, then rising again. He earned the kingdom, the power, and the
glory.
11.
Maybe most surprising of all, he
gives the kingdom to us. We can be so very glad he has it, because he shares
it. The text says that “the saints of the Most High shall receive the
kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever” (Daniel 7:18).
Even as Christ counts to us his righteousness, he delegates to us his
kingdom. But you say, you don’t see it?
There were probably days when Daniel felt like this too. These are the days
when you don’t look or feel very much like a king, and your kids don’t think
you do, either. Let me tell you another story.
12.
Many years ago, a great, tall ship
had gotten lost in the Atlantic. Members of the crew didn’t know where they
were, but they knew that they were out of fresh water and they were very
thirsty. They happened to catch sight of another ship. They sailed closer and
sent a semaphore code message: “Need water.” The other ship signaled
back, “Dip down.” The crew took this to be a cruel joke, since drinking
salt water would kill them. So they sent their message again: “Need water.”
Again came the response, “Dip down.” Finally, they sent a bucket down,
and when they drew it up they were amazed to find the water was fresh, with
only the slightest tinge of salt. Unknown to them, they had sailed near the
mouth of the Amazon River. The water in which they were sailing was perfectly safe
to drink. It had been right under their noses. 3
Donald L. Deffner, Sermons for Church Year Festivals (St. Louis: Concordia,
1997), 82.
13.
So you don’t see the kingdom Christ
shares with us? For that matter, you wonder where any power or glory might come
in? By faith, dip down. Kingdom: having Christ as our king of
righteousness forms the answer to sin, death, and an evil conscience. Power:
as St. Paul wrote the Corinthians, the kingdom of God consists not in talk but
in power—God’s own power unto salvation in the Gospel.
14.
As for glory, on the night in which he was betrayed Jesus prayed, “The
glory that you have given me I have given to them” (John 17:22). Of course,
as St. Peter wrote, “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed,
because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4:14). So
long as we are in this sinful world and this sinful world is in us, we will
endure reproaches, problems, and even persecutions. We will also sinfully long
for our own kingdoms. All of this blocks us from the full realization and
enjoyment of the kingdom, power, and glory Christ gives us. Daniel and
his friends knew all about these temptations.
15.
By inspiration God gave this Book of
Daniel to encourage his faithful people, both then and now. We, too, need
encouragement and strengthening not only in faith and hope but also in
patience. For there will come a day when Christ will put an end to all those
things that compete with him. He will be all in all. The miseries of this world
will be brought to an end, and we will be free from sin, death, the devil, and
from all evil. Then we will rejoice that his is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory forever. We ourselves could only get judgment. By ourselves
we can get neither kingdom nor power nor glory, but Christ has earned them and
he shares them with us. When we have him, we have it all! Amen.
Now the peace that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus until life everlasting.
Amen.
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