Lectionary, Pentecost 22, Year A, All Saints

I.Theme – Experience of God’s salvation allows to consider life with the perspective of faith and to celebrate all the saints. The way of life should be based on the Gospel reading, the Beatitudes.

 "Sermon on the Mount"– Henrik Olrik (1860) Denmark

The lectionary readings are here  or individually:
 

First Reading – Revelation 7:9-17
Psalm – Psalm 34:1-10, 22 Page 627, BCP
Epistle –1 John 3:1-3
Gospel – Matthew 5:1-12

The readings this week provide guidelines how saints should live their lives – in the present based on the Beatitudes while mindful that life isn’t easy, persecution abounds but that we live in God’s presence and that the hope of salvation remains.

The larger context of Revelation 7:9-17 is the opening of the seven seals (Revelation 6:1-8:5), which describe apocalyptic catastrophes that will accompany the close of this age. Revelation 7 is often described as an interlude between the sixth (Revelation 6:12-17) and seventh (Revelation 8:1-5) seals.

The chapter separates between a description of the Church being persecuted at the close of the present age (vv. 1-8), and a picture of the Church in heaven in the new age after the saints have passed through the period of persecution (vv. 9-17). These portraits of the Church have been contrasted by past interpreters as the Church militant in the present age and the Church triumphant in the age to come. The lectionary lesson for All Saints Day is the latter half of chapter 7, the picture of the Church triumphant in the age

The passage presents a vision of God’s eternal presence which is both profoundly Christ-centered and universal in its scope. It consists of a conversation between “one of the elders” and John, the author of the Revelation, giving details of what John saw in his vision and why the vast multitude from every nation is to gather before the throne of God.

At the close of the age they were the ones who were persecuted (v. 14), and they now live in the eschatological age (vv. 15-17). The power of this text lies precisely in this discontinuity, for it states that our experience in this world cannot be a reliable indicator of the character of God or even of the quality of our salvation.

All Saints is a celebration of the same mysterious, sovereign power of God, for in commemorating the dead we are in fact celebrating life. This feast is in many ways an affront to our everyday experience, because in celebrating it, we share in John’s end-time vision

The good news of Revelation 7:9-17 was that God’s salvation is better than anything that we might experience in our everyday lives. The central metaphor used to convey this message was that God can make white from red, salvation from blood and persecution.

The Psalm is a response to the Revelation reading. The main purpose of the psalm is to celebrate with gratitude the saving power of Yahweh. It expresses great confidence and trust in Yahweh’s special care for the righteous. 

Viewed from a wider perspective, the psalm points to the constant mercy and love with which Yahweh watched over and delivered Israel from innumerable disasters. At the same time it draws more attention to the individual believer who trusts in Yahweh than to the nation as a whole. This too has been the attitude of saintly Christians through many generations.

The psalm has been chosen for All Saints Sunday because of the reference to the "saints" in v. 9 (NRSV translates the Hebrew "you his holy ones"). The reference to the people of God as saints is unusual in the Old Testament, because this term usually refers to supernatural beings. This is probably the only reference where the people of God are identified as the saints.

The psalm is concerned with the experience of God’s salvation. The exploration of salvation is done in the first person in v. 4, when the psalmist recounts an experience of deliverance, and it is repeated in v. 8 when the other worshipers are encouraged to taste and to see that the Lord is good.

With a deep understanding of God’s ultimate purpose for the end of history, the Epistle of John attempts to describe just what we shall be like and how that will come about. He declares the simple faith that because God loves us and because we are the children of God, in the end we shall be like God. He spoke in spiritual terms, of course, which means that we shall be spiritual as God is Spirit. 

The 1st Epistle of John contains many references to a congregation of Christians being under severe threat by a dissident group. These dissidents may have been either Greeks who rejected Jesus as a truly human person or Hebrews who rejected Jesus as the divine Messiah; or both. The epistle came from a time near the end of the 1st century CE, when those who believed in Jesus Christ and followed the Christian way had to be both clear about their faith and strong in their commitment.

Because of the challenges they encountered every day from both imperial authorities and public hostility, they could never know when their faith would bring them face to face with death.

The dissident members of their own congregation proclaimed a false teaching which sought to undermine the true understanding of the person and redemptive work of Christ. The dissidents broadcast far and wide that Jesus was not the Christ and therefore could not be the Saviour. How was it possible for them to maintain their commitment under such circumstances?

They could be certain of only one thing: that they were loved by God; they were God’s holy children. A life rooted and grounded in love would bring them to the only worthwhile end. Whatever fate might bring upon them, and in particular rejection or even martyrdom for their faithfulness, they were constantly reassured that they would not only be with God, but would be like God.

The Gospel reading is Matthew’s account of the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes set forth how Jesus saw those who are to inherit the reign of God’s gracious, redemptive love. While this description may seem to project beyond current reality into a far distant future, it also set forth a value system on the basis of which we can live from day to day because that reign of God has already begun. This is the way of life lived by the saints now and eternally. 

The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 is a collection of sayings Jesus may have uttered at different times and places, rather than delivered all at once in a single discourse.  These have been influential over time. Dr. King often pointed out that it was Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount that inspired the "dignified social action" of the civil rights movement. His notion of "creative suffering" – borne by civil rights activists who endured persecution and police brutality – came from his Christian faith in the redemptive suffering of Jesus.

The Beatitudes summarize the revolutionary values intended to guide those seeking to follow Jesus. Each one is a sermon in itself, and the whole passage has generated many a sermon series from pulpits of yesteryear. Those who would have a little variation from the lectionary would do well to select this passage for such a continuum.

Beatitudes appear in the OT according to a single pattern beginning with the Hebrew word for blessed or happy) after which they usually described someone worthy of praise. Matthew quoted Jesus using the same method and adding the reason for this happy state.

The main difference from OT beatitudes, however, is their stress on eschatological joy of sharing in the reign of God as opposed to receiving rewards for living righteously here and now. The reign of God comes, the beatitudes insist, not by implementing human schemes of moral and social improvement, but by the gracious gift of God.

Another feature to be noted is the paradoxical quality of the Matthean beatitudes. They contradict the normal expectations of ordinary people and their reactions to human experience. The people Matthew identifies are not supposed to be happy – the poor, the mourners, the persecuted. Many martyred witnesses to the faith went to their death believing that a vastly better life awaited them in the heavenly realm.

Yet the message of the Matthean beatitudes is not exclusively for a distant future. Rather, it is for the present. The words were spoken to generate trust in God in difficult circumstances, not simply to enable us to endure hard times.

The beatitudes define the way that Jesus himself lived to the point of death as a rejected religious revolutionary and unjustly condemned criminal. Such spiritual power comes not through our most noble human efforts, but through the gift of grace the Spirit gives us.

II. Summary

First Reading –  Revelation 7:9-17

The larger context of Revelation 7:9-17 is the opening of the seven seals (Revelation 6:1-8:5), which describe apocalyptic catastrophes that will accompany the close of this age. Revelation 7 is often described as an interlude between the sixth (Revelation 6:12-17) and seventh (Revelation 8:1-5) seals.

The chapter separates between a description of the Church being persecuted at the close of the present age (vv. 1-8), and a picture of the Church in heaven in the new age after the saints have passed through the period of persecution (vv. 9-17). These portraits of the Church have been contrasted by past interpreters as the Church militant in the present age and the Church triumphant in the age to come. The lectionary lesson for All Saints Day is the latter half of chapter 7, the picture of the Church triumphant in the age to but it cannot be interpreted without understanding of what it means for the Church to be militant.

Structure. The picture of the Church triumphant separates into a heavenly vision in vv. 9-12 and the interpretation of this vision to John in vv. 13-17. The text can be outlined in the following manner.

I. The Heavenly Vision of John (vv. 9-12)

A. The Song of the great multitude (vv. 9-10)

1. Setting (v. 9)

2. See (v. 10)

B. The Song of the angels (vv. 11-12)

1. Setting (v. 11)

2. Speech (v. 12)

II. The Interpretation of the Heavenly Vision (vv. 13-17)

A. The Elder’s question (v. 13)

B. John’s response (v. 14)

C. The Elder’s answer (v. 14-17)

1. Identification of the Church during persecution in this age (v. 14)

2. Identification of the Church after persecution in the age to come (vv. 15-17)

The heavenly vision in vv. 9-12 separates into two songs by two different groups. First, all the saints from every nation are described as singing before the throne of the Lamb with two symbols of victory, white robes and palm branches. The song in v. 10 is not about their salvation, but about the greatness of God who is able to save. Second, the angels pick up the song of praise from v. 10 and expand it with a seven-fold ascription of praise in v. 12. The scene shifts from heaven to earth (and presumably from the future to the present) in vv. 13-17 with the exchange between the elder and John. The provides the identification of the white-robed singers in two time frames. At the close of the age they were the ones who were persecuted (v. 14), and they now live in the eschatological age (vv. 15-17). The imagery for both parts of this interpretation comes from Isaiah. The imagery of red blood turning white is addressed in Isaiah 1:18, and the eschatological vision is from Isaiah 49:10.

Significance. The larger context of the seven seals as signifiers of tribulations must be kept clearly in mind when interpreting Revelation 7:9-17, for it underscores how the snapshot of the eschatological age is being taken during a time of persecution.

Thus the present experience of the Church at the time of John’s writing does not support in any way his future vision of it. The power of this text lies precisely in this discontinuity, for it states that our experience in this world cannot be a reliable indicator of the character of God or even of the quality of our salvation. John makes this point through the central image of the text in v. 14, when the elder, who is interpreting the vision to John, makes the paradoxical statement that the robes of the saints have been made white by washing them in red blood.

Persecution to the point of death cannot be redefined as victory on the basis of literally interpreting the experience itself. Persecution is painful and usually is contained within the limits of human time. Death is final for human existence. No amount of human violence against others can be renamed as redemptive or profitable if evaluated logically in terms of human experience. But the end-time vision is a powerful metaphor (1) because it underscores how temporal human experience is not always reliable, and (2) because our experience does not contain the final word on either God’s character or the extent of God’s salvation. God can indeed make a robe white by washing it in red. All Saints is a celebration of the same mysterious, sovereign power of God, for in commemorating the dead we are in fact celebrating life. This feast is in many ways an affront to our everyday experience, because in celebrating it, we share in John’s end-time vision that is described in Revelation 7:9-17.

Psalm –   Psalm 34:1-10, 22 Page 627, BCP

Setting. Psalm 34 is difficult to classify for two reasons. First it incorporates a number of different generic elements, such as a vow to praise, praise, and didactic teaching concerning the goodness of God. Second, the structure of the psalm is determined by its acrostic form. An acrostic psalm occurs when every line begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The psalm has been chosen for All Saints Sunday because of the reference to the "saints" in v. 9 (NRSV translates the Hebrew "you his holy ones"). The reference to the people of God as saints is unusual in the Old Testament, because this term usually refers to supernatural beings. This is probably the only reference where the people of God are identified as the saints.

Structure. Psalm 34:1-10 is only the first half of Psalm 34. This portion of the psalm and v. 22 can be outlined in the following manner.

I. Call to Praise (vv. 1-3)

A. Vow to praise (v. 1)

B. Praise (vv. 2-3)

II. Exhortation to Seek God (vv. 4-10)

A. The Experience of the psalmist (v. 4)

B. The Exhortation of the psalmist (v. 5-10)

III. Conclusion (v. 22)

The outline underscores how the psalm moves in two directions. The first part of the psalm focuses on the relationship of the psalmist and God through the vow to praise and the praise itself. The second section of the psalm expands the focus to include the worshipers who are with the psalmist. At this point the psalm takes on a didactic quality as the psalmist encourages the other worshipers to taste God’s salvation. Verse 22 concludes the psalm with a promise of redemption to the worshipers.

Significance.  Psalm 34:1-10, 22 provides an important complement to Revelation 7:9-17. The good news of Revelation 7:9-17 was that God’s salvation is better than anything that we might experience in our everyday lives. The central metaphor used to convey this message was that God can make white from red. On All Saints Day we proclaim that there is life in death. As we saw this message incorporates a critique of experience. Psalm 34:1-10, 22 moves in a different direction and invites the reader to explore experience. The difference is that the psalm is concerned with the experience of God’s salvation. The exploration of salvation is done in the first person in v. 4, when the psalmist recounts an experience of deliverance, and it is repeated in v. 8 when the other worshipers are encouraged to taste and to see that the Lord is good. The two messages of Revelation 7:9-17 and Psalm 34:1-10, 22 are complementary, because it is the maturing of our experience of God’s salvation that allows us to evaluate critically our everyday experience with the eyes of faith and to celebrate all the saints.

Epistle –  1 John 3:1-3

Background -To the best of the knowledge of scholars, the original recipients of the first letter of John were specific Christian communities, some of whose members were advocating false doctrines (2:18f-26; 3:7).

These errors are here recognized and rejected (4:4); although their advocates have left the community (2:19),the threat posed by them remains (3:11).

They have refused to acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ (2:22),the Son of God (2:23) who came into the world as true man (4:2).

They are difficult people to deal with, claiming special knowledge of God but disregarding the divine commandments (2:4), particularly the commandment of love of neighbor (4:8), and refusing to accept faith in Christ as the source of sanctification (1:6; 2:6-9).  

Thus they are denying the redemptive value of Jesus’ death (5:6).

All this is behind the disappointed admission that "the world does not recognize us" and the implication that it’s not automatic that everyone "makes himself pure."

Setting. The verses of the epistle for All Saints Day are three of five verses, 2:28-3:3, that form a meditation on the theme "children of God." This unit of thought is located in the first major section of this epistle (1:5-3:10), which works with the metaphor of "walking in God’s light" to reflect upon the meaning and the manner of living according to God’s will.

Structure. The lesson is a series of statements which (1) recognizes the love of God that makes believers into children of God, (2) explains the indifference and animosity of "the world" toward God’s children, (3) declares both the present reality and the future hope of being God’s children, (4) reminds the children of the promised future revelation of the Son, and (5) calls those who hope in Jesus to Christlike purity.

Significance. The text opens with the words, "See what love the Father has given us." The reference to "love" is christological, for the love of God given to humanity was none other than God’s Son, Jesus. God’s gift of Jesus has had transforming effects on those who believe in the Son, so that they are now called part of God’s family. This new identity is but a description of the real transformation of lives through the establishment of a new relationship with God. Yet, as the passage admits, the reality of the relationship does not alter all of life’s experiences, for "the world" (that is those outside God’s family and in opposition to both the Son and God’s children) does not recognize the relationship.

Nevertheless, the Elder boldly states the reality of Christian "childhood" and goes on to remind the readers that the future holds even more than they are currently experiencing. There is both a realized and a future dimension to the life of faith, and these dimensions are complementary in that the future gives amplified meaning to the present. Moreover, the future hope of the life of faith in the present is not an ambiguous wish; rather, it is the clear expectation of the future revelation of the Son with the attendant belief that his revelation will itself effect the ultimate transformation of believers into complete children of God.

The present status of believers as God’s children, their future hope of the revelation of the Son, and their own full and final transformation has real ethical meaning for the present. The new identity and the future hope are a call to a thoroughly Christlike existence in the present. Purity of life (or sanctity) is the proper preparation for full childhood, for believers are called now to be as they will be when the Son is revealed. In this thinking, Christian hope is not pie-in-the-sky; rather, it is the substance and motivation of real life in the present world. A sermon or meditation on this lesson should deal with the God-givenness of "childhood," the christological basis of our new identity, the continuity between current Christian living and the future expectation of the realization of God redemption. 

Gospel –  Matthew 5:1-12

Setting. In Matthew 4:24-25 one learns that Jesus attracts a large following as he goes about his ministry. This week’s text opens with Jesus looking upon that following and, in turn, teaching them about the characteristics of his disciples. Verses 1-12 are formally the beginning of the famous section of Matthew’s Gospel called "The Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5:1-7:28). The lectionary reading offers direction for knowing what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

Structure. Verses 1-2 introduce the well-known "Beatitudes" in vv. 3-12. The material is structured deliberately, as can be seen from a careful comparison of this passage with the comparable text in Luke 6:20-23. There are four pronouncements common to the two Gospels, and Matthew’s list contains five beatitudes without parallel in Luke. Luke’s text seems more primitive than Matthew’s balanced and elaborate passage. Matthew offers two sets of sayings structured in an A/B/A/B pattern, which cohere by beginning and ending with the line "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," and both end with a stated concern for "righteousness":

A poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

B mourn

A meek

B hunger and thirst for righteousness

A merciful

B pure in heart

A peacemakers

B persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

The final beatitude, which is somewhat different in form and tone, epitomizes the beatitude for the persecuted.

Significance. Matthew tells the reader that Jesus "went up on the mountain." He does not name the mountain, however, for it is of more symbolic than geographical importance. In the Old Testament mountains are regularly the place where divine revelation occurs. One thinks immediately of Horeb, Sinai, and Zion. A precise identification is not necessary, but the Beatitudes begin the Sermon in a manner similar to the way the Ten Commandments introduce the law, so that the analogy to Matthew’s mountain may well be Sinai, with Jesus re-presenting the law as the "New Moses." Nevertheless, on a place where one expects a divine communication, Jesus sits (the normal, authoritative teaching posture of his time) and then, speaks.

Even the basic pertinent information for interpretation of the Beatitudes is voluminous, so the following remarks focus on matters to stimulate thoughts for preaching.

First, throughout the Beatitudes, Jesus’ address is to "you" in the plural Greek form. These statements relate to community life, not merely personal piety. Jesus’ words describe the life that believers are to live in relation to one another and to the world.

Second, in v. 3 Matthew "spiritualized" the concept of the poor (as he does mourning, hunger, and thirst in the subsequent lines), moving beyond a literal sense. In Israel, a class of people, often genuinely impoverished, called temselves "the poor." The term designated a style of piety that allowd nothing other than God to be the basis of security. Being poor, having nothing, was celebrated as an opportunity for absolute, radical dependence upon God. Such piety was not passive, however, for faith was no placebo. Persons fully committed to God were extremely free. One thinks of John the Baptist and Jesus as examples of such piety.

Third, from the statement in v. 4 itself, it is not immediately clear how Matthew interpreted mourning as a spiritual disposition. The parallel line in v. 6 mentions righteousness as the object of hunger and thirst, so that perhaps those mourning are grieved by their lack of righteousness. In any case, the promise to the mourners is striking: They shall be comforted. This line contains a common phenomenon in biblical literature-namely, the "divine passive." The unnamed actor in such a text is God. The use of the passive came originally through the concern of pious Jews to avoid using God’s name or even referring to God directly. Verse 6 is quite similar to this line, though its sense is more straightforward.

Fourth, the reference to the meek in v. 5 recalls Psalm 37:11. "Meekness" is akin to "poverty" in much of the Old Testament, and as such it refers to the submission of human will to the divine.

Fifth, v. 7 foreshadows the words of the Lord’s Prayer, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." The NRSV translation, "for they shall receive mercy," may be misleading. This does not mean that we gain mercy by being merciful; rather, grace begets grace. Those experiencing divine mercy live merciful lives that bespeak the mercy which they themselves receive.

Sixth, the reference in v. 8 to "the pure in heart" indicates persons who are singlemindedly devoted to God. Thus the promise "they shall see God." Soren Kierkegaard wrote eloquently of this notion in Purity of Heart, as did Jonathan Edwards in True Virtue. This line is a positive critique of divided loyalties that compromise complete devotion to God.

Seventh, in v. 9 the "peacemakers" refer to persons who are actively engaged in the pursuit of peace. Clearly they are doing God’s will, as though they were, and in fact are, God’s own children.

Eighth, v. 10 blesses those "persecuted for righteousness’ sake" and promises them "the kingdom of heaven." This statement is consistent with all that went before, but the pronouncement alters the tone of the passage as it introduces the idea of experiencing persecution as a Christian. This frank recognition that true piety does not guarantee an increased popularity is a sobering reminder that Christian faith is not a rosy-glowing, saccharin-sweet piety. True faith, Jesus says, may be tough and costly. The more elaborate statement in vv. 11-12 develops this idea and forms a crucial parallel between suffering for righteousness’ sake and suffering for Jesus’ sake.

III. Articles for this week in WorkingPreacher:

First Reading Revelation 7:9-17

PsalmPsalm 34:1-10, 22 

Epistle  – 1 John 3:1-3 

Gospel  – Matthew 5:1-12 

 

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