Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Daniel 7:9,10
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  November 7, 2021

What’s next?!? What could possibly happen next? Have you ever felt that way? Maybe all of us over the last two years where life has been full of so many twists and turns that we find ourselves asking, “What next?” One day you get great news, you’re getting a promotion at work. The next day, your car breaks down and you need major repairs. One day, life seems great! Everyone in the family is happy and healthy and getting along. Yet, the next you wonder what else could go wrong as you struggle to get over yet another cold and your kids are at each other’s throats. We can all relate, can’t we, to this rollercoaster ride we call, “life.” That’s just how life is because we live in a sinful world. But perhaps we’ve never been on quite the same ride as Daniel.

Daniel was a young Jewish man when Nebuchadnezzar had shown up in Jerusalem. He was among the first of the Jews to be carried off into exile in Babylon. In the prime of his life, he was carried off from his family, his homeland. Yet, Daniel prospered in Babylon. God blessed him to be one of the wisest men in the whole nation. This wisdom was recognized and he ended up in a position of power in the Babylonian government. Things seemed to be going well, until Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that no one could explain. It made the king so angry that he ordered all the wise men in the government to be executed, including Daniel! But God gave Daniel the explanation for Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. He told the king exactly what his dream meant and in return he was made head of all the wise men and ruler over the entire province of Babylon. The blessings continued to flow as Daniel was able to interpret another dream for Nebuchadnezzar and for his son, King Belshazzar. Daniel was on the top of the heap, so to speak. And then Darius came into power and was ready to put Daniel in charge of the whole kingdom. The other leaders were jealous and tricked Darius into making a law they knew Daniel would break. When faced with the choice of worshiping God or worshiping Darius, Daniel chose God and ended up in the lion’s den. Up and down, twist and turn, on top of the world one minute and then sentenced to death, not once, but twice.

“What next?!?” we can imagine Daniel asking himself because that’s what we ask with a life much less turbulent. And sandwiched between all of turbulence, Daniel received visions of his own. And that’s what we have before us today. This vision actually took place before Daniel was thrown in the lion’s den. These visions horrified Daniel initially. He writes, “I Daniel–my spirit was distressed within my body, and the visions in my head disturbed me…my thoughts troubled me greatly. My appearance changed and my face became pale…” Part of what Daniel saw was a picture of the landscape as power would transfer from one nation to the next. From Babylon, to Persia, to Greece, to Rome; Daniel saw the nations pictured as beasts, each one more horrifying than the one before. And then, all of a sudden, as Daniel continued to look, he saw something different. “I continued to watch until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days was seated. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair on his head was like pure wool. His throne was flames of fire. Its wheels were blazing fire. A river of fire flowed out from his presence. Thousands upon thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.”

What Daniel sees here in chapter 7 is a vision of the Last Judgment. God the Father, the Ancient of Days is seated on the throne. His perfection, white as snow and white like wool, was blinding. He’s seated on a throne of fire with fire beneath him and flowing out from him, the fires of judgment! Who doesn’t shudder when we picture what Daniel saw! And then we hear the foreboding statement: “The court was seated, and the books were opened. “ If you thought seeing the beasts was bad, seeing God on his blazing throne opening the books was worse. Because Daniel knew what was in those books. He knew those books recorded all the deeds he had ever done, good and bad. What Daniel knew in his heart, he now saw with his eyes. God is holy! God is righteous! God was ready to judge and Daniel was guilty, guilt of misdeeds and sin. Daniel saw that consuming fire coming right for him.

Today, as we focus on the King and Life Forever, we remember that The King Comes to Judge the World.  That judgment includes us! One day the books will be opened and we will be judged based on what is found in them! And what will God find in those books? Will he find that in the good times in life, we forgot him and ignored him? Will he find in the hard times that we questioned his love and doubted his care? Will he find indifference and apathy toward his Word and will? Will he find a book full of mistakes, missteps, misdeeds; a ledger full of sin. The prospect of standing before the righteous Ancient of Days is horrifying when we are mindful of our sins. But before we sink into despair, let’s look one more time at what Daniel saw.

“I continued to watch until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days was seated. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair on his head was like pure wool. His throne was flames of fire. Its wheels were blazing fire. A river of fire flowed out from his presence. Thousands upon thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.” It’s not any better this time around is it? Until we look more closely. Daniel says that “thrones,” plural, were set in place. Who is on those other thrones? Who else is at the Judgement? And then we remember what Jesus told his disciples: “Amen I tell you: In the renewal, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Jesus has a throne there! Jesus, the one mediator between God and man, the One who speaks to the Father on our behalf and in our defense; Jesus has a throne at the judgment. Yes, the same Jesus who died for us will be there to speak in our defense. Who else is there? The apostles have thrones there. The same apostles who preached Jesus Christ risen for the forgiveness of our sins will be there to testify that we are part of their Church. 

And we start to feel a little bit better than about this Last Judgment. And then we remember what John was privileged to see in his vision in Revelation.  “Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it. The earth and the sky fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. I also saw the dead, great and small, standing in front of the throne, and books were opened. Another book was also opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged by the things written in the books, according to what they had done. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and the Grave gave up the dead that were in them, and they were judged, each one according to what he had done. Death and the Grave were thrown into the Lake of Fire.” And now we remember, don’t we that there are two kinds of books that are opened: books of deeds that record what each person has done, and book that holds only names. And then we remember what the Psalmist wrote, that the righteous will find their names written in the book of life. And we remember that at our baptisms, God put his name on us and he wrote our names in the book of life! And that’s why we celebrate a day like today. That’s why our focus is on the King and Life forever! 

Our names are written in the book of life because Jesus gave up his life for us on the cross. Our names are written in the book of life because Jesus put his name on us and claimed us as his own in baptism. Our names are written in the book of life because Jesus is Life! When we remember this, the vision that Daniel sees isn’t so horrifying. It’s horrifying, yes, to realize that those who die without faith will face the fire and we want to do everything we can to help someone avoid that fate. But the Last Judgment is reason for us to rejoice! We can rejoice because when that Judgment comes, we will reign with Christ in glory! The Day of Judgment is the day our salvation is realized in full! It’s a day we can look forward to with eager expectation. And so today, in view of God’s mercy, instead of asking, “What’s next? Because of Jesus, we can say of God’s great Judgment Day, “L:et it be next!” AMEN