Facing the winds of change

The Old Testament and Gospel readings today speak of changing times and changing circumstances and how we can respond to them.

In the book of Daniel we hear about a troubling premonition of difficult times ahead. In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel dreams of four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, he sees four great beasts come up from the sea. This dream speaks of the winds of change stirring up human societies and political systems. It speaks of powerful political leaders and rulers rising up one after the other, each one different to the one that comes before, each one bringing new changes to society.

Daniel’s dream troubles his spirit and the visions in his head terrify him. He, along with all the other Jews living in Babylon, is already in exile from the promised land and governed by people who do not acknowledge their God. How will the coming political changes impact Daniel and his people, a despised minority in Babylon? What does the new King have planned for his country and subjects?

So, Daniel, feeling very afraid, seeks God’s messengers and asks for an interpretation of the dream. He receives reassurance that, even though the troubling things in the dream will come to pass in reality, despite the coming political troubles, he must remember that God’s people will receive His kingdom and possess it for ever.

In the Gospel passage we hear of changing times and circumstances on a more personal level. It makes us see how the sort of big political changes dreamt of by Daniel actually affect individual people in societies.

Jesus points to the people in society who are now poor, those who are now hungry, those who are weeping. The people in society who are hated and excluded, those who are defamed because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

He tells them that the tables will turn. That they should rejoice now despite these troubling circumstances because they have a great reward in God’s kingdom of heaven.

He also warns that these changing tables will affect everyone.

Those who are rich and who have been comfortable will also see changes. Those who are full now will be hungry, those who are laughing now will mourn and weep.

How can God’s words from the Old and New Testament encourage us this morning? What interpretation and wisdom can we draw from Daniel’s dream and Jesus’s promises of blessings and woes?

Well, we can perhaps gain some perspective of the changes and tumult of our present day. In our country we are dealing with changes in our economic and political status. Brexit has shifted our relationship with continental Europe. Changes at home and overseas have changed our standing in the eyes of the rest of the world.

We have seen the end of another Elizabethan era: the death of the longest reigning monarch and the coming coronation of a new King. In our politics we see a time of chopping and changing, with a rapid succession of prime ministers passing in and out of the doors of Downing Street.

We are reminded that in this world, the only thing constant is change and hearing the passage from Daniel, we see it was the same in his day.

Looking at Daniel’s reactions to the changing politics and rulers of his time and fears of more changes in the future, we see he was initially troubled and terrified by what was happening and what was to come.

But perhaps we can be encouraged, as he was, by God’s message. God reminded Daniel that despite the changes in his world, despite all the things that can be feared about the future, there is a future hope for God’s people.

Yes, times are growing increasingly difficult for us and for many around the world. In the Gospel passage, Jesus reminds us that those seismic political and social changes that constantly shape and reshape our world, affect us all personally. In this country that has been relatively prosperous for many decades in comparison to other parts of the world, many more people are suffering woes. Those who have been well off are now feeling the pinch. Those who have always struggled in poverty are feeling even less relief.

Jesus reminds us that times and seasons change for all of us. There are times when we feel blessed and others when we feel grief, misery and woe. There are times when we have lots of support and others when we feel alone, excluded, laughed at and defamed.

Jesus tells us that this is common to all humanity. We see in the Gospel that Jesus – God in Man – walked that path of changing seasons and fortunes with the rest of humanity. One minute he was praised by the crowds and followed by thousands, the next his disciples have abandoned him in his hour of need and crowds of people call for his execution. He knows how fickle and changing life can be.

And yet we know that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and gave him an inheritance at God’s right hand with a name above all names - that power has been given to us, his church.

We are God’s holy ones, his adopted family. We have been raised with all the saints from our position of spiritual poverty to share in the riches of God’s Grace and Mercy. We have been marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit. And we can be encouraged, like Daniel, that whatever is going on in our world, in our society and in our own lives;. whatever personal and global troubles we face, we don’t need to be afraid. We have a hope for our future.

So, what shall we do in these troubled times? How should we live when many things in our lives might be being shaken, lost or destroyed?

We can, like Daniel, seek God’s words, seek His wisdom and perspective on the things happening around us.

We can remember whose we are. Remember that we are God’s holy ones, his children, who he delights in. When we realise that we belong to an all-powerful God who loves us we can find that our hearts are filled with praise instead of fear. We can, like the Psalmist, be joyful on our beds instead of terrified by the nightmares of things that may lie ahead.

And we can remember to listen to Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel passage. He urges us to live as strangers on this earth, as exiles in Babylon; to follow the Law of God’s Kingdom.

God has given us the Holy Spirit and the power to live on this earth as Saints of His Kingdom. We can be empowered to love our enemies – to not succumb to hatred of the people the media tells us are our enemies in this world. We have the power to do good to those who hate us, to bless those who curse us, pray for those who abuse us, give to those who beg – even if we ourselves have little to spare. To do to others as we would have them do to us.

God’s Holy Spirit will empower us to do the impossible. To live as His people in this troubled age. To emulate our Father in Heaven, the God who is Love.

Today, on All Saints Day, we remember those who have lived their lives for God’s kingdom in the ages that have gone before us, and who now rest in Christ in the heavenly realms. That great cloud of witnesses are praying for us to be empowered to do the same in our time. To live lives that shine so brightly in this dark world that people will see the Father in us and turn to His eternal light.

So, in the midst of our political, economic and personal winds of change and tragedy, let us be encouraged by the truth of our inheritance. An eternal inheritance that is prepared for us in a place that doesn’t change. In a kingdom governed by the King of Kings, the Most High God, who changes not. Heavenly riches that are immune to any financial crisis and that cannot be taken away from us.

And let us remember to share the riches of God’s love, mercy, grace and glorious Gospel with everyone we meet so that they too can turn towards Jesus Christ, the only Rock of stability in this changing world.