On the first Sunday in November we read from Isaiah 25:6 a prophecy that “the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food…..” On the last Sunday in November we read from Daniel 7:14 a “night vision” that “to him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.” The month of November is bracketed by prophecies of the day when all peoples will be united under one God, the Lord of hosts.
The first Sunday in November is All Saints Sunday, a day on the church calendar for remembering all the faithful who have gone before us to be in the presence of God forever. Many of us remember particular people who have played a big role in our lives but who are no longer with us on this earth. But another emphasis of this day is the vast scope of those who are now with God. As John saw in Revelation 7:9 they are “a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues.” The saints in heaven are truly a cacophony of languages, a broad pallet of colors, a cross section of denominations, and a mix of political persuasions because Jesus Christ is Lord of all.
The reading from Daniel for the last Sunday of November this year comes from a man who was far from his native soil living among people who did not revere the Lord God of Israel whom Daniel served with unfailing faithfulness. In that foreign land among people of a strange religion, Daniel is given the assurance that despite all the power and might of the Persian Empire, he serves a God who will one day be worshipped by all. It might be that those who charged Daniel with breaking the law against praying to anyone except King Darius for a 30 day period and got him thrown into the lions’ den had the upper hand for the moment, but there would come a day when everyone would bow before the Lord, even old King Darius himself.
On the same day, the last Sunday in November, we read in Revelation 1:5 that Jesus Christ is “the ruler of the kings of the earth.” This verse points to the central focus of the day. Christ the King Sunday is the newest of the principal festivals in the church year. It was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 in response to growing nationalism in Europe and particularly the rise of communism in Russia, fascism in Italy, and Nazism in Germany, all of which proclaimed that the state could demand the ultimate loyalty of its citizens, and the latter two of which taught racial intolerance, ethnic hatred, and the separation if not elimination of some groups. When Stalin in Russia, Hitler in Germany, and Mussolini in Italy fanned a cult of personality unrivaled anywhere until Mao in China and Kim in North Korea two decades later, humble Christians everywhere continued to uphold the universal kingship of Jesus Christ.
In our day the rulers of the nations strike a much humbler pose (except for Kim’s grandson in North Korea). What the visions of Isaiah, Daniel, and John in Revelation proclaim to us in our day is the inclusive nature of the kingdom of God. What they have to say to us who live in a remote corner of a state far from the pageantry of the seat of government and the glitz of the West Coast is that the Lord we worship is Lord of all. The sacrifice that Christ made on the cross is effective for all who believe. The Word that Christ spoke and that we read today is intended for all people. When we are baptized we are baptized into a church that is universal in its scope and outreach and membership.
There is an old story of a saint who died and appeared at the Pearly Gates where St. Peter ushered him in and showed him around. He was warmly welcomed by many of the saints who were already there. But off in a corner was a group of people huddled together like a football team between plays. They were talking to each other with their backs to everyone else. “Who are they?” saint asked St. Peter. To which St. Peter replied, “Oh, they are members of _________church. They think they are the only ones here!”
Jesus said in John 10:16 “and I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.” This is the theme that brackets the Sundays of November which begins with All Saints Sunday and ends with Christ the King Sunday. As it says in Ephesians 4:5, there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.”
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