"Magnum Opus"
#88-13Presented on The Lutheran Hour on November 29, 2020
By Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Lutheran Hour Speaker
Copyright 2024 Lutheran Hour Ministries
Reflections
Text: Daniel 8:27
My greatest frustration as a director—it was when kids quit. Mr. Miller had devoted 40 years of his life to teaching music and directing school bands. His answer surprised me when I asked him about the greatest frustration that he had as a band director. I thought he might say something like when students failed to practice like they should, or when they came late to rehearsals, or the sound of squeaking clarinets. But that's not what Mr. Miller said. He said it was when students quit.
Conversely, he told me that some of his greatest joys were to see the average talent, the student who wasn't blessed with much natural talent, work hard, excel, and become an integral part of the group. It was a tremendous blessing, Mr. Miller said, to be able teach kids beginning in the fifth grade, when he taught them their first three notes, and to see the progress they could make and the fabulous music they were capable of in high school.
I wonder if God feels the same way. I'm assuming you believe in God, since you're listening to this program, or maybe you just stumbled across it and you're wondering what it's about. Well, it's about God. I'm wondering if it would be helpful for us to compare God, in some ways, to a band director. You might want to say, "Well, He'd also be the composer, not just the director, because He created the universe, and all that." And so we would also say that the universe is God's great work. It's God's magnum opus. Maybe this is a new way of thinking about God for you. For me, when I come to a new way of thinking about God, I always want to go back to the Bible. I go back to the Bible because I'm a follower of Jesus, and I want to get to know the God that He talked about. I don't want to get to know the God of my own imagination. I want to get to know the God that Jesus loved and served and called "Father." I go to the Bible because Jesus said He came to finish the story of the Old Testament part of the Bible. And by His life and His death and His resurrection, He inspired what became the New Testament part of the Bible. So I go to the Bible and when I get there, I find that the biggest book is 150 psalms, predominantly songs or prayers to be set to music, or poetry that says things like "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth." So yes, thinking about God as a composer, a director, the maestro who delights in and is devoted to harmony of the universe.
On this program, we've been listening to the book of Daniel, in the Old Testament. And this idea of God as a composer, as a director, can help us understand the visions in Daniel. There's a lot of visions of the future recorded in Daniel, starting in chapter 2, continuing in chapter 7, all the way to the end of the book. Now, some of these visions have already been fulfilled, whereas others have yet to be fulfilled. An example of visions yet to be fulfilled would be the conclusion of the visions in chapter 2 and chapter 7. That's when Daniel gets a picture of what it will be like when God does the final orchestration of His creation. And He once and for all disbands the chaos and cacophony of violent and arrogant human kingdoms. And God's music will ring out through all His people, in all the earth—uninterrupted, eternal, joyful music. Clearly, those visions have not yet been fulfilled. Like a squeaking clarinetist, they're still a work in progress.
On the other hand, other visions in Daniel have already been fulfilled. A good example of this is in Daniel 8. In chapter 8, Daniel records a vision, symbolic of things that would come to pass in the next few hundred years. He had a vision of the coming kingdom of Alexander the Great, a vision of his untimely death at the age of 32, and how his empire passed into the hands of his four generals. Daniel's dream also anticipated the rise of a king named Antiochus Epiphanes, who came to power 150 years after Alexander. Antiochus would oppress the Jewish people, and for three years temporarily interrupt the music of their worship in the temple in Jerusalem. But then he lost his power, and the Jews in Jerusalem rededicated the temple and initiated the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which is still celebrated today 2,100 years later.
Daniel saw all of this in a vision 300 years before it happened. His vision corresponds so well to historical events that some skeptical readers of the Bible have concluded that Daniel was a fictitious character, invented by a Jew living in Palestine after these events had taken place, because it seemed so unlikely that anyone could call it like that, three centuries before it happened. But if Daniel was a real person and his God gave him these visions, then that implies that the God of Daniel really is orchestrating His creation.
Now, maybe you're skeptical. And I suppose we could have an argument, a debate, and you could cite your evidence and draw your conclusions, and I could do likewise. I could point you to the careful work of scholars, scholars like Dr. Andrew Steinmann whom you'll hear from at the end of this message. I could point you to the mountain of evidence that he collects to demonstrate the case that Daniel is who he says he is, and that his account is historically reliable. But if we did that, here's what I think might happen. Even if I could convince you of the historical reliability of Daniel, I think you'd still be left with a lot of unanswered questions. If God is orchestrating His creation and has been from the beginning of time, then why all the god-awful noise? Why does the world sound more like a dying animal and less like the work of a brilliant maestro?
One of my earliest experiences participating in a musical ensemble was as an alto saxophone player in my middle school band, under the direction of Mr. Roscoe. The saxophone is a reed instrument, like the clarinet. And when it comes to displeasing sounds, a reed instrument badly played is right up there with dental drills and squealing bicycle brakes. When you're a novice reed instrumentalist, it's like those squeaks are stalking you, rearing their ugly heads at the most inopportune moments. I remember band practice, trying not to squeak my saxophone, and then I look up and I realize I've lost my place. I don't even know what measure we're on. I don't even know if I'm on the right page. I look around and I see that most of the band members are right there with me. And then I look up and I see Mr. Roscoe, our fearless director, with a pained, yet determined look on his face, waving his baton like an exorcist laboring to exercise a legion of shrieking demons.
I've never been a middle school band director, but I would think one of the greatest frustrations would be knowing that you have the requisite skills to play every instrument better than every member of your band. You could just record yourself playing all the parts and then splice them together and you could replace them, and make it sound so much better without all the hassle. But when I talk to actual band directors, especially those that work with young musicians, I get the impression that there is something deeply satisfying and rewarding in bringing out the best in someone else, even if it does involve a lot of struggle and long suffering.
I quit the band before I got to see the fruit of that labor. And sometimes I want to quit on the hope that the God of Daniel is directing and orchestrating the world. But then there are moments when I felt the undeniable sense that we are made for something bigger, some grand magnum opus. I know you felt it, too. Holding a sleeping newborn baby in your arms, going for a walk in the morning when everything's still quiet, listening to live music that touches your soul. The Bible opens our eyes to see the world as God's musical ensemble, to see the noise of injustice as temporary dissonance, that God's Spirit is laboring to exercise from us and, above all, to hear Jesus carrying God's melody for us.
Daniel's visions were written to sustain us in this hope, but it's good to remember that at the time when Daniel saw them, they made him sick. Daniel writes at the end of chapter 8, "After this, I was exhausted and I lay ill for several days. The vision appalled me and I did not understand it." See, Daniel, like you and me, still lived in the cacophony of a violent and arrogant human kingdom. The vision told him that this dissonance would continue and God's people would suffer. And in another vision, Daniel saw the suffering of God's Messiah, an Anointed One who would be cut off to put an end to sin, to make a covering for guilt. God sent His Son to become a human being, to become a part of our band. And Jesus alone carried God's melody through the dirge of crucifixion, for a measure of rest in the tomb, and then to a third day crescendo, when the risen Lord danced a jig on death's head. Sometimes I can still hear His music. Other days, not so much, and I'm tempted to quit. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, so I keep looking to our director, conducting His band of followers, and I trust that His Spirit is laboring in us, not to replace us, but to replay Jesus' song in the key of you and me.
Mr. Miller, the retired band director that I mentioned at the beginning, when he told me that his greatest frustration was when students quit, I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was a middle school band dropout. But when he told me his greatest joy, it gave me a measure of hope. He said his greatest joy was seeing and hearing the whole band pull together as one, and experience a performance that everyone knew was our best. But when he used the phrase, the whole band, he clarified his meaning. He said, "The whole band, that is, the whole body of Christ." And it reminded me that even though I quit the band, Jesus doesn't quit on me. And He won't quit on you either. When Jesus returns and God's opus is complete, He will pull us all together as one, and we will experience a performance that everyone knows is our best.
Would you talk to Him with me? Lord Jesus, You set our feet on the rock, so put a new song in our mouth because You live and You reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.
Reflections for November 29, 2020
Title: Magnum Opus
Mike Zeigler: It's again my privilege to welcome back, Dr. Andy Steinmann to our program. Over the last several weeks, we've been listening to the book of Daniel. Dr. Steinmann has devoted much study and meditation on this book. He's translated it from its original languages, both Aramaic and Hebrew. He's written a commentary discussing the text, its setting, background message. Thanks again for being with us, Andy.
Andy Steinmann: Good to be here with you, Michael. It's always a pleasure.
Mike Zeigler: This is the first Sunday in Advent, and this is when Christians traditionally prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ, that is the Messiah. And so we celebrate in two ways. We celebrate retrospectively, remembering His birth in Bethlehem, and we also celebrate in anticipation of His future return to raise the dead, to renew all things. Andy, I'm wondering, as we look at Advent, is Daniel an appropriate book for Advent?
Andy Steinmann: I think it is a very good book for Advent, especially in what I think is the central chapter in the book, chapter 7. Here you have a picture of both Jesus coming to save the world from sin and death, and His coming again to establish His eternal kingdom at the resurrection. Both are parts of that vision. And when we see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, that is Jesus in chapter 7. We have this vision that Daniel had of four beasts that represent four kingdoms. And those kingdoms end with the fourth kingdom being the one that Jesus comes to, the Roman Empire. But yet, the vision also goes beyond that to the establishment of God's eternal kingdom, which is Jesus' Second Advent. So, those are both tied together in the central chapter of the book. And I think it's a great book, especially for the beginning of Advent as we look forward to celebrating Jesus' incarnation in the flesh. But also want to look beyond to His coming again for us.
Mike Zeigler: As followers of the Messiah, Jesus, the season of Advent gives us hope. And so we know that there is this fulfilled hope that Jesus has already come, that these prophecies have been fulfilled. He has saved us from sin and death and the power of the devil. But then there's this awaited hope for Jesus to return. How does Daniel, as a total message, how does this book help us live now in that hope?
Andy Steinmann: Well, I think it helps us to see that Daniel is prophesying these last chapters, that his people will undergo persecution. And that persecution was real. We know of that from history. This persecution under the rulers who would rule over Daniel's people about 200 years before Jesus. And they faced real persecution, threats of death and torture. And these are recorded for us in Jewish writings.
Well, Daniel's message to us is God saw His people through that. We too may have to face martyrdom or more subtle persecution. And we have brothers and sisters in Christ around the world that are facing persecution. And sometimes even at the threat of their life, it's still going on today. But Daniel says God has a plan for His people. And even if they are martyred, they will overcome. This is a message that's expanded upon by Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament, but it's already there in the Old Testament.
So I think it's important for us to see that when we sometimes feel as if the world is bearing down on us, because we are Christians, this is not a new experience. This happened to God's people as they awaited Jesus. This has happened to God's people ever since they became the Christian church, and followed Jesus. And it's still happening to our brothers and sisters in Christ today.
A few years ago, I had the privilege of teaching in Southeast Asia, pastors. And some of these pastors were from countries that persecuted Christians openly. It was interesting to see as I was teaching there and I would teach through a translator, I would speak in English, my translator would do this. But at one point one of our missionaries over there, our Missouri Synod missionaries, said, "Dr. Steinmann, I want to show you something."
There were about 30 or 40 pastors, native pastors, Southeast Asian pastors, in the room. And he asked them, "How many of you have been called in by the governing authorities and asked about your faith and why are you doing this and threatened about it?" And every hand in the room went up except for mine. Okay? And then he said, "How many of you have been put in prison for preaching the Gospel?" And half of the hands went up in the room.
And yet every one of those men was there to learn how to be a better pastor and to learn more about the Old Testament, so they could proclaim it. And that is, I think, a great comfort of the book of Daniel. It can give us that intestinal fortitude, as you might think of it, in the face of opposition. Because we know the value of the Gospel—how precious it is and how—think about this. Daniel only had the promise of the resurrection. No one had risen from the dead permanently. We have an example of Someone who can rise from the dead, never to die again. And the promise that as Jesus did that, we will do that, too. How much more should we be encouraged than Daniel was with simply the promise, without ever having seen it happen in history.
Mike Zeigler: Amen. Thank you for your time and blessed Advent to you and your family and all your loved ones.
Andy Steinmann: Okay. Well thank you and you, too. And to all your listeners, a very blessed Advent and Christmastide.
Music Selections for this program:
"A Mighty Fortress" arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
"Savior of the Nations, Come" arranged by Adam Maness. From Be Still My Soul by Erin Bode (© Erin Bode) Used by permission.
"Ere the World Began to Be" by Jack Stamp. From Watchman, Tell Us of the Night by the Wind Symphony of Concordia University-Chicago (© 1997 Concordia University)
