Based on Psalm 65, Joel 2:23-32, 2Timonthy 4:6-8, Luke 18:9-14
Where would we be without dreamers and visionaries? They are the people who change the world. We United Methodists would literally not be here (we would all still be in the Church of England) if it weren’t for visionary reformers like John and Charles Wesley. These are men to whom God gave dreams and visions of another way to do things – a way that might just move the institutional Church closer to the kingdom of God. The dreamers who had the strength and courage to follow God’s lead into God’s preferred future.
Our scripture text from the prophet Joel says that God will pour out God’s Holy Spirit on all people and then the “old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions….” Why does the text differentiate between dreams and visions? That is a good question to ask since the Bible makes it clear that dreams and visions from God are methods that God uses to communicate. Dreams come to us when we are sleeping, but visions come to us while we are awake. We can see this with Jacob and Joseph who had dreams from God while asleep. We can also see this in the case of a wide-awake Saul on the road to Damascus when he had a vision of the Risen Christ. Dreams and visions are powerful communication tools from God to humans – but how do we know when something is from God and not just from our imagination?
Well, my experience is that it is not always clear – at least not immediately. The dreams and visions portrayed in the Bible are so compelling and clear that it is easy to discern what to do next. For me at least, the dreams and visions from God are unexpected, repetitive, compelling and quite large. They continue until I recognize them and act upon their leading. My dreams and visions, on the other hand, tend to be fairly run-of-the-mill - pedestrian I would term them. My dreams have little to do with changing the world – they are typically concerned with my own comfort and self-interest.
Father George Smiga tells this story about the difference between our dreams and God’s dreams for us. Father Smiga writes, “Once upon a time a boy said to God: ‘Oh God, when I grow up, I want to be an adventurer and cross over oceans and climb mountains. I want to drive a Ferrari, and I never want to pick up after myself. I want to live in a huge house with a big front porch with two Great Danes that can play in the backyard. I want to marry a tall woman who is very beautiful and kind, who has long black hair and blue eyes, and who plays the guitar and sings in a high clear voice. I want to have three sons with whom I can play football. One of them will grow up to be a famous scientist, the other a senator, and the third will play quarterback for the Browns in the Super Bowl.’ God said, ‘That’s a beautiful dream, and I want you to be happy.’ But a few years later the boy injured his knee playing football, and his life as an adventurer was over….” The boy’s dreams may be over, but this is not the end of the story.
The Bible and our lived experience tell us that God hears our dreams, desires, wants, etc, but always gives us what God needs most from us. The prophet Joel is speaking to a people who have been invaded by an overwhelming army, which he compares to a vast swarm of locusts. The prophet calls the people to fast and repent and maybe God will forgive their sin. Our reading says that God promises to restore all that has been destroyed and in addition, that God will pour out the Holy Spirit on both men and women. This Holy Spirit power will give them the ability to dream God-sized dreams and have God-inspired visions to heal and to move all people closer to God.
The writer of 2Timothy is nearing the end of his service to God. If the writer is the Apostle Paul, then the power of God’s vision on the road to Damascus and subsequent dreams, have come to fruition. Paul’s road has not been easy, but he has faithfully followed where God has led him. He says that he is awaiting the crown of righteousness that will be given not only to him but to all believers.
Jesus is providing a vision of what it looks like to live in the kingdom of heaven. He contrasts what he sees in the proud and haughty Pharisee’s sinful behavior to that of the remorseful behavior of the tax collector – a much reviled sinner. Jesus’ vision of the kingdom displayed in this brief parable is that living in the kingdom demands our humble self-insight into the ways that we all sin and fall short and our total reliance on the grace of God.
The Reformers of the Protestant Movement of the 16th Century and beyond did not start out to do anything close to what ultimately happened in the life of the Church. Martin Luther was a priest and an academic who saw some behaviors in the institutional Church that were not biblical. So, he posted his 95 theses in public so that he could stir up debate and pressure the Church to change its behavior. However, God envisioned a change that was much more comprehensive.
Similarly, that little boy’s dreams that we heard about a few minutes ago took a turn that he did not anticipate. We pick up following the injury to his leg; “…he went to college and earned a degree in marketing and founded a medical supply company. In college he met a pretty girl who was loving and kind but was not glamorous. She was no musician, but she was a marvelous cook. He married her, and because of the business they lived in a downtown apartment. Their balcony had to suffice for a big front porch. There was no room for two Great Danes - only one fluffy cat. They had three daughters (not sons), and the loveliest of the three had to use a wheelchair. The man’s business provided comfortably for his family, but he never owned a Ferrari. And because he had three children [daughters], he spent most of his life picking things up…
Then one night he talked to God again. ‘Oh God,’ he said, ‘Do you remember when I was a small boy and I told you what I wanted in my life?’ ‘I do,’ said God. ‘That was a beautiful dream.’ ‘Well, then,’ said the man, ‘Why didn’t you give me what I wanted?’ ‘I could have,’ said God, ‘but I thought that I would surprise you with things you never dreamed of, and if I do say so myself, the package I put together for you was one of my best. Do you disagree?’ ‘Not really,’ said the man, ‘but my life is not what I expected.’ ‘No, it is not,’ said God. ‘But my job is not to give you what you expect but to give you what is good.’”
Yes…God gives us what God knows is good, which is usually far beyond our expectations. It is not an easy path to follow God’s dreams and visions (see our text today from 2Timothy and Paul’s travails detailed in the Book of Acts). Yet, God does not just give us dreams and visions and then abandon us. Quite the opposite, God through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to live out those dreams and visions in our lives and in our world. None of the Reformers had an easy or carefree life. All had their lives upended and some were killed for their beliefs, like many of the early Anabaptist Reformers. Yet, when we look back over the last 500 years, we can see all of the good that has come from implementing God’s dreams and visions for reform.
The Church of Jesus Christ was never intended to stay the same. In fact, it has undergone a significant reformation about every 500 years – we’re due another one. God enables this change by pouring out dreams and visions on all God’s people so that the Church will one day operate in the way God envisions. How is God speaking to you in dreams or visions of what this church might become; about what it could be doing with our neighbors to positively impact their lives and lead them closer to God? How are you dreaming and envisioning yourself to be an active part of what God is doing here? These are very important dreams and visions to discern and then to share with me and with church leaders so that we might bring God’s dreams and visions into reality. Thanks be to God for providing dreams, visions and the strength and courage to implement them - amen!