Living our Dreams

Joel 2:23-29

 

        I am going to suggest that you probably have never heard more than one sermon with Joel as the main text. Truth is most folks are not even aware that Joel is a book in the Bible. Scholars don’t know much about this guy.  From his style of writing we can ascertain that Joel lived around the 3^rd or 4^th century. We might guess that the prophet had a pretty religious mom or dad because the name “Jo-el” means “Yahweh is God”.  I suspect he made his parents proud when he became a priest at the Temple in Jerusalem.  Joel lived during a time when a heavy infestation of locust, the likes which had never been seen, devastated all of Judah. Crops were ruined, pasture land was left barren, cattle and sheep died, and the community suffered greatly from the food shortage brought about by this natural calamity.  Things could not have gotten any worse.  Finally folks came to the temple in Jerusalem where Joel resided and in the midst of their despair asked some difficult questions.  “What are we going to tell our children?  Why is this happening to us?  Are things going to get better?  Why hasn’t God intervened?”

        Joel responded, “I have a dream”. We who are a post Martin Luther King Jr. generation imagine dreams coming from mountain tops. Even Dr. King didn’t believe that. Dreams evolve from darkness and visions emerge after midnight. My wife claims I have an over active imagination. She is probably right. I know once I fall asleep I have little control over what happens next. I have a reoccurring list of dreams which I would not categorize as nightmares but are distressing enough to keep me from having a pleasant rest. I dream about being late or skipping a class when I was in college. It must have been either Biology or French because both did significant damage to my grade point average. I dream about getting on a train which never reaches its intended destination. I have other dreams which make my nights so fitful I witness the passing of each hour. What might surprise you is I never want to lose my ability to dream, because often I awake with a clear understanding of how to approach the obstacles of the day. There seems to be such a fine line between dreams and nightmares that I have found it becomes impossible to accept one without the other.

        In 1975 Bruce Springsteen burst onto the American music scene with his album “Born to Run”. The title hit was so explosive and filled with such positive energy that many folks failed to see the darkness that infiltrated some of his lesser known songs. By 1979, after two successful tours, Springsteen was crowned “The Boss” and folks clamored to discover what enlightenment would next emerge from the poet’s imagination. What we received was “The River”. It is a song the straddles that fine line between dreams and nightmares. A young man from a factory town wants to escape the life of his father. He and his girl friend go to the river and dream of new life. But reality stands over against the dream. They become pregnant, get married in a court room and he applies for a union card to work beside his father. Springsteen sings, “Is a dream a lie if it doesn’t come true or is it something worse that takes me down to the river?” Springsteen understood that dreams and nightmare can easily merge together. But this was no new revelation.  Joel was telling that to anyone who had the courage to listen.

        Sometimes dreaming is difficult because we are too easily convinced the world is headed to hell in a hand basket. This is not to suggest tragedies do not exist. I think of the situation in Aleppo and I am over whelmed with grief. And yet Syrians wearing white helmets continue to go into the ruins in hopes of saving a life. I think of Sue and Walt as they share with us the death of an oak tree outside the windows of Basking Rock Presbyterian Church. The tree is believed to be over 600 years old. Think of the heart break that must be going through this congregation as they witness the death of one of God’s greatest wonders. And yet they have not sat idly by. Even in their grief they are celebrating the gift that tree brought to them. Rescues workers from Aleppo and Presbyterians from New Jersey remind us tragedy only wins when we relinquish the desire to dream.   

        An ancient Irish folk song tells us, “It is always darkest just before the dawn.” The reason for this is just before sunrise the stars disappear from our vision. But this does not mean that they are gone. Yet haven’t all of us experienced a moment between the disappearing of the stars and the rising of the sun when we lose courage. And when this happens, the distrust that creates our nightmares and self doubt, floods our minds eye with a darkness that leaves us vulnerable. This emptiness, this fear, heightens our desire to exaggerate a calamity that might have been avoided with a word of calm or a voice of reason.

        Case in point. I am really tired of folks suggesting Nov. 8 will be a pivotal moment in American history. Lincoln winning the 1860 election over Breckinridge and Douglas was historical. Roosevelt defeating Hoover in 1932 was noteworthy, but twenty years from now I doubt anyone will remember the issues of this election.   So instead of being dragged down by the rhetoric of the moment, why not emulate the vision of Joel? Those of us sitting here support different candidates, different parties and different ideologies, but our primary motivation for being party of this church has never been about political allegiances but rather about creating a safe space for conversation and action. No matter how bad the landscape looks from your particular political viewpoint, on November 9^th this church will still be a place where dreams become real and visionaries are celebrated. Regardless how we vote, our hope for the world is neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump. Regardless of the color of our political beliefs, we find our inspiration in the One who refuses to be limited by our nightmares and fears.

God’s spirit will be poured out on each one of you. You will dream dreams. You will have visions. And you will not keep them to yourself. You will have the courage to bring your dreams to the rest of us because this is a place where insane and irrational thoughts are not only tolerated but embraced.

Sometimes you must cringe at the nonsense that flows from this pulpit. Sometimes we might cringe during joys and concerns but we would never think to silence any voice. Sometimes our adventures don’t have a chance of success, but occasionally failing is better than never trying. Our motto has always been, “God so loved the world, and so should we.” It is an adage that takes us into another’s nightmare in search of a dream. Let us be courageous, together. Let us be tolerant, together. Let us be dreamers, together. For such is the way of the Lord.    Amen?