Dream a Dream

Click here to read Isaiah 61

Click here to read Isaiah 62

These two passages speak of a world that would have seen like a dream to the People of God.  For Isaiah to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, it not just about all things coming up rainbows and chocolate rivers. The year of the Lord's favor was the year of Jubilee, when slaves were to be set free; debts were forgiven; and no one farmed for the whole year.  It was year long Sabbath to remember to trust in God in all times. 

Isaiah 61 actually is the passage Jesus preached one of his first sermon on in Luke.  If you click on that link, you will see that the sermon does not end well.  Let me give thanks that to date no congregation has ever tried to hurl me off a cliff in response to a sermon of mine...maybe I am not doing something right?  Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord's favor, which sounds so good.  Until the people realize that quoting from Isaiah means the Lord's favor includes everyone, even the foreigners and people we don't like.  All of the sudden, we might wonder about this.  And does Jesus really expect us not to plant gardens when spring finally comes?  Does Jesus really expect us to forgive other people's debts to us?  I mean that is fine in church when saying the Lord's prayer, but can we really live this way?

Isaiah offers a compelling vision.  But what is our role in all of this?  Do we just wait passively?  Or, perhaps, we are called to live this way right now.  Which is challenging, because people are going to look at us all strange.  People might say things behind our back.  Living the faith means we will at times bump hard against the values of our culture.  

I pray you will listen to the wisdom of these two passages today and in the coming days.  Perhaps as these words dwell within us, they might be heard in some of our words and felt in some of our actions.  If that can happen it would be a trace of God's grace.

Blessings! 

Dream a Dream

Click here to read Isaiah 29

What sort of dreams do you have?  Maybe you dream about spring when the snow is not piling up?  Maybe you dream about going back to school?  Maybe you dream about a world where violence and hatred don't occupy so much of our nightly news.  Isaiah offers a profound insight about our dreams in verse 8.  The hungry person who dreams of food still wakes up hungry, no matter how large the buffet was in his mind.  The thirsty person who dreams of swimming in gallons of fresh water still wakes up thirsty, no matter how long she stays asleep.

While I don't want to knock the power of positive thought, in the end our thoughts are sometimes stuck in our minds and does not become a reality...no matter how much we try to focus on it.  No amount of Jedi-mind-tricks will alter our reality sometimes.  I think this is why consumerism is so big in our world.  My soul may still be thirsty, but at least I have a cola in the refrigerator.

Yet, we don't want to sell dreams short either.  Think back to Joseph in Genesis and the dream he dreamed of greatness.  Or his ancestor centuries later of the same name who dreamed the dream of angels telling him that Jesus was the Son of God.  Dreams are important to our faith and they have limitations, which is pretty much so true of just about everything in the church.  Worship is important and has limitations.  Prayer is important and has limitations.  Mission is important and has limitations.  You get the idea.

The point is not our dreams, but God's dreams, which Isaiah tells us is written on a sealed letter we cannot read.  It is mysterious, which for a person who likes to plan ahead is really frustrating.  Yet, Isaiah does not leave us there.  He proclaims there will come a time when the dream of God is realized. Again, I want to know the timeline and the strategic plan, but it too remains a mystery.  Perhaps not a mystery, as much as it is messy and non-linear, sort of like dreams themselves.

Isaiah's language is not that of Mission, Purpose, or Vision statements so common in businesses and churches today.  Isaiah's language is that of promise and trust.  Promise that God is present, interwoven in our lives.  Trust that even when we don't see or understand, God is present, interwoven in our lives.  May our dreams today open us to that promise and trust; and in that may we sense the traces of God's grace.

Blessings and peace!