May 26, 2019
Some years ago, a college basketball team from a Division II school won a stunning upset victory over their opponent. After the game, the coach was asked by a reporter if the basketball victory was “beyond his wildest dreams.”
The coach replied, “Basketball isn’t in my wildest dreams.”
What’s in your wildest dreams? Is it basketball? Is it football – a string of Super Bowls for the Seahawks? Or maybe it’s golf – a hole-in-one, or shooting your age, or playing Pebble Beach with your favorite pro?
What’s in your wildest dreams? Is it being well known – becoming a movie idol (even at your age!), or writing a best-selling book? Is it getting a job that will bring you happiness and success? Is it finding someone with whom to share your life?
What’s in your wildest dreams? A cure for cancer? Cleaning up the environment? Achieving world peace? Or is it simply making a difference in the lives of those around you? Is it achieving peace in your own family?
What’s in your wildest dreams?
What’s in God’s wildest dreams? We don’t often think of God has having dreams. But I believe that God does have dreams. I believe that God has been dreaming all along and that God’s dreams get bigger all the time.
I believe that God dreamed of creating a place that was filled with life, where flying things and crawling things and swimming things and walking things, things that wave in the breeze and things that roll down the hill, could all live together in peace, for the sake of joy and beauty and wonder and for the sake of each other.
So, God not only created a world. God created a garden and put all kinds of life there, including human beings. The human beings that God put in that garden took matters into their own hands – they tried to live without God – and so, as a consequence, were forced to leave the garden. That didn’t stop God from dreaming. God dreamed of one people, one family, one person, out of all the people of the earth, who would be a vehicle of blessing.
Then, God called Abraham. After the descendants of Abraham went down into Egypt and were forced into slavery, God dreamed of freeing them from their oppressors. God sent Moses to deliver them and lead them to the Promised Land. God raised up David to rule them there. After David’s kingdom in the Promised Land fell apart and the people of Israel were carried off into exile, God dreamed of bringing them back home. So, God sent Cyrus the Persian.
When Israel continued to send the prophets packing and refused to follow God’s ways, God dreamed of sending his own Son. After Jesus died and rose again, God sent the Holy Spirit to the small band that had gathered around him, because it was God’s dream to send them beyond Israel all over the world.
And God’s dreams haven’t stopped. They’ve just keep getting bigger. They started with a garden. They went on to a family and then to a nation and then to the whole world. But the biggest dream that God has is in Revelation 21 and 22. It is the dream of a new heaven and a new earth. It is the dream of a place to which nations will flock. It is the dream of a place where there will be complete and utter peace for every creature.
At the heart of this place is a city. While John describes in detail the walls and the gates and the jewels and the foundation of the city, I think there are three aspects of this city that are at its heart.
The first is that this is a city of light. Light was present at creation, the first thing that was created. So, this is a city of light. It has no temple. There is no need of a special place in which people can contact God, because God is fully present everywhere in that city. God’s presence is known in the light that pervades the city, a light so strong that sun and moon and stars are not needed. And the stones that are built into the city are stones that are chosen, not for their expense, but for their color. This is a city of light and of beauty.
The second is that there is water. Water was also present at the beginning. So, here there is a river – the river of the water of life – flowing from the throne of God. Water is essential to life. As I tell parents of babies I’m going to baptize – to splash water on as I pronounce the name of God – most of our bodies are water. Even though we don’t live in the desert, we know that we will die more quickly without water than without food. Life, as we know it, is impossible without water. And here it is at the throne of God – the river of the water of life. Through this river, the source of life flows. It flows freely. It flows abundantly. And it comes to all without cost.
The third is that there is a tree that stands on both sides of the river. There was a tree there at the beginning. But this is not that tree. This is not the forbidden tree. This is the tree of life. And the fruit of this tree is not only for eating. The leaves of this tree are for healing. They are for healing you and me. They are for healing all people. They are for the healing of the nations.
You may find this dream to be beyond you and beyond anyone else for that matter. That’s OK. The creation of the universe is beyond our minds. The offering of Jesus to death is beyond our hearts. The growth of the church from a band of 12 to over a billion is beyond our imaginations.
Maybe you can dream this dream. Maybe you can’t. Maybe there is another dream for you. But dreaming is important. It is crucial to your life.
Duke University did a study on “peace of mind.” What are the factors that contribute to emotional and mental stability? They found things like not living in the past, not nursing grudges, staying involved in the world and avoiding self-pity. But they also found this: Find something bigger than yourself to believe in. If you only believe in yourself, you are likely to get frustrated. If you only dream about yourself, you will be underfed.
If you feel as though God’s dreams are beyond you, my recommendation is that you start small. Start by looking at your love for each other. Judas (not Iscariot) asked Jesus, “How is it that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”
“Because a loveless world is a sightless world,” as Eugene Peterson renders Jesus’ response. If you want to see me revealed, Jesus tells them, look at your love for one another. The world cannot see that, because the world has such a hard time seeing and celebrating love.
So, start there. Start by looking for the love that is reflected in the lives of those around you.
Then look beyond those who are immediately present to you. Look to Neighbors in Need Food Bank, Friendship House, Oasis Teen Center, New Earth Recovery, Community Action of Skagit County, and many other local places where love is shared.
Then lift your gaze. Look to the hills and the mountains. We don’t have such things in the Midwest. We do have sky, though, and it is sky that blankets the heavens and whose light and color is constantly shifting and changing. Even in my short time in Skagit, I’ve learned that’s true of mountains as well. Every day they are different. Every day they shine in a slightly different way.
You may feel as though the dreams of God are beyond you, beyond even your wildest dreams. And you are right. They are beyond you and they are beyond us all. But you can still carry God’s dreams in you. Because these dreams will enlarge your heart. These dreams will lift you. These dreams will guide you. They will carry you to life and joy and peace. For they are filled with light and abundance and healing for all nations.
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