|
October 28th, 2007—22nd Sunday after Pentecost
Readings: Joel 2:23-32; Psalms 65; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14
A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through the backyard, wearing his baseball cap and toting a ball and bat. "I'm the greatest hitter in the world," he announced.
Then, he tossed the ball into the air, swung at it, and missed. "Strike One!" he yelled.
Undaunted, he picked up the ball and said again, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world!" He tossed the ball into the air. When it came down he swung again and missed. "Strike Two!" he cried.
The boy then paused a moment to examine his bat and ball carefully. He spit on his hands and rubbed them together. He straightened his cap and said once more, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world!" Again he tossed the ball up in the air and swung at it. He missed. "Strike Three!"
"Wow!" he exclaimed. "I'm the greatest PITCHER in the world!"
I love the simplicity and honesty children have when they look at the world, and at themselves. As a kid I loved playing baseball myself and I would often try to emulate my favourite baseball players. And at 12 years of age, that player was Roberto Alomar. I would try his patented catch-jump up in the air-turn-the-body, and throw to first base. It was always exciting when I’d be able to pull it off. My friends would join me everyday after school and we’d play ball in Steffler Park for hours. We would live out our dreams of playing in the big leagues some day and putting on a show like our heroes on tv.
I was unaware at the time of the great struggles my friends went through at home. At least three of my closest friends were watching as their parents grew apart and divorced. A few of them witnessed or were victims of domestic abuse. Many of them would go on to develop drug, alcohol, and sex addictions as a way of coping with their pain. Personally, I wish we’d stayed together playing ball, dreaming of what life could be for us.
Dreams have a power to bring one through all kinds of adversity. Jonas Salk was the doctor who developed the first successful vaccine against polio. I can only imagine the frustrations he faced, and also the pain of seeing so many of his patients suffer at the hands of this debilitating disease. But after his success Salk was able to say this,
"I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams." –Jonas Salk
The prophet Joel lived through great suffering: in his day God’s people were living in exile, without a home to call their own. Droughts and pestilence ravaged the land and affected every area of life. Spiritually, the people were depraved as they never had enough to make even the most humble of sacrifices in Temple worship. The economy was bad, the people were trapped in circumstances beyond their control, and their churches were breaking down.
We spoke a bit at Synod about the state of the Anglican Church in our diocese. And some rather frank numbers were presented showing the widening margin between our income and our expenses. We were one of many traditions showing a decrease in attendance, and some of our churches have even had to close. Here at Holy Trinity we are very proud of our church, we have a wonderful core group of volunteers, committed givers, and faithful attenders. But we’re not perfect, we have our problems. And as individuals here today I’m sure we each have our struggles and times of despair. We face life decisions with uncertainty…and I think sometimes we wonder if we’ll ever find that ‘light at the end of the tunnel’. God promises that he will not leave us where we are:
Hear the Word of God spoken through Joel:
“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you… You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel…And my people shall never again be put to shame.” And I love this next part,
“Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.” (Joel 2:26-29)
In the midst of their uncertain situation God promises to pour out his Spirit upon his people, inspiring them with dreams and visions. He promises to meet their needs in such a way where they cannot help but give Him credit for their salvation. And he promises that his life, his breath, his spirit would come upon all people: young, old, slave and free. And God’s spirit would inspire them with dreams and visions—
What’s your dream for your life? If you could picture yourself fulfilling your God-given abilities, what would that look like? How loving would you be? How at peace would you feel?
If you could imagine this church fulfilling its potential, what would it look like? At my ordination service and in a funeral some months later I had more than one person come up to me and say, “Wouldn’t it be great to see the church this full on a Sunday morning?” I said it sure would. And I wonder how many of us really believe that it is possible. Dare we to dream that this building would be full of people gathered together to worship because they have a hunger in their hearts to know God and make Him known to the world? Can we imagine the impact on our community we would make as well-organized, enthusiastic and spirit-filled ‘little christs”?
We are called to be ‘little christs”—that is what the word ‘Christian’ means. We are to emulate Jesus Christ, following his teaching, proclaiming his message, and performing acts that cause people to stop and take notice of God’s love and power. But how do we do such a thing? How can we make a difference in the world when we seem so inadequate? How can we see our church launch forward and become a place where people are genuinely excited to be?
The first answer to these questions, and the first action to seeing our dreams fulfilled, is prayer.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven he promised his disciples that they would receive the Holy Spirit upon waiting in Jerusalem. So the disciples gathered together, in one room, to pray and wait for this gift. Acts 2 tells the story of the dramatic experience of the disciples, tongues of fire were seen on top of heads, people spoke in other languages, such a commotion was being made that people on the street wondered what was going on! And then Peter got up, ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’, and preached a sermon. He interpreted our reading from Joel today as coming true—that God was blessing his people with an outpouring of his Spirit that was bringing dreams and visions to a broken people. He proclaimed that Jesus Christ died for humanity’s wrongdoing and rose from the dead assuring us of God’s victory over death, and proving once and for all that Jesus is Lord.
The Acts of God’s people have not finished. God still desires to empower us and inspire us to dream dreams. But we must ask.
Jesus once told his disciples, “You do not receive because you do not ask.” What are we asking for? What do we want God to do in our lives and in our church? How can we expect God to grow our church and become more real in our hearts if we do not ask him to?
Some years ago I came across stories of communities around the world that saw some dramatic transformation. Economies boomed, crime was over-run, societal problems were on the mend, and the churches were overflowing. Those who researched these unique places concurred that the common thread to all these experiences was that there was consistent and intentional prayer for God to bless their communities and change their lives.
We come to pray, as our gospel reminds us today, humbly and simply before God. Sometimes prayer for us can seem a little formal and impersonal. We have our “prayers of the people” in church, which is a wonderful way for us to join in prayer together, but is that the only time we come before God asking Him to bless us? Do we ask that God would fill us with his Spirit, inspiring our minds and flooding our hearts with his love?
George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’” If I can leave one thought with you today it’s this: ask God to give you a dream for this church, and for your life. God is faithful to hear your prayers, and he will give you vision to see things for what they could be. May his Holy Spirit come upon us afresh today and inspire us to dream God’s dreams.
Amen.
|
|
