You Rock

You Rock

You Rock
a sermon by Rev. J. Christy Ramsey

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Audio from worship at the 10 AM Worship Service August 27, 2023
at St Peter’s Episcopal Church in Carson City, Nevada

edited from a flawless transcription made by edigitaltranscriptions all errors are mine.

Matthew 16:13-20

 

Sermons also available free on iTunes

Peter, Peter, Peter. What a shaky guy to build a church on. I mean, this guy, we know about him; right? He’s either way up there or way down here. I mean, Jesus calls him “Satan.” That’s not good. Why does he pick him? And we know he’s not his favorite. You know, there is the beloved disciple. Not Peter. And now this sermon is banned in Florida. Check.

So Peter gets into trouble over and over again. He denies Jesus. He’s telling Jesus he’s doing it wrong. Later on he tells him not to do things. He’s got the Satan thing going on. And just two chapters ago, now, I don’t know how that is in real-time because, you know, they didn’t really have the timeline and all this real-time clock stuff. But two chapters ago he did the whole, you know, falling in the lake kind of thing. You know, Jesus out there in the lake. It’s a great scene, wonderful time, very, very holy, storm, Jesus. Oh, things are great. And what’s Peter do? Horn in on the action. Hey, I’m coming. I’m getting me some of this. Out in the lake he goes, and of course, boop, down he goes. You know.

Well, you know, I’m thinking it doesn’t really say. This is not Bible. This is Christy. So, you know, you may want to move to the darkened corners of the church for a nap. But I wonder how those disciples felt about him? You know? You have this person, right, this person who is absolutely wrong but very sure of it. And you know that kind of people. You know, the less they know, the surer they are, like that makes up for ignorance. I don’t know. And if you don’t have that friend, it’s you. So, you know, think about that.

So, and I can’t imagine the disciples are happy with Peter. He’s always mouthing off, getting in trouble, showing off, showboating, like he’s the best; you know. And they’re fishermen, you know, they’re not, you know, some kind of – really I’m thinking they’re a little rough-and-ready kind of guys, I’m thinking. And I’m thinking, you know, they’re out there in the storm, trying to stay in the boat. And some guy says, “Oh, I’m going to get out of the boat and go walk to Jesus.” “Peter, we’re barely keeping alive. Stay in your seat. Get down. You’re rocking the boat.” “Guys and Dolls” reference, thank you for those who picked it up. And he goes out there and sinks like…A rock. A rock. I’m thinking that’s where he started getting the name Rock. I’m thinking it wasn’t Jesus at all. It was those fun-loving guys, the disciples. Can you imagine that, Mr. Showboat sinking away? Hey, how you doing today, Rock? Ha ha. You okay? Steady there. Watch out, there’s a puddle, ha ha ha. Rock guy, huh, get a load of him. And down he goes. Hey, remember this? You know. I’m thinking they gave it to him. And in front of Jesus, behind his back, I don’t know, it don’t matter because Jesus seems to know all the stuff, no matter what goes on.

So I’m thinking that Jesus knew about that. And Jesus took that slam, that label, that putdown, and said, yeah, you’re the rock. And on this rock I’m going to build my church. Isn’t that just like Jesus? Not to argue, but to transform? To take what we thought was so bad, so awful about ourselves, our biggest failure, our greatest shame, our imperfections, everything we thought we did wrong, our lack of faith, and said, “Yeah, on that is I’m building my church.” Boy, do we need that message today. I mean, everybody’s telling us who we are. They think they know.

I mean, our own school system is joining a suit in social media because of all the negative information and labels and bullying that’s coming in over Facebook and TikTok and all the other things that are out there that our kids have to deal with that we didn’t have to that tells them they’re not good enough, they’re ugly, or not pretty enough, or they’re not as good as they are, or they have to take that picture next. Even among school systems in the city is suing for, and rightly so.

And if it isn’t social media and the kids and the things, it’s the advertisers have got our numbers down. They’re tracking your web browser. They’re watching what you watch. They’re slicing and dicing you and putting in ads to make sure that you are the most susceptible to what they’re trying to sell. In fact, they’re selling you to others, saying would you like some Episcopalians interested in some fine wines? I’m just guessing. They would put the church roll out. It’s out there.

And it’s not just this. You know, politics is coming. Oh, my gosh, do they want to tell you who they are, who you are, and what you should believe, and how it is, and what you should be outraged about, and who you should be angry with, and how this thing’s world should be viewed. We need this Jesus today that says what you think is the worst is something God can use to build the best. And no other than the contemporary philosopher, Taylor Swift, says – yeah, that’s who I read. So deal with it. That’s okay. Yeah, you’re not getting any Jeff books of the saints up here. That’s coming, so brace yourselves.

Okay. Taylor Swift says an excellent speech in her concert. And one of the – the firm quote in there is she tells her fans, a lot of these young women who are told how to be and how to look and how to feel and how to act. Taylor Swift says: “You are not somebody else’s opinion of you.” You are not somebody else’s opinion of you. Boy, good old Simon needed to hear that when they were all calling him the Rock. Good old Taylor Swift.

Who are you? Who are you? I’ve come to the conclusion not everybody loves and memorizes movies as well as I do, and we’re working on that. But until then, there’s a movie called “Secondhand Lions.” Robert Duvall we’re going to see in a minute. And somebody – and he’s having a bad day. And somebody asks him, “Who do you think you are, old man?” Oh, don’t do that to Robert, even on a good day. “Who do you think you are, old man?” And this is Hub McCann’s answer. “That’s who I am.”

I remember having a spirited discussion with one of the patriarchs of the church about what picture should you put in an obituary? The dashing young soldier going off to war 40 years ago? Or the weathered, seasoned, bald man the last time we saw him? Who are you?

My father-in-law was Bruce Speegle. Bruce Speegle was the district engineer for PennDOT. They have hills there. They say mountains, but I will not insult you by saying they were mountains. But they have ups and downs. And the ups and downs, back in the day, came up with the idea, have you seen those runaway truck ramps, you know, where they have the little thing, and the big old gravel, and the pickup – the pickup. The semi is supposed to steer off there when they don’t have brakes and go into the gravel, and the gravel is supposed – this was controversial. This wasn’t going to work.

Now, Bruce was a district engineer. Wasn’t a truck driver. Didn’t drive a semi. And Bruce put one in. And oh, the things they talked about. Now, Bruce was a man of few words. On my wedding day, I spent the whole day with him, and he had plenty of opportunities to tell me what’s what and who’s for and whatever. And had every reason to because at that point this guy, most unlikely to be a minister, was going to seminary. He might have had some words.

But we had the rehearsal, and was doing like an hour to get the wedding done, rehearsal, and up and down. We had a family dinner, a lunch, very nice lunch, family lunch. We’re all sitting at the table, meeting everybody. And we went to the hotel, we changed for the wedding, all in the same room. We had the wedding, of course. And he was there. And then afterwards we had a reception into the evening. That whole time Bruce said two words to me: “Have fun.” That was Bruce.

Back to the runaway truck ramp. It wasn’t going to work. Boondoggle. Waste of time. Not say safe, ba da da, all that stuff. Bruce got it built, invited the press to a demonstration. Got the truck at the top of the hill. Got the brakes disabled. And when it was coming down the hill, Bruce was in the passenger seat. To this day, my mother-in-law is still angry. That’s who Bruce was. He didn’t have to say anything. He was in that truck. Down they went. And of course it worked. Bruce was an engineer. He did the math. He didn’t have to talk. That’s who he was.

There’s a movie out called “Barbie.” Perhaps you’ve heard of it. As I understand it, I’ve been told I must go see it by my daughter, who’s in her 30s. I don’t know when she became my parent, but okay. In it I understand Barbie wonders what she was made for. The ideals of – they play with the ideas of Barbie as perfection and success and rich and happy all the time. And suddenly she’s not.

I’d like to close with the song from the movie, from Billy Eilish, and close with the lyrics to “What Was I Made For?” And I hope you consider that, as well.

You Rock

Bringing Forward What's Behind

Bring what is valuable about the past into a new future

Bringing Forward What’s Behind
a sermon by Rev. J. Christy Ramsey

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Audio from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church parking lot on August 30, 2020
edited from a flawless transcription made by edigitaltranscriptions; all errors are mine. 

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermons also available free on iTunes

Phone, glasses, Hearphones, and once my brother Tim.  That is the answer to the question, “What do you go back for?”  If I leave my phone, my glasses, or even this morning my Hearphones, my hearing aids, I go back for them and get them.  And one time, on the way to a very memorable church service, I left my brother Tim, and we went back for him.  What do you go back for?  What do you go back for to bring into the present and take with you into the future?

I gave out notecards to some of you, I hope you got them, it’s a Sankofa bird on the front.  You can take a look at it there.  It’s very small here.  But I hope you got yours.  If you look closely, it might remind you of those geese that are always over there at the high school and the park,   Oh, my gosh.  But it’s not.  It’s a Sankofa bird.  And if you see, it’s reaching back to get an egg to bring forward into the future.  It’s part of a Native American and Mexican tradition, and African.  And what it means is that it is okay to stop and go back to the past and bring something of value forward.  It also says that that is something you should do, that that is something that is noble and expected, that you will stop what you’re doing and figure out what part of the past you want to bring into the future.

We are at an amazing, unique time.  I don’t know, I hope I can say this in front of you all, but it was official church communication.  I wanted to go to one of the churches in our denomination, not the Lutherans – God bless the Lutherans.  I went and I said, “Hey, can I come to your church?”  And they took it to the committee, and the committee’s first question was, will he sanitize the bathrooms?  Apparently they have laid off their custodian, and anybody that goes in, it’s do-it-yourself cleaning.  What a strange and wonderful time we are living in, to get that question when you want to go to church. 

It used to be that the status quo, the way things always have been, was the one thing that could not be vetoed.  That’s the one thing that could not be changed.  You almost have to have a unanimous – a consensus to do anything different.  You know this is difficult in churches, even in society.

But the coronavirus and the quarantine has vetoed the status quo.  Something that we said was impossible has been done.  I remember driving by closed casinos in Nevada.  Oh, my gosh.  You know, snowballs in hell are nothing compared to a dark casino in Nevada.  Who would believe such a change?  This is the time where we pause, like the bird, in going forward, and look into our past and say, “Well, that’s all messed up. The way of the future is not the old ways. What are we going to bring forward into the future?”

These are very challenging verses we have today, as much as they were [horn honking].  Thank you, amen.  As much as they were back in the time of Jesus.  Imagine, if you will, not the hospitality of Romans being preached.  And you say to yourself, well, that’s hard to do.  That’s difficult to do.  All these people with the politics and the division and the different ideas and the fights over the mask and the statues and the marches and the counter protests and the shootings.  How can we be hospitable?  And gentle?  And welcoming?  God just doesn’t know what we face.

But remember when these were written.  The folks reading this were under armed occupation as a conquered people by a foreign power.  I don’t know what you think the level of our situation is now, but it’s not that bad.  And yet the Scripture still was written, these directives still were given to those people.  If they could do it, we can do it.

Have you thought about what this would play out with, like today?  I mean, if Peter and Jesus were here today and had this discussion, how would it work out?  Have you guys heard of Facebook?  I am convinced Facebook has both brought together and blown apart more relationships than five generations of gossips.  It is an amazing engine to both bring people together! I mean, I’ve got high school friends that comment on my stuff.  I haven’t seen them in, well, a long time.

It also blows people apart.  You know that meme they shared about the politician that you liked?  Remember that mean thing they said about people you care about?  Amen.  Have you unfriended a friend on Facebook over that?  I can imagine it would go something like this with Peter and Jesus on Facebook.  You know, it’d be Facebook.  It’d be Jesus’s page.  You know, I imagine it’d be very pastoral, lot of pastel colors maybe, maybe a sunrise.  Couple hills maybe in the background.  He’d be there smiling.  And his post might be, “Taking the Jerusalem challenge.  I know, I know it’s difficult.  But I’m going to J-Town.  It’s tough, but it’s something I need to do.  I’m going to go there and protest.  And come with me, I’m going to make them hear what I have to say.”

Have you seen that post?  Can you imagine Peter – and God bless Peter, he didn’t post directly on the wall.  That’s not good.  Don’t do that, folks.  He did a message to Jesus, you know, with the little Messenger app that pops up on your phone.  You say, what is that thing?  He says, “Hey, Jesus, I forbid you to go to J-Town.  That’s not a good idea.  Have you heard what’s going on there?  Have you heard about the protest?  Have you heard about the violence?  People getting killed there, Jesus.  Don’t go, Jesus.  You shouldn’t be going there.”  And Jesus, I imagine Jesus does this.  Maybe he doesn’t, but I’m thinking.  Jesus sends him one of them little faces, one with the devil horns on it; you know?  And that’s it.  Just devil get behind me.

Have you had awkward, perhaps relationship-breaking Facebook conversations about what to bring forward?  We can’t leave this behind.  We’ve got to leave this brutality.  We’ve got to leave this racism.  We’ve got to leave the Confederate statues.  We’ve got to leave this oppression.  We’ve got to leave this two system where there’s one justice for those that are white; and those that are not, they get another system.  We’ve got to leave that all behind.  And then you’ve got other people saying, no, no, no, we’ve got to bring that forward.  That’s our heritage.  That’s part of what makes our country great.  You’re wrong.  Things are great.  Things are wonderful.  We need everything.  We’ve got bring that forward.  And there’s a great tug of war, just like that bird, about what to bring forward and what to leave behind.

We make these choices all the time.  All the time.  And it’s not about erasing history.  It’s what we choose to bring forward.  Imagine, if you will, after – I don’t know, I don’t want to get in trouble here.  But a year, a year out of the church?  I don’t know.  Don’t quote me on this.  It’s going to be a while.  But at the church, you went in there, and you found out that some people were honoring your heritage by putting up a statue of Judas, and another great big statue of Satan in the church because, you know, that’s history.  That’s heritage.  That’s in the Scriptures.  We can’t forget that.  I think you’d say we don’t need to bring that forward, brother.  Sister, I don’t think we need that in the church.  We remember Satan.  We see him a lot out in the world every day.  We don’t need a big old statue of him in our faith.

Well, Christy, you gave us the problem, didn’t give us any solution.  Hate when that happens.  What are we going to do?  How can we do this?

Short Wave is a wonderful daily podcast about science, very entertaining, about 10 minutes long.  I just binge through them, read, listen to them while I’m driving somewhere.  I don’t go anywhere anymore, but so 10 minutes takes me a couple trips.  But they said to get yourself out of this depression and get yourself out of this funk, and to get yourself out of the terrible place that you might be in in this time, two things are important:  control, and recognizing that the present times or situation is temporary.  Control and temporary.  So you focus on what you can do.

What is in my control?  What can I do?  I can’t stop the pandemic, but I can help other people.  I can make masks.  I can give money to the folks that don’t have it.  I can go out and support the workers that are out of work by going through all the rigmarole to do carryout and try to give them some money.  If I have a place, I can maybe help out somebody that doesn’t have a place.  Maybe I don’t collect the rent this month if I’m a landlord.  Maybe I support a little help for those that are helpless.  What is in my control?  What can I do?

In Jesus’s case, he says, you know, there’s a lot of evil out there.  There’s a lot of trouble out there.  There’s a lot of oppression out there.  There’s a lot of sin out there.  I can do something about that.  I can go and proclaim God’s love, God’s compassion, God’s inclusion.  And I can tell it and tell it until I’m dead.  That’s what I can do.  I can’t stop all evil.  I can’t control other people.  But I can live a worthy life full of service and healing and love, as long as I’m here.  That’s in my control.  That’s where God wants me to go.  So the one is control.  What is God calling me to do, not what God is calling those other folks to do.  Not what I think they ought to do.  It’s with God, what is God calling me to do?  I can do that.  What can I do?  Get some control in your life by that.

And remember this is temporary.  As Christians we know that we have a heavenly home that is eternal in the heavens, and we’re just here temporarily.  So everything that happens is temporary, and most temporary is this time of pandemic.  There will be a time when this pandemic is over.  I don’t know when.  It’s a race between when the pandemic is over and Jesus comes.  I don’t know which is going to come first.  What I’m thinking is that it’ll be a sure sign, if the Overby House opens, that’d be the end times.  That I’m sure of.  Jesus has a reservation there first night.

It’s temporary, friends.  And you know, Jesus did this with Peter, too.  I don’t know if you’ve been doing a friendship study, looking at the timeline between Jesus and Peter on Facebook.  But my gosh, those two are always getting into it.  You know, they need some couples counseling, those two.  You see them going back and forth.  You know, because Peter is showboating.  Just last week, jumping off the boat, or a couple weeks ago, jumping off the boat, walking on that water like showboating around.  Come on, Peter, give it a rest.  This is Jesus’s moment.  You know, why are you horning in on that?  You don’t even do it well.  And Jesus sighs and picks him up afterwards.

And then he had a good time, a good spot.  He says, “Jesus, you are the Messiah.”  He confessed him as Lord.  Good times.  And now we’ve got this one, where he stops him from doing what he needs to do, what he wants to do, what he’s called to do, and gets in his way and tries to control Jesus.  Have you done that?  Have you tried to control Jesus and say, “That’s not the way, Jesus.  Oh, no, no, no, no.  We’re not going there.  We’re not going out in the parking lot.”  Heck, no.  I love the Lord, but not that much.  I need my pew and my cushion and my roof.  Can somebody get a roof.

Have you had days like that?  Maybe over more significant issues?  But Jesus sticks with him and even sticks with him when he betrays him and denies him.  Spoiler alert, this is coming up.  Peter denies Jesus, betrays him.  “I do not know the man.”  Right when he needed a friend, someone to stand with him.  Through all that drama, through all that back and forth, Jesus stays with Peter.  Because he knows that bad days are temporary.  And somehow he saw good in Peter.  And the last time we see them together they reconcile, where Jesus asks him if he loves him three times, bringing back the three times Peter denied him.  And Peter says, “You know I do.  I love you, Lord.”  And Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

So you had a bad time.  So maybe you denied Jesus.  I don’t know.  Maybe.  Maybe you did some things you weren’t supposed to do.  Maybe you have some regrets.  I’m telling you now, the answer, the way out is to recognize that was temporary, and that you have control to do good and to be better.  You can be like Jesus and Peter.  And even though you had ups and downs and troubles and upsetness, if you love the Lord, there’s a way out.  If you love the Lord enough to take care of other people.  If you love the Lord to take care of those he cares about.  If you love the Lord enough to be as hospitable as we hear Paul telling the folks under Roman rule to be hospitable, and kind, and to forego vengeance, but leave room for God.

I had a friend.  His name’s Randy.  Randy was in Kiwanis with me in Akron, Ohio.  And that guy had a heart that would not end.  I mean, he was the one, if you had a Kiwanis service project, he would come two days early and prep it and bring supplies that he bought out of his own pocket, wouldn’t take money.  The day he was there he would come early and stay late.  And he would bring his entire family and friends to help.  And then he would clean up afterwards and come back the next day and finish up what wasn’t done.  

But then Facebook.  I swear every Russian meme that ever came across that was heartless and mean and untrue, Randy had to repeat and had to post.  The first couple dozen times I said, “Randy, what are you doing, dude?”  I would say, “Hey, check this out, this article.  It’s just not true.  It’s not at all.  It’s just trying to make you angry.  If you’re angry when you see a meme, stop and think that the purpose of this meme and this post is not for information.  The purpose of this post is to make me angry.  And don’t let it do that.”  We had some back and forth, and he says, “I just can’t help it.  I just can’t help it.”  So I unfriended him.  I just – my blood pressure couldn’t take it.  And I didn’t want to keep going after him and arguing with him.

But what I’m going to do today, these are little cards, these little note cards.  And I’ve got some homework for you.  I mean, you’ve got time; right?  Everything’s crazy.  Everything’s closed.  I’m going to write Randy.  I’m going to write Randy and see if we can get some relationship back.  Because that was temporary, you know.  Those posts were maybe even unthinking.  And I know he’s a good and kind man, although his choice in candidates is just godawful.  But he’s a good guy.  He’s a loving father, faithful husband, hard worker in his own business, and generous to a fault.

I’m going to write him this card, and I’m going to try to get back with him because I think this is what the Scripture says to us.  Leave room for God to take vengeance.  Leave room.  Welcome everyone, and let God correct them and get them right.  Don’t tell Jesus not to go to somewhere he’s not welcome.  Don’t tell Jesus you shouldn’t be concerned about those people.  You should stay away from them.

Do you have a Randy in your life?  Maybe family?  Maybe a friend that, in this time of division and polarization and every issue under the sun – who would have thought we’re arguing about the Post Office?  Can you give me a break?  Can we just get a buy on the Post Office this year.  Anyone you having problems with?  Maybe you have a problem with me.  Maybe have a problem with Chad.  I don’t know.  Maybe you’re here because you have a problem with your church or pastor.

I’m telling you, I’m a Stated Clerk of the Presbytery, and I sort of have my eyes on the churches throughout Nevada.  And pastors are quitting.  Pastors are going in the hospital with stress diseases.  It is a horrible, awful time to be a pastor.  You think you’re upset about the way the church is going?  Imagine if you were the pastor.  Maybe if you’ve got no one in your life that you want to reconcile with, no one in your life that you think you need a better relationship with, write it to Chad.  I write to Pastor, and I get a note back, “Oh, thank you, you don’t know how much I needed that.”  You know, what a difference it made.

Our Scriptures today say that we can make room for others that disagree with us.  Our Scriptures today say even when they’re going the wrong way and we’re absolutely convinced that they’re going the wrong way, they can still be related to us.  And what a message, what a time for us to hear that.

Friends, what are we going to bring forward in the future?  This is something that we need to reflect on.  We need to consider.  We need to talk together.  We need to make room for one another.  What are we going to turn back and bring forward?  How is our church life and our church worship going to be different going forward?  Is it going to be more technology?  Are we going to have more opportunities for people to gather, rather than at a certain time and place in a certain building in a certain seat in a certain location?  Is this going to be a great renaissance for the church?  A great awakening and expansion?  A transformation of what it means to be God’s people?  I hope so.  I hope so.

It’s up to us what we bring forward.  We have a great opportunity now to take stock of, well, what is essential?  What is necessary?  What is loving?  What makes room for people?  What does hospitality look like in this day and age?  My first boss in a spiritual position as a chaplain left to move on, and she said this:  “I do not go alone, and I leave no one behind.”  I do not go alone.  I leave no one behind.  As we go through this time, into a new time, imagine what you want to bring forward, who you want to bring forward.  And remember you do not go alone.  And remember to leave no one behind.

Amen.

Bringing Forward What's Behind

Is It Wise to Give to the Poor?

from flickr.com Micah68. Some rights reserved. Used by permission

Here is a recording of the message given at Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian church on January 12, 2014. We examine just how wise those wise men were.

Download a recording of the message (right click and save for later listening.)

Based on Matthew 2:1-12.

Are Dreams Real?

from Matthew 1:18-25

(Click to listen to this message.)Dreams are the only time I get to be with my brother Ric. He will have been gone 30 years ago next month. Every now and then, he visits me in my dreams. He is real then. The fights are long past and only the familiar remains. I can feel his love and his kindness and wake up comforted.

Are dreams real? Did Ric really come to visit me? Or was it just a dream? How do we know something is real? Havelock Ellis points out that “Dreams are real while they last, can we say more of life?” As the riddle about a tree falling in a deserted forest, that asks if there is a sound if there is no one there to hear it points out, reality is biased toward what is observed. If no one experiences an event…did it happen, and how many witnesses does it take to make a reality? Some of you are way ahead of me, we have recording devices and scientific methods to determine what happens even without observations. Sure. I’m a big fan of tech and science…but somewhere along a line someone will observe the recording, publish the theory, open the box with the cat. Until that happens…

Can your outlook, your thinking, your perception change reality? Well it depends. There is a thought experiment proposed by David Foster Wallace in a commencement address at Kenyon College in 2005, we have video with a bit of it with added graphics here…

 << Video since removed >>>

What is your default dream setting? Joseph had a dream. Marry Mary, settle down in his hometown, do some carpentry, raise a family. Maybe some volunteer work. Go to Jerusalem for Passover. A nice quiet respectable life. But Mary turns up pregnant. There can only be one explanation, and he wasn’t the answer to that question. There was only one thing to do, return the pregnant girl and get a new one.

Then he had a dream. Now here is a tough Bible question. At least for us sophisticated post-industrial scientific American Christians…did an angel REALLY visit Joseph? If you say “Yes!” then dreams are real. For the angel came to Joseph in a dream. I know a mystery wrapped in an enigma tied with a riddle.

Today Dreams are dismissed. Even in the Hebrew Scriptures, Joseph of the Old Testament, Joseph brothers call him “The Dreamer” because he had dreams of being more powerful than his older brothers…yet by faithfulness and God’s grace he lived into his dream. Martin Luther King told the nation about his dream and moved a nation to greater justice and equality. Nelson Mandela dreamed of a South Africa that was at peace with itself. In a Long Walk to Freedom, wrote “A Winner is a Dreamer Who Never Gives Up.” He lived his dream and it took decades in prison for reality to catch up his dream.

A dream changed Joseph default setting of pregnant woman needs to be quietly shunned to one of most honored of women, a favor instead of a curse, a joy instead of sorrow. Private shame to Savior of the world.

You can choose your dream now and every day. How? Start with the Lord’s Prayer, you know the part that goes “Thy kingdom come…” Mediate, consider, and if you dare quietly pray… Thy dream come, for kingdom of God is more like the dream God has for humanity than an area of land of God’s control. God’s is more interested in how much area he has in your hearts and minds…your dreams.

I submit to you that the measure of reality of Ric visiting me in a dream, the reality of who you are standing in line with at the checkout, the reality of an angel in a dream thousands of years ago, is measured not by ectoplasm detectors, NSA records of metadata, nor biblical archeology and scholarship. The measure of whether something is real, is the effect that it has. If I am brought peace and feel love when Ric visits in dream and am patient and kind to others in turn, that’s real. If I can build up community instead of tear down individuals in a checkout line that’s real. If angel changes man who quietly puts away a pregnant fiancee in need of love and care into one who sacrifices to make scandalous respectable, protecting the vulnerable, and caring for a child not your own…it doesn’t get any realer than that.

God’s dream about humanity is already real in Jesus, we just have to choose to live it.

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Signal Flares

One of the apps on my phone sent me a “Signal Flare” email because my battery was getting low. If the battery completely died, the phone couldn’t respond to requests to locate it was lost. So, just before it died, the Lookout app set me a map of where my phone was getting ready to go dark.

In the movie Life of Pi, Pi shoots flares from his raft in a vain attempt to be noticed and rescued by a passing ship. He falls into dispair as the ship doesn’t notice his flying fire trails and continues on its course.

Too bad we don’t have an app that automatically senses when we are low on resources and sends out a flare for help. An alert to others when we are in danger of not getting home on our own power.

Some folks use social media as a flare for friends, updating their status on Facebook or tweeting about their hard day. All those “copy and post this” are flares to see if anyone sees them. 

Cell phones, even before they had GPS directions, were used by the lost to find guidance. (In my family, folks have been known to call ask a relative to “walk with them” to their goal via their computer with Google Street View!)

An old school way of social connection is church participation. More times than not, a new person coming to worship, especially after a long absence, recently has experienced some trama or crisis in their life. Will anyone see him at church? Will God see her? 

Hope you notice the flares sent up around you, and change course to bring the lost and alone back on board. I also pray that when you are sending up flares, someone helps walk you home.