Isaiah 65: 17-25
John 6:25-35
November 18, 2007
25th Sunday after Pentecost
Stewardship and Thanksgiving Sunday

      Do you remember the dreams you have at night? Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. When I was in seminary I took a course on parapsychology and theology that was taught by a dream psychologist, a visiting professor from Harvard. One of the first things he asked us to do was to write down what our dreams were about for a week. Well with that assignment I couldn't remember one dream. I was frustrated with myself and felt left out of some of the conversation about dreams and how we can interpret dreams. Harman Bro, our professor, felt that often God spoke to us through our dreams. And here I was not remembering my dreams and wondering what message from God I was missing that week when I had a dream block. Today I want us to think about dreams – dreams we may have when we are sleeping or awake, what we do with some of those dreams, dreams of the future that we share with each other, and how God speaks to us through our dreams.

      If you want to know more about my fascinating seminary course on theology and parapsychology, catch me some time and I'll tell you about it.

      Isaiah tells us about a dream he received from God – actually the writer of what we call third Isaiah is describing one of God's dreams for God's people. Many scholars believe the verses from Isaiah that we just heard were written in 539 BCE, when the people of Israel returned to Jerusalem after their exile. The community faced difficulties. Their return was not as triumphant as they had hoped. Much had to be rebuilt as they took up their lives again. The prophet encourages them, reminding them of God's promise of salvation – that God brings healing and wholeness to God's people.       Isaiah shared God's dream. God will create a new heaven and a new earth. All the former things, including the pain of exile and the devastation in the their homeland will be forgotten and they will not carry the burdens of the past; instead God will create Jerusalem as a joy; there will be no sounds of weeping, cries of distress or premature death; all will live out their lifetime. They will be blessed in the ordinary routines of everyday life. All will have homes to live in and food enough to eat and all will enjoy the work of their hands. God will hear and answer. God will delight and rejoice in then. God will continue to create and to call them forward into the dream of a new creation of peace and harmony. The lion and lamb shall feed together and no one will hurt or destroy.

      Let's think about what this dream means for us and the world we live in. Where are we in this dream? Are we still in exile where we are cut off from our homeland and the life we once lived or have we come home to a place has changed. It is not what we had hoped for – instead of the home of our memories there is brokenness and despair. Or are we part of a new creation of peace and harmony?

      Indeed, God is dreaming! God is on the move? And a new earth will be the result. Are we?

      Our theme for our fall stewardship campaign is to do and to dream. We asked you as individuals and as committees to share some of your dreams. You shared dreams for financial resources so we can continue to do God's work in the church, community and world, for commitment to the work of the church, to continue to grow as we have been doing, to do justice, seek peace, and build community, and to find ways to involve everyone in God's work.

      When these dreams come true? When we make it happen – when we do things that will make it come true. When we love God and follow in God's loving ways, then we will see God's dream and our dreams come true. We are called to dream and to do.

      To dream means to dream our dreams as they connect with God's dream for us and all God's people. To do means to do the work of God to help make God's dream come true. What is our role in bringing about God's dream? What do we need to do? That's an enormous question.

      Our world today is filled with war, desolation, and brokenness. Many people are in exile; many do not have enough food to eat or a roof over their heads. Many suffer from injustice. How is God's dream breaking into our lives? Today what are the signs that God is making a new heaven and a new earth?

      This week I got a letter from David Vargas, the Co-executive of Global Ministries. I share his letter with you.

      “Greeting to you in the name of Jesus, the true neighbor in a broken world. About 15 year ago Global Missionaries Ruth and Charlie Wallace, who were serving in Venezuela at the time, found themselves stranded on a desert and deserted road in Venezuela. As their car leaked oil, and as twilight approached, Charlie and Ruth wondered if they – along with their son—five-year-old John (sleeping away in his car seat) - - would have to spend the night on the road. After a while an elderly man riding a bicycle came by and stopped, asking them if they had a problem. He looked under their hood, pointed and said that there was a damaged part, and that he knew someone who could fix it. He further stated that he would take the part and the money to fix the part, and would get the part fixed and return to then. After a moment, Charlie and Ruth decided to trust the man and gave him the part and the money. An hour passed, it got darker and started raining. They again wondered if the three of them would spend the night on the road. After a bit more time, the elderly man returned on his bicycle, installed the repaired part into the car, and returned the change from the money Charlie had given him for the repair. When Charlie reached for his wallet saying, 'How much do I owe you?' the man backed away saying, 'You owe me nothing. All that I ask is that you do the same for someone else.”

      As the man got on his bike and rode away, John woke up from his nap. 'Who was that, Mom?' he asked. 'I don't know his name, John. He is just a good man,' responded Ruth. Yawning, John said as if remembering, 'O yeah, he is Jesus.' ”

      Being Christ to others, stopping on the road where people are stranded and abandoned, where they suffer from war, where they suffer from disease and poverty, doing acts of mercy and work that seeks justice is helping make God's dream of a new heaven and a new earth come true. Supporting our church and its ministry helps make God's dream a reality.

      God calls us both to dream of ways we can do this and then to do.

      Today is the Sunday before Thanksgiving – a time when we offer God our thanks and gratitude – for love, grace and the blessings of life. I want to say thank you to each of you for your stewardship –for the ways you make God' s dreams come true through your pledges, support and sharing of your time and talents. Thanks also to our Stewardship Committee and chair Herb Oliver for all you have done to inspire us to do and dream and be God's people.

      Before Bob and June Ingraham left for Florida, Bob gave us a copy of a 1931 Thanksgiving Proclamation made by Wilbur Cross who was governor of Connecticut (as in the W. Cross Parkway that heads through Connecticut to New York). I share some of it with you now – “I appoint Thursday, the 26th of November, as a day of public Thanksgiving, calling upon the people of this state to give thanks to God in their homes and churches for the yield of the soil and the fruits of labor, for the gifts of peace and good fellowship, and the many other blessings under His Providence; urging those who have store of plenty to share it freely with any who may be suffering or in want, and urging all to go forward in faith, hope, and charity, ever mindful that the greatest of these is charity.”

      Isaiah shared God's dream of a new heaven and a new earth where all God's people have food, homes, justice and peace, and charity. May God's dream be our dream and may we be Christ to each other as we live out that dream in our lives. Amen.