Sunday, August 7 – 10:00 a.m.
Combined Summer Services for The United Churches of Medicine Hat.
Today’s worship leader is Rev. James Farrell and all who join for today’s worship.
by Rev. James Farrell
I think the story of Joseph is familiar to many…the favoritism he found in his father's eyes, the resentment his brothers felt toward him, the plot to kill him, the recanting by his brothers at Reuben's behest and their subsequent sale of Joseph into slavery, …it is all the stuff of great story-telling… and the stuff of good movie making, too.
The story is a common one on so many levels…people have plotted the execution or slavery of our Jewish sisters and brothers for thousands of years, the scripture that speaks of favoritism of one group over another within the heart of God is the stuff of great resentments, wars, underground attacks…we live with this story every day…a bomb goes off in London, New York, Jerusalem and one group or another claims responsibility and too often the motivation for the attack is rooted in resentment against a group that believes itself to be favored by God.
At times, we are that group…western privilege has left us believing we are favored by God. For many of our Israeli sisters and brothers their sheer survival in the face of great hatred is the "promise fulfilled" that they are favored by God…for Muslim extremists whose desire is to inflict as much damage upon the ungodly west—"the infidels"—as they can, the motivation is also from a perceived place of God's favor even as the charges they bring against the west are that we obviously live as people who think we are the favored.
Contempt bred in the resentment of favoritism is a common theme indeed.
But before we go too far down that road, at least as it is understood in the backdrop of the Jacob family story…let's look at what it was that brought the contempt of Joseph's brothers upon him…it wasn't cries of favoritism that rallied the brothers to consider his murder…what was it? It was the proclamation and insult that he was a dreamer.
A little bit of the Bible Text that was not used as part of today's lection says:
The part of the Genesis story you didn't hear this morning included some of these words: "Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream that I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf." His brothers said to him, "Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?" So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.
Nothing is more infuriating to some than the dreams of another…but if we, who believe we are called to be the church are thought less of for our dreams we are in good company. We need to remember that it was the epithet "dreamer" that justified the actions of Jacob's brothers in their minds.
The dreams of common people in biblical times were important to them, but the dreams of kings and of holy men or women were important on a national or international scale. One of the results was that many of the nations surrounding Israel had religious figures skilled in the interpretation of dreams. These figures could be consulted at the highest level of government for important decisions—sounds more than a bit scary today but in such nations as Egypt and Assyria , these interpreters even developed "dream books" by which they could give interpretations according to the symbols of a dream.
Israel was forbidden to use many of the divining practices of her neighbors, but over a dozen times God revealed something through a dream. In fact, prophecy and the dreaming of dreams were to be tested in the same way according to Deuteronomy 13.
And Joel wrote that when the Spirit comes "your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions" (2:28). Dreaming is certainly an important part of our Judeo-Christian tradition.
Jim Hillson said a couple of weeks ago and I agree "We live in history. It is both our memories and our dreams that shape us. Dreams without memory are dangerous. They easily lead us in directions that do more harm than good. Memories without dreams are oppressive. They constrain us from reaching for a better world than has ever been"…
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech inspired a generation and epitomizes the heart cry of a people seeking justice without violence. King's dream speech was music to the ears of people even before he said it… people like John Wesley, who knew more than two hundred years ago that people…all people …need to be free…King's speech was also a thorn in the flesh of all who liked to see people segregated and subjugated for reason's racial, financial or whatever reasons they hold to be "reasonable" to them.
You could say that King was killed partly because of that speech…who knows if those words were the catalyst that provoked James Earl Ray, his assassin—if he worked alone, or those behind Ray if he didn't act alone.
The brothers of Joseph were certainly ticked when Joseph told them about his dream. If a dream upsets the power brokers in any day or age it is met with hostility and fear. People have always feared losing what they think they hold on to, which usually involves a place of advantage.
There is a solid case to be made for the righteous indignation of extremists whether they are Muslim or any other religion… but violence is not the way of the truly powerful. The Ghandis of this world, the Martin Luther King Jrs of this world, in fact the spirit of the one who gathers us in worship today, Jesus of Nazareth, is the Christ spirit that empowers us to live our dreams…to struggle for shalom in this world and for this world.
We are stewards of dreams…some held by people for thousands of years…some fresh and inspiring. How we empower the lives of others and how we nurture our spirits as we embrace those dreams, remembering our heritage, is the real mark of what makes us "called to be the church".
As I was writing this sermon I could hear through the fresh early morning air—the temperatures hadn't reach the uncomfortable level yet so the windows were still open —and through those open windows I could hear the sound of bag-pipes and drums and in short order wonder and child-like inspiration touched my heart.
It was the preparation for the stampede children's parade…as the sound of the music continued to build, I couldn't resist it any more…it was infectious…I had to see the source of all the joy-filled sound…so a 20 minute break enabled me to embrace the sheer joy, the exhilaration of young people preparing…in fact I think it was more magical than the parade itself…it held the promise of a dream.
We really do live in a wonderful creation and the work of those among us prepared to dream makes creation all that more wonderful. I believe we would not have music if not for the hearts prepared to dream…nor art 'at all' in fact. Joseph may have been more child-like than his siblings…he was certainly younger…his ability to dream and to talk about his dreams was an affront to them, but the source of his strength and ultimately his power and freedom and his gift to his people and his family…if we lose our ability to dream, we lose our hope.
Daniel Quinn, in his award winning book (Turner Tomorrow Fellowship), talks about the history of the world being broken into the story of two different people… "those who know good and evil and those who live in the hands of the gods." P.235. by that he is referencing the people who through history have taken it upon themselves to declare that they know who should live and die…and the people whose very life is an expression of live and let live. The latter group enjoys and freely shares in and of the world that they have received from the gods, or in our tradition, God. In their experience they allow others to live in the same open and peaceful way. They choose to make choices that help all people—not just some—they dare to dream of equity and to challenge the thinking that would hold the world's people and resources hostage for the benefit of a few.
Only our dreams will allow us to have that opportunity…living our dreams…daring to have those dreams… can and will make changes that honour our God if we allow the history of our relationship with a nurturing God to continue to inspire our dreams and empower our motivations.
Are those "called to be the church" dreamers? I hope so!
Amen.