May 27, 2007 Cliff Loesch Dreams and Visions Joel 2:28-32             Ron Atchison once wrote, “Sometimes when I'm standing at the top of Inspiration Peak on a clear afternoon I can see the entire world and everyone in it. I can see the children in their classrooms in Mexico and Mozambique and Manchester. I can see the mothers and fathers working so hard to pay the bills. I can see the grandparents taking their walks and looking at their reflections in bookstore windows.             “I wish I could report that everything was fine with the world, but you and I both know this is not the case. There's still too much loneliness, too much want and too much pain.”  Atchison goes on to say, “My hope is that [you will be inspired] to dream a larger dream, a dream that will capture our hearts, a dream that's worthy of this short and precious life…” http://www.inspirationpeak.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?record=36             To have a dream for the future is a wonderful thing.  To be able to dream of a better world is great.  In fact, could we say that when we get to the point that we have no more dreams for the future—that is the day that we cease to really live?  But the ability to dream is not automatic, I suppose.  It’s not necessarily hard-wired into us that having dreams of a brighter tomorrow is just a part of who we are.  No, we more easily see the negative trends in life.  We often see things getting worse not better.             The prophets of the Old Testament often gave very negative messages.  They pointed out the inconsistencies in people’s lives.  They revealed the shortcomings of society.  They pronounced gloom and doom unless things changed right away.  Their messages were often not popular.             But the prophets should not be seen as only delivering messages of gloom and doom.  They should be seen as agents of change—positive change.  They sought to bring about a change in perspective, a change in attitudes, a change in behavior in a revolutionary way—that is rapid change.  They used shocking, colorful language at times to get people’s attention—to try to get them to listen and to respond.             And we should also note that the prophets also used more gentle and encouraging language at times as well.  They were dreamers.  They were visionaries.  They dreamed of a better world.  They looked forward to a day when God would be more active in the world and to a day when more people would see and respond to God’s presence.             The prophet Joel saw a day in the future when God’s Spirit would be poured out on everyone.  Or, at least, God’s Spirit would be available to all.  In Joel’s vision, old men would dream dreams.  But dreams for the future were not just for older men.  Young men would also see visions.  And the Spirit was not available to men only—he also saw that both sons and daughter would prophesy.  And the Spirit of God would be poured out not only on the privileged or the free—Joel saw that God would pour out his Spirit on everyone—even including male and female servants.  It was a rather large vision that Joel was proclaiming.  Please note that he did not say that the Spirit would be poured out on the priests only.  Nor did he say that the Spirit would be given only to Israelites, or only to men.  No it was a very expansive vision that included all people.  Indeed, the passage says, “Then afterwards, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.”    It was a big dream and it was quite a different vision for the future than most people would have expected to come from one of the prophets, I imagine.  The thought that God would pour out his spirit to all was not an idea that would have occurred to most people.  It was revolutionary.  But also, it was an exciting vision.             You and I live in that age that Joel saw in his vision.  We live in that time of “afterward”—that time in the future when God is pouring his Spirit out on all flesh.  So what do we do with this great news?  If dreams and visions characterize those who receive the Spirit, what dreams do you have?  And what visions do you have for the future?              When we think of dreams for a better future, many people recall Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.  You know enough of the specifics of the speech that I won’t quote parts of it today.  But I found a little devotional by Daniel Shantz where he looked at Martin Luther King’s life.  He said it was almost like he knew he didn’t have much time.  He was always running ahead of the game.  He skipped grades in school and entered college at age fifteen.  He became an ordained minister at nineteen.  At thirty-five, he was the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize.  Just four short years later his life came to an end.  Daniel Shantz asks, “How could one man do so much in such a short time?”  And then he went on to say, “I wonder how many good works I have neglected because I thought they would take too much time and effort.  I can usually think of dozens of reasons why something can’t be done: ‘I’m too old to start.  I’m not exactly rich, you know.  I’m a low-energy person.  I’m too shy, I’m not the leader type.’”  He goes on to say, “All of these may be true, but I think the real reason I don’t accomplish more is that I don’t have a clear vision of what I want to do, and I fail to include the Lord on my list of resources.”  And, he says, “It stirs me to think of the possibilities for good if everyone learned to see with the eyes of a dreamer.”  [Daily Guideposts, 1/15/01]             Undoubtedly there is more that we could do.  There’s more that Martin Luther King could have done.  He wasn’t perfect.  Indeed, none of us hears the voice of the Spirit perfectly or completely.  Nor do we follow that voice perfectly, either.  But there are a lot more dreams to dream, and many more visions to see.  May each of us be inspired to dream larger dreams and to see clearer visions of what the future could be.             Acts 2 tells about the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was given.  The Spirit was described as the sound of a rushing wind.  And what happened in that place was also interesting.  People who might have seemed the least likely candidates for leading a new movement were launched into the limelight with a kind of boldness and the ability to communicate not seen before in them.  They were energized with vision and they were fearless in the face of opposition.  On that day as well other barriers were broken.  They were heard speaking in other languages.  Others were very puzzled by this phenomenon, of course.  But what we see here—or one thing we see—is that yet another barrier was broken.  The barrier of language could not hold them back.  Nor could any other barrier.  The Spirit had filled them with vision—and had given them the power and the courage and the ability to carry out that vision.  And nothing could stop them.  No barrier could restrain them.             As I said a moment ago, there are a lot more dreams to dream, and many more visions to see.  As the Lord pours our his Spirit on us, may each of us be inspired to dream larger dreams and to see clearer visions of what the future could be.