We Are . . . Those Who Dream

Luke 2:1-20  Common English Bible

In those days Caesar Augustus declared that everyone throughout the empire should be enrolled in the tax lists. This first enrollment occurred when Quirinius governed Syria. Everyone went to their own cities to be enrolled. Since Joseph belonged to David’s house and family line, he went up from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to David’s city, called Bethlehem, in Judea. He went to be enrolled together with Mary, who was promised to him in marriage and who was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for Mary to have her baby. She gave birth to her firstborn child, a son, wrapped him snugly, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guestroom. 

Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night. The Lord’s angel stood before them, the Lord’s glory shone around them, and they were terrified.

The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people. Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord. This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said, “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.”

When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go right now to Bethlehem and see what’s happened. Let’s confirm what the Lord has revealed to us.” They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw this, they reported what they had been told about this child. Everyone who heard it was amazed at what the shepherds told them. Mary committed these things to memory and considered them carefully. The shepherds returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Everything happened just as they had been told.

 

 

During this Advent Season, we have been inviting you to dream.

We have looked at the dreams of others --- as they longed for the coming of a messiah.

We looked at John the baptizer dreaming of the one greater than him who would usher in the kin-dom of God.

Then the past couple of weeks we have looked at Mary

          Mary who says yes to the dream God gave her --- with great joy

          And Mary who needed Elizabeth to encourage her to keep the dream

Tonight --- as we gather around the manger, we are reminded that we are all dreamers.

Every year, we come to this night with awe, wonder, and holy imagination for what is possible.

Like Mary, we treasure God’s dream in our hearts and commit to keeping it alive.

Like the holy family, we believe and trust in a God who comes to us in the vulnerability of a child.

What I love about the Christmas story is that it is a story of a multiplicity of dreams.

          Mary dreams of her child that will bring salvation to the world

          The shepherds dream of a society where they will not be seen as disposable

                   A world in which they are no longer marginalized

                   A world where they are respected and seen as valuable children of God

          The angels dream of peace on the earth

          The Magi come dreaming of a new world order ---

one they do not comprehend, nor do they understand ---

yet they come --- and they dream

And yet, for each of these dreamers ----

Jesus’ birth often challenged,               

disrupted,

sometimes fulfilled

and always seemed to sustain their dreams.

What are the dreams that you bring to the manger this night?

Many children will go to bed tonight with dreams of X-boxes and I-phones

          Of dolls and baby yodas   

                   Of Bikes and trikes

But others --- others will go to bed this night filled with uncertainty.

          Uncertain how they will feed their family on Christmas day and beyond     

Not sure if they will have a job or a business as we continue to be devastated by the pandemic

Sad because they cannot live up to the American consumer ideal when it comes to Christmas

Still others will have an empty chair at the table, representing one of the almost 300,000 who have died in the USA or 1.6 million that have died worldwide

In a few moments, we will celebrate the coming of the light of Jesus into the world

born in an insignificant town       

in an insignificant nation

to insignificant parents

And yet, the dream that this baby represents continues to transform the world.

How will that dream manifests itself to you?

Claire Smith, a poet from Guyana invites us into this dream

I dream

Of a loving world

Where we see each other

With God’s eyes:

 

I dream of a resourceful world

Where we cherish the unique gift

Of each other;

I dream

Of a hopeful world

Where we recognize the power of God’s grace

To transform and make new;

 

I dream of peace. 

Howard Thurman tells a wonderful story about a chance encounter at a bus stop.

Thurman says that he was waiting to catch a bus when he noticed a man, sitting in his car across the street

          The man seemed to be making notes in some kind of book

          After he finished writing, the man looked toward Thurman with a broad smile

                   Thurman smiled in return

                             Thinking he must know him from someplace

The man opened the door to his car and called out, inviting Thurman to a ride, downtown – if that was where he happened to be going

As he got into the car and they began the journey downtown, Thurman tried to think of where their paths had crossed

Soon it was clear that they were total strangers

          But out of the graciousness in his heart this man had offered Thurman a ride

He was a salesman

          He spoke with an accent

                   But he enjoyed helping people whenever he could

This experience reminded Thurman of a friend of his who loved to stop at a certain corner every day --- offering a ride to any person who happened to be there and wanting to go downtown.

This friend would say that each morning was a exciting adventure in meeting and getting to know a new person.

She said that she gained a rare richness by meeting so many different and unique people.

And what she appreciated most was that she was able to meet an immediate need for someone each day --- just by offering a ride and being friendly company

Thurman writes:

Perhaps there is nothing more exhilarating to the spirit than to be able to minister to the needs of others at the time when a particular need is most acutely felt. This is the essence of the spirit of Christmas....the true meaning of Christmas is expressed in the sharing of one’s graces in a world in which it is so easy to become calloused, insensitive, and hard. Once this spirit becomes a part of a [person’s] life, every day is Christmas, and every night is freighted with anticipation of the dawning of fresh, and perhaps holy, adventure.

What adventure is God planting in your heart this Christmas?

What are the dreams that God is giving you?

But we must, like John, Joseph, Elizabeth, Mary and Jesus do more than just dream. 

We must awaken the dream through our actions.

Three years ago the word “woke” was added to the dictionary.

According to Merriam-Webster woke means:

aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)

Being WOKE requires us to keep our eyes open to the reality around us.

To pay attention to when there is a disparity between how one race or group of people is treated unjustly more than another.

Being WOKE means dreaming of something more.

Something better.

Being WOKE means it’s time to dream some dreams.

To open our eyes and align our reality with God’s reality for justice, kindness, and humility.

When you read the advent and Christmas stories in the bible, it is evident that they are calling us to be woke to the marginalized, the oppressed, the separated.

I want to end tonight sharing two of Howard Thurman’s poems. 

Thurman has the uncanny ability to put into words what many of us struggle with.

In his poem Christmas Is Waiting to be Born, Thurman is calling for us to be woke.

Where refugees seek deliverance that never comes,

and the heart consumes itself, if it would live,

Where little children age before their time,

And life wears down the edges of the mind,

Where the old man sits with mind grown cold,

While bones and sinew, blood and cell, go slowly down to death,

Where fear companions each day’s life,

And Perfect Love seems long delayed.

CHRISTMAS IS WAITING TO BE BORN:

In you, in me, in all humanity mankind.”

Christmas is waiting to be born

          Let it be born in your hearts

          Let it be born in your dreams

          Let it be born as you seek to make God’s kin-dom real to ALL

Let us dream God’s dream.

 

 

 

I will light candles this Christmas,

Candles of joy despite all the sadness,

Candles of hope where despair keeps watch,

Candles of courage for fears ever present,

Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days,

Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens,

Candles of love to inspire all my living,

Candles that will burn all year long.

~ Howard Thurman

Those Who Dream . . . Are Not Alone

Luke 1:26-45 Common English Bible

When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee, to a virgin who was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. When the angel came to her, he said, “Rejoice, favored one! The Lord is with you!” She was confused by these words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Mary. God is honoring you. Look! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father. He will rule over Jacob’s house forever, and there will be no end to his kingdom.”

Then Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen since I haven’t had sexual relations with a man?”

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come over you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the one who is to be born will be holy. He will be called God’s Son. Look, even in her old age, your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son. This woman who was labeled ‘unable to conceive’ is now six months pregnant. Nothing is impossible for God.”

Then Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Mary got up and hurried to a city in the Judean highlands. She entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. With a loud voice she blurted out, “God has blessed you above all women, and he has blessed the child you carry. Why do I have this honor, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. Happy is she who believed that the Lord would fulfill the promises he made to her.”

Last week we celebrated with Mary as she sang her song of praise to God:

With all my heart I glorify the Lord!

    In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.

Mary is filled with JOY as she and her cousin Elizabeth celebrate all that God is doing in their lives.

But it didn’t start that way.

This morning we take a step back and find Mary when she first encounters the angel Gabriel in Nazareth.

I am sure you remember that story

I want us to pause for a moment and imagine; that you are an artist with the desire to illustrate the Annunciation — the very moment when Mary first hears the news that she has been singled out by God. As Luke tells us: 

“Rejoice, favored one! The Lord is with you!” . . . “Don’t be afraid, Mary. God is honoring you. Look! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father. He will rule over Jacob’s house forever, and there will be no end to his kingdom.”

How would you SHOW Mary reacting to those words?

Think of how you would set the scene

What would Gabriel look like?

What about Mary?

Most of us can come up with some images in our heads

Drawn from our experience

Our expectations

But what do the Gospels tell us?

We do not know much about Mary.

Tradition has built great myths about her

At times to the point of making her almost divine.

But that is not what the gospel stories suggest.

Instead, we find an innocent young girl who encounters an angel.

What do we know about Mary?

That is an interesting question and many people have attempted to tell us

Matthew Henry writing almost 300 years ago, and still a very popular commentary in many circles writes:

Her name was Mary, the same name as Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. Her name signifies being exalted, and a great elevation it was to her indeed to be favored above all the daughters of the house of David.

She was a daughter of the royal family, descended from David, and she herself and all her friends knew it, even though she was poor and low in the world. . .  She was a virgin, a pure unspotted one, but espoused to one of the same royal stock - like her, however, of low estate; so that upon both accounts there was an equality between them.

Christ’s mother was a virgin because He was not to be born by ordinary means, but miraculously. It was necessary that he should be so that though He had the nature of man, He had none of the corruption of that nature.

She lived in Nazareth, a city of Galilee, a remote corner of the country, and with no reputation for religion or learning. The city bordered upon non-Jewish lands and therefore was called Galilee of the Gentiles. Christ’s living there suggests the grace coming for the Gentile world.

The angel was sent to Mary of Nazareth. Note that no distance or disadvantage of the place shall be prejudice to those for whom God has favored in store. The angel Gabriel carries his message as cheerfully to Mary and Nazareth in Galilee as to Zacharias in the temple at Jerusalem.

There is a lot there, much, however, that is not found in the actual Gospels.

A careful reading of the New Testament leaves us with more questions about Jesus’ mother than answers. 

Mary is a relatively minor character in the Gospels—mentioned only a couple dozen times, often unnamed and usually silent. 

How did this unassuming figure come to be the most important woman in the Christian church?

And that is the challenge --- 

Mary has been re-created to fill the needs of those who want to see her as more than the Gospels portray.

Yet, there are some things that become abundantly clear from Luke’s telling of this story.

Mary lived in Galilee --- about 90 miles north of Bethlehem and Jerusalem 

(Bethlehem was about 5 miles south of Jerusalem although today you never leave the city)  

She was a “virgin” --- which becomes important for a number of reasons, but not necessarily the ones we have been taught.

Because she was a virgin and engaged to be married, most assume that she was probably a very young girl, maybe even an early teenager (12 or 13) --- but that is speculation.

In both Luke and Matthew, it is Joseph who is from the house of David and gives credence to the Davidic decent of Jesus.

We also learn in Matthew that Joseph is a carpenter --- really a craftsman (the Greek work is tekton), but we know almost nothing else about him.

We should find it interesting that Mary is from Nazareth in the Galilee.

This was a tiny town --- maybe a couple hundred people --- literally at the end of the earth.

There are some who would not have considered Galileans as “real” Jews --- and it wasn’t until the time of Herod that Galilee came back into the fold of Judea --- prior to that the inhabitants had been dispersed and other peoples had been moved into the area --- all courtesy of the Assyrian conquest in 721 BCE.

Even in the New Testament there was concern about Nazareth when Nathaniel asks in John’s Gospel: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

So, what must it have been like for Mary to encounter an angel?

Our theme this advent season has been Those Who Dream

• We have looked at the dream of the followers of Jesus who are filled with hope and possibility
• We have looked at the dream of John --- preparing the way for the kin-dom of God
• We have looked at the dream of Mary --- one of great joy and expectation

Today we look at the role we play in each other’s dreams through the story of Mary and Elizabeth.

Why does Mary say YES to God?

That is a question I often ponder

Or maybe the real question is --- would I have said YES to God if God came to me as God did to Mary?

As a white male --- living an upper middle-class life --- I know that I cannot even pretend to understand the challenges that this invitation from God posed to Mary.

To be pregnant and unmarried in 1st century Judea was unthinkable.

Worse yet, to claim that you were impregnated by God or the Holy Spirit?

As we look at the “annunciation” and the “Magnificat” in Luke’s gospel it is clear that Mary could not have fulfilled the dream of bearing the son of God with out the help and support of others.

When Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant (by another man he assumes) Joseph being a righteous man --- didn’t want to humiliate her, so he decided to call off their engagement quietly.

But he doesn’t

Because according to Matthew: 

an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

I am not sure I would find much solace in such an encounter --- my wife/fiancé is pregnant, and I am not the dad.

But it wasn’t just Joseph who stood by Mary --- so too did her cousin Elizabeth --- Luke tells us:

Elizabeth and Zachariah had no children because Elizabeth was unable to become pregnant and they both were very old. 

Elizabeth stands with Mary and affirms her dream.

Judith Jones in her commentary writes:

“By greeting Mary with honor, Elizabeth overturns social expectations. Mary is an unmarried pregnant woman. She might expect social judgment, shame, even ostracism from her older kinswoman. Yet Elizabeth knows from her own experience the cost of being shamed and excluded. In her culture a woman’s primary purpose in life was to bear children, so as an elderly, infertile wife she had endured a lifetime of being treated as a failure. . . . Elizabeth continues the pattern of social reversal by opening her arms and her home to a relative whom her neighbors would expect her to reject.  Instead of shaming Mary, she welcomes, blesses, and celebrates her, treating her as more honorable than herself. . . . 

Mary’s Magnificat emerges only after she visits Elizabeth. 

Her joy and confidence emerges and is sustained through the support of her cousin.

Elizabeth confirms that the dream and promise is real.

Joseph and Elizabeth both assured her that she was not alone.

And not only are they not alone --- but God’s choice of both Mary and Elizabeth demonstrates clearly that God stands with those who are marginalized and are deemed worthy of God’s love and purpose.

Mary and Elizabeth’s witness teaches us is that solidarity emerges when we share a dream that forces us into pondering what God intends for AND requires of us. 

And if you listen carefully to Mary’s song; it is clear that it is proclaiming good news for the lowly and the marginalized

Judith Jones continues:

Elizabeth’s words and actions invite us to reflect on our own openness to the ways that God chooses to act in our world. What is God doing through unexpected people in our society today? Where is God at work through people whom our neighbors and fellow church members often exclude or treat as shameful? Will we listen to the Spirit’s prompting when the bearers of God’s new reality show up on our doorstep?”

Great question!

Yesterday at the Gathering of Men the topic was on our dreams --- what are our dreams for Meridian Street Church in 2021 and beyond?

It was interesting that all of the dreams that were shared were about helping others.

Someone said that they were not an influential speaker but they tried to help people through his actions --- like helping with habitat or neighborlink --- but what was fascinating is that when someone would say that they were “just a volunteer” he said that he would explain how they were so much more. 

--- Influential speaker indeed!

Those who dream . . . are never alone!

We must affirm and share in each other’s dreams!

But what seemed to get everyone excited was a dream that was shared earlier in the week at the meeting about housing issues in Indianapolis.

I understand that Clarke Campbell shared that he dreamed of Meridian Street buying an apartment building to house our neighbors.

WOW!

Bobby Kennedy, a couple of days after announcing his candidacy for president said, paraphrasing George Bernard Shaw: 

There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?

Fortunately for us --- Mary said WHY NOT

Joseph said WHY NOT

The disciples said WHY NOT

What about you?

A few days before he died, Congressman John Lewis wrote an editorial which was to be published after his death.  In this powerful letter, (which I highly recommend), he wrote:

When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.

May we have the courage of Mary, the compassion of Elizabeth, and the passion of John to remake the world in the image of God.

A dream driven by grace and compassion and not power.

Benediction

As you go,

May you have the strength to dream

wild dreams of justice, and peace, and joy that overflows.

May you have the humanity to listen

to the dreams of others.

May you have the confidence to trust

that the God who heard the cries of the Israelites in Egypt hears your dreams as well.

And may you have the conviction to return

to this space, for our best dreams are those we dream together.

In the name of God the original dreamer,

Jesus the dream come true,

and the Holy Spirit who enables us to be those who dream,

go in peace, go in love. Amen.

Those Who Dream . . . Prepare the Way

Mark 1:1-8     Common English Bible

The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son, happened just as it was written about in the prophecy of Isaiah:

Look, I am sending my messenger before you.
He will prepare your way,
a voice shouting in the wilderness:
        “Prepare the way for the Lord;
        make his paths straight.”

John the Baptist was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. Everyone in Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the Jordan River and were being baptized by John as they confessed their sins. John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. He announced, “One stronger than I am is coming after me. I’m not even worthy to bend over and loosen the strap of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

 

 

If there is anything that I have learned about Meridian Street United Methodist Church and the wonderful people who call this community home, is that you are the most task driven people that I have ever met.

I don’t say that as a criticism --- instead it is just an observation of what I have seen over the last few years.

You love to set goals and then check off the boxes to make the goal happen.

On August 15^th, 2010 --- the day before my 50^th birthday, I set, what seemed to me at the time, the most ambitious goal of my life.

I was overweight and out of shape --- having given up playing softball a couple of years earlier since all I ever got was injured.

But on that day --- in the midst of worship --- I announced to the church that I had set a goal of completing a marathon during that 50^th year of my life.

Nancy was scheduled to run her 10^th marathon in just a couple of months --- having qualified and completed her second Boston marathon earlier that year.

The thrill of being her support team for all those marathons inspired me to give it a try.

On Labor Day weekend, 2011 --- I completed the Marquette Michigan Marathon in a whopping 6 hours and 20 minutes.

          I missed my goal of finishing a marathon by 2 weeks.

Undaunted, I signed up for the 2012 Chicago marathon and cut my time by 1 hour and a half.

Since then I have run on average two half marathons each year.

But over these last 10 years, one goal has alluded me

Each year I start the year with the goal of running 1,000 miles over the course of the year

That is only averaging 85 miles a month --- or 20 miles a week.

I do great for the first half of the year --- but then at some point I always seem to fall behind – and by the time October or November gets here --- the goal is out of reach.

This year --- I think I can do it!

With 5 weeks to go --- I am already at 940 miles --- just 60 miles from the finish line!

Obviously, the last month of the year makes this a challenge --- but . . .

The key to achieving any dream or goal is preparation.

          And a willingness to do the work necessary.

What dreams do you have?

Jonas Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine said:

I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams.

And   

Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.

What are your dreams?

John the Baptist, according to Luke, a cousin of Jesus --- had a dream of a more just, more equitable world

          A world that resembled the long sought kindom of God

Mark’s Gospel begins with John in the wilderness of Judea along the Jordan river inviting people to be baptized.

The reason we are told that he wanted people to be baptized was as to demonstrate a symbolic way of showing that their hearts had been changed.

And Mark reports that many, many people came down to the Jordan River to confess their sins and be baptized by John.

But Luke adds an interesting addition to the story.  He has John saying to some in the crowd who had come down to the Jordan River.

“You children of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the angry judgment that is coming soon? Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives.” . . .

The crowds asked him, “What then should we do? 

He answered, “Whoever has two shirts must share with the one who has none, and whoever has food must do the same.”

Even tax collectors came to be baptized. They said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”

He replied, “Collect no more than you are authorized to collect.”

Soldiers asked, “What about us? What should we do?”

He answered, “Don’t cheat or harass anyone, and be satisfied with your pay.”

The dream that John had was not to see how many people he could baptize --- but to see how many lives could be transformed --- who would then work to make the world more just.

John also knew that he would not be able to see the dream come to its fruition, that was the job of the one for whom he was preparing the way.

Jesus would not just baptize us with water as a symbol of a changed heart --- Jesus comes to baptize us with the Holy Spirit and give us the tools to change the world.

So, who are the John the Baptists today?

Who are the ones calling us to be transformed?

I think back just a couple of months ago when we saw thousands of persons protest peacefully in downtown Indianapolis reminding us that black lives matter.

          In July and August we saw downtown Indy transformed

And some of us acted just like some of those that heard John’s call 2,000 years ago

We came downtown to lend our voice, our feet, our bodies to proclaim that without justice there can be No peace.

But some of us also stayed home --- because we were frightened or not motivated enough --- and let others vocalize the reality that not all people are treated the same in our society.

And others of us got angry and mad that THEY had the audacity to challenge the system that is in place.

All that took place 2,000 years ago as well.

Today we lit the candle of peace in our Advent wreath --- but my friends --- as long as injustice continues to be normative in our society ---- there can be no peace.

I have been slowly working my way through David Garrow’s Pulitzer Prize winning book on Martin Luther King called Bearing the Cross.

I am really struggling with the book --- because I have told myself over and over again how much better things are today than they were in the 50’s and 60’s.  And the more I read, the more I realize NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

People of color,

people whose sexual orientation is different from mine,

people who are immigrants

are all still looked at with an attitude of distrust if not hatred.

Martin stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28^th, 1963 --- almost 100 years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

          Martin spoke for a little over 16 minutes

          And he offered us the dream of a better world.

He said:

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

He went on:

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. 

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

Five years later --- Martin was murdered.

60 years later we still yearn for that same dream.

The question is ---- are we willing to do the hard work to make that dream come true.

Because it will not come true just by us wishing for it.

Alan Paton has reminded us:

It is not "forgive and forget" as if nothing wrong had ever happened, but "forgive and go forward," building on the mistakes of the past and the energy generated by reconciliation to create a new future.

John --- and Jesus --- have told us what is required if we want to make that dream our own.

Not only do we need to stand up and be counted --- but our very hearts must be transformed.

We must be willing to do the hard work of justice and peace.

We have been baptized by the Holy Spirit and have been called to be messengers of God’s kindom.

To prepare the way for a just peace is a choice that we must make daily

We know that what we see is not all there can, will, or should be.

Are we willing to face the troubles of the world

receptively,

perceptively,

and attentively

as we join the dreamers as they join with all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics,

joining hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last! 

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Are you working to prepare the way?