I Have A Dream

I had a strange dream the other night. That in and of itself is not unusual at all – I have weird dreams almost every night. What made this one different is that I woke up almost immediately afterward and somehow knew that it was significant.

Now, if you have never had such a thing happen to you, I would not blame you for your skepticism at this. I have only had this kind of experience a handful of time myself. Whatever your opinion on this may be, I can only relay my own. I have had a few such visions and dreams and they have each offered significant wisdom, insight and direction in my life. I can’t explain how these things work, but I believe that somehow God is able to relay this sort of thing to a different part of our minds. You should try it out sometime.

In this dream, I was sitting in the sanctuary of the old Living Way Foursquare church in Little Rock, Arkansas. This was the church I attended from about the time I was 16 years old to about 19. Not very long in years, but the people there had such a simple faith and gracious love that it has stuck with me the rest of my life. That’s why my dream occurred here I think, for in this dream I was gathered with many others to celebrate a wedding – the union between God and Humanity.

The building itself had been transformed – expanded, widened. I could not see the walls, and the roof reached high above the clouds somewhere out of sight. Stranger still, water covered the entire floor, about ankle deep – flowing slowly up to the front where an altar was placed for the ceremony.

In every row were people I had never met in real life, each sitting and waiting for things to begin. Up and down the rows of pews where beautiful trees sitting in elaborate planters, each bearing a different kind of fruit. Somehow I knew (don’t ask me how) that these were the trees from Revelation 22, bearing leaves that would heal every person on earth.

All kinds of people were sitting there – some seemed out of place. I saw one man, with dark hair and beard sitting quietly by himself, waiting patiently. I knew that he was Muslim. I heard the Lord speak to me saying, “He’s here for the same reason you are.”

I looked and there were other people I did not recognize. A Hispanic family was packed near the front of the sanctuary trying to get everyone seated, kids and distant relations all crammed into a row. In fact, some of the younger kids were playing and getting tangled up in the microphone cables near the front. At first, I thought this might be a problem, but upon looking around, realized no one really cared. Clearly, it wasn’t a problem at this wedding!

However, I looked near the back and saw a group of poorly dressed White people bringing their family in. Inwardly, I winced. They were sloppy, smelled bad and frankly much too loud for this kind of occasion. They were laughing and joking as if embarrassed about their own appearance. Once again, although I felt a bit ashamed at being from their tribe, it did not appear to be a problem at this wedding, so I let it go.

Then, somehow I knew that there were also many more gathered at this wedding that I would not understand why they came, how they got there, or why anyone let them in. But it didn’t matter anymore. We were all there for the same reason.

At this point, I realized that I had been sitting in a group of chairs that had purposefully been set up in the aisles to make room for more people. I was part of the group of people that had been tasked with preparing things for everyone who had been invited to join. We had placed boxes at the end of each row for every person to use during the ceremony. However, these boxes were made of cheap cardboard and hastily placed right where people needed to walk in order to come down to the front.

It was then that I understood what needed to happen. During the ceremony, each person was to come to the front and bring a candle to the altar. However, before they could place their candle at the altar, they needed to reach into one of the boxes a take a long glass lamp shade in which to place the candle. Then all of the candles would be safely placed on the altar. I could clearly see that the boxes were falling apart. Not only were the glass shades starting to fall out, but the boxes had been so poorly positioned that people would not even seem them when stepping out. I knew that they were going to step on the glass and break them – this would hurt their feet, and make it nearly impossible to come down to the altar.

I had to do something about this! I got up and began pulling the glass shades out of the box and placing them carefully near the front where everyone could clearly see them and understand. As I began sorting through the boxes, I noticed that not all of the lamp shades were made of glass. Some were merely cheap plastic and so I threw them back in the box. They could not be used in a ceremony like this!

And so, as I woke from this dream, I began to ponder its meaning and this is what I saw:

The flowing water of God’s own Spirit is drawing all people to join Jesus at the Altar of Love itself. It is the culmination of all God’s planning, the thing for which I had been preparing, and the purpose to which humanity has been ever yearning. The trees of God’s healing were for the restoration of all which had gone wrong with the world and to mend every broken heart. And each person, no matter who they were, could bring the light of their own love together to join the Lord.

However, there was a bit of problem. Some of us who had the honor of preparing a small part of this celebration had put things together in cheap boxes and then placed them out in the worst possible way for people. They could not clearly see what they were stepping on, and many of them would break and injure themselves on the contents. These glass lamp shades are the good news of God’s Love in Jesus, that through our poor presentation and carelessness have caused injury and harm to those who would attempt to come.

The good news about God is a fragile thing. We have often been guilty of turning it from a message of restoration, healing and love, into one of guilt, shame and fear. People have tried to bring the light of their life and love, and we have forced them to trample the very thing that was meant to protect and set it apart. In the process, people have stumbled, been injured, and walked away broken and confused.

It’s inexcusable.

What’s more, some of us are guilty of providing a cheap imitation to this good news about God. Sure – people can step on it without breaking it or hurting themselves, but when it comes time to put it on the altar of Love, it’s completely worthless.

So, what are we supposed to do about it?

Do you know what the good, but incredibly fragile message about God really is? If you don’t really know or appreciate its purpose then you will not know how to handle it when the time is right. Many of us have certainly been guilty of presenting it in such a way that we have caused people to stumble and turn away from God. Furthermore, many of us have tried to pawn off cheap imitations that require no special handling, but provide no real beauty or purpose.

The gift that we have been given is meant to not just house and protect the life and love of others, it is also the means by which they are able to join into what God has been planning from the very start: the coming together of all creation with their Creator in an eternal union of Love.

I have a dream that what we call “church” – the community of God’s people here on earth – is supposed to be a little window into that part of eternity. What we have instead offered people is a poorly constructed box that holds a treasure that no one understands. We have to understand it ourselves before we can show people what it’s meant for. Sometimes, we settle for a cheap imitation that costs us nothing. But sometimes we get it right – when we let the simplicity of love and mercy shine through everything else that seeks to choke it back.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Dr. Martin Luther King

A Prayer in Response:

Father/Mother God – what is it about your Love that I am still struggling to believe? Show me where I have looked down on other people as somehow less important than me. Show me where I have caused one of Your children to stumble without realizing it. Help me to correct the messages we tell others about who You are so that they can trust in your goodness. Bring healing to the hurt and broken parts of myself so that I can in turn bring healing to others. Amen.