Day 75 - Dream dreams, and see visions

What do Joseph in the Old Testament, Joseph in the New Testament, the Three Wise-Men, John Lennon, Isaiah, Daniel and the author of Revelation have in common? If I say the clue is in the famous phrase of Martin Luther King then I think you may be able to guess correctly. All were dreamers.

Today’s suggested Lectionary readings come from the Book of Revelation and The Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles. I think we would all agree there are some strange happenings in both books. For John the Divine, as he is often known, his whole book could be classified as a bit weird, as could the dream which Peter had about a table cloth descending with non-kosher food products on it.

But today, rather than touching on the content of the dream of Peter or John’s visions I want us to meditate briefly upon the idea of dreaming or having visions. We all do it, whether consciously or unconsciously, some we remember and some we don’t. Our brains are active all the time and this and other sensory aspects of our humanity, although often taking a back-seat, are an important part of being alive. Let’s look at the texts themselves which I am referring to:

Acts 11:5

I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, Peter tells us.

And we read in:

Revelation 1:9-10

I, John, your brother who shares with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus... I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, saying, “Write in a book what you see and send it…”.

Peter and John were ordinary people who saw extraordinary things through the Holy Spirit. Peter in his address to the people of Jerusalem, explaining the ability of 120 Galileans to communicate inadvertently in other languages in the Upper Room, saw it as part of a fulfilment of the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-29).

Acts 2: 16

...this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour my Spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy.

Let’s pray:

Lord God of the Supernatural,

You imagined a wonderful universe of which we are a small part.

Made in your Image, help us to have faith that you can also bless us with visions and dreams

And when you do, however unusual the delivery, give us the courage and wisdom to share your prophetic word for our individual congregations, and communities

So that, together, we may move forward according to your will, in this 50th Anniversary Year of the Federation of Congregational churches. Amen.

Elisabeth Sweeney Smith