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1 John 1:1 We declare to you what
was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes,
what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of
life-- 2 this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to
it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was
revealed to us-- 3 we declare to you what we have seen and heard so
that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the
Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things
so that our joy may be complete.
Sometimes
there are great books that come into my consciousness, books that change the
way I think about things, important things like life. Bruce Wilkinson’s little
book, The Dream Giver, is one of those works that I think everyone would
enjoy reading, keeping a copy in their personal libraries to read over and over
again. It is a short book, which makes it even more likeable to my way of
thinking. The central character is someone that all of us can identify with, a
person called Ordinary. I believe that this book is wonderful in its
illustration of faith and perseverance.
You see
this fellow Ordinary lived in the Land of Familiar. There he had the usual job,
friends and family, and lived a life that could be considered by us as routine
and well, Ordinary. Each of us can identify with this type of existence, for
the most part; it is how we live our lives each and every day. We bumble along
in our ordinary existence, wandering from place to place, looking for something
to fulfill our needs. So too is the story of Ordinary. In the midst of this
existence, Ordinary suddenly had a dream and in the windowsill, he found a
feather. When he talked to his father, he found out that his father also had
had a big dream when he was young, which included the feather. Unfortunately,
his father never followed up on his dream and the feather wilted away. What
strikes me as rather extraordinary about this story is the inclusion of the
feather. For a feather is the instrument that was used to write words on a page
in the early days of our ancestors. I find it interesting that a Big Dream
would include a reference to a written record. It is my belief that we have
here an analogy to the one true written record that records our big dreams and
the story of each of our lives, the Bible. The other fact that strikes me in
this story is the dream itself. For I believe that God reaches us sometimes
through dreams. In our dreams, we are often given insight into future
opportunities as well as being instructed on His will for our lives.
So in our
story, Ordinary decides to act on his dream. He decides to go in search of the
land of opportunity. He does not know where he is going or really how to get
there. This story to this point really begins to remind me of the story of
Abraham and Sara. They had a very comfortable life in the land of Abraham’s
father, with land and wealth and means. Then one day, God sends Abraham a
message, a Big Dream. Just as Ordinary decided to seek out this dream, so too
did Abraham and we all are thankful for that decision. In his journey, Ordinary
will encounter bullies who would keep us from moving out of our comfort zones.
We will encounter giants like financial woes, hate, discouragement, lust, fear
and anger who will try to prevent us from reaching our goal. There will be
champions who assist us in our journey along the way. Finally, if we are
willing to trust God and prevail we will reach our Big Dream. However, do not
think that is the end, for God will offer a new Big Dream.
I read
the other day that we do not come to Jesus because we are righteous and strong,
but because we are needy. Once in His presence, then He lifts us up so that we
may become instruments of His ministry. As we experience our Big Dreams and
begin to contemplate what they mean, let us be reminded to pray and experience
then the discernment of God’s will. That is a difficult thing to do as each of
us has a mind of our own and a desire to go where we desire to go.
So
Ordinary begins his quest. He sells all that he has, quits his job and says
goodbye to all of his friends and sets out on his journey. Have you ever
experienced this? Have you began a college career, gotten married and moved
from where you were to a new place, gotten a new job or began a new phase of
your life? Now several members of my family are in this phase of their lives
today, college, marriage and new jobs. With each passing moment we experience
anxiety and fear as we move out of that magical place called our comfort zone.
I often ask myself what Abraham must have felt, moving to place as yet unknown
to him, to a life he could not even imagine, for a future he could not even
see. Each of us finds ourselves being asked to move out of our comfort zones
many times during our lives and it is a difficult thing to do. We find hundreds
of excuses and reasons why we should stay right where we are. If we are not
careful, we then find ourselves stuck in the ordinary world and miss out on the
extraordinary opportunities that God has in store for us. It is during these
times that we must learn to pray, one with another and alone to discern what
Big Dream God has for us.
As
Ordinary begins his journey, he encounters bullies. Now these are not the
bullies whom you might expect. They are his friends and his family. They have
come to talk Ordinary out of this dream. I am reminded by this story of the
story in Matthew where Mary and the brothers of Jesus had come to take him
home. The reason that they try and help talk you out of your dreams is that the
dream itself is taking them out of their comfort zone. While we are busily
moving along in search of our purpose, we interact with others. That interaction
can disrupt their lives as they are themselves forced to look introspectively
into their purpose and their lives. So too it was with Ordinary as he first
talks to his mother and then his friends. But we must prevail, God has a
purpose for each of us and we cannot waver. When we do, the devil puts bullies
in our path to discourage us or force us another way.
As we
begin the journey, many of us have been fortunate to receive help from friends
and new acquaintances. These champions help sustain us, lift us up and give us
strength. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are great examples of those whom we can
rely on when things do not go well or we need help and strength in the face of
adversity and fear. We often refer to our guardian angel when we talk about
those times that we were weak and yet we were given the strength to overcome
the obstacles in front of us. One of the tragedies of the story is the loss of
a champion who on the road to the Land of Promise gives all they have. The
bright spot is that they are lifted up as a true hero. We have an excellent
example of this type of champion in the story of Jesus who gave all that he
could, so that we might yet attain our dreams.
So what
is the message of the Epistle? What is it that John is trying to tell us in
this wonderful piece of scripture? I
often think of this passage as one of the first official written witness
messages to Jesus. John declares that what he has seen with his own eyes and he
wants to share it with you and me. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 5: 17 that He
came not to break the Law of Moses, but to actually fulfill the law and the
prophets. What John is saying is that God revealed the truth of the law to us
through Jesus. What did God intend on Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments is
embodied in Jesus. Jesus takes the Ten Commandments and reduces them to two as
He sets the mark even higher maybe than the original. Love God with all your
heart, mind and soul. That is the Shema prayer from Deuteronomy. Then love your
neighbor just as you love God. Jesus shares with us the intent of what God has
been trying to tell us from the beginning of creation.
Through
Jesus God has the opportunity to show us what creation was supposed to look
like. God shows us through the life of Jesus how human beings are supposed to
live their lives loving one another, caring for one another and nurturing one
another. Through Jesus, we see God’s intent that true love has no strings, no
binds and is willing to give its life for that love. John witnesses to the
power of Jesus over life itself and how God has revealed the truth of eternal life through Jesus so
that we may share in that eternal joy.
So what
are we to do with this? John tells us to go and have fellowship with one
another, loving one another regardless of our differences, our cultures, our
language and all the things we use to keep ourselves distant from one another.
John is sharing this message so that we can then share it with one another so
that we might have the joy that John has. The world is not open to this kind of
witness. We would rather keep each other in boxes and have hearts of war. We
are called to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the
world. We have a vision of Christ’s love in action, bringing God to people and
people to God. What that means is that are tasked with sharing this message
John is sharing with us.
For God
so loved the world that God sent us God, in the form of a man named Jesus, who
came not to condemn the world but to save it. That whoever believes in this
kind of love and chooses to follow Christ’s example in the world, shall never
perish but have eternal life. So what will you do with the Big Dream God is
giving you?
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