Here Comes This Dreamer...

 Here Comes This Dreamer

 

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
37:1 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan.

37:2 This is the story of the family of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.

37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves.

37:4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

37:12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem.

37:13 And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." He answered, "Here I am."

37:14 So he said to him, "Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me. "So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. He came to Shechem, 

37:15 and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, "What are you seeking?"

37:16 "I am seeking my brothers," he said; "tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock."

37:17 The man said, "They have gone away, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan.

37:18 They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him.

37:19 They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer.

37:20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams."

37:21 But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life."

37:22 Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him" --that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father.

37:23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore;

37:24 and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

37:25 Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.

37:26 Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?

37:27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers agreed.

37:28 When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

 

History has never been kind to dreamers. Jesus had a dream of a just and peaceable kingdom, and those who studied the scriptures and knew of it, prophetically, led the onslaught against him, resulting in his cruel death. The Apostle Paul had a dream of an inclusive church, bringing together Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, male and female, slave and free, under a common discipleship of Jesus Christ. He was persecuted, beaten, jailed, and eventually martyred for it. Galileo had a dream of a solar system that made scientific sense, but it was the church that brought him down. (And I’m letting Galileo “stand in” here for countless others whose “dream”—in many cases bolstered by scientific observation or rational logic—went against the grain of worldviews accepted and propagated by the church.) Martin Luther King, Jr. had a famous dream of a society where all races would be treated equally and equitably, and because of it, he was persecuted, beaten, jailed, and eventually martyred (sound familiar?). In each case, the “established” church egged on, if not sponsored, the killing or suppression of the dream. 

 

And yet, in our most recent history, a megalomanic unrolled HIS “dream” of a presidency and a country that revolved totally around him and his whims, masquerading as a government. He found it easy to make millions believe his “dream” included them, too, all the while catering to a handful of monied interests, and quelling the rights of the very people who put him in power. Upon being “deposed” by voters in a democratic election, he started screaming “persecution,” and has threatened to crush his opposition, should he be returned to power. Russia? China? North Korea? Guess again.

 

Why is it so hard to sell a positive dream—one that may benefit all others, not just a narrow constituency? And why is it so easy to proffer a maligned, malignant “dream” (nightmare?) that, at its core, concentrates both power and wealth in a despotic, central politburo which will harvest the plumpest plums from the public tree? History gives us few clues, but maybe today’s text unveils the selfish root of this behavior. Witness Joseph’s brothers.

 

Joseph has a gift. Unfortunately, thanks to Andrew Lloyd Webber, we think it was about the coat, that his brothers decided to sell him as a slave to a group of Ishmaelite traders. But it was his gift of interpreting dreams that got raised their ire, as it endeared Joseph to Jacob, their father. Jacob trusted Joseph, as he recognized that his prophetic dream-gift came from God. One could argue that Jacob’s gift of the coat was a sign of his favoritism, but as I understand it, the coat was probably more Jacob’s way of “anointing” Joseph as a kind of prophet. The long sleeves were a sign of wealth, and possibly even a foreshadowing of his share of the eventual inheritance, but prophets and mystics adorned themselves with long robes with elegant sleeves as a sign of their “office.” The giveaway in this story is the key line, “Here comes this dreamer.” They were jealous of his God-given gift, and the “extra” measure of status it gave him with dad.

 

What about the dreamers in today’s church? Innovation and vision are often only recognized when they fit the patterns and “biblical orthodoxy” of the perceived majority. “Dreamers,” like all true prophets, “speak forth” the truth they understand from God, as typically communicated through what we Wesleyans call the “quadrilateral”: Scripture, Tradition, Experience, and Reason. Gifted dreamers (visionaries?) start with their scripture-rooted faith, hold it up to the changing traditions of the church, which they then “turbocharge,” to use Leonard Sweet’s word, and then re-interpret and extrapolate a vision from these historical “roots,” molded through contemporary experience (needs?) of the church. The dreamer/prophet/visionary is NEVER afraid to apply human reasoning to this formula, as we ARE human, and God’s truth is of little application unless it meets us at our human level. We are not God, and will NOT be God, but we ARE human. And if we believe the experience of the Christ Event, God BECAME human, so God’s truth could connect with humanity, redeem it, and reconcile it to Godself. Dreamers don’t distrust reason; they understand it as an “essential” to interpreting and living out our Christian discipleship. But this process often leads to new ways to “be the church,” ways that may be more “Open Minds, Open Hearts, and Open Doors” than some in the faith community can accept. And “these dreamers” then come under fire. 

 

Scripture? We, like Mr. Wesley, “trust” it as the primary source for our faith. But what if we understand it like Jesus did, as a kind of “seed” which we plant in the world, expecting it to take root and provide a large “yield” of redeemed people? This, in contrast to merely limiting it to “original inspiration,” which then gives way to tightly defined and “enforced” doctrines and dogmas. Tradition, too, is better understood as our history, helping us remember and celebrate what “worked” in our past, but inspiring us to move forward to new ways to tell our story to a changing world. Experience puts us into the current state of mind, making comparisons between what the church HAS been, versus what it will NEED to be, to connect to people in the contemporary context. Too often, church people have sat around lamenting that “things aren’t what they used to be,” rather than “dream” about what they MIGHT be, as the Holy Spirit gives fresh inspiration. Reason is the powerful and necessary tool to weave this all together into a vision, a “dream” that will focus and empower the Christian message and mission for tomorrow. The “quadrilateral” was never a TEST, but a METHOD for dreaming!

 

No modern church leader wants to hear the kind of indictment leveled by Joseph’s brothers: “Here comes this dreamer,” as they are rarely words of affirmation or welcome. And how many creative church leaders—especially young clergy—are “sold into slavery” by old ideas proffered by their congregations, and even their supervisors? Bowing to what “sells” instead of an inspired “dream” of how to make the gospel “come alive” to a skeptical, “disaffiliating” age could do irreparable damage to the church in our time. 

 

Of course, we know that the story of Joseph has a “happy” ending, thanks to the “comedy” of God’s intervention. He saves his brothers, his father, and basically the people who will become God’s people Israel. Are we faithful enough to believe that God can likewise save the church from our parochial folly and fear of the “dreamers”? As a retired pastor now more a part of the “great cloud of witnesses” than a player on the field, I sure hope and pray so! I have done my part to encourage the dreamers, and most especially those who have themselves been persecuted by the church: our gifted women leaders; those who are part of the LGBTQ community; and those who continue to experience racism, sexism, and ageism, even in the Body of Christ. 

 

May we all work for and pray for the day when “Here comes this dreamer” is said with a spirit of excitement and welcome! It will be the dreamers who will bring the Word of God to us, and who will breathe new life into the church. Amen!