We are the Products of our Dreams

Ezekiel 36:26-27

November 15, 2015

Mark S. Bollwinkel

“Exotic fish stores report that sharks have become a popular aquarium fish. If sharks are caught and confined when small, they grow only to a size proportionate to the aquarium. The limited environment determines their growth. Sharks can be six inches long and still be fully matured. Only when set free in the ocean do they grow to their normal length of eight feet. (Charles Simpson, “Leadership: A Practical Journal for Church Leaders”, Winter 1986, p. 40).

We humans are the products of our dreams.  Our “aquarium walls” might be fear or shame, expectation or apathy, physical and/or emotional challenges but even the most difficult borders can be overcome by hope.   People need big dreams, expansive horizons, large challenges, stretching ambitions. Faith gives birth to the greatest dreams of all.

In his first sermon Jesus said:

“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he had anointed me to bring good news to the poor, release to the captive, recovery of sight to the blind, and let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” quoting from the ancient prophecy of Isaiah (Luke 4:18-19).   And then Jesus said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (:21).

In Jesus of Nazareth, God’s dream for the future breaks into history.   Love shall rule the human heart not power or greed.  That is good news for the poor, the captive, the blind and the oppressed.  The lives of those who follow that dream are transformed by it.  That’s why our commitment to personal spirituality and social responsibility as United Methodists here at Church of the Wayfarer will always fuel big dreams.

We’ve recently surveyed our existing congregation with the significant question,

Where do we want to be as a church five years from now?”  It gleaned very important information and input.  Some of the strongest initial responses, those receiving a #1 priority as a majority of all responses, conclude that:

-       “the church is really the church…when it teaches children and young people about our faith and how to live it”

-       that the key to our financial health as a church is to bring in new members willing to give

-       that we want to be a church known in Carmel as an active congregation committed to serving the poor and needy and speaking out against injustice in our community and the world

-       that when it comes to the future of the church the most important people to consider are those who aren’t here!

Here at Church of the Wayfarer, we believe that the purpose of life is “Reaching up, reaching in and reaching out”; our way of summing up Jesus’ greatest commandment to love God with heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40).    Like most Main Line Protestant churches, we face the challenges of an aging congregation and the decline of interest in organized religion by those under 50 years old.  But saying that, Wayfarer is in a unique situation to make a major impact on the lives of many, many people and, as a result, we are not afraid to dream.

Our Hebrew scripture lesson this morning comes from the prophet Ezekiel at a time of captivity.  Following the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE the leadership of Israel is taken as slaves to Babylon.   The prophet is with them and is called to remind them of their faith:

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

Notice it is in future tense.  In spite of the difficulty of their present, the destruction of their nation and the harsh oppression under which they live, the prophet assures them that God has not abandoned them.  They have a future.  This passage reminds us of similar words from the prophet Jeremiah written about the future of Israel while it was being destroyed:

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD,

   “when I will make a new covenant

with the people of Israel

   and with the people of Judah...

“I will put my law in their minds

   and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

   and they will be my people...

“For I will forgive their wickedness

   and I will remember their sins no more.

(Jeremiah 31:31-34)

To survive and thrive, even in the tough times, human beings need to dream about their future.  A place to invest their hearts.  We are not so often failures as people so much as that we fail to imagine the possibilities of what we can be.

One hundred and eleven years ago the founders of our church could never have dreamt that their creation would be the home for hundreds of members, thousands of weddings, countless baptisms and a stopping place for the streams of visitors coming to Carmel.   Each day we offer our visitors a beautiful sanctuary in which to pray and a biblical garden in which we marvel at God’s creation. Hundreds of folk every day take a break from touring and consider something larger than themselves because of Church of the Wayfarer.  Who would have dreamt that! 

We are the product of our dreams and as a church we will always have significant ones inspired by God's.

Just a few years after Easter, a controversy over doctrine threatened to divide the early church (can you imagine!).   The apostles Paul, Peter and James all agreed that Paul could continue his ministry with the gentile populations of the middle east without having to convert them first to Judaism by circumcision (Acts 15:1-f, Gal. 2:1-f).   One aspect of the compromise was the promise by Paul to raise funds to send back to Jerusalem for the poor and workers with the “home-office”.

Paul’s dream was to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ out of the confines of Jerusalem Judaism and into the entire known world, to Rome and beyond.   Sometimes to make dreams come true it takes money and hard work.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul urges young Christians to make good their promises to support the Jerusalem church with money.    He praises the generosity of the Macedonian churches and then hopes the Corinthians will also make him proud.  Then he says three crucial things when it comes to money and the church;

• “…the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully”; in other words, like anything in life, such as a relationship, or a hobby, an education, or one’s health, the more you invest yourself the more you will get in return.

•   “…do not give reluctantly or under compulsion, for God’s loves a cheerful giver.”  How we give, the intention and attitude with which we give is more important that what we give.   If we feel resentful, guilty, afraid for our personal finances or indifferent about giving money to the church, we should keep it to yourselves until we feel good about giving.

•  “…God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by having enough, you may share abundantly…”   This might be a foreign concept for us who so often don’t know the meaning of “enough” but in it lays a great gift.   We are free to give generously because God provides enough of what we really need to get the most out of life in the first place: love. 

For many years I have taught pottery at summer church camps.  It’s a lot of fun, especially with the younger kids getting all messy and slimy with clay.

In one such class, I witnessed an amazing example of extravagant generosity from the heart.  While waiting for their turn on the wheel, the children would make hand pieces of clay art.  As you can imagine there were plenty of pet dogs and cats, make-shift pinch pots, cups and bowls. 

A little boy named Nicholas and a mob of other little boys came bounding up to the pottery class and were making all sorts of things with the clay.   Beginning potters usually start out by rolling out snakes or coils of clay.  In the process of doing so Nicholas made an amazing discovery.  It was possible to put a cobra's head on the body of a rattlesnake.  Nicholas invented a hybrid snake, something God hadn't even thought of, a cobra rattlesnake.  All of the other eight year old boys thought this was really cool.  A cobra rattlesnake!   Nicholas started to crank them out, one after another, and as he did so he would announce which one of his buddies would get one when it was fired in a purple glaze.  Nicholas was so excited not only about his discovery but the opportunity to give such treasure away to those he loved.

Jesus says in the "sermon on the mount", "....where your treasure is there will your heart be also..." (Matthew 6:21).   That's true of our families, for our education and the education of our children.   It's true of our saving for the future.  It's true of our financial commitment to the church.

In a few moments, we will ask the ushers to come among us and collect the “estimate of giving commitment” cards for the 2016 Operating Budget.   We will pray together to bless our intentions to give and thank God for always providing us with enough.

The Finance Committee of the church needs us to increase our giving if we are going to meet our goals.   Lots of folk may conclude that “it can’t be done!”   It can and will and more if we give to the Operating Budget of this church from the heart inspired by God’s dream for Church of the Wayfarer.

Write down a number on your card that reflects not what is left over at the end of the month, but what you dream you could do; designate a portion of your income as an investment in God’s work here.

Write down a number on your card that describes your commitment where you are 'Reaching up, reaching in and reaching out'.  And if right now you can’t give money as a part of that commitment or if you are not comfortable dealing with money numbers in church, simply write on the card "We will do the best we can!"   I'd love for everyone to turn in a card this morning as a symbolic commitment to our future together.

Let me also remind the congregation that without the legacy giving of our former members, especially those in the Wayfarer Society, we couldn’t make it as we do.  Thank God for those who left gifts for us in their estates and wills, such bequests fund much of what we do.    If you can’t do anything in regular cash giving, don’t forget us in your future.

Church of the Wayfarer could also use a parsonage.  If you or someone you know would gift us their house it would be an amazing legacy of their generosity and an amazing resource for our future.   Just write that down on the card as well!!!!

Imagine the possibilities of a church proclaiming that the rule of God’s love in human hearts begins here and now with me…and you.  We’ve made great strides towards our goals in ministry together this year, just imagine what we can do together next!

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”  Eleanor Roosevelt

Amen.