Have you ever wondered what moves us forward, gives us the drive and motivation to succeed? We all know people who are quite intelligent and have a lot of gifts that seem to be stuck in dead end jobs. These are people whose lives should be rich and filled with wonderful experiences and the satisfaction that comes from knowing that they have given their all and succeeded. It is hard to understand how they get stuck the way they do and if it is someone close to you it can be heartbreaking.

The same is true of communities of faith. There are congregations situated in growing communities, with wonderful programs and good services that seem to be frozen in place. It is difficult to understand and as is the case with individuals there are certainly a lot of factors that are involved. One main factor that is consistent is they lack the faith to dream, to create a vision of a better future and the kind of strong hope needed to make the dream, the vision a reality. The author of the book of Hebrews shows us just how strong the interconnection between faith, vision and hope in his definition of faith. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) Our dreams, the vision that enables us to see a better future, to embrace the hoped for reality of a life lived in the presence of God, a life lived within God’s purpose, within God’s dreams for us are the very essence of a true faith. It is the reality that helps us to understand the truth in the proverb; where there is no vision, the people perish (Proverbs 29:18.) The sad truth is that not only do they perish, but often they never become the people God created them to be, living their lives without the kind of hope that God intends for everyone.

A story which shows us the power that this kind of dream can have is the musical created from Miguel de Cervantes’ great novel Don Quixote. The hero, Don Quixote in his insanity imagines himself to be a knight on a glorious quest to right wrongs and to love with a true and pure love. His personal life was certainly exciting, fighting the good fight, upholding the downtrodden and seeking those things in life that are pure and wholesome, but the people around him could see the insanity of his vision. The power in this story though is the change that his vision worked in the lives of people around him. His long suffering personal servant Sancho began to believe in his own nobility and his position as the squire of a great knight.

A much used bar maid, Aldonza, becomes his Lady Dulcinea. Though they are not swept into his insanity, his vision of them as people who are nobler than the reality they have dreamed for themselves changes them. In the last scene where Don Quixote lies dying and disillusioned it is these very people who help him recreate his vision at last realizing that though there were elements of insanity within his vision the goodness of it had given them hope and started to change the world around them.

Many believe that God’s vision of a world governed by God’s love and the love the people of God have for God and for one another is just as insane as Don Quixote’s vision of the world. But for those of us who dare to dream God’s dreams instead of our own, who surrender the tight control we try to exert on our own lives and the lives of people around us God’s vision that was shared with us in the person of his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, (an insane concept to many) hold the promise of a new and better world, a world where there is finally peace and we are accepted for who we are. This is our God given vision, a vision we need to constantly allow to guide and change us throughout our lives until it finally becomes a reality. And St Paul promises us that this will happen provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. (Colossians 1:23)

Pastor Jim Bliss
November 2007