Did you know that God was a passionate dreamer too? Here’s
a good synopsis of God’s dream:
The aim of God in human history is the creation of an
all-inclusive community of loving persons with God himself at the very center
of the community as its prime Sustainer and most glorious Inhabitant—see Ephesians
2:19-22; 3:10.[1]
While God’s dream of walking with humanity dates all the way back
to the creation stories of Genesis 1–2, and continues all the way
to the new heaven and new Earth described in Revelation 21, the
incarnation marks a specific manifestation that dream. God has
always wanted to be with God’s people. Previous attempts have fallen
short of what God dreamed of achieving, so God takes a dramatic
step. Through the birth of Jesus, God literally becomes one of us.
God, the Author, becomes part of the Story. And God does so in a most
unexpected way: as a helpless baby born in a manger. The
Creator experiences what it is like to be one of the created and is fully
dependent on humans for his upbringing. Through this experience, God
gains full solidarity with humanity—and with all of creation.
Jesus continues the dream of his Father. He dreamed of a
world where God was King, where what God desires becomes reality. He
dreamed of a world “put to rights”, one where original glory of creation is
restored. Such a world didn’t exist when Jesus lived, but he had a
vision of what could be that motivated everything he said and did while he was
alive. Jesus inspired others to dream with him; they followed him
and shared his dream with others as they went. Eventually God’s
vision came into conflict with Rome’s vision of reality. After all, if
God is King, then that means Caesar isn’t. And in that conflict, there
was never much doubt who would "win". Ultimately Jesus was
willing to die on a cross so that God’s dream might live on.
Baptism became an outward symbol for someone to publicly
acknowledge that they too dreamed God’s dream. John the Baptist
baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, and down through the centuries, those who
follow Jesus have been baptized.
The world doesn't like dreamers all that much; they inconvenience
and threaten the comfortable status quo. (Rulers and
authorities tend to rely on that status quo remaining in place.) Just as
they did with Barnum and King, the world will challenge and question dreamers
every chance they get. And if you are audacious enough to claim you dream
God's dream, the world will really rage against you, calling you names and
doing whatever it takes to silence you. (Ask any Prophet about that one—including
Jesus himself.)
 |
| We remember our baptism, and we are thankful. We reaffirm God's dream at work within us. |
Perhaps this is why, every year, typically during the second week
of January, many Christians reaffirm our dream with a liturgy of baptismal
renewal. It is an acknowledgment that while we need not be
re-baptized again each year, we do need frequent renewal to sustain our
continuing—sometimes grueling—spiritual and physical journey. We are
invited to come to the fountain, and dip our thirsty selves in its refreshing
waters, and remind ourselves of the dream that is already alive in us: the
dream of God’s Kingdom coming on Earth as it is in heaven.
So we come full-circle, returning to where this series of posts began. I came up with a modified lyric to "A Million Dreams" that I thought summarizes well what we reaffirm or reclaim in baptismal renewal. Maybe we could call it our Dreamer's Declaration...
They can say, they
can say that we are crazy.
They can say, they
can say we’ve lost our mind.
We don’t care, we don’t care if they say we're crazy.
Come and pray for a
world we help design.
Cause every night and every day.
The Word of God shows us the Way.
The dream of God is
keeping us awake.
We think of how this
world will be.
When the vision
becomes reality.
A million prayers is what its gonna take.
Each dreaming dreams of
the world God’s gonna make.
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