Isaiah, like all the prophets, spends a lot of time describing the world as it is. That’s what prophets do. Prophets speak the truth about what is going on in the world. Prophets reveal and expose the injustice; they speak the truths that others are not willing to speak; they point out the corruption, and the greed that keep this world from being all that God intends.
But sometimes, the prophets also describe the world as it could be. The prophets present a vision or a dream of what this world could be like, if the world followed God’s teachings. When we learn to love; when we learn to do justice; when we learn to make peace.
It is a world where people experience such intimacy with God, that they experience God’s answer before they even call; and God hears the people before they have even finished speaking.
All this, Isaiah describes.
And Isaiah also talks about what I described in my sermon last week: how the people will be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor; they won’t be forced to work so that someone else can reap the benefits. No.
No more will their labor be exploited, to support the palaces and mansions of the superwealthy. No more will their labor be exploited to fund wars waged by the powerful. No more will their leaders enact unjust, oppressive legislation that harms them or those they love.
The prosperity they help create, they will get to enjoy, along with everyone else.
No one will be hungry. No one will be homeless. No one will lack anything they need, because there will be justice throughout the land.
And there shall be peace.
When I studied Isaiah in seminary, my professor compared this passage from Isaiah 65 to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech. Because here, Isaiah shares his dream, which is really God’s dream, of what the world can be like, when the world follows God’s ways.
That is Isaiah’s vision. That is God’s dream.
So our theme for this fall is…
Dreaming God’s Dream
We are going to dream God’s dream. We are going to imagine a world in which God’s Spirit works through the ministry of First Christian Church to present that dream, and help make that dream a reality.
We are going to dream of a world free from injustice, free from oppression, free from greed; a world filled with love and joy and peace.
And we’re going to discern how we can continue living out that dream in our life together.
I’m excited about this theme. I’m excited about the way it ties in to so much of what we already do… including our camping ministry at CWS.
Our youth shared with us their experiences at camp, and at camp, youth get to experience the dream. They experience life lived in Christian community. They experience a greater intimacy with God, the intimacy that Isaiah dreamed of.
That’s why camp is so important.
And those who go to camp, and who experience God’s dream, bring that vision back with them. Our youth did that today, when they shared about their camp experiences…
This will also be a time to reflect on the dreams of the past, and how we’re living out those dreams today. Think of the dreams the founders of First Christian Church had, 188 years ago. Could they have even imagined that this church would one day be the oldest church in Bloomington, still proclaiming the good news of God’s liberating love in 2025? Perhaps they did!
One thing they dreamed of, back in 1837, was a world free from slavery. They knew back then that abolition was a part of God’s dream.
First Christian Church continues to embrace the dream of racial equality, and gender equality, and LGBTQ equality, because we know that is part of God’s dream for the world, symbolized by the Lord’s Table, where there is neither Gentile nor Jew, slave nor free, woman or man, but where all are one in Christ Jesus.
This dream of equality was a radical one then, and it’s one that some still have a hard time embracing today. But it is God’s dream for the world, and we are committed to living out that dream in our life together, and in our ministry.
So to help us live into God’s dream, we will gather here each Sunday morning for worship. We will meet together in small groups, growing in faith, understanding, fellowship, and prayer. We’ll begin a discernment process that we will be embarking on, imagining how we can more effectively live out that dream over the next five years.
And I’ve also got some other ideas that can help us. Some of you have expressed to me an interest in gathering together to learn and sing some more contemporary style worship songs, in addition to the hymns we usually sing on Sunday mornings. Several times this fall we plan to do just that, which I’ll tell you more about later.
I think we have some good momentum going as we head into fall. I’m excited about it. I’m excited to discover all the ways that we can live God’s dream, and share that dream with the world.
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