GATEWAY
TO NEW VISIONS
Dr. Stephen D. Jones, preaching
Second Baptist Church
September 23, 2007
Text: John 1:29-36, Lk 7:18-23
We human beings are gifted with two kinds of
vision. The first we share with nearly all animals, the ability to see what is
standing before us. Some animals have extraordinary night vision and others
extraordinary long-distance vision. But what we share with animals is
eye-sight.
Human beings have a unique and second gift. We
can envision the future, even though not yet a reality. We can picture a new
reality that has never before existed. We can see something in our minds that
has never before been seen. People who are physically blind often have enhanced
vision.
This involves the gift of the imagination. We
can paint pictures in our minds without ever picking up a paintbrush. Or we can
see a painting on the museum wall and make it come live. Some people have the
ability to see the big picture and others can see the intricacy of a future
plan, but we can all imagine.
We recognize this best as children engage in
imaginative play.
One little girl named Sara seemed to have an
active imagination. Sara walked daily to and from school. One afternoon, the
winds suddenly whipped up along with thunder and lightning. Sara’s mother
became concerned that her daughter would be fearful walking home. The concerned
mother quickly got into her car and drove along the route to Sara’s school.
Soon, she spotted Sara walking along the sidewalk by herself, but with each
flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up and smile. Another and
another were to quickly follow, each with the little girl stopping, looking at
the streak of light, and smiling. Sara didn't appear phased at all. Thinking
her daughter to be self-destructive, the frantic mother called her over to the
car and yelled, “What are you doing?” Sara responded brightly, “God just keep
taking pictures of me!
Sometimes the imagination of children is eventually snuffed out by a world that
tells them, “Get real.” The business world rewards immediate return, not
long-range vision. Government can’t handle big visions, only small plans with
predictable blueprints.
Leonard Sweet, one of America’s brightest
theologians, says, “We do not need more planning. We need more vision”
(from Sweet’s Soul Café, Vol. 2, #6-7, 1996).
We need more vision. In the book of Proverbs,
we read, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (29:18) Young people
need vision to see where their lives are headed. Those anticipating retirement
are served best by a vision of how their next chapter of life will be. Those
bored on the job need a vision that engages them. Those tired of a
relationship need to see their partner with new eyes.
Vision helps us inhabit the future before we
actually go there so that it is not completely unknown or untraveled. Vision
not only introduces the future but propels us into the future. We can visit the
future in our minds and overcome our fears. It energizes us to leave the tried
and trite and engage the new. Vision introduces the world of ideas into the
world of reality.
We must never dream small. We must dream big.
A vision has to be large enough to energize us, to propel us into the future, to
expand our thinking, to help us think outside the box.
Are we a visionary people? Is ours a visionary
church? Are we capable of dreaming big? Are you a visionary person? Are you
ignoring a new vision in your life? Are you ready to dream big? Can you
envision your life anew?
Without vision, people perish. They may not
die, but they sure miss out on life. We must never settle for a life without
vision. We must lift our sights, raise our horizons, and dream big. Mistakes
will be made, but life becomes worthwhile.
One newspaper editor traveled to Gettsyburg to
hear President Lincoln proclaim that America was to be a nation “of the people,
by the people and for the people.” The next day the editor wrote, “We pass over
the silly remarks of the President; for the credit of the nation, we are willing
that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over his words and they should no
more be repeated or thought of.” The editor couldn’t see the big vision as
Lincoln painted it in his famous Gettysburg Address.
Our first month together has been remarkable. I
came here with so many of you saying, “We are ready. We are ready for new
vision. We are ready to dream big.” I frankly was worried prior to the
envisioning process with the Church Council and then with the congregation that
the trust between us wouldn’t be strong enough to entertain new visions. Your
readiness and responsiveness have been extraordinary. One of my friends, after
getting our last newsletter, e-mailed me asking, “What are you folks adding to
the water out there?!” What other congregation, in one month, would be ready to
explore as many new visions? Of course, we needn’t rush the natural timing.
But dare we say that God’s hand is upon us as we envision our future
together? Can we not say that the God of Vision is leading us? Just yesterday,
a member came to see me to share a vision of ministry to which she feels
called. Hallelujah!
It was a Tuesday night in early May when I
interviewed with your pastoral search committee. For me, it was a night filled
with possibility. On Wednesday, I drove down to Eldon to celebrate Mother’s Day
early. We went out to a restaurant on the Lake of the Ozarks. And I ate
something that disagreed with me. By 9:30 that evening, I was really feeling
unsettled and told my mother that I needed to go to bed and sleep it off. I
didn’t sleep a wink. But something strange happened. Throughout the night,
visions of what we could do at Second Baptist Church kept flashing through my
mind. In fact, some of the visions that I shared with you in August had their
origin in that unsettled night. The next morning, I went to a computer and
typed up a page of bulleted ideas. Once on paper, I felt exhausted but no
longer unsettled. What was that all about? Perhaps nothing can be made of it.
Or, possibly, was God preparing me to accept your call to ministry and to launch
our time together as a Gateway to new visions? Obviously, that is how I see
it. That experience pushed me forward in accepting the “rightness” of our
coming to Second Baptist Church.
Where do visions originate? Our God is a God of
Vision. God plants visions in peoples’ minds through dreams, in the middle of
the night, in the dawn of a new day, in broad daylight. In the book of Numbers,
God says, “I the Lord make myself known to them in visions; I speak to them in
dreams.” (Num. 12:6b) God promises to pour out God’s spirit upon all flesh so
that “your old people shall dream dreams and your young people shall see
visions.” (Joel 2:28) Luke’s nativity story includes four angelic visitations
or dreams. Matthew’s nativity story is built upon five visions.
The relationship between Jesus and John the
Baptist is intriguing. John says of Jesus, “…one who is more powerful than I is
coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals.” (Lk 3:16) But Jesus
says of John, “among those born of women no one is greater than John…” (Lk 7:28)
They both have their own distinct teachings. We have no evidence that John
disbanded his disciples when Jesus began his ministry. They each continued in
separate ministries until their deaths.
Yet, John was the first to recognize Jesus’
calling. On the first day that the Gospel of John introduced Jesus, it is John
who saw Jesus walking toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world.” (1:29) And on the very next day, John repeated
himself as Jesus walked by, “Look, here is the Lamb of God.” Two of John’s
disciples “heard John say this and followed Jesus.” (1:37) And one of these
disciples was Andrew.
Early in the Gospel of John, Jesus and John are
baptizing nearby each other in the Judean countryside due to an abundance of
water in that region. (3:22-24) The differences between John’s disciples and
Jesus’ disciples are described. “John’s disciples fast but yours do not.” (Mk
2:18) Jesus himself describes John’s disciples by their abstinence and his
disciples by their laxity. (Mt. 11:18-19)
Yet, it was a vision that came to John that
helped him see Jesus’ future role. Perhaps he saw it even before Jesus. John
said to his disciples, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and
it remained on (Jesus). I myself did not know him, but I heard the voice of the
one who sent me, saying, ‘This is the Son of God.’” (Jn 1:32, 33a, 34b)
Without this vision, John would not have
recognized Jesus’ authenticity. The whole of the relationship between Jesus and
John rested upon John’s vision.
Throughout the biblical story, God spoke to
common people through visions and dreams. Surely God speaks to us today through
visions and dreams. When we entertain visions, we allow God to speak to us.
Today, our Church Council is returning the
visions as they emerged from the congregation’s session back to you. Your
leaders are saying, “Now, vote with your energy and your commitment. Follow
your dreams and make them a reality.”
The Apostle Paul writes, “We hope and we wait
for that which can’t be seen with the human eye… We wait in eager longing for
what God will reveal.” (Romans 8) I believe God is about to reveal a New Day
for this church.
For generations, Christians have been seeking a
“God-monopolizing religion.” This is the kind of religion where God does it all
and we do nothing. No matter what happens, it is God’s doing. But this is not
the biblical vision. We have a role to play in the dreams God places before
us. God’s visions are never forced upon us. They are more like seeds planted
in receptive soil. We become partners with God in shaping the dreams and
helping them become reality.
Some years ago when the Baptist World Youth
Congress was held in Zimbabwe, Africa, Jan and I helped sponsor a high school
girl in our congregation. And en route, we arranged for Beth to stay with some
dear friends who lived in the black South African township of Ennerdale. This
was a township where we had stayed during our sabbatical in South Africa. We
had received liberating hospitality there, and our eyes had been opened there,
and we prayed that Beth might experience something similar.
But, you are never quite sure how a young person
will relate cross-culturally and cross-racially. Nothing in Beth’s middle-class
white, suburban upbringing could compare to Ennerdale, South Africa.
While in Ennerdale, Beth stayed with Sidony and
her family. Sidony was also a very articulate young woman. They struck up a
fast friendship, and attended the Baptist Youth Congress in Zimbabwe together.
When Beth returned home, she received a letter
from Sidony, in which she wrote, “My life changed completely. I found something
I cannot explain.” Sidony told of how the horizons of her life had expanded,
how she could now dream bigger dreams for herself instead of the rigid barriers
imposed upon her by apartheid in South Africa. She explained to Beth how
impossible it would be for her to relate to a white young person in South
Africa. Then Sidony told Beth, “The reason why I say you mean so much in my
life is because you are the first white girl my age with whom I have ever shared
anything at all. I didn’t know it was possible that white girls and black girls
could be friends.”
God was speaking through Sidony and Beth,
enlarging their dreams, expanding their vision of their futures. In like
manner, God urges us to dream expansively. May this be our Gateway to New
Visions! Amen.
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