You Silly Little Dreamer

Genesis 37:5-8 (NRSV)

Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If I could see something
You can see anything you want boy
If I could be someone-
You can be anyone, celebrate boy.
If I could do something-
Well you can do something,
If I could do anything-
Well can you do something out of this world?

Dreamer by Roger Hodgson from Crime of the Century by Supertramp (1974)

Joseph had dreams, oh my did he have dreams. He dreamed of his place in God's creation. He dreamed that his brothers sheaves of grain would bow to his in the field. Then he dreamed that the sun, the moon, and the stars were bowing to him. His father thought enough to remember these dreams. His brothers thought it was time the dreamer be taught what a nightmare would be like.

The story continues, Joseph is held by his brothers, sold as a slave, thought dead by his father. Joseph became a slave to the Captain of the Egyptian Guard, and jailed when framed for a crime he did not commit.

Joseph waits in jail for years, and interprets two more dreams. Years again later, he comes to the attention of Pharaoh as an interpreter of dreams, but Joseph knows that it is God who gives interpretation to dreams.

Joseph becomes what we would call the Prime Minister of Egypt where years again later, Joseph's brothers come, bowing before him, because they need what only he can provide.

In a way, to paraphrase Roger Hodgson, Joseph saw something, Joseph became something, Joseph did something out of this world. Faithful in the light of all that pressed before him, he went from favored son of Jacob to slave to the favored son of all Israel. Through this, Joseph knew what others meant for harm, God could use to redeem his nation.

His life was in danger, and he stood his ground, but only the ground the Lord put before him. He did a difficult job, but only the job the Lord called him to do. He saved many peoples, the peoples of Egypt, Israel, and presumebly a good many Egyptian trading partners.

Dreams can be the things of God which are glimpses of things to come. Roger Hodgson sings "You can see anything you want boy." The road can be tough, but when it is God's road, it is the only road to take. When it is God's road, it is the way to discipleship. The road to discipleship which prepares us not just for the trials of this world, but for something glorious. Again, Roger Hodgson sings, "If I could do anything-Well can you do something out of this world?" He's right, why would we want anything less?