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.

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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?

Are We There Yet?

Deuteronomy 2:7

Surely the LORD your God has blessed you in all your undertakings; he knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.

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When you look through the years and see what you could
have been oh, what might have been,
if you'd had more time.

"Long Way Home" by Roger Hodgson originally recorded by Supertramp on "Breakfast in America"

So why did the Israelites travel 40 years in the hinterlands of the Holy Land? It was a matter of trust. In Numbers 13, Moses and Aaron send spies into Canaan because it was to be given by the Lord to the Israelites. Moses told them "Go up there into the Negeb, and go up into the hill country, and see what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the towns that they live in are unwalled or fortified, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be bold, and bring some of the fruit of the land."

Now the spies discovered two things, first it that Canaan was the land of milk and honey. It was the place the Lord had promised them and it was good. It was good indeed.

The second thing they discovered is that the Canaanites were big and strong. This made them afraid. They were so afraid that when they returned to Moses and Aaron they lied about number one and told the worst version of the truth of number two. Only Caleb told the truth, and the crowd outvoted him.

So the Lord God decided that if Israel was not going to trust God, they would not live in the land the Lord set aside for them. Every Israelite over age 20 would perish in the desert instead of live in the land of milk and honey.

Imagine this conversation in the desert: "Are we there yet?" "No, and we would have been if you had only told the truth."

What could have been...

The one that got away...

When you look through the years and see what you could have been oh, what might have been....

Ah the lament of those who let fear rule their lives instead of trusting in the love of God. Now, God doesn't promise that what comes next will be a cake walk. There will be times of trial. Let's remember what Israel experienced before the Exodus, there was a lot of horrible times for the nation of Israel in captivity in Egypt, but there was the promise of the Lord.

In the lines that precede the quote, Roger Hodgson's lyric goes like this, "Does it feel that you life's become a catastrophe? Oh, it has to be for you to grow, boy." There does have to be a time of trial. There will be a time of testing and tempering like steel losing its slag. Like gold being purified. It will be hot and it will probably hurt, and that's a part of being refined.

But in the midst of the refiner's fire, remember this from Deuteronomy, "Surely the LORD your God has blessed you in all your undertakings; he knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing."

God is faithful, God is generous, God is gracious, the Lord is God.

Giving with Love

1Corinthians 13:3

If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Give a little bit
Give a little bit of your love to me
I'll give a little bit
I'll give a little bit of my love for you
Now's the time that we need to share
So find yourself, we're on our way back home

"Give a Little Bit" by Roger Hodgson originally recorded by Supertramp

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We are constantly being asked to give. People who want a cleaner planet ask us to "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute!" Scripture tells us to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's. I won't tell you these aren't good ideas, these are great ideas. Give! Give! Give!

But attitude is just as important as gift. If gifts are given with an uncaring heart, they aren't gifts at all. They're obligations. Gifts, true gifts are given with love. So if I give everything and do not have love, I gain nothing. Truly, if I give everything and do not have love I have given nothing.

Give a little bit of your love to me and I'll give a little bit of my love to you. If I have one problem with this song lyric it's the order. Love risks, true love gives first. I guess the poetry and flow of the song is better as it's written, and it's a beautiful song; but love risks.

Love is worth risking everything.