Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Isaiah 9:1-4
Psalm 27:1,4-9
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Matthew 4:12-23
Who was it that first said “If you can dream it, you can become it?” Well, I Googled that and found out that it is attributed to William Arthur Ward (a Methodist academic and writer) and it is, in full: “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.”
If you can imagine it…if you can dream it…
Where would we be without imagination? Without dreams? How could we work towards a better future if we didn’t have some idea of what that would look like?
And how could we dream about the future if we didn’t remember to tell stories about the past?
The writer of today’s Isaiah passage is looking back at what
God has already done, while looking forward to what God is yet to do. The nation of
This isn’t to say that the light will look exactly the same in the future as it has in the past.
But remembering the mighty acts of God helps imaging the acts God has yet to do.
How often have you said, “This is going to be tough, but look at what I have already been through?” Anyone? Okay, maybe it’s just me. I say this about once a week!
What if we say it together, as a community….the year ahead is going to be a challenge, but look at how far we have already come, by the grace of God. Every year since I arrived here (that makes 5 now, if you are counting) money has been an issue. “Pastor, we’ll make it through the year, through the next 6 months, through the end of this year.” And I will hear that again today at the annual meeting.
But we have made it this far, together. And look at how far we have come. Remember when 40 on a Sunday was a crowd? And having 8 in Sunday School was a full room?
Now we have closer to 60 on a Sunday and Sara tells me that last week they had 30 kids in Sunday School!!!
How did this happen? We remembered the past, how God brought us this far, and then we dreamed about the future. We had that visioning event a few years ago where I gave you crayons and you drew a picture of what the church would look like in 5 years.
We are headed there! More people, more diversity, more generosity, more visitors, more love.
How did this happen? Remembering and dreaming. Remembering and dreaming. For some, it is remembering life before finding Lord of Life. Then bringing new dreams to the table. What if we did this? Tried this? Studied this?
For others, it is remembering how our brothers and sisters have supported us in times of transition, then dreaming of how we can support others…
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he is having a memory lapse. Folks were dividing up among the lines of which person/pastor they are most loyal too. They remember that Paul baptized me but Apollos baptized you. They were stuck in the past. Paul teases them out of it by claiming not to remember who he baptized. Why? Because it wasn’t important.
The memory of who did the baptism isn’t what matters. What matters is that all were baptized not by a certain person or in a certain church building. What matters is that all were baptized in Christ’s name. Remember that!
Remember that all are united in Christ Jesus. We will disagree in direction, politics, and budget details. But we agree that we are all members of the body of Christ. Equally valuable in God’s eyes.
When we remember that, we can dream big dreams…Dreams of living large as a community in Christ. A place where all are welcome, from infants to elderly, across all man-made divisions and labels.
‘Cause when you cast the net (see how I’m getting the Gospel in here too!!) you are going to catch all kinds of things.
Those fisherman had heard the stories. They remembered them. They may have heard about the hope of
Here comes Jesus, calling them to shore…offering new dreams. A dream of the kingdom of heaven, where the good news is real and diseases are cured.
“I will make you fish for people.” We’re not talking fly fishing, but broad reaching net between the boat fishing, pulling it all up into the boat.
Dreams of all kinds of fish, minnows, trout, salmon, eel…caught in the net of God’s love.
Foolishness? Not if you have been caught up in God’s love.
Realistically, these fishermen, Peter and Andrew, had to have looked back at the days of fishing in water for literal fish. They would remember sending out the net, some days it would come back empty. Or with just a few little fish. Some weeks the fishing would be frustratingly slow.
But then they would remember the good days too, when the net was full. Or hey, Andrew, remember that time Jesus said to throw the nets out the other side of the boat? We were ready to give up, call it quits, go home and grab a beer. But we threw the net out and wow! What a catch that was!
Remember…the days were long, the crowds tired. Jesus kept preaching and teaching and healing. Dreaming of the day when all would be made new. When all people, women, Gentiles, tax collectors, would know the love and acceptance of God…
Hey, Andrew, we got caught up in that dream too…the whole world would change…economics, social structure, politics, public life…the dream of God’s kingdom.
We are still dreaming…because we can remember the glimpses of the kingdom. The times when the light has broken through and the hungry have been fed, the outcasts welcomed in, the bread and wine have warmed the heart, and lives have been changed.
We’ve seen it happen. We remember Kyra’s fundraiser, the
Christmas program that ended with the flight into
We have parties to remember. Oh, yeah, my confirmation kids remember going to Food at First, the years before that remember San Antonio and going to the Emergency Residence Shelter.
And remember the Danish desserts, red hair, Piñata party? And the fundraisers? Remember…
And in remembering we start dreaming again…what should the next challenge be? The next fundraising emphasis? The next social ministry event? The next party? (Psst…Super Bowl, then the next week…Christmas Tree burning…those trees will be pretty crisp!) The next time the church is full and singing loud and laughing and leaving room for crying…
We keep throwing the nets out in eternal hopefulness…and welcoming everyone in…remembering and dreaming with the eyes of God.
Foolishness? Or the Power of God?
Folks, keep remembering, keep dreaming…God will continue to be faithful to us, use us in this community, strengthen us in faith, and fill us with dreams…