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BIBLE STUDY III
Seeing Visions and Dreaming Dreams
God speaking
through dreams or visions was very much part of the cultures from which the
biblical material comes. Consider the Christmas story :
there are five dreams or visions mentioned in the first two chapters of
Matthew's gospel. It seems clear that these experiences were to reassure, warn
of danger, give guidance, issue commands, all ideas
that could be pursued in this theme of "walk the path of obedience".
Much of our
dreams happen at night but there are daydreams too. A reflection called "I
Dream of a Church" has interested us recently in our parish. Young people
have always had dreams for world (sad for us all if they don't!). The church's
only reason for being is the world. What is your dream for the Church? How do
you dream that the church can be for the world? That's the subject of this
study.
The book of
Asian women's stories that Ranjini Rebera edited "We Cannot Dream Alone", reminds us
that dreaming must at some point involve all of us, if the dreams is ever to
become reality. Perhaps you have had the experience of dreaming or envisioning
something, and not being able to take other people with you to work towards the
dream.
Let's
consider how Jesus faced that. He was a young person who dreamed. His dream
really upset some people, and he was even killed because of that. But other
people became excited about Jesus' dream because there was a place and a
purpose for them in it and they followed - and some of us still do. Jesus had -
and has - ways of drawing people into sharing the dream. One of his ways was by
telling stories about what the dream' could be like. There are many kinds of stories :
(a) stories
can be about the past, giving strength and inspiration from what it was like
for someone or a community in an earlier time;
(b) stories
can be about the future, sharing a vision of how it can be, and empowering
those who listen; and I think
(c) stories
have to be in some way about now, if they're going to connect with us at all,
and that's when they really challenge us.
Let us look
at Luke 14:12-23. In Jesus' dream, for whom is the
Being
"at table" with someone was regarded in their culture as quite an
intimate thing, and who one ate with really mattered. It was about power,
relationships and image. Banquets given by wealthy
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people were an important part of the social scene. The banquet would be
a real occasion : people dressed in brilliant robes, there would be garlands of
flowers everywhere, and music, singing, joking and merriment. It was normal
social procedure to invite people twice : invitations would be sent out in
advance, and then people would be called when everything is ready.
In the
story, those who were originally invited all had excuses, and they were good
excuses. In verses 18b and 19: of course it is sensible to go and see the field
or the oxen that one has just brought. In verse 20 the reason is marriage. If
we recall the practice indicated in Deut. 20:5-7 and 24:5 : "when a man is
newly married ... he shall be free at home one year to be happy with his
wife". This was often used to defer military service but now it was used
for deferring the call of Jesus too! All these reasons for not coming were
about property, stewardship and family, all good solid reasons : but they are
also blocks to change as each of these people was benefiting from the status
quo.
"Yes.
I'd like to share your banquet - or your dream - but I'm really more interested
in my own position!" But this wasn't good enough for the householder :
verse 23 - he would not be happy until every place at his table was filled. He
sent his servant to bring in the people of the highways and hedges : the men of
the parks and the bridges, the women of the streets and the clubs, the children
of the building sites with the plastic bags and their needles. This must have
shocked the listeners who would never have considered that such people would be
on anyone's guest list.
Jesus' dream
involves a very large concept of hospitality : lots of his stories are about
meals, and his actions demonstrated that there was enough for all. Verses 12-14
begin with a new concept of how to be host. Hosting can be an act by which one
-person gains power over others and puts them in his or her debt. Guest lists
then and now were made up of those who could repay. But in the
We each have
to ask ourselves where we and our organisations fit into this. What Jesus did
was quite different from a charity model. He made the poor and differently-abled
central, and these are the ones at the great banquet. Here host and guests sit
at the table together, and there is enough for all - except those who refused
to come.
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Obedience : perhaps it is most of all about willingness to risk!
by Elsa Tamez (from Celebrating Women, ed.
Janet Morley and Hannah Ward)
Come on
Let us celebrate the supper of the
Lord.
Let us make a huge loaf of bread
and let us bring abundant wine
like at the wedding at
Let the women not forget the salt.
Let the men bring along the yeast.
Let many guests come,
the lame, the blind, the crippled, the poor.
Come quickly, Let us follow the
recipe of the Lord.
All of us, let us knead the dough
together with our hands.
Let us see with joy
how the bread grows.
Because today
we celebrate
the meeting with the Lord.
Today we renew our commitment to the
Kingdom.
Nobody will stay hungry.
1) What do you dream the church
to be in the part of
2) i) Right now, for you
personally, what is the aspect of the Jesus' dream that most excites and
energises you?
ii) How can you share this excitement with other youth in your own
situation?
3) In your context, which groups
are the "poor", the "maimed", "the blind",
"the lame"?
4) What strategies have you
learned, about how to get others involved with your dream?
5) What do you need from others
here, in order for you to work towards the dream?