Reflecting October 27 2019 Old men will dream dreams (women too)!

October 27, 2019PROPER 25 (30) Twentieth Sunday after PentecostYear C 

Joel 2:23-32 and Psalm 65    • 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18  •  Luke 18:9-14

I was recently at a music teachers’ professional development and they sang a four line song that began; “Where there is no vision the people perish”.  No one spoke about this being a biblical quote as it wasn’t the point of the exercise, but I notice in the readings today – not that verse, but a related one from Joel….  Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.  Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

In our society we praise the strong and independent.  The elderly are pushed aside.  We have grants to encourage the young in their career, but our society seems to assume the elderly have had their day.  Perhaps we, on the older side, feel that our energy is waning also.  

God, however, does not forget anyone… he promises that he will pour out his Spirit on all…. Male and female, slave and free, young and old.  I’m picking up on the fact that he pours out his Spirit on the old because we can easily miss the implication and I want to draw your attention to it.

What do we look like when we have the Holy Spirit out pouring upon us?  What do you imagine?

Do you see visions of young people declaring the word of the LORD?  Do you imagine energy and vitality of people working together?   What do these people look like?

We expect the young people to have dreams and visions.  They are usually expected to be the ones to come up with innovative designs and new ways of doing things.  They are the ones who still have a whole lot of future.  They are the ones we envision with the energy to make things happen.

Take special note however, because when God declares that he will pour out His Holy Spirit on all, and then He specifically mentions the old, He is making a very powerful statement, that there is an immense future and purpose for the elderly.  He is also declaring a relationship and vision that is way beyond what we would imagine.

The passage goes on to speak about the rather dramatic signs in the heavens and on the earth.  It describes a time of turmoil but ends by comforting that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.  Then it says something else, “and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.”

I get to chat with Christians from many back-grounds and persuasions and it often amuses me to hear some who declare that they just can’t wait for Jesus to come back.  I generally smile and say nothing, but I think a whole lot and generally I’m thinking, “ Oh sure you do… but I bet you have no idea about the naivety of your statement….” 

From my readings of scripture there will times of great trial before the coming of Jesus.  After all, what exactly do we mean in the Lord’s Prayer when we say, “save of from the time of trial”?   We have those words to pray because those times are going to be horrible.  We can interpret them as personal trials or the trials that are to come before the return of Jesus… both are correct, but both are not nice times to be going through.

Although I may be behaving like a bit of a Pharisee myself in making this judgment, I strongly believe that these people who are so sure of themselves that they just “can’t wait ‘til Jesus returns”, are a whole lot like that Pharisee in our Gospel reading.

In our Gospel reading we have a Pharisee who was a good man.  He fasted in prayer twice a week and he gave a tenth of his income to God.  He really was a great bloke.  I bet he was admired by his friends and we know that as a Pharisee he had a position of authority in the community.  He was the special guest at community functions.   As I said, he was a great bloke and there is nothing to say that he wasn’t, except that he held himself as better than others….. 

We live in a society that over-looks people unless they somehow declare their own worth – i.e. “toot their own horn”.  In our Gospel, Jesus is clearly showing that this over-looking of other people or treating others with contempt is not the way of the Kingdom of God.

So, me treating Christians, who long for Jesus return, with contempt is rather like the Pharisee, but let me explain why I accuse them of being like the Pharisee also;

Those who long for the time of Jesus coming, seem to present themselves as if they are Christians who are superior and chosen, who have no fear of the time of trial and the hardships to come.   They seem less concerned with the plight of those who don’t yet know Jesus and more concerned that the coming of Jesus will see them crowned victoriously in the sight of those who have scoffed at their belief and therefore they will be vindicated.   While, our scriptures tell us that God will vindicate us and I can understand the attraction, I feel that there is often something lacking….  God does care for how we feel, but wants us to have that same compassion for others.  

   

Saint Paul understood the longing for Jesus to return.  We read his words, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

The difference between us and Saint Paul is that Saint Paul was well and truly not saved from the time of trial, but he was saved through them.

We all have trials of many shapes and forms, but Saint Paul was whipped and imprisoned and eventually martyred.  At this point we need to realize that there is no place for anything bar honesty….. and this is what was possibly lacking in the prayer of the Pharisee.  His prayer focused on the good he did… i.e. the good works, but nothing in his prayer indicates a heart submitted to the concerns of God. – He hasn’t tapped into God’s heart.

Saint Paul had times when he felt abandoned.  “At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.”

How was it, that Saint Paul could endure such trials?

Although we all have trials, we have lives that are abundantly blessed, physically and materially.  But as the time draws on, we need to understand the power that kept Saint Paul through all his time of trial was the out pouring of the Holy Spirit.

We also need to grab hold of the fact that God pours out his Spirit on all.  Not just men, but to women too and not just to the young but to the old as well.  The implication is that God will give us the dreams and the vision, the strength and the energy, so that through us the message of the Gospel will be fully proclaimed.

No matter our age or our gender, there is a job to be done in the Kingdom of God.  We can’t simply pray that God’s Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven and not do anything about bringing it into being.  What is the dream that he has given you to make this happen?

As I write this I’m aware, once again, of God saying to me, “ARE YOU GETTING IT?”

I’m not as young as I once was.  I feel tired.   But I am hearing that it is time to say, “Yes LORD, send your Spirit…..”.  

God does not impose.  He will pour out His Spirit…. But not if you don’t want it.  He waits patiently, he stirs us to hear him nudge and ask, but he gave us free will.  With our free will, we need to deliberately say yes to God and ask him for his Spirit and ask him to send us those dreams…. Expect them…. He longs to surprise us with the things that he has in store.