Sermon Tone Analysis

Dealing With Deferred Dreams

Jeremiah 29:4-14

October 7, 2001

Rev. Tyron L. Browder

Morning Star MBC (evening)

\\ Many years ago in the mines of South Africa, native South Africans were engaged in digging in that mine.

They were digging for the reputed treasure reported to be in that mine.

However there was a terrible cave-in; so much so that those diggers found themselves trapped in trouble with a limited oxygen supply.

And to magnify their misery, there appeared to be no way out.

The oxygen supply was limited, the cave was dark and so they did everything in their power to make a move toward the area that would promise their freedom and deliverance.

However the minutes gave way to hours and the oxygen supply (of course) was diminishing, the darkness was deepening, and at the same time that they were trying to facilitate their own deliverance there was a rescue team that had been dispatched and this rescue team found themselves making its way toward them or toward the area they were last known to be.

And when they came in close proximity, they could tell from the other side where the diggers were captured by the cave-in because there was a knocking and a tapping.

And immediately they discovered that they were tapping in Morse code.

And the code they were tapping in, there were these questions being raised:

* Is there anybody out there?

* Is there any hope?

This was the message that was being tapped on the walls of the mine there in South Africa by those who were captured by the cave-in.

And then to magnify their misery the oxygen supply was diminishing, the darkness was deepening, and now they are wondering, “is there anybody out there?

Is there any hope?”

Imagine with me for just a few moments the peril of their predicament.

On the one hand the oxygen supply was diminishing, on the other hand the darkness was deepening, and then to make matters worse they found themselves trapped in a situation and there appeared to be no way out.

And then my brothers and sister to underscore these perplexing problems – notice if you will that these people captured by the cave-in had no earthly idea when or if their deliverance was going to come.

Now let’s look at that for a moment…  On the one hand they are trapped in some trouble that they need to get out of but there appears to be no exit.

On the other hand their oxygen supply is rapidly diminishing and then to make matter worse the darkness is deepening, and then to amplify to their agony they do not know if there is anyone out there that is aware of their predicament and then to further dampen their difficulty they find themselves wondering if or when help will ever come.

And there is someone here today in your own life you are searching, you are digging, you are moving toward something only to find yourself trapped in a situation that you know you need to get out of.

But then to make matter worse it appears that your resources for holding on and maintaining are slowly diminishing.

And then to magnify your misery the darkness is deepening so that you can’t see your way out, you can’t see your way through.

And then you are praying, you are hoping, and you desire that deliverance will come.

Yes you prayed but all of your praying has resulted in limited or no movement and so now you are unaware if there is anyone or anything that will facilitate your freedom or play into your deliverance.

You are praying.

You are hoping.

All the while that you are hoping you are realizing that your deliverance is far off, deliverance is down the line.

Truly your deliverance has been deferred.

I think that Langston Hughes can help us out here.

Langston looking at the predicament of his people whose skin had been darkened by nature’s sun wrote a collection of poems entitled A Montage of a Dream Deferred.

In this collection of poems, he poetically proclaims that we are people who perennially experience providential postponement when it comes to the fulfillment of our plans.

In other words, we’ve known delayed or deferred dreams.

So listen to Langston Hughes as he angrily raises the question and then pessimistically prophesies and gives the answer.

He says, “What happens to a dream deferred?”

He then answers: “From river to river, uptown and down, there’s liable to be confusion when dreams get kicked around.”

Langston Hughes is simply answering the question of what happens to dreams that get deferred and plans that get postponed.

Let me go ahead and raise the question right now:  what are you waiting for?

What are you hoping for?

What have you prayed for and the answer has not come?

What experience do you find yourself wondering if you’re ever going to be delivered from?

I might as well get in your seat since you are looking at me all cold and chilly right now… 

* Relocation

* Save a spouse or family member

* Deliver you from a job or move your supervisor

* Deliver you from illness

* Heart ache from being let down

…and you are wondering when the pain is going to go away but your dream has been deferred, your hope has taken a holiday, your plans have been postponed.

You are experiencing what Dr. Austin calls the meantime.

The meantime is when you are caught up in the “in between.”

The meantime?

Yes, the meantime.

The meantime is when your dreams have been deferred.

As we come to our text we discover that the people of God are caught up in the in between.

They are mired in the meantime.

Let me tell you what happened, it was between 598 and 587 B.C. that the unthinkable happened.

Nebuchadnezzar had ransacked, raided, and removed the people of God from the Holy city of Jerusalem.

Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem.

This was Jerusalem, the Holy City.

Imagine how that must have rocked their world and messed with their minds because this is Jerusalem.

This is where the temple place of worship is located and Nebuchadnezzar, a non-believer, had allowed his awesome army to swoop down on Jerusalem on a mission of destruction and dislocation.

And the people of God had to watch this occur and them to add insult to injury, Nebuchadnezzar took captive the cream of the cream, the big wheels.

He took them into captivity back to Babylon.

And so here they are in Babylon, they have experienced destruction and dislocation.

They have experienced upheaval and then being uprooted.

They have experienced (check this out) ransacking, raiding, and removal to Babylon.

And in Babylon you know they’ve gone through some stuff.

The unthinkable has happened, they’ve been uprooted and now they find themselves in an unfamiliar place with unkind people, and to make matter worse they have an unending problem.

And the Bible tells us that whenever your dreams are deferred you will either hand in your resignation or receive wrong information.

You don’t have to believe me.

Let’s appeal to the text and check out the corresponding passage in Psalm 137.

It says, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

Our Babylonian captives came along and they had the audacity to ask us to sing songs of Zion.”

But look what they did, the Book says that they handed in their resignation, they hung their harps on the willow tree and said how do you expect us to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land.

Is that your disposition this evening?

You’re experiencing a deferred dream, you find yourself messing around in the meantime and you are experiencing providential postponement, you’ve moved into an unfamiliar place with people who are unkind.

And a problem that seems to be unending.

But check this out some people don’t hand in their resignation, they receive the wrong information.

In verses 8-10 in the 29th chapter of Jeremiah, the prophet tells the people that they have some phony prophets who are engaging in fake faith and giving you hallow hope.

They are saying that you are going back to Jerusalem real soon.

“But I have got to give you the word from Heaven because I am not a phony prophet, I am a real prophet.”

And guess what?

Whenever you are experiencing deferred dream, whenever you are mired in the meantime, whenever you are experiencing providential postponement there are always phony prophets who come along and give you hallow hope based on fake faith.

You know what they say, “everything is going to be alright, if you just hold on things are going to change.”

You know what they say don’t you?

They always try to give you some rosy outlook that does not correspond with your reality.

You know what I’m talking about don’t you?

They always have these pious platitudes that have nothing to do with the reality of your situation.

You know phony prophets, they are those who were not sent they just went.

You know what I’m talking about.

Well, you see Jeremiah said, “I’m not a phony prophet, I’ve been talking to God and because I’ve been talking to God, I’ve got something to say to you.”

Let me say this…  You know that you got a phony prophet if that prophet never spends any time talking with God.

I mean how can you expect to talk for God if you never spend any time talking to God.  Jeremiah said don’t you receive that wrong information, don’t you hand in your resignation just because you are caught up in the meantime and your dreams have been deferred.

Meantime?

Yes, meantime.

What is the meantime?