Dreams are More Precious

SR Psalm 126

Psalm 126 (NIV)

A song of ascents. When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

Joel 2:28 NIV

“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

Come! See! High above Come! See! High in the heavens A new star shining bright Out of the darkness comes a light Come! Hear midnight chimes Come! Hear bells that are ringing And from some distant shore Sounds of a journey echo on This is the night They say Everyone wants a dream This is the night They say Nothing is as it seems Come! Sleep! Close your eyes Come! Sleep! Give me your sorrow And I'll keep watch for you Until the dawn is breaking through Until the morning wakens you Come! Dream through the night Come! Dream, and then tomorrow You'll see your heart will know Dreams are more precious than gold Dreams are more precious than gold Dreams are more precious than gold

Dreams tell about the past, present and future in the narratives about Jesus birth. The past:

Come! See! High above Come! See! High in the heavens A new star shining bright Out of the darkness comes a light Come! Hear midnight chimes Come! Hear bells that are ringing And from some distant shore Sounds of a journey echo on

Matthew 1:18–21 NIV

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Our poets tell us that the “best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.” Robert Burns meant this to say that regardless of your standing in life: high/low, rich/poor (mouse or man) your most well thought through life’s goals and ambitions often have the proverbial wrench thrown in them. Following this idea in Steinbeck’s novel, Lennie and George each have their own version of getting out of the life of being a farmhand. Lennie the simpleton mouse and George the wise mentor . Both have plans of owning their own land though each one has a different version of the plan, and both of their hopes and expectations are dashed. Similarly, the Jewish proverb states, “we plan and God laughs.”

Joseph also had a well crafted plan. Find a faithful woman of God from a nice family, commit to her, raise a nice bunch of observant children in the context of a lineage of many faithful generations gone before. In fact:

Matthew 1:15–17 NIV

Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

Can you feel the weight of that heritage? 14 X 3 = 42 generations that Joseph’s plans had to live up to. Ain’t nobody got time for an adulterous spouse. The best laid plans . . .

The reality. The plan: family heritage, the law, societal expectations, scandal. The dream: Go against all of this. Go. Act now. Don’t be afraid. Joseph, here is what has happened in the past. I know how you interpret it in your waking hours. Let me speak to you while you sleep so you can reimagine the reality of what I’ve done and how you can act. Dreams are more precious than gold.

PRESENT

This is the night They say Everyone wants a dream This is the night They say Nothing is as it seems

Matthew 2:9–12 NIV

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Those astrologers or men from the East make their pilgrimage guided by A star. An omen. A signal. These man saw so many things. They saw the star beckoning them onward. It went ahead of them, they chased it. Did it play hide and seek? Did it get obscured by the clouds? Because the text says, it would seem, after their long journey, they saw it again. When they saw the star they were overjoyed. There was excitement, expectation. They had arrived. What would they find? Imagine their joy at what they saw next. A child. A mom. They left their great wealth at the feet of these peasants, since they knew the star pointed to a king.

Their plan was to go see the child. They have come to worship, maybe to stick around a while. To enjoy and revel. To serve.

They are told to go back in a dream. What if they had not dreamed? What would have happened to them? Would they have been killed? Would they have led Herod back to Jesus so he would have been killed? Weren’t they tired from all that travel? Who would have told their story?

Don’t stay here. Go back to your country. We don’t know the country. We don’t know who they are. They’re mysterious folks who undoubtedly played a role in sharing in distant lands that God has favored his people by anointing a new king and establishing a new kingdom.

Their dreams were more precious than gold.

FUTURE

Come! Sleep! Close your eyes Come! Sleep! Give me your sorrow And I'll keep watch for you Until the dawn is breaking through Until the morning wakens you Come! Dream through the night Come! Dream, and then tomorrow You'll see your heart will know Dreams are more precious than gold

Matthew 2:13 NIV

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

Poor Joseph. Enough. What’s going on? Give me a break. The child is born. I’ve done what you have asked. Let me go back to Nazareth and raise this family already. The relatives will get over it, we’ll go to the synagogue—it’s all good.

No. Hear the commands to take action. “Get up. Take. Escape. Stay.” Move out. There’s no time to linger or rest in what you’ve done. Danger lurks. The future is foretold in a dream. Herod is going to search. He wants to kill. Rachel weeps for her children. She refuses to be comforted for they are no more.

Matthew 2:19–23 NIV

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Matthew says the dreams of the faithful are the reality. No matter the plan, the expectations, the confusion, of those who are awake, it is those who dream who know the real plans, the truth, the reality of God’s stepping down and breaking through. God’s dream of salvation for his creation imparted and sparked in those who also dream as their head lays still on their pillow. Those who dream are imparted with and participate in God’s action plan for the world.

Church, what are our best-laid plans? Our societal expectations? What does our lineage say? Are we ready to dream again? Are we ready to participate in what God has planned?