Revelation 21:1-6a
John 11:32-44
Occasionally, dreams return several times over. One dream in particular has been haunting me again lately. This time, though, it has been in my waking moments. You see, a friend of mine passed away several years ago at Epiphany, January 6th. At that point in my life I had not yet made up my mind if I would return to seminary. I was looking for guidance. Art Conrad was a friend that I would go to when I needed such advice. He was a Catholic priest, a generous soul, and a practical joker. He often wore tee-shirts under his clergy shirt...concert tee shirts for heavy metal bands. I loved Art.
I was away on a business trip in California when I received the phone call from a friend that Art had died. His death was sudden...and I was crushed to receive the news. For financial reasons, I could not make it across the country to go to the funeral at the Catholic Cathedral in Richmond. And that, too, was devastating. I never made it to his funeral.
A couple of weeks after Art passed away I had a dream about it. In the dream I was one of the pallbearers. I was wearing a preaching robe, a Geneva gown like the one I wear today. We processed in with Art's coffin and placed it before the altar in the Cathedral. When it came time to celebrate mass in the dream, I approached the altar and stood before the congregation and celebrated mass. Still a Baptist in a Catholic Cathedral...And I said mass. But it was a dream...lines can be blurred in a dream as they can nowhere else.
In one sense, this dream was a lovely affirmation that perhaps I was on the right track in thinking that I should return to seminary to complete my education. In another sense, one that still lingers for me today, I felt that Father Art was making room for me, was allowing me to take his place somehow...as a minister of word and table, as one called to declare the in-breaking of John's strange and wondrous dream from Revelation where God says "See, I am making all things new."
It was a powerful dream. It still is for me. And I think that there are many reasons why it has returned to me lately. Not all of the reasons are appropriate to share from the pulpit, but if you like, we can speak after the service. Send me an e-mail if you wish.
One reason I can share with you is this: I believe God is calling us to live into Revelation's dream here in Wilmette. I believe God is asking us to participate in a vision, a seemingly random and impossible vision...
where time seems to collapse in upon itself,
where eternity breaks through,
and all the control that we thought we had evaporates.
"See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See I am making all things new."Can we begin to imagine what this dream may look like? Can we put a little flesh on it? Can we see that "these words are trustworthy and true?" Jesus, the weeping God, desires nothing but our redemption and peace. God desires us to take the poetry of our visions and to bring them to life in our community, our homes and our hearts.
What would that look like in our village?
Can you imagine it?
Can you put words to the vision?
Can we begin to build this mystery that John proclaims so boldly in Revelation?
Art worked tirelessly for the homeless in Richmond, for those suffering from addiction and living with the incredible violence in what was then the Murder Capital of the country. He gave spiritual support to those living with HIV and AIDS. He was a gift to the entire city and he was my friend.
Somehow this same dream is breaking through in our midst. And maybe, just maybe, my dreams of Art are returning to me to remind us of that truth. We are called to bring forth a dream.
Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints. We celebrate the lives of the saints of the people of God, grandiose and humble, those whose lives have shown us God's glory and God's desire for us. Their work, too, has a dream-like quality. It is based on promises like those proclaimed in Revelation.
Art took these things seriously. He took them to heart. I believe Art was one of God's saints...a man earnestly in search of the Kingdom of God and about the work of that Kingdom.
We have all met these saints and prophets.
Perhaps they have sat with us in these pews.
Perhaps they worshipped elsewhere and prayed for us.
They have prayed for us and with us. And if John's vision holds true, they are still praying for us today. There is about us a great cloud of witnesses...
...calling to us to be saints of God with them.
Brothers and sisters, we are building a mystery. We are calling to life a world where prophets' dreams populate the landscape, where saints walk along the sidewalks. If the vision holds true, if the dreams of John hold true, if the promises of Jesus to Mary and Martha hold true, if God's own tears mean anything...
...then we too are called to proclaim even the strangest of mysteries. We are to stand before the world and proclaim its true nature, the Alpha and the Omega breaking through today.
May God give us courage and wisdom.
May God give us vision and make us saints.
Amen.
Posted by tripp at November 5, 2006 07:18 AM