Dreams and Visions 

June 5, 2022, Pentecost

I recently attended the Learning Tree Preschool graduation. It’s always fun to hear the kids say what they will be when they grow up, like a mail deliverer, a pilot, a football player or baseball player, or work at Walmart. That’ reminds me of a couple we knew from seminary, Tim and Diane Weible. They were UCC Missionaries in Japan, where there are Bullet Trains, that can go over 125 mph. This couple’s little boy told them when he grew up, he wanted to be a Bullet Train. I’m not sure how that would work! 

It’s clear that preschoolers have dreams! Not all their dreams can come true. But they have dreams anyway! We adults may think, come on now, a person cannot become a bullet train. But if we’re not careful, we can be too sensible and squash our dreams and others’ dreams. We can kill our visions. 

If we are overly realistic. We may give up too easily on a dream. Where’s the joy in a life where you don’t attempt some great things? What if you miss out on God working an amazing miracle through you, because you were too reasonable? That’s no good! 

Today we’re celebrating Pentecost. It is the birthday of the Christian church! Almost 2000 years ago, the Christian church began when miracles occurred that nobody saw coming. That day 3000 people were baptized, because they were so amazed by what they witnessed! They couldn’t believe what was happening! We’ll learn about the miracle of Pentecost. And I hope to encourage you to follow your dreams! 

One dream killer is when you think, “I can’t do this. I’m not good enough. There are others who are better than me.”  

I want to focus on a major player in Pentecost: Peter. Peter was one of the 12 disciples who followed Jesus. When Jesus knew he would soon be betrayed, arrested, and crucified, he told Peter that he knew in the future he would deny he knew him, three times. It turned out, when Jesus was arrested and tortured, someone asked Peter, aren’t you one of Jesus followers? And Peter three times replied he didn’t know Jesus! 

After he did this, imagine if you were Peter! You would feel horrible about what you did. Jesus told you this would happen. but even with that warning, you denied your Lord. 

Peter could have decided he was no good. He could not carry on after Jesus’ resurrection and be a church leader. But on Pentecost, Peter is a rockstar! I mean, not a real rockstar. But he did an amazing job speaking and many were saved. 

You see on Pentecost, the followers of Jesus are all in one place, the upper room. Suddenly, they experience a sound like the rush of a mighty wind. And something like tongues of fire, like little flames, rested above all Jesus followers’ heads! The disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they all start speaking. Now there are many Jews in Jerusalem at that moment. They are in town for the Jewish religious feast called Shavuot. 

This crowd that came for the feast of Shavuot hears the disciples speaking in their own languages! The crowd is visiting from different countries and speaks various languages. They are amazed that they are hearing Jesus’ disciples, Galileans. speaking in their language! Wow! What is going on, they wonder? But some of them made fun of the disciples and said, “They are drunk!”  

This is when Peter shines. He stands up and says, No, we’re not drunk! It’s only 9 in the morning! No, this is what you find in the Scripture. In Acts 2:17 Peter quotes the prophet Joel, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. 
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.  

The prophet Joel was speaking of a time when God’s spirit would fill his people. The young will prophesy and see visions. I think of the preschoolers with their dreams of the future. Of course, the young will have visions. But the prophet Joel says the old will also dream dreams. When God’s spirit fills us, we all will have dreams and visions!  

Acts 2:18 says, “Even on my servants, both men and women, 
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days, 
    and they will prophesy.” The prophet says God is going to pour out his Spirit on everybody: men and women, slave and free. 

V. 21 says, “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” 

Peter preaches! He tells the people, this is a miracle of God’s Holy Spirit, and all of us followers are filled with God’s spirit. We all have dreams and visions to tell you. We speak by the power of God. And now, you too, can call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved! Peter did a great job on Pentecost. He preached, and 3000 people were saved! 

Peter was a rockstar on Pentecost. He was awesome! But it might not have been. He might have realized he was a sinner; he had denied Jesus three times. He might have been discouraged and given up. But he had encouragement. If you want to keep dreaming dreams and having visions, you need encouragement, from encouraging people and from our encouraging God. 

For encouragement Peter could think back to what Jesus told him. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said to him, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. That’s really encouraging 

Peter could think back to the resurrected Jesus asking him three times: “Peter, do you love me?” Peter kept saying, “Yes, I love you.” And Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” Jesus was encouraging Peter, don’t stop, I need you to feed the sheep, take care of the church. 

I went to the Spring Meeting of Conference in West Chester that was held June 3-4. It was really nice to see and talk to real people and have an in-person Conference meeting for the first time in two years.  

Our conference minister talked about a pastor shortage. That is not easily solved. So, let’s dream and have vision. God can do all things. My husband, Kevin, has been on the Conference Committee on Ministry for the Schuylkill Association for a few years. The committee oversees pastors, ordinations, and who can serve church. A year ago, no one wanted to be chair of the committee. Usually, the chair is an ordained minister. A lay person, Cora, said she wants to be on the committee another year before she would say yes to being chair. Kevin, my husband, offered to be chairperson for a year. It was a hard year for him. He received emails all the time. The conference wanted a lot of things from the committee. Then there were two licensed pastors who wanted to know how to be ordained. Kevin had manuals this thick to read to understand how you do everything.  

Kevin did great. One licensed pastor who wanted to be ordained, came up to Kevin right after he was installed as chair of the Committee on Ministry. He said, “I want to be ordained. What do I have to do?” Kevin didn’t know. But he spent time looking through the manuals and made a checklist for him, what to do to be ordained. Usually, it takes a few years to be ordained. This minister was ordained in a record 11 months. Another licensed pastor told Kevin he wanted to be ordained. But this licensed minister hadn’t gone to seminary. He had taken some evening classes over three years. It was even harder for Kevin to figure out ordination without seminary, but he finally figured out the requirements, overcame objections, and the committee says if the pastor goes for Chaplain training, they think that will be enough! 

Kevin did this by the power of the Holy Spirit, because being a committee chair is not his usual cup of tea. This year, Cora, who is a lay person, took over as chair of the Committee on Ministry. Usually, the chair is an ordained minister. All the other committees on ministry in our Conference are led by an ordained minister. But we have a minister shortage. She’s doing good, and she enjoys it more than Kevin did! You don’t have to be an ordained minister to do so many things! Everyone is worthy, the Holy Spirit can give power to anyone. 

By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can dream dreams, see new visions, and do things that stretch us. With the encouragement of others and with God we can do all things! 

My homework for you is to think of a dream! What do you dream for Tower City/Orwin? What do you dream for yourself? What do you dream for your church? Think of one dream. And then think of at least one encouraging person. We all have failures and sins. Think of an encouraging person who will give you a boost and believe in you and believe God can help you reach your dream. 

Young people often have great dreams. If you’re a little older, you can still dream! That is a promise of God. God pours his Spirit out on all believers. There are problems in the world: shortages, inflation, stressed out people, violence, war. It’s not crazy to dream and envision a better world. Our dreams and visions help us see what God sees. Imagine your dream, find an encourager, and wait for God to pour out his Spirit upon you. When we call on the name of the Lord, we are saved from our sins and saved for better days. Amen.