Dreams, Visions, and Prophesy

Ron Campbell
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

July 8, 2007

Text: Acts 2:1-4, 14, 16-18

The scripture this morning is from the book of Acts. It’s the part of the story of Pentecost where Peter steps forward to give witness to the miraculous event which had just happened. Peter said: “What you see this morning was predicted centuries ago by the prophet Joel – ‘I will pour out my Holy Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men dream dreams. Yes the Holy Spirit shall come upon all my servants, men and women alike, and they shall prophesy.’”

The assembly of believers had gathered in Jerusalem in the upper room, waiting and praying, when suddenly they received the Gift of the Holy Spirit. Here’s the point I want to drive home this morning: the Pentecost experience isn’t just a story about people who lived in the Bible days. No, you and I also live in the age of the Spirit. God’s gift of the Holy Spirit continues to fill the community of believers. And God continues to give us, you and me, dreams and visions of His kingdom and compels us to prophesy. This morning my aim, my intent, my goal, is to get you thinking about, praying about, dreaming about, and talking about God’s vision for your life in Christ. I’ll make three points.

1st: God gives each of us a unique vision for our life of faith in ways that match who we are, our unique personality, temperament, gifts and life experiences. In 1992 I participated in a Vision Quest week on Langsquid Island in Lake Tamogony, Canada. An Episcopal priest led the experience along with Jungian psychologists, native Indian spiritual guides and outdoor wilderness trainers. On the opening day they introduced the Indian prayer wheel. The participants formed a circle and placed ourselves where we seemed to fit the best according to our temperaments. In the north is the Bull symbolizing authority, conviction, and power. In the East is the eagle representing vision, insight and discernment. In the south is the deer, the symbol of emotions, sensitivity, gentleness, and relationships. And in the west is the bear focused on the concrete, tactile, the senses, being grounded and stable. As you might expect I placed myself half-way between the eagle and the deer.

During the middle of the week we each got into separate canoes and paddled to other islands or the mainland to find a spot in the wilderness where we would stay for a two-day vision quest. Upon returning we assembled in a circle and shared our experiences. Each was convinced they had been near God and that God had given them some gift of presence or knowing, indeed their quest for a vision was fulfilled. And each person experienced their vision according to where they were on the Indian prayer wheel. The bulls came away with clear convictions or a sense of deeper commitment. The eagles verbalized their visions in symbolic images and achieved clarity and insight. The deer had their hearts warmed by the loving spirit of God, and experienced reaffirmation of the importance of relationships in their lives. The bears reported concrete experiences in nature sensing God; as a spider built a large web, in the sunrise and sunset, and in the peaceful atmosphere of the crisp and clean mornings and evenings.

My vision was symbolic and relational. My spot was on top of a small ridge sloping down to the lake. I sat in the middle of four perfectly placed tresses. They represented for me the center of the prayer wheel. I have internalized this as a place in my soul where I can go inside and meditate on God. The other important theme of my week was my son and his transition to ninth grade. This vision quest for me was an opportunity to facilitate my letting go of one phase of life in relationship to my son. The clarity I received moved me to write devotional reflections on things I wanted him to know about life, which I presented to him as “Love Letters from Dad.”

The first point about vision is that God gives us each a vision for our life in Christ in ways that match who we are, our unique personality, temperament, gifts and life experiences. And this leads us to the 2nd point: God gives each of us a particular vision for each stage or season of our life.

For some of you God’s particular vision for you in this stage or season of your life may be huge. My example of this is Julia Alexander, one of the saints of Cedar Creek UMC who has joined the Lord in the sky. “Miss Julia,” toward the end of her long and wonderful life, was in and out of the hospital. I started thinking each time that we were close to having to plan a funeral service. On one of these occasions I was sitting by her bedside. She seemed unconscious. But suddenly she tilted her head toward me, opened her eyes and looked at me with a smile, and said, “Ron, I’m not go’na die yet! God’s got something big for me to do!” Yes he did! She had a vision of a child care center at the church. She cast the vision and wrote the check to make it happen. Now that’s a huge vision with a large impact.

For some of you God’s particular vision for you in this stage or season of your life may seem small. Let me tell you a true story about a young man named Johnny. It’s told in a book, The Simple Truths of Service, by Ken Blanchard & Barbara Glanz. During a presentation to employees of a large grocery store chain, Barbara challenged each employee to put their personal signature on their job. “Every one of you can make a difference and create more meaningful memories for your customers that will motivate them to come back. Go home tonight and think about something you can do for your customers that will make them feel special – a memory that will make them want to come back and shop at your store again.” 

About a month later Barbara received a call from a store manager in which he told her of a nineteen-year-old young man who had downs syndrome named Johnny. Johnny had an idea the night he went home with the challenge. He decided that every night when he came home from work he would find a thought for the day or make one up. His father would type the thought on the computer and make plenty of copies for all the customers who would come through Johnny’s line each day. Johnny would finish bagging the groceries, put his thought for the day in a bag and say, “Thanks for shopping with us.” As you might suspect this young man-with a job most people would say is not important-had made it important by creating precious memories for all of his customers. The lines were always long at Johnny’s counter, for everyone wanted one of Johnny’s thought for the day, and even more importantly to be told thank you by such a wonderfully sincere and caring young man. Whether big or small, God has a particular vision for each of our lives in Christ at every stage or season, and God uses even small visions for big purposes!

My intentional visioning at this stage of my life, 59 turning 60, began a year ago on my birthday, June 14. For a year I have been thinking, praying, reading, listening to audio CD’s, reflecting and journaling. The process included going to Jordan and Israel in November of 2006 on an interfaith peacekeeping and biblical scholarship program, and leading a team of pilgrims to Israel in March of this year. I’ve gotten in touch with my family spiritual DNA. From my mom’s side I’ve realized the influence of basic piety on my life. My great granddad was a preacher. As a child, I would sit on my Mama Forrest’ lap in her rocker snapping green beans and watching Billy Graham on TV. Just a few years ago I discovered that my mom had prayerfully dedicated me to God during the time she carried me and during the first years of my life. The hymn “I Know Whom I Have Believed” represented her thankfulness to God for her life and for me, her first child! “I know not why God’s wondrous grace to me he hath made known, nor why, unworthy, Christ in love redeemed me for his own,  But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto him against that day.”

From my dad’s side I received my love of children, especially needy children. My dad’s parents helped build Woodman Circle Home in Sherman and raised their six kids in a farm house on the property. Woodman Circle Home was a project of a national insurance company. It was a wonderful place for children who had lost their fathers and for wives who had lost their husbands. Papa Campbell supervised the farm work and Mama helped raise the orphans. My dad and his brother and sisters were known as “Home kids” to the people in Sherman. From my mom’s side I inherited piety, and from my dad’s side my love of needy children.

So where I have I arrived at the end of this season of my life? In general I have a deeper sense of God’s presence and participation in my life, a deeper commitment to live more into the vision of God’s compassion for all of life and to offer myself more deeply in service to our world, and a intentional and firm resolve to make my life count more for children. A particular vision crystallized over this year: “Year of the Child: 907 to 808.” The theme is “Reach out to a child to make the world a better place for God. Help a child, impact a generation.” The purpose is “To make a positive impact on the lives of children outside our congregation.” You’ll hear a lot more about this as we get ready to launch this ministry in September.

This vision came to me from the confluence of my spiritual DNA with the evolution of our three outreach committees: Church and Society, Mission, and Evangelism. This quote captures the essence of what this ministry emphasis is about. “Fifty years from now, it won’t matter what kind of car you drove, what kind of house you lived in, or how much money you had in your bank account…but the world may be a better place because you were important in the life of a child.” (Anonymous)
I urge you to help me externalize my vision of the “Year of the Child.” I realize I’m preaching to the choir! So many of you are already doing so much to make the world a better place for children! Even more importantly than your willingness to help me externalize my vision is this: I want you to start thinking about, praying about, dreaming about, and talking about God’s particular vision for you. Maybe the image of a child is a good place for your medication to start. What is the child of God’s vision for your life in your spiritual womb waiting and longing to be born?

We’ve talked about how God’s vision for our life in Christ comes to each of us in a unique way and as a particular vision for a stage or a season. Now let’s look at the 3rd point: God gives each of us a life-long vision that encompasses who we are and what we do for a whole life lived under the influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

God gives you a unique role to play in his Kingdom. You’re the only person in the world who can live your particular life for the glory of God. There’s no one else in the world with your unique mix of spiritual gifts, passions, abilities, personality, and experiences. God shaped you for a very specific ministry and no one else can fulfill your mission. If you don’t do it, nobody else can!

Ten years ago I started thinking about, praying about, dreaming about, and talking about God’s vision for my life in Christ. In writing my life mission, I started thinking about what I would want someone to say about my life after I die. So I wrote my epithet which I want Jeri to put on my tombstone. Thinking about my life mission this way helps me calibrate the way I live my life now, to keep my eye on the ball, on God’s life-long vision for my life in Christ. Looking back it still seems to capture what I think God envisions for my life in Christ.

Epithet on Tombstone: Here lies Ron Campbell, school bus driver, teacher, coach, school administrator, counselor, and pastor: He loved all people, but especially children, youth and little old ladies! He loved to laugh and he knew how to cry. The thrill of his life and his deepest satisfactions were his family, friends, and his church. He was there when they needed him and he brought joy and laughter to their lives. Above all he loved Christ. He devoted his life to stirring faith in Christ, building his church, and making his world a more loving place.

Here’s the point I want to drive home this morning: the Pentecost experience is not just a story about people who lived in the Bible days. No, it’s also about you and me. The Spirit still gives us dreams and visions and empowers us to prophecy. This morning I want to get you thinking about, praying about, dreaming about, and talking about God’s vision for your life in Christ.

Prayer: God we pray that each of us may be transformed more and more into the image of Jesus through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Under your guiding hand help us write new scripts for our lives that reflect a new vision of who you want us to be and what you want us to do. Help us to discover anew and live into the unique, particular, and life-long visions for our lives which you give us. Amen