I Have A Dream

I HAVE A DREAM…

Proverbs 29:18

S: Vision

C: Purpose and Direction

Type: Discussion following the purpose statement of the church.

Version: ESV

RMBC 12 June 05 AM

INTRODUCTION:

ILL Purpose: Victory Deprives Red Sox Fans of Purpose

After their team won the 2004 World Series of baseball, fans of Boston’s Red Sox struggled to adjust. A New York Times article chronicled their confusion:

Having waited 86 years for a World Series championship, Bostonians found themselves… swirling with elation, but also scratching their heads.

What are Red Sox fans to do when the angst of being one of the world’s greatest underdogs is gone?

"I’m having trouble dealing with it," said Mike Andrews, who played second base for the Red Sox in 1967, when they lost to the Cardinals during one of their many close-but-no-cigar face-offs.

"You’re just kind of caught saying, ’What’s next?’ I don’t want to say it’s a letdown. But it’s certainly something you let become part of your life and it’s gone now, and we need to come up with something new."

Citation: Pam Belluck, "With Nothing Left to Win, Fans of Red Sox Suddenly Feel a Loss," NYTimes.com (10-29-04)

Being a New Your Yankee fan, which I know is unpopular with many a person, I want the Red Sox fans to know that we can be gracious.

We will let them win again in 86 years.

So Dan, when you are 100 years old, the Red Sox will win the World Series.

Bryan, you will be 96 or so.

So, see you 2090!

What are you aiming at?

There is an old saying, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time!”

I think it is an appropriate question for us as a church.

What are we aiming for?

Where is it that God wants to set our hearts and minds?

TRANSITION:

There is a verse that we are familiar with…

Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no vision, the people perish:

but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

KJV

I have used two more versions along with the KJV.

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,

but blessed is he who keeps the law.

ESV

Without a Vision is a people made naked,

And whoso is keeping the law, O his happiness!

YLT

I have come to the conclusion that this is a verse that gets abused quite a bit.

It is frequently used by those that have certain directions they desire to take an organization they are leading in.

I do believe caution is in order.

It is not to be used in a manipulative way for one’s own end or to rationalize one’s own thinking.

So, then, we ought to pause and understand what the proverb is saying.

The word “vision” is an appropriate translation of the Hebrew word.

It is, literally, “a seeing.”

It is used of dreams.

It is also used of revelation, that is, God revealing His person and His Word.

It is a perceiving, a seeing, of what is true.

I believe that the church needs this “seeing.”

It needs spiritual seeing, a seeing that comes with being connected to God.

“The people perish” is not as good of a translation, in my opinion.

It is why I included Young’s Literal Translation because the people are, more literally, exposed or made naked.

They are loosened so as to be exposed and made more vulnerable.

This means, without God providing a “seeing” of what is to come, we are vulnerable.

We need it.

Now, let us consider…

I Chronicles 12:32

Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command.

The context of this verse is set during the time of David.

The verse is saying that the children of Issachar recognized what the Lord was doing through the person of David, and they followed him.

More specifically, they had perfect wisdom and insight.

They were examining history and they were examining the present, and were wise to what was going on.

They knew what action to take, because they were in tuned to what God was doing in the world.

Today, I want to take time to share with you what I believe God is doing and what He wants to do in our midst.

My “seeing,” I profess is partial and incomplete.

I do not want to be caught being arrogant.

I do not want to cause any confusion of what I think with what God is doing.

But, as you know from last week, I am concerned about where God is taking us as a church.

What I am not going to do today is present you with some secret formula and method that will guarantee our church will grow…except this…being obedient to God’s Word.