History books often refer to World War I as “The war to end all wars.” We all know how untrue that is. There was of course World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq twice plus numerous other skirmishes that our troops have been involved in. That doesn’t even begin to mention the battles that other countries have had in the 89 years since the war to end all wars ended in 1918.
When World War I came to a close President Woodrow Wilson spent six months in France negotiating the peace treaty that became known as “The Treaty of Versailles” making him the first president to travel to Europe while in office. Now you know something that might one day help you with Final Jeopardy, but I digress. Wilson came up with a fourteen-point peace plan, the keystone of which was the League of Nations. Wilson’s thinking was that the League could solve matters diplomatically without the need for military intervention. Wilson believed so much in the idea of The League of Nations that he was willing to forget the other thirteen points of his peace plan.
In the end some of Wilson’s points did eventually become reality, one of them was the League of Nations. For his efforts he won the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize. That was the good news. The bad news was, The Treaty of Versailles never received ratification from the Senate. Because the U.S. was never a party to the treaty, the U.S. never became a member of the League of Nations.
Because France, Belgium, and other countries that suffered terrible destruction in the war insisted on war reparations and because of the absence of the U.S. in the League of Nations as well as other issues, the peace, as we all know, was not a lasting peace and the world fell into war once again with the rise of Adolph Hitler and Nazi Germany only twenty years later.
II Though his success is obviously questionable, the war to end all wars was not the last war in the history of the entire world. I believe that it is without question that Woodrow Wilson was a man of vision. He was a man who was able, somewhere in the depths of his mind, to look into the future and see a world with a different look.
Perhaps you saw and remember the bumper sticker of a few years ago that said, “Visualize World Peace.” That bumper sticker caused many of us to stop and think and to try to see in our mind’s eye what a world of real peace might look like. I can’t speak for you and what you might see but when I would think about world peace, when I tried to visualize world peace, what I saw was not only a world where there was no more war, but also a place where we human creatures made a real and genuine attempt to not only see the people around us, but attempted to understand them. We wanted to see and to understand their problems. But even more than that, what I saw was us trying to help each other to solve those problems. That is what I saw because I believe that the only way that we will have world peace is to understand each other.
Obviously Woodrow Wilson probably never saw that bumper sticker. I don’t even know if they had bumper stickers in Wilson’s day. What I do know is that Wilson understood the concept. Wilson was able to look out at the world and see a different place, a place of peace. He could visualize world peace. I think most of us could do the same.
What I think made Woodrow Wilson different from most of us is that he was not only able to visualize world peace, he was able to come up with a concrete plan to do something about it. He truly believed that the League of Nations would bring world peace and he worked tirelessly to bring his dream into reality.
III As we have already said, Wilson’s idea failed. It did not, however, stop him from first, having the dream and then second, working to make it a reality.
Perhaps that too is a difference between Wilson and us. He not only had an idea that he thought might work, he wasn’t afraid to give it a try. What a novel concept. So many in the world today have dreams. They have big dreams. But, they also have something else, and they have it in large doses, fear. They fear that they might fail. Some may even fear that they might succeed and what that would mean. They may fear that others might ridicule them and their dreams. The list of reasons and excuses could be endless.
What we need to be is people of dreams. Our dreams are important. But even more, we need to be people of action. We need to be people who are willing to go to work to make our dreams and our visions into realities. We need to be people who are willing to go to work to help those around us to fulfill their dreams.
IV Today is Pentecost Sunday. In one sermon I read this week today was referred to as “The Forgotten Holy Day.” I can understand where that comes from. Growing up in another denomination, I can never remember hearing about Pentecost as a kid. Additionally there are preachers even within our own denomination who are less than comfortable with the disciples speaking in other languages so that all who were gathered around them were able to understand in their native tongue, regardless of what that native tongue might be. It becomes easy to see why some might regard this as a forgotten holy day.
As the lesson begins the disciples are locked away, probably out of fear for the Jews or the Romans. The Holy Spirit enters the room like a great wind and the disciples receive the gift of the spirit. That gift forever changes their lives.
As they began to speak they began to speak in those foreign tongues. It was a strange sight and some began to make fun of the eleven saying that they had drunk too much wine. The strange events bring in accusations of drunkenness.
Peter, as impetuous as always, steps up and begins to speak. First they aren’t drunk because it is only 9:00 a.m. What that has to do with anything I am not exactly sure. But then Peter begins to quote the prophet Joel. Listen to those words once again. " ’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, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
Prophesy, dreams, and visions. Those are the elements of this morning’s lesson that I have chosen to focus on this holy Pentecost Sunday. I believe that most of us, at least on this one Sunday per year, have focused on the first part of today’s reading. Where I think we fall at least somewhat short is in the second half. Some of us might not like thinking about those foreign tongues, but we really don’t think about dreams and visions.
V I want to thank the praise team for singing that song this morning. I know it is a bit unusual that they sing a secular song in worship. There is, however, a point to all of it.
The song, “Don’t Stop,” originally performed by Fleetwood Mac in 1977, through the first couple of verses isn’t clear exactly what the singing is about; it is just looking at the future. In the last verse the listener learns that one person has hurt another and now has a vision for a new day, a second chance.
Listen to the words again. “If you wake up and don’t want to smile, if it takes just a little while, Open your eyes and look at the day, you’ll see things in a different way. Why not think about times to come, and not about the things that you’ve done, if your life was bad to you, just think what tomorrow will do. All I want is to see you smile, If it takes just a little while, I know you don’t believe that it’s true, I never meant any harm to you. Don’t stop, thinking about tomorrow, don’t stop, it’ll soon be here, It’ll be, better than before, Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone. Don’t you look back, don’t you look back.”
When I hear that song I think of vision and dreams. When I hear that song it causes me to start thinking about the future. Like most songs, what we remember most is the chorus; it is the part of the song that is repeated over and over again. Don’t stop, thinking about tomorrow, don’t stop, it’ll soon be here, It’ll be, better than before, Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone.
Because of your visions and dreams we now have more classroom space, new youth space with the Family Life Center, and more fellowship hall space with Asbury Hall. That was your dream. That was your vision. And, with a lot of hard work it became a reality. But, I have to warn you, that was yesterday. What about today?
To quote Fleetwood Mac again, “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow… yesterday is gone.” It is time for a new vision. We need to remember the words of the writer of Proverbs, “Where there is no vision the people perish.”
I have a vision for our congregation. First, I have a vision to see our building debt retired. It is on a fifteen-year note. We need to retire that debt quicker than 2021. That debt, while it was necessary to get the Family Life Center complete, will inhibit our growth for the future. We need to work to retire that debt as soon as possible. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.
Second, I see us with a master plan for our future. We have a limited amount of land. We a vision for what we will need in the future, where it should go on our property, and when it should be built. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.
Third, I see a need coming for additional parking space and I don’t think that need is too far away. As Santa Fe grows, Aldersgate should grow with it. We cannot let our limited parking be the thing that holds us back from being the church that God calls us to be. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.
Fourth, I have a vision for a new, larger sanctuary, not because I just want it, but instead because it will be necessary if Aldersgate is to continue to grow in its mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. With more people we need more space for them to worship. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.
Friends I have a vision for Aldersgate that will require all of us to become better disciples than we are right now. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow. I have a vision that means we all need to reach out to touch a hurting world around us with the love of God. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.
Where do we start? Over the past several weeks I have met with all of the adult Sunday school classes here at Aldersgate. We still need to talk to the youth, the children, the choir, the UMW, the Methodist Men and perhaps others. What we have talked about is the Clear Vision Project. In these meetings I have been asking every group in the church to identify one outreach ministry, something that we are not currently doing and take the lead on making that ministry happen. Some have already started. Some are still working on their projects and as I said some haven’t begun to talk about them because they have yet to have that opportunity, but it is coming. We must be about sharing the love of God to the world around us. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.
If you are not part of one of these classes or groups, never fear. There is a place for you. Talk with the groups about what you can do to help. Grab a vision of your own, some new ministry that none of us have thought about and enlist the help of people here at the church and work to implement that ministry in the name of God. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.
I have a vision for Aldersgate. Will you help? Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.
Though I know he never heard Fleetwood Mac’s song, a florist of a generation past, Max Schling would have agreed with the sentiment. He once ran a brilliant ad in The New York Times. The ad was written entirely in shorthand. It was clipped from the newspaper by thousands of curious businessmen. They naturally carried the ad with them to work and asked their secretaries for a translation. The business men found out that the ad was actually addressed to those very secretaries. It asked them sort of a favor. When the boss wanted the secretary to order flowers for his wife, please remember Schling. That my friends can be described with one very simple word; vision. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.
We all need to have vision in our lives. We need to have vision for ourselves personally. But, just as importantly, we need to have vision for ourselves collectively as a congregation. “Don’t stop, thinking about tomorrow, don’t stop, it’ll soon be here, It’ll be, better than before, Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone.”
