Dreams and Dungeons

I never gave a graduation address, never spoke before a group of young people without encouraging them to dream. I always told of how I dreamed as a young person, following the plow on the farm. You are not stuck where you start, but you will go no further than your dreams.

Most of today's anxiety about the future comes from facing the unexpecteds of life. The “Magna Carta” of the Christian life is as follows: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.(Ephesians 2:8-9)

I have been totally blind for 50 years, but when I could see, I remember there were signs on the highway, usually with a large hand, which said “Reader”. These were people to whom you could go and talk about the future, people who “supposedly” could tell you about your future by tarot cards or some other method. I knew one lady who went to one of these readers. The reader said, “in order for us to keep track of our time together, we light a candle. Each candle costs 25 dollars.” This lady would go every week, sometimes several times a week. When she had spent nearly $200,000 on candles, she still was feeling her way through a maze of doubt.

The world will caste doubts on your dreams, try to convince you of the unworthiness of your dreams. Legalism in many churches, will try to convince you that you must work to get God's acceptance by your own actions, or the actions of others. You cannot pray to anyone, living or dead, to get you out of your dungeon of doubt or fear. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. (Ecclesiastes 9:5)

Certainly, the great family of the Old Testament, was the family of Jacob; his twelve sons, the twelve tribes of Judaism. One of the most thrilling stories of scripture, the story of Joseph. Joseph was a dreamer, but this young boy talked too much, told about his dreams. He was his father's favorite because he was from his father's favorite wife, Rachael...wore a coat of many colors (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat).

Joseph was an obedient son, whether he talked too much or not. His father told him to go and check on his brothers herding flocks of sheep, following the grass. He did not find them where his father had sent him, they had moved many miles to Dothan. It took him days, but when he finally got there, they decided to kill him. What a reception for a brother!

One brother, Reuben, asked that they not to kill him. Just at that time, a camel train appeared, going west. Joseph was sold into slavery, stripped, whipped, put in bonds of iron, cutting in his flesh, forever immunizing him into the glory and mercy of God, giving him the morality to face life.

This young boy must have seen the lights of Hebron (an older city than Jerusalem) as the camel train headed to Egypt. Think of the improbability: that Potiphar would have bought him as a slave, out of the dungeon; that Potiphar's wife would take a sexual interest in him; that he would be thrown in the dungeon again; that there, again, dreams of a butler and baker, dreams of pharaoh, ruler of Egypt, dreams of fat and lean cows, all these improbable circumstances leading to Joseph becoming ruler of Egypt. How many of us would have shaven before appearing before Pharaoh (Joseph was 17 when sold into slavery, 30 when appearing before Pharaoh)? How many of us would have run from the sexual advances of Potiphar's wife? How many of us would have forsaken our faith in the dungeon? How many of us would have doubted our dreams in the two year lapse between Joseph's reading of the butler's dream and Joseph's dream? Joseph, dreams and dungeons...and then, his brothers appearing on the scene because his own family was starving in Canaan. It was because Joseph brought his family into Egypt, over 400 years, multiplying into millions, becoming slaves, becoming the foundation of Judaism. The basis for all the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament.

In University of Texas' professor, J. Budziszewski's book, Written on the Heart: The Case for Natural Law, we are tethered with the knowledge that before Moses had his face-to-face meeting with God, gaining the Commandments; man, from the heart, knew the difference between right and wrong. C.S. Lewis tells us that natural law may have one man marrying one wife, and another marrying several, but the important thing is that all believe in marriage. Even before Noah's flood, and in spite of what the atheists will tell you, the essential laws of God (marriage, homosexuality, murder, theft) were written on the hearts of men (Romans 2). In your dreams, do not forget your moral compass, and the ability of God, despite the statistical probability, to work out your dreams for you.

In today's world, perhaps because of doubts and fears, we have lost our moral compass, we have lost our way, even to attempting to work out our own redemption through the legalism of some churches or other methods. For instance, we know through the last polls that 60% of Christian people are interested in the economy, but only 20% are interested in abortion, and 25% in same-sex marriage. So little faith in God or country, so few dreams. 6 million Americans gamble on a regular basis, including 1 million teenagers. The average Christian spends $1400 in the casino and only gives $20 to foreign missions.

The most important words in the story of Joseph: the Lord was with Joseph (Genesis 39). In your dreams, like Joseph, keep your faith; today, too many must have comfort in order to worship: padded pews, air conditioning, drums and drama. When Paul and Silas were ridiculed, beaten and thrown into the prison in Phillipi, in stocks among fellow prisoners, at midnight they sang hymns, and the scripture tells us that the prisoners listened. Joseph was an example in the dungeon, Paul was an example in the prison; prisoners always recognize the real thing. Potiphar had a persistent wife, but Joseph said, “how can I sin against God?” In your dreams, learn to fear God more than the opinions of people.