I Had A Dream

I had a dream" the Rev. Martin Luther King proclaimed years ago before the nation. And last night, I too had a dream!

It was a dream of the Church, lifting up hands in prayer, and then reaching out arms of love to those around.

I saw men and women, starry‑eyed youth, newly married couples, standing at the altar of commitment. I saw them take the hand of the living Jesus, and walk with Him into their homes, and into their businesses. I saw them reaching out in love to the poor. I saw them sharing a few moments with the lonely and the aging ones. I saw them offering a prayer for their enemies. I saw them inviting their neighbors to worship with them. I saw them giving as generously to the work of the Kingdom as they spent on their trips and their cable‑vision and their bowling and their recreation. I saw them caring for their Church. I saw them giving sacrificial hours in places of leadership. For some it was to teach, or to work, or to lead, or to administer. I saw the Church come alive! I saw the Church receiving their tender, loving care! I saw the Church growing, I saw the Church with a Soul! I saw the Church as that living, pulsing heart of the Savior, for the Church is truly the "Bride of Christ", and the Church is surely the hands and the lips and the heart of God's Spirit in our world.

It was only a dream, but what a beautiful one! And why should it not be so, when we who name the name of Jesus...we who have received Him, and we who claim to be His ambassadors are living, breathing people? The Church is dead if we who are in it, are dead! But, I had a dream of a Church Alive! May it really be so, and may God's Spirit fill us to make it come true?