Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream
"The Lord spoke to Moses, 'On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.'" Exodus 40: 1-2
The reading for today, from which I excert, is actually Exodus 40" 1-15. It's a long, elaborate set of instructions for setting up for worship. In fact, the entire last six chapters of Exodus are all really instructions for worship.
"Last Night I had the Strangest Dream," is the title of an old Simon and Garfunkel song about world peace breaking out. My strange dream was, alas, different.
It was of the genre known as "anxiety dream." Because I am a preacher my anxiety dreams often have to do with preaching or worship. Yours may be about taking a tesy, finishing a project, fixing a meal for company, losing your kid in the crowd.
Anyhow, in my dream it's Sunday morning and time for worship and I'm completely unprepared. I am robed but no way ready.
No serman either in hand, head or heart. No order of worship. Clueless.
The odd thing is that I am always saying how important worship is. I regularly say, "Worship is the beating heart of the church." I preach about the sacrament of preaching and the way the sacraments preach. I say, "We got to give God our best."
My dream said, "The emperor has no clothes." It said, "You aren't practicing what you're preaching." You aren't giving time to what you say most needs your time, your best time, your best effort.
My dream--like so many dreams--was in reality a wake up call, a particularly Lenten wake up call. Much like this long stretch of Exodus with all its detailed instructions for getting ready for worship. Get God at the center and other things will fall into place.
Thank you Lord for dreams, for the ways you figure out to get to us and wake us up. Amen.
Anthony G. Robinson, a United Church of Christ minister, is a speaker, teacher and writer.
To say that "God exists" is the greatest understatement ever made across space and time.
| 