You are the message

Making a dream work

Poatina Morning tea devotion given yesterday

As Mike, Bev and Matt sat down last week, it was a really special time at Maranatha, with energy of young people all around us; the realisation that we as a movement are in a moment of transition and we are a global movement.

We are a global movement!.  At some levels we are in the process of becoming a global movement, it must be said. Our dream is so big – and I love that!   It is a dream where no kid gets left behind, where every city and town gets to experience the Kingdom.

But there’s an adjustment we are orienting to. I have to face in me, that there are times where I’ve had dreams and they haven’t quite worked out like I thought they should.  And I wonder if we, as a movement, are having to face that fact that sometimes we have had pictures of how things should be, but  haven’t?

What happens for you when you have a dream that doesn’t work out?

“Get another one”? Or “hesitate to get another one”? “Was it the wrong dream?”  “Start questioning things.” “Spinning round in circles.”  “You can start to lose hope…”  “I become hesitant in sharing the next dream in case it doesn’t work out.”  “Get overly critical about the next dream.”

One of the challenges is that the Bible is full of dreams and full of measures that I don’t feel I can match up to.

This village is based on a dream that it is possible to create a place ”the way life was meant to be”.  And if it isn’t always like that, does that mean the dream is wrong?

Reading Petersen’s “The Jesus Way” -  one of the temptations is to try to create a system that does the work for you, so you don’t have to do the work.  Ghandi said, “We’re all looking for a system so perfect that we don’t need to be good.”

In I Thess 1, Paul said, “We don’t even have to say anything, anymore, you’re the message.”  Somewhere else Paul says, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ”.  A gutsy thing.  Does Paul think he’s perfect? No, he’s the one who said, the things I don’t want to do, I do.”

So what does he mean?

As we talked last week, I realised that sometimes hope for me has been based on what’s happening outside of me; yet the more I read this, the more  I realise that what is happening outside of me is going to be a failure.  We’re in a sinful world, and even if it wasn’t like that, I would bring my sin into it.   The external is never going to be perfect, yet I don’t bring imperfection into my dreams.

I am grateful for an email Rosa sent last week, a Pod Cast called ”The God Journey”.  It’s worth listening.

It’s clear that if you expect us to have the answers, you are heading for a world of pain. If you expect any kind of leadership you are heading for disappointment and disillusionment.  The theologian Martin Buber said, “Christian leadership is ultimately about learning how to follow Jesus.”

I come back to Bono, a core thing for me, he was praying, “God I want you to bless what I am doing.” And an old man said “ Stop asking God to bless what you are doing, but look for what God is doing because that’s already blessed”.

A part of me that would like to world so perfect that I don’t have to be good;  to be so perfect I don’t have to experience pain.  We need to face as a movement that too often too many have been on the front lines and isolated. There are things about us and our dream we need to face.  There are some pretty real challenges we as a movement need to face.  We could say, “Well that was a failure”, then move onto the next dream.

My guess is that God isn’t wanting us to avoid facing the gaps, but to point us to where we haven’t been operating within of our values, justice, mercy and compassion.

I love that the dream of Fusion is the Kingdom of God. I also love that the Kingdom of God isn’t Fusion…

2 Thess 1 “Pray that our God will make you fit for what he has called you to be,  pray that he will fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy, so that it all amounts to something.”

For me personally, the journey is not to come up with lots of good ideas, but to be saying, “God what is it you wanting me to do today? What is it you are wanting me to face?”

Dennis Obst said at Conf this is a new chapter for Fusion.  What we do have to understand to now to  step out and look for what God is doing.  It was nice to drop in on Canberra on the way home and see the office and the new shop and the little team and to realise that one of the challenges as we move to the future, is that Canberra hasn’t been much in my head and heart.  What does it mean to have Canadians in the tent? And to have a global tent? and not an Australian tent?

I don’t know we have all the answers but I know Somebody does and it’s our job to be listening and taking the next steps.