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I was about 8 years old. We lived in the little town of Huron on the shores of Lake Erie. I had ridden my bike into town with a few friends for my Saturday visit to the ten cents store. Returning with a puzzle I had purchased we crossed the railroad tracks. My parents had taught me to always walk my bike across railroad tracks. But in the middle of the rail bed I dropped my puzzle. Tiny puzzle pieces were scattered between the rails. I dropped my bike to pick them up. That’s when I heard the sound of a train whistle! Frantically, I worked to get all the pieces into the bag. The whistle sounded again, only louder. I looked up and saw a train coming around the bend! It didn’t take much thought for me to realize that puzzle pieces could be replaced so I went to pick up my bike. But it had become wedged in the tracks. Now it is one thing for an 8 year old boy to leave a new puzzle to be run over by a train. But it is another to leave his beloved bike to be smashed by this iron monster. The train was coming closer. The whistle sounded. Just when I thought I would have to leave my bike to save my life I jerked it free and made it safely across the crossing. Since that time I have had several more positive encounters with railroad tracks, but never again with a bicycle. Did you know that the distance between rails is four feet, eight-and-one-half inches. Why such an odd number? Why not an even 4 feet? Because that's the way they built them in England, and American railroads were built by British expatriates. Why did the English adopt that particular gauge? Because the people who built the pre-railroad tramways used that gauge. They in turn were locked into that gauge because the people who built tramways used the same standards and tools they had used for building wagons, which were set on a gauge of four feet, eight-and-one-half inches. Why were wagons built to that scale? Because with any other size, the wheels did not match the old wheel ruts on the roads. So who built these old rutted roads? The first long-distance highways in Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The roads have been in use ever since. The ruts were first made by Roman war chariots. Four feet, eight-and-one-half inches was the width a chariot needed to be to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses. Someone has said that the seven last words of the church are: "That’s the way we’ve always done it." Perhaps you are the kind of person who dislikes this attitude. Such an attitude stifles creativity and ingenuity. It conjures images of stuffy people who wouldn’t change their routine if their lives depended on it. Judaism had existed for a few thousand years, in part, because of traditions that had not changed. And because Jesus was a Jew early Christianity had to deal with many of these traditions. One of these traditions had to do with keeping oneself pure. And one of the ways a devout Jew kept himself pure was by associating only with other Jews. Contact with non-Jews, or Gentiles, was not allowed in the Torah, the Jewish book of Law, which is part of our Bible. There were a host of dietary laws which dictated which foods were clean and unclean. And the sign of God’s covenant was circumcision only to Jewish males. You can imagine the huge problems the early church faced when Gentiles wanted to become Christian! Should Jewish and Gentile Christians worship together? Should Gentile Christians follow the food laws? Should the males be circumcised? There were many Jewish Christians, including Peter, who said, YES! That’s the way we’ve always done it. We need to follow our traditions. Well, Peter had been one to apply Jewish traditions to those who were becoming Christians. But he was beginning to change his mind on this issue. When he traveled back to Jerusalem to meet with some Gentile Christians he was criticized for fellowshipping with uncircumcised men. That’s when Peter told them about his dream. He saw something like a large sheet coming down from heaven. In the sheet he saw all kinds of unclean animals and a voice said, "Peter, kill and eat." Peter replied, "No, Lord. They are unclean." But the voice said, "What God has made clean you must not call unclean." This happened three times and made a profound impact on Peter. He interpreted the dream to mean that Gentiles could be welcomed into the church. They could be baptized. They could receive the Holy Spirit without having to submit to all kinds of Jewish customs. This was one dream that changed the future. It opened the way for the gospel to be preached not just to the Jews, but to the entire world. If Peter had not received this dream and changed his view, perhaps Christianity would have been nothing more than a Jewish sect. Dreams that change the future. How do we know when change needs to happen? How did Christians dream of a church where women would be equal to men, a dream that challenged Paul’s writings in the New Testament that women should be silent in church and cover their heads? How did John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, come to speak out against slavery even though it is not condemned in the Bible? How did Martin Luther King know that his dream of racial equality needed a showdown with the white supremacist policies of this nation? How did our own David Fison come to change an earlier missionary view that totem poles were wrong? Have you ever held a position on an issue and then changed your thinking? Did you grow up being taught something as truth but then challenged that teaching for yourself? I grew up being taught that not only was interracial marriage wrong, but so was interracial dating. I don’t believe that anymore. I grew up with the idea that people who commit suicide are condemned to hell. I don’t believe that anymore. I grew up with the teaching that liberal Christians really didn’t have the Spirit of God in them. I don’t believe that anymore. I grew up being taught that it was impossible for a homosexual person to maintain his or her sexual preference and still have a vital faith in Jesus Christ. I don’t believe that anymore. Jackie Robinson was the first black man to play Major League baseball. In his first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Robinson faced venom nearly everywhere he traveled. Pitchers threw fastballs at his head. Runners spiked him on the bases, brutal epithets were written on cards and spoken from the opposing dugouts. Even the home crowds in Brooklyn saw him as an object of reproach. During one game in Boston, the taunts and racial slurs seemed to reach a peak. To make matters worse Robinson committed an error and stood at second base humiliated while the fans hurled insults at him. Another Dodger, a Southern white man by the name Pee Wee Reese, called timeout. He walked from his position at shortstop toward Robinson at second base, and with the crowds looking on, he put his arm around Robinson's shoulder. The fans grew quiet. Robinson later said that arm around his shoulder saved his career. How did Pee Wee Reese know that racial attitudes in professional baseball needed to change? Where did he get the courage to go against the grain of his racist culture? Oliver Wendell Holmes, Senior, was a doctor. As such he was very interested in the use of ether. In order to know how his patients felt under its influence, he once had a dose administered to himself. As he was going under, in a dreamy state, a profound thought came to him. He believed that he had suddenly grasped the key to all the mysteries of the universe. When he regained consciousness, however, he was unable to remember what the insight was. Because of the great importance this thought would be to humanity, Holmes arranged to have himself given ether again. This time he had a stenographer present to take down the great thought. The ether was administered, and sure enough, just before passing out the insight reappeared. He mumbled the words, the stenographer took them down, and he went to sleep confident in the knowledge that he had succeeded. Upon awakening, he turned eagerly to the stenographer and asked her to read what he had uttered. This is what she read: "The entire universe is permeated with a strong odor of turpentine." What may appear to be truth to us may actually be false. Jewish law taught for centuries that Gentiles were unclean. Women have been made to feel like second class citizens in societies past and present. Christians have forced their traditions on native cultures. How can we be so sure that all of our current traditions and customs are universally true? Which ones need to be changed? And on what basis do we have the right to change them? In his autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi wrote that during his student days he read the Gospels seriously and considered converting to Christianity. He believed that in the teachings of Jesus he could find the solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India. So one Sunday he decided to attend services at a nearby church and talk to the minister about becoming a Christian. When he entered the sanctuary, however, the usher refused to give him a seat and suggested that he go worship with his own people. Gandhi left the church and never returned. "If Christians have caste differences also," he said, "I might as well remain a Hindu." For Peter it took a dream from God to help him change his future and the future of many new Christians. I suppose it will take something similar for you and me to change some of our views. It might be a dream. It might be a negative experience. It might be an inspiring one. What voice should we be hearing as we seek to be guided in this change? For me it is the love and compassion of Jesus. When the love of Jesus is the guiding principle we can open our hearts and minds to change. We can be transformed into the image of God. We can act on dreams that will change the future and bring the kingdom of God to this earth! |
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05/13/01 - Dreams That Change the Future
