Today’s author is Prince of Peace member, Carol Swanson.
There was a Fulani man who was a nomad and wandered with his family and cattle to find good grazing. One night he had a dream from God that there were strangers coming, and he should listen to what they had to say. He shared his dream with others, and when the missionaries came, they were welcomed. Later, one of his sons went to a Lutheran school in Cameroon, and when he finished secondary school, missionaries helped him get a scholarship to Augustana College in Sioux Falls. There in the early 1990s, he developed quite an aptitude in computer technology and took his skills back home. I had heard about this when I was working in Cameroon. One of our missionary families, the Bunks, had stayed in the bush for a few months with some of this same Fulani family to learn the language and developed a lasting relationship with them.
This weekend, we had a huge celebration for the 100 Years of the Sudan Mission, the dream of A. E. Gunderson, who wanted to bring the gospel to an area in Cameroon that had not heard it. This gave birth to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cameroon and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Central African Republic (CAR). The celebrators included missionaries, members of partner congregations in ND and SD; bishops from ND, SD, Manitoba/Northwestern Ontario Synod, Canada; bishops and church leaders from Cameroon and CAR; and also Bishop Eaton and other ELCA global mission leaders. A big deal! We met over at Luther Seminary all Saturday, and at Central Lutheran in Minneapolis for church on Sunday. And, since the two main bishops from Cameroon and CAR could not come in person, Zoom was set up in Africa—by Daouda Jae, the Fulani son who went to Augustana. I happened to sit next to Charlie and Barbara Bunk for the first Zoom session, and they told me it was his doing. He also acted as translator since the bishops speak French, not English. Charlie told me that these past years Daouda has done great work in hospitals, bringing them into the computer world and being responsible for their computer systems.
John’s vision, his dreaming, reveals Jesus to us. In Rev. 3:20, Jesus says, “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.” Many of us pray regularly at mealtime, “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blessed.” Jesus welcomes us, we welcome Jesus. Daydream a little— imagine the voice of Jesus speaking to you. How do you feel? What would you say to Jesus?
John continues his vision: After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you…” (Rev. 4:1) The door is open, revealing, welcoming.
Barbara Bunk told me there were many Fulani who would come to them and say they had dreamed of Jesus and so they were curious.
John’s vision becomes bizarre. On the throne is seated one who looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald (4:3). The Holy God is one of mystery, the Holy Other. Beautiful gems symbolize this for John. Catherine Keller makes the connection to the Rock of Ages (doubled), “as far from human(ish) as imaginable” (Facing the Apocalypse, p25) I remember that God as “my rock” is a common metaphor in the Psalms. And I think of Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel 2.
“There is no Holy One like the LORD,
no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.” (2:2)
And it goes on much like Mary’s Magnificat in the New Testament.
“Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
But those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
The barren has borne seven,
But she who has many children is forlorn.” (2:5)
“He raises up the poor from the dust;
He lifts the needy from the ash heap,
To make them sit with princes
And inherit a seat of honor.” (2:8)
Hannah sings of the power of God, dreams of God’s transforming power. And the throne room reveals a sense of God’s power as well. Like African call-and-response or Psalms’ antiphonal chants, the four creatures sing of God, holy, almighty, was-is-and-is-to-come—and the elders sing back of God’s worthiness, of God’s creative power. Honor and worship.
On Sunday morning at Central Lutheran, our 100 Year Celebration continued with worship, and Bishop Eaton preached. She spoke of Gunderson’s dream of sharing the gospel, of the missionaries wanting to welcome people into the family of God through Jesus; and she spoke of the welcoming by the people of Cameroon and CAR, and how that relationship grew, both sides changed by the other, into a new creation, a new structure. Christ breaks down the walls that divide us; and as it says in Ephesians 2:22—In [Christ] you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. It is God who invites us and welcomes us all. Our relationships with one another and with God transform us. The church is different from the world culture “that preaches… and violently teaches division, that that is the way to power and success,” Bishop Eaton told us.
On Sunday morning at Prince of Peace, you sang a new song, “Build a Longer Table” that goes,
1.) Build a longer table, not a higher wall,
Feeding those who hunger making room for all.
Feasting together, stranger turns to friend,
Christ breaks walls to pieces; false divisions end.
3) Build a broader doorway, not a longer fence.
Love protects all people, sparing no expense….
4) When we lived as exiles, refugees abroad,
Christ became our doorway to the reign of God….
Doorways and dreaming.
One more dreamer: Paul Simon has a new album called “7 Psalms.” It came to him in dreams. As I listened to Pastor Walter at the baptismal font lead us through the Thanksgiving of Baptism and the Praising God for Water, I thought of the refrain of Paul Simon’s “Your Forgiveness”:
Dip your hand in Heaven’s waters
God’s imagination
Dip your hand in Heaven’s waters
All of life’s abundance in a drop of condensation
Dip your hand in Heaven’s waters
Link to Central Lutheran worship service and Bishop Eaton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O5FQcMepxU
If you wish to listen to Paul Simon, here are links:
Album “7 Psalms” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANtntuDslnk
CBS Sunday Morning Show Interview, June 29 (7 min 30 sec) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmXHuSiHxWM