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Genesis 37:1-11

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1) Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. 2) This is the story of the family of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3) Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. 4) But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him. 5) Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6) He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. 7) There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8) His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words. 9) He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream; the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10) But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?” 11) So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

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Tomorrow we will observe the national holiday that commemorates the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the dreamer. If he had lived to see January 15, 2021, he would have celebrated with his family 92 years of life. No doubt, he would be preparing to either be in Washington D.C., for the inauguration or for sure preparing to sit in front of the television, as most of us will be doing, to witness history in the making again.

If he had lived to see this day, there may not have been a national holiday in his honor. Due to COVID-19, celebrations will be modified, but COVID-19 cannot change what Dr. King meant to this country and to the world. So there will be virtual celebrations that will not in any way diminish who Dr. King is and what Dr. King means and will continue to mean to all of us.

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If Dr. King were alive today, there may not have been a beautiful monument on the plaza in Washington DC erected in his honor. If he had lived to see this day we would have seen news flashes of his speeches, and probably pictures of him in his old age instead of the one that is indelibly in our memories as a testament that he died too young. I say all of this because there seems to be pattern amongst us to honor the dead, instead of the living. All of the monuments in DC that are national treasures are monuments to the dead. Lincoln is dead! Washington is dead! Jefferson is dead! King is dead!

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But even though Dr. King is dead and has been for some 53 years this year, we still see the realities of his dream. This is a testament to the fact that you can kill the dreamer or the dreamer will die, but you cannot kill the dream. A dream that is foreordained by God never dies.

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On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, the words “I Have a Dream” were memorialized in a speech that he made to those who had traveled from all around the country to demonstrate the need for a change in the country. On that day, even though America had handed to black and poor people a check that had been stamped with the words “insufficient funds”. On that day, even though those gathered had been brutalized by lynchings; and overwhelmed by oppression they did not go to Washington DC to take their country back, they went to make their country better, not just for themselves, but for everyone. Although we call it the “I Have a Dream” Speech, the speech focused on racism, police brutality, the need for social justice and other corrections that needed to be made to make America what she could be. Coming to the close of the speech, it is said that Mahalia Jackson shouted to Dr. King,“tell them about the dream Martin.” That is when Dr. King began to share his dream that he had shared in other speeches around the country but this day would be the day that it would resonate with the country and the world.

Dr. King dreamed that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal”.

Dr. King dreamed that his four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Dr. King was a dreamer, but on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN on the evening of April 4th in 1968, some who Dr. King told the dream to, hated him even more and killed him.

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Some of us know about being dreamers. We may not have dreams that reached the hearts, minds, and ears of millions of people around the world. But we are dreamers and we have a dream.

We may not be the caliber of dreamer that a holiday will be designated for us, but we are dreamers and we have a dream.

We may not be able to put our dreams in eloquent words that reverberate around the world and are forever in the annals of history, but we are dreamers and we have a dream.

Langston Hughes wrote a poem about his dream entitled, “I Dream a World”:

 

I dream a world where man

No other man will scorn,

Where love will bless the earth

And peace its paths adorn

I dream a world where all

Will know sweet freedom’s way,

Where greed no longer saps the soul

Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,

Whatever race you be,

Will share the bounties of the earth

And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head

And joy, like a pearl,

Attends the needs of all mankind-

Of such I dream, my world.

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We all have dreams. Our dreams may be small to some but, we have been dreamers and sometime we have failed to live out our dreams because others have sought to destroy our dreams and sadly some of us have allowed those dreams to be destroyed. But I pause today to tell you to keep dreaming.

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Because all of us are dreamers and some of us have allowed our dreams to become blurred, I will share with you why you should “keep dreaming” and why you should keep your dreams alive, even when it appears that their coming to fruition seems impossible.

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Why should you keep dreaming?

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Because dreams and visions that we have are given to us by the Lord to foretell our future. The Holy Spirit embeds in us this thing, this something that nudges us in one direction rather than another. When we try to go one way, that spirit may allow you to go in that direction, but the path leads you right back to that “thing”. That something that was implanted in you before you were formed in your mother’s womb.

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Sadly, some of us have not grasped the fact that we are God’s children and because we are God’s children he has placed in us a divine plan and has caused us to dream in terms of that plan. I know some may think that their dreams are just theirs and they came from nowhere, but our dreams are a blueprint for the plans God has for our lives.

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President Barack Obama didn’t just become the first black President of the United States of America because he wanted to, that was God’s plan.

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Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris didn’t just become the first black female to ascend to this high office in American Government because she wanted to, it is God’s plan.

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Senator Raphael Warnock did just become the first black man to be elected senator in Georgia and the only one from the south since Reconstruction because he wanted to, it is God’s plan.

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Yes, even though Donald Trump and his minions think that he became president because of him and them, they are sadly mistaken. It was God’s plan so that we could see what happens to a nation and to a people when they turn away from God, and allow the Neros, Herods and Caesars of their day to become their god and so the world can see the power within us as black voters who have often been intimidated and suppressed.

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Our text this afternoon is about a dreamer. When Joseph told his brothers and his father his dreams, they were of what was to come as it related to their future. Joseph told them he dreamed that they both would bow to him in subjection. They became angry, but that was the dream for his future and theirs. And if we read later on in Genesis through the 47 chapters you will see where his dream became a reality and where he saved the lives of both his brothers and his father during a famine.

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They didn’t like the dream, but that was the dream. This story of Joseph speaks to us today as we are in the midst of so much turmoil. It speaks to us and provides for us lessons on how to keep dreaming even when there appears there is nothing to dream for. I want young people who may be on this call and even the not so young to keep dreaming. It will be your dreams that will be made a reality that will turn this messed up country and this world around. Keep dreaming.

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If you were to think back to some point in your life, you had a dream for what you wanted to do! From the time you were a child, you envisioned yourself being and doing whatever it was that had been in you from your birth. I can remember playing church when I was a little girl and pretending to be a preacher. Now I never wanted to be a preacher, but I was always playing church. As I grew older, I was always asked to speak at this or that occasion. I never aspired to be a preacher, but the dream, the vision was put into my very being from a child that foretold of what was to come.

Some of you this afternoon can remember a dream that you had. Some of us are walking in that dream and some of us are walking in our dream. There is a difference between walking in the divine dream that the Lord has and walking in our dream. When we walk in our dream, we may be doing well, but we are not really content in what we are doing. When we walk in the divine dream, we may not be where we intended but we have joy in what we are doing because it is the plan of the Lord.

Why do you have to keep dreaming?

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Beloved, you have to keep dreaming because even if those around you hate you for your dreams and try to do all they can to destroy your dreams, they don’t have the power.

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When Joseph told his brothers what was in his dream, the Bible says that his brothers hated him even more. There was a problem already in the house of Jacob as it related to Joseph and his brothers and this dream thing did not make things any better.

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Joseph was undoubtedly Jacob’s favorite son and Jacob made that clear by how he treated Joseph. Now in all families you will hear siblings say that one sibling was one or the other parent’s favorite, but that is not always shown outwardly.

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Jacob showed his favoritism toward Joseph outwardly. The bible says that Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was the son of his old age. Also, Joseph was the son of Rachel, the wife that Jacob truly loved. Because he loved him so, he set him apart by having an ornate robe made for him that designated him as the favorite. When Jacob did this, a problem brewed amongst the siblings and they hated Joseph because there was nothing they could do to make their father love Joseph less and them more.

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They already hated Joseph because of his special coat and because he received the abundance of Jacob’s love but when he told them that he had a dream that they would be bowing to him they hated him even more.

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Right in our own homes, amongst our own blood relatives, there can be those who hate us for our favor and because of our dreams. Right in our own homes, amongst our own blood relatives, there can be those who want to see us and our dreams destroyed. Right in our own homes, amongst our own blood relatives, there can be those who will smother our dreams by telling us we are not anything and will never be anything. Right in our own homes, amongst our own blood relatives, there can be those who are trying to set a trap for us to be caught up in and destroyed. Right in our own homes!

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But even if that is the case, we have to keep dreaming. Even though we may be alone in our dreams, we have to keep dreaming. Even when momma and daddy and sister and brother try to tell us our dreams will never become a reality, we have to keep dreaming. Even when it seems our dreams have been deferred, we have to keep dreaming.

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Joseph’s dream did not come to fruition until sometime later after his brothers sold him into slavery and he ended up in Egypt. His dream did not come to fruition until after he was thrown in jail for false accusations launched against him by Potiphar’s wife, but even in prison he had favor with the warden because his dream had to be realized. People have the power to distract. People have the power to discourage.

 

But, nobody has the power to defeat a dream that God has foreordained.

 

What are you saying, pastor? Most times, to realize our dreams we have to go through something. We have to endure some heartache. We have to endure some pain. We have to endure some disappointment.

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Sometimes things will get so bad that we may find one thing that is not a part of the dream that has been given us, but always remember that dreams may be deferred, but they are not destroyed. Dreams may be delayed, but not gone for good. Keep dreaming because where you are is just the preparation grounds for the realized dream.

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When Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, the dreamer was killed, but the dream was not destroyed. When there is a dream given to you by the Lord, that dream will not and can not be destroyed. People may try to destroy you, but God will not let His dream be destroyed.

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The Lord says he knows the plans for our lives and that plan will not be destroyed, so just do your part and keep dreaming.

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When all hell breaks loose in your house, keep dreaming!

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When all hell breaks loose in your heart, keep dreaming!

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When all hell breaks loose on your job, keep dreaming!

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When you are thrown under the bus of life and left for dead, keep dreaming!

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When others tell you your dreams are ridiculous and will never happen, keep dreaming!

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When you tell yourself that you are not good enough and fear surrounds your every thought, keep dreaming!

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When it seems your dreams or deferred or delayed, keep dreaming! Keep dreaming and keep trusting that the Lord will make a way somehow for you to realize the dream he has for you. If the Lord implanted it in you, it will be accomplished because the Lord leaves no work undone.

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Even though Dr. King knew that there was a contract on his life, he kept dreaming. But not only did he keep dreaming, he kept working the dream. He didn’t just dream and not do the work to accomplish the dream with God’s help. Dr. King knew that in order to bring to fruition the dream, he had to do more than dream. That’s why he marched. That’s why he boycotted. That’s why he organized. That’s why he fought for the Civil Rights Bill. That’s why he fought for the Voting Rights Act of 1965; that’s why he spoke out against oppression, hatred, racism, classism and even the Vietnam War. Dr. King knew to have the dream, and talk about the dream was void, if he did not work for the dream. When he was assassinated in 1968, that is what he was doing, he was working for the dream with the sanitation workers in Memphis, TN.

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You see, you can have a dream of being a doctor but if you don’t go to school and do what is necessary academically to become a doctor, that dream will not be fulfilled.

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You can have a dream of becoming a judge, but if you don’t go to law school and learn the laws and dedicate yourself to the necessary work, that dream will not be fulfilled.

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You can have a dream of becoming whatever you dream of becoming but remember that you have to work the dream. You have to do the work of he who sends you while it is day because the night will come.

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When you dream, dream your biggest dreams. Don’t let all of this mess around you minimize your dreams. Don’t let what others say about you dictate the kind of dreams that you dream.

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Dream your biggest dreams!! Dream supersized dreams! Don’t measure your dreams by others dreams because your dreams are not their dreams and theirs is not yours.

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Dream your biggest dreams!! Dream the impossible dream.

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go.

To right the un-rightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar To try when your arms are too weary To reach the unreachable star.

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You are called to be you and to live your dream. How do you do that in times like these? You do it by remembering the power that is in you. Paul wrote a letter to the Ephesians and ended a prayer in verses 20-21 in chapter 2 with these words, “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

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We have the power at work in us. We need to use our power. You see the dream that he has given you and the dream he has given me are only a spec in the big picture because while we are doing what we are doing, the Lord is accomplishing far more than we can imagine, because what he has put in us is important, we have to keep dreaming.

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Keep dreaming because you have the power of the Christ that lives in you.

Keep dreaming because greater is he that is in you than anyone that is in the word.

Keep dreaming because the work you have been destined to do is all divine.

Keep dreaming because you have been placed in this world to do a purposeful work that will lead others to Christ.

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Keep dreaming. Our ancestors kept dreaming. They envisioned what we now see, but they never saw it. They never knew freedom, but they kept dreaming. They were not dreaming for themselves, they kept dreaming for you and for me. So too, we must keep dreaming not just for ourselves, but for those who will come after we are gone.