John 1:35-41

I had a dream the other night - or maybe it was a vision. Sometimes the two aren't very far apart. It had to do with our congregation, with St. Andrew. Since we are in this building campaign, it's sometimes hard to let go of - even at night, even during sleep. I'd been talking to a couple of folks in the congregation who want to give stained glass windows, and thinking about what they might be like. I'd thought of all of the traditional things - rose windows, pictures of the saints, crosses, and all the rest. I've talked to a number of stained glass artists, and scanned the internet. So I guess it wasn't unusual that I ended up dreaming about them.

Yet it was more of a vision than a dream, because it had more to do with the congregation and its vision and mission, than it had to do with windows. The windows are just another medium for the message. I keep telling folks that this program is not about bricks and bucks, but about ministry - about who we are and what we are about - and that is basically what this dream, this vision, was all about. It was about a window that spoke to us about who we are, and about what God is calling us to be.

It was about two windows - windows for our new sanctuary. The vision started with a large one, facing out toward the street. That way, when people entered the sanctuary, it was the first thing that they saw, and the figures on the window accompanied them and spoke to them throughout our worship. They were representative of that company of saints who gather with us, who worship with us every Sunday morning. But they were not just any company of saints - they were a particular crowd, this group.

Leading them was another figure, dressed differently than the rest. It was Saint Andrew, our namesake. Now, you have to understand something about St. Andrew, to fully comprehend the meaning of this window. St. Andrew, as you meet him in the scriptures, was always bringing people to Jesus. Anywhere you meet him in scripture, he is in the process of bringing people to Christ. First it was his brother, Simon Peter, who became the head of the disciples. Then it was the boy with the loaves and fish, through whom Jesus did one of his greatest miracles. Then it was the Greeks, representatives of the Gentile nations of the world. According to tradition, while most of the other disciples either stayed in Judea or went west toward Greece and Rome to preach the Gospel, Thomas wandered east, as far as India, to bring people to Christ. He was the disciples who is remembered for bringing the nations to Christ.

That's where the rest of the figures in the window come in. St. Andrew is leading what appears to be a dance - a holy dance - a dance of faith - leading the nations to Christ. There are young and old, black, white, latino, men and women - even a dog and cat or two in the procession. That is what you see in the window: this procession, this holy dance, led by St. Andrew. These figures, however, are not alone: because St Andrew is making a gesture to something beyond that window - toward the front of the church, toward another window, where the glorified Christ sits on his throne, welcoming this holy procession into his presence.

So, as I said, when you come into the church, there it is - St. Andrew and the nations, in their holy processional, their dance of faith, looking up to he welcoming figure of Christ. And we are invited to worship in the presence of this company, and reminded of our mission - that we are St. Andrew, leading the dance of the nations, leading a procession of souls to the welcoming Christ.

Of course, that is only half of the story, because the window is facing out toward the street, proclaiming the same message to those who pass by. It isn't a message only for us, for God's people, but also for our community, our neighborhood - that they are the nations - that St. Andrew is here to celebrate Christ's presence among them, calling them to a dance of faith. That this is the message we have for our community - that we are St. Andrew, leading the nations to Christ.

Now, as I said, it was only a dream - or a vision, perhaps. But it says what I have wanted to say to you about this building program - about what we are doing. A building can be a place for a family to gather, or a place to do work, or even to worship - it can be a functional place; but it can also be more than that. It can be also a means of expressing our mission, of telling others who we are and what we are about; it can serve as an invitation to faith. It can be a retreat from the community and the world, or it can be an invitation to the dance of faith, an extension of our hope, or our mission - a witness to what is happening here.

Now, I'm not saying that we need a window like that. But we do need a vision like that. That is what God is calling us to do. If we don't have a window like that, then we need to be the window - the witness. Because our community needs to hear that message.

Last year, as I was walking around the neighborhood, I stopped by one house and talked to a lady who had several children in her household, and invited her family to Vacation Bible School and church. Her reply to me was, "I don't know if we'd be welcome there." She saw us as a church of mainly white northerners, and wondered if there was a place here for a black, southern, single mother and her children. I said I thought there was a place for her here, but she never came. We need to make that message of welcome clear to our community - that we are not here for ourselves, but for them. We are not here to be a little enclave, separate from their world, their needs - Christ has placed us here to be their church, in their midst to lead the dance of faith for them, to lead the procession to Christ. We need to keep that message before our community until they understand that, and see the truth in it, through us.

That is what we have tried to talk about in these cottage meetings this past week - this kind of vision - a vision that needs now to take on flesh and blood, as well as bricks and mortar.

Well, now, the vision is yours. Maybe tonight you'll have your own dream, or vision, of this church - who we are, and what God is calling us toward. Jeremiah promises that that is the kind of thing that happens when the Spirit comes upon us - that "your old men shall see visions, and your young men shall dream dreams." May your visions, your dreams, be holy ones, filled with the message of the Gospel, and the presence of your Lord. Amen.