Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he (Proverbs 29:18, KJV).

I’m gonna make it to heaven

(Fame)

Light up the sky like a flame

(Fame)

Oh I’m gonna live forever

(Fame)

Baby, remember my name (Irene Cara, from ‘Fame’)

 

The movie ‘Fame’ came out when I was in early high school.  Yes, I know you all can do the math, and yes I am that old.  I saw the movie several times in the theatre and then was glued to the television series when it came out about a year and a half later.  I loved the movie and the TV series and desperately wanted there to be an arts high school in my area that I could somehow go to and, you know, just do music all day and not have to worry about things like those pesky STEM classes that I had to work for.  I also desperately wanted to be famous.  A famous musician.  I’m not entirely sure how a classical violist could become famous on the scale that I was picturing in my head, but that nebulous thing of ‘fame’ still seemed like the only worthy pursuit of my 15 year old mind.  Famous people, after all, seemed somehow like ‘better’ people.  They could dance in hallways and look good in 1980s neon spandex.  They had perms that never seemed to frizz.  Nobody had to wear glasses; let alone glasses that were taped and mended because they were old and had flown off my face and in too many mandatory gym classes.  Famous people could burst into song at a moments notice.  Famous people could experience the full spectrum of intense emotions and instead of appearing like a weepy limp dishrag, would look virtuous and intense and somehow….better.

Better than the rest of us who weren’t famous, anyway. 

 

Much of life becomes a pursuit of fame, doesn’t it.  (Since that was a rhetorical question, I didn’t put a question mark at the end of the sentence, but please hear the rise in my voice at the end when you read it.  I just didn’t want you to miss that this was not really a question lol. Now I need some of my grammar-knowledgeable friends to way in on punctuation for me.).  Maybe not ‘fame’ in the 1980s, 15year old version that I had in my head, but certainly prominence – or at least some kind of social recognition.  The church isn’t at all immune to this thinking.  After all, how many times have you heard someone talk about how they had “100s” of children in Sunday School, and “100s” of people in attendance on Sunday morning with 8 separate choirs, 15 clergy, and support staff of at least 20 to round things out. 

 

O.k., I am exaggerating to make a point. 

 

But we do get into the ‘remember whens’ a lot don’t we.  And it makes us all sad.  It makes us sad because somehow we don’t feel as valid anymore.  We don’t feel as good about our journey, our purpose and our vision anymore.  And that thing that we’ve named as ‘fame’; that thing where people are somehow ‘better’ than we could ever imagine, seems further and further away. 

 

The book of Proverbs talk about people needing a ‘vision’ or else they ‘perish’.  I have often heard this translated into people needing one of those fancy Pinterest ‘Vision Boards’ that are used to ‘manifest into the Universe’ the things that they want out of life.  Honestly, this couldn’t be further from the intent of the Book of Proverbs.  (And this is where a theological education comes in handy; and I can thank Dr. Morrow for requiring me to go back to Hebrew to figure things out).  It is closer to thing of the passage saying “without a Prophetic Vision, the people will fade away”(or something like that). 

 

And see, here’s the thing about prophetic visions:  they are pretty different from our vision. 

 

Prophetic visions call us to a life that is lined up with God’s purpose and plan for our world, not a life of prominence or fame.  Prophetic visions remind us that we are called together into Community, for the purpose of the whole of God’s creation, not called to rise above others, or even to look better than others or to have a better perm than others.  Prophetic visions remind us to ‘Seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly’, rather than ‘light up the sky like a flame’.  Prophetic visions remind us that in God’s world, we are not seeking to be ‘better’, we are seeing to be whole. 

 

As I was reading this week I came across the phrase “the life of Ministry means the life of relative obscurity”.  I’ve thought about that phrase all week and have been thinking about its profound wisdom. 

 

Because, at the end of the day, what if the Vision, God’s Vision for Bethel is that we never are famous?  That we are always somehow a little obscure?  What if God’s vision that we just are a people who gather; who love each other; who look after the world in the best way we can and maybe throw the occasional party or pancake breakfast? What if God’s vision is just that and nothing more?

 

Well, today I’m really happy with God’s Vision.  In fact, I’m really happy with my life of relative obscurity.  15 year old me would be a little disappointed in how I turned out; especially since when I burst into song there’s usually no one around to hear its wonder, and I haven’t had a perm since I got married (which was 1991!)    But isn’t that what ‘growing up’ is about, anyway?  That we grow into ‘wisdom and understanding’, and do finally get the point of what living is all about?  I think so

 

Doing justice.

Loving Mercy.

And walking Humbly with our God.

 

That’s a vision I can get behind. 

 

Blessings today, my friends, and remember you are Loved.

~Rev. Lynne