Most preachers have preacher dreams. I am sure every profession has its own particular variation. They are often recurring and usually show clearly the preacher’s feelings of inadequacy. Early in my ministry, I used to put my sermon on the pulpit before worship so it would already be in place when I got there to preach. The problem with that is the accompanying dream I would have on many Saturday nights. In my dream, I would step up to the pulpit and the sermon would not be there. The dream took many shapes and forms, but it always came down to the missing sermon and me having nothing to say. Nothing. The dream stopped when I started carrying my sermon with me. More recently I had a dream that I came by the church and a wedding was beginning. I suddenly realized I should be up there performing the wedding, and I was completely unprepared. So you can see a common thread in these preacherly dreams…unprepared and unable. It reveals the dark side of us, the part of us that really needs the grace. It reveals that even if I sing “God is Love,” and “Jesus Loves me,” there is nevertheless that judgment there that haunts me, even in my dreams.
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Rev. Sharon Rhodes-Wickett, “God’s Promises: Judgment and Grace”