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Today is the last Sunday of Advent, the Season of Dreams. For those willing to dream God’s Dream, the Advent Season points to three events.

First, it points to the coming of the Christ child, born of the virgin mother.

Second, it points to the coming of Christ the King, descending with the clouds to judge the world.

Third, it points to the mystical presence of Christ among those who believe.

Throughout the Advent Season the Sunday Lectionary directs the reading in our liturgy to the words of prophets. A prophet makes known in the human experience the purposes of God. God speaks to the prophet. The prophet speaks God’s word to the people.

Numbers 12 describes a moment during the Wilderness Wandering when the Lord described how he would lift up prophets of Israel to make his eternal plan for the blessing of the nations known.

The Lord descended in a cloud before the door of the Tent of Meeting, the Tabernacle. He summoned Aaron and Miriam, the brother and sister of Moses and said,

When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams.

Throughout the history of Israel, God’s people benefi ted from the courage of prophets who were willing to dream God’s Dream. We fulfi ll that role today. Anyone willing to dream God’s Dream becomes a prophet.

The Book of Acts describes how the Holy Spirit fi lled faithful people. Receiving the Holy Spirit, they began to prophesy. They began to declare to the people of Jerusalem how God had acted decisively in human history in Jesus.

Filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to dream God’s Dream. Dreaming God’s Dream, they prepared the way for others who had not yet experienced the healing power of God.

The Apostle Peter taps into the prophetic tradition to explain how God is at work in the new born Church. He recalls a dream of the prophet Joel:

And it shall come to pass in the last days, says the Lord,

That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.

Christmas cannot truly come until God’s people dream God’s Dream. This means you and me. We are fi lled with the Holy Spirit to dream God’s Dream. Advent precedes Christmas to prepare the way of Lord. Dreaming God’s Dream, the Eternal Word is born in our midst.