Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream that I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your shelves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf." His brothers said to him, "Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?" (Genesis 37: 5 - 8, NRSV) 

Do you have a bold, daring dream that you are waiting to come true? Perhaps, it is a dream personal and unique to your life. Maybe, it is a dream for children, family, or friends. It may be a dream for your church, your community, or our country and world.

You are probably familiar with the biblical story of Joseph and his brothers, popularized by the hit musical, Joseph and the AmazingTechnicolor  Dreamcoat. Perhaps, because Joseph was a dreamer like his father Jacob, his father gave him an ornate robe. It set Joseph apart from his 11 brothers and reminded them that Joseph was the favorite son. I suspect his brothers were unhappy. But, it was Joseph's bold, daring dream that put them over the edge.  

Do you remember what Joseph's dreams were? They would change his life, his brothers and family, and even a nation?

Joseph first dreamed that, while he and his brothers were working in the field, his bundled wheat suddenly stood up and his brothers' bundles gathered around and bowed down to it. Joseph's alarmed hiss brothers because it threatened their place in the family. "Does that mean that you will rule over us," they demanded to know.

Joseph's second dream was even bolder, more daring and proved to be the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back." Joseph dreamed that the sun, moon and 11 stars would bow to him. Not only would his brothers, but now their parents, would have to bow.

Overwhelmed by hate, his brothers conspired to kill Joseph. But Reuben, the oldest brother, persuaded them, instead, to throw Joseph into a dry water well. Before Reuben could rescue Joseph, his brothers sold Joseph to merchants on their way to Egypt. Joseph was eventually sold to Potiphar, one of the Egyptian Pharaoh's a high-ranking civil servants.

Bold, daring dreams can disturb, challenge, scare, and even make us angry. They change the way we and others think and act. They disturb established structures and patterns, behaviors and expectations. They challenge us to rethink, to re-imagine what is not and ask "why not." Bold, daring dreams sometimes make others angry, as Joseph's dream did. And, they reshape lives and the world. 

After being discredited and jailed on false charges, Joseph was noticed by the Pharaoh and others. He moved up the ranks to become something of a secretary of agriculture with responsibility for overseeing all of Egypt's food supply. When famine struck Israel, his brothers traveled to Egypt to buy grain. Guess what? They had to bow before Joseph, though they did not know that it was him.

Joseph's dreams came true. Not so much because it was his personal dream for himself, but because it was God's bigger dream. It made Joseph humble. His brothers experienced the healing, restorative power of forgiveness. And the nation of Israel was saved.  

This week we remember another dreamer, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who dreamed of the day when all God's children, regardless of differences, would be joined together in a beloved community of love, justice, and mutual respect. Dr. King joined other dreamers like Gandhi and Mother Theresa to dream God's bigger, grander dreams that outlive the dreamer. Others began to share their dreams. Lives were changed. Nations on every continent have been changed. 

Where are the dreamers of God's bold dreams of transformed lives, churches, communities and the world? Are you one of them?