Kingdom Pictures: 5 Ways to See the Kingdom of GodSýnishorn

The Kingdom of God Is Like the Dream of God

I remember the first time I stood at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., where Martin Luther King gave his famous speech, “I Have a Dream.“ Maybe you know this, but he was not planning to give that part of the speech. Toward the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly improvised ending because Mahalia Jackson’s cry prompted him: “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” He did tell us about the dream. He had the dream that racism would finally stop. He dreamed his children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. In a speech he gave the day before he was killed, he said:

“God allowed me to go to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the promised land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land.”

God's dream inspired Martin Luther King.

In the Lord’s Prayer, we read, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The Greek word used in this text translated as will is thelema, which also carries additional meanings like wish, desire, passion, and dream! God has a dream for this world. When God created this world, he saw that it was good. Very good. Then sin entered the picture, and the world took a hit. Right from the fall, God wants to restore what was broken. He has a dream for life to flourish: no more suffering, no more injustice, no more pain.

Understanding the kingdom of God as the dream of God also gives us language to talk about evil and sin in the world. These are nightmares for God. One theologian put it, God’s dream for this world does not include prisons and kidnappings, child abuse and racism, greed and poverty, pollution and exploitation. God’s dream is about freedom and creativity, kindness and justice, generosity and peace, diversity and harmony. I don’t know about you, but I want to join this dream.

How would you summarize the dream of God, and what are some of God’s nightmares you have experienced in your life, family, or community?