Sermon Notes — July 12, 2026
California Dreamin’
Psalm 137:1-6
Rev. Terry Carty
July 12, 2026
It was 1963. Winter in New York City was brutally cold, gray skies, dead vegetation. Michelle was homesick. She yearned for the warmth and sunshine of her native Southern California. She and her new husband, singer/song writer John, had moved to New York to grow their music career.
Michelle’s mood gave John the inspiration for a song one night and the next morning he brought the first verse to Michelle. She helped him complete the song. Remembering their visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, Michelle contributed the church imagery in the second verse.
In 1966 it peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 17 weeks, and was #1 on their year-end charts.
“California Dreamin’” by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips has become one of the signature songs of the 1960s. Last month CBS News included it in its list of the 250 essential American songs of the past 250 years.
The song expresses one’s yearning for a place that represents identity, comfort and belonging. It asks the question, what do we do when our hearts are somewhere other than where our feet are?
Let us pray:
Gracious and faithful God, when our hearts wander with longing and our feet stand in uncertain places, speak to us through your Word. Open our minds to your truth, our hearts to your presence, and our lives to your hope. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
What do we do when our hearts yearn for somewhere other than where our feet are? This is an ages old question that often goes unanswered and leads to sadness and depression.
When we decided that California Dreamin’ would be today’s featured song, I pulled out the lyrics, and I was immediately reminded of Psalm 137. "By the rivers of Babylon – there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion..." This psalm is a lament of the Judeans who had been taken into captivity in Babylon. These are exiles longing for their homeland. They refer to Jerusalem as Zion – the place where they lived and worshipped God. These captives hung their instruments in the trees and refused to entertain their abductors by singing their religious songs of Joy.
Like Michelle and John dreaming of California while enduring a cold winter, the Israelites remember Jerusalem while living in a foreign land. The emotional center of both is yearning for, maybe dreaming of, a place that represents identity, comfort, and belonging.
Lately I have been feeling like I am an alien in my own city of Nashville. I yearn for my old familiar places. I wonder what happened to the Tennessee I grew up in. And I sometimes feel like this is not the country that I love. It certainly doesn’t seem to love me back.
Just before July 4, I received a short essay from a fellow pastor and colleague, Jon Robuck. It was entitled “A Patriot’s Dream.” Jon reflected on our nation that was created with the hope that it would be conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all are created equal.
In our 250 year history, we have experienced great accomplishments and devastating hardships. We have achieved amazing successes and endured difficult setbacks. In our ups and downs, we have failed to be a perfect union. We have not solved all the ills and stresses of our society. Robuck writes, “Just as there are politics that divide us, and personalities that anger us, and opinions that separate us, there are the more noble ideals of this land that still strongly reside within us. It is in those ideals that the patriot’s dream still remains.”
Robuck says, “Part of the patriot’s dream must be tempered with an awareness of the lives that our fellow citizens live. If we live with prosperity, we must realize that other Americans live in poverty. If we live with meaning, we must realize that other Americans live in marginalization. If we live in safety, we must realize that other citizens live in constant fear.” He says, “To point out the inequities of the American dream is not for the purpose of offering guilt, but of challenging all of us to know that the best America is one in which we all strive to make life better for every citizen.”
I contend that The American Dream is a place that represents identity, comfort, and belonging for everyone. Do we dream of a place that is not were our feet are? Is it even possible for a place we love to love us back?
Most people have experienced some version of this central feeling: yearning for a different place, or a different season, or a different time, or a different circumstance. “California Dreamin’” may be literal in the song, but listeners can substitute their own "California" – the place, a relationship, a job or the future they hope will bring fulfillment.
What are we to do?
The California Dreamer is still in New York.
The Judean psalmist is still in Babylon.
The American Dream after 250 years is still a dream.
Some of us may feel stuck where we don’t want to be.
What are we to do?
There’s a clue in this morning’s song:
Stopped into a church I passed along the way
Well, I got down on my knees and I pretend to pray
You know the preacher lights the coals
He knows I'm gonna stay
California dreamin' on such a winter's day
The preacher in the song lights the coals to make the room warmer, knowing that our good intentions in prayer, with time, become real prayer … a real prayer seeking to find identity, comfort and belonging in God.
Here’s another clue:
The ancient psalmist discovered that the deepest longing of the human heart is not ultimately for a place, a season of life, nor changed circumstances – our true home is found in God.
What if our persistent longing for somewhere else is really a sign that we were made for communion with God?
This morning I was not satisfied with the ending to this sermon. As I was driving to church today, I was praying and it occurred to me that I was missing my own point. I came to the realization that we often try to force our ‘California Dream’ into reality. This is something we do unreflectively and unfaithfully. Usually, our own effort apart from God lands our feet far away from our hopes. And frequently it also interferes with the dreams of others.
So what are we to do?
Prayerfully rest assured that God is always with us. Wherever we are, God is with us. Whatever our sin, God is there. Whatever alienation we are feeling, God is with us. Whatever our disappointment, God is there. God gives us our identity, our comfort, and our belonging. God is our true home! God’s Holy Spirit is constantly putting another coal on the fire to keep it warm and comfortable … to answer our prayers … to lovingly welcome us to our true home. Amen.
Benediction
Go now in the peace of Christ. When your heart longs for somewhere else, remember that God goes with you. May the Holy Spirit guide your steps, fill you with hope, and lead you ever closer to your true home in God's love. Amen.