CMLC 2025-08-03 Sermon

If you had the king of the universe standing

right in front of you, what would you ask for?

Which dreams would you want him to make a reality?

Now, imagine that some guy next to you yells

out to the king of the universe, teacher, tell

my brother to divide the inheritance with me.

Dude, what are you doing? He heals people with

the Word. He proclaims forgiveness. He raises

the dead and you're asking him for legal advice.

But let's not laugh too hard. Because this man

is trapped in his own story. A narrative where

life is about securing what you believe is yours.

He's blind to the idea that true life is being

rich toward God. His dream... is shaped by self

-interest and the illusion that wealth will secure

his future. He doesn't realize he's living inside

of a story that will never save him. And honestly,

neither do we. This man's request, tell my brother

to divide the inheritance with me. That's not

extravagant. It's pretty reasonable. It's fair.

Maybe his brother really is being unjust. We

don't know him. He just wants what he thinks

will make his life easier, more comfortable,

more secure. But that's the problem. His dream

is far too small. He's dreaming like a man who

thinks this life is all there is. He's standing

in front of the king of the universe, but all

he can think about is his share of the family

estate. He's like a man sitting at the gates

of heaven, But all he wants is a voucher for

a nicer room at the inn. His eyes are on the

ground when the skies are opening up right in

front of him. It's easy to think small when we're

afraid of losing control. Now imagine for a moment

that this man's request is the start of his own

dream sequence. In his mind, life becomes simple.

Maybe he has read the Ecclesiastes passage and

grabbed onto the line that says, there is nothing

better for a person than to eat and drink and

find enjoyment in his toil. That sounds good,

right? Work hard, enjoy what you've earned, take

life as it comes. I just want to be comfortable.

I'm not asking for much. And that's how the dream

begins. Ecclesiastes was never meant to be some

fatalistic, pessimistic, downward, trodden book.

The Hebrews valued it because it told the truth

about life's limitations, about how small we

really are. Luther loved Ecclesiastes for the

same reason. He saw its joy not as an achievement

of human effort, but as a gift. from God to be

received with humility. But when we take that

wisdom and we twist it into our own little mantra,

we risk losing its heart. Because if we're honest,

mantras don't always work. Mantras shift in meaning

and then they fail. The dream keeps going though,

and soon it starts to shift. The words, they

sound the same, but the tone changes. It's not

Ecclesiastes whispering anymore. Now it's Isaiah.

A moment when God looks at his people and he

sees them partying when the city is under siege.

Judgment is coming upon the whole nation, but

they say, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow

we die. Didn't know that was in the Bible, did

you? The same mantra, but now it's resignation

disguised as wisdom. The people are just giving

up. The man doesn't even notice his own shift.

He thinks he's still being wise, but now his

enjoyment is just a mask to covered despair.

We're all doomed anyways, so let's just live

in our dreams as long as we can and then the

dream begins to crumble Because now he's alone

He's looking at his land. He's looking at his

barns He's looking at all of his plans in Luke

12 just a few verses later. He becomes the rich

fool He's building bigger barns and telling himself

take life easy eat drink be happy He thinks He's

won. But in the dream, there's a knock on the

door. And a voice says, you fool, this very night

your life will be demanded from you. All of His

plans, all of His striving, they're all gone.

And that's how mantras shift. They start as humble

joy in God's gifts, but they become coping mechanisms

to deal with our despair. They end as little

self -made traps of false security. And through

it all, that man doesn't realize that the one

who can rewrite his dreams is standing right

in front of him. There was a show. It's called

The Sandman. It's a dark show, and it deals a

lot with the sins that are listed in Colossians.

Be careful before you decide to watch it. But

even if you haven't watched it, I'm sure you

know the general idea. People build dreams to

escape reality. They craft worlds where they

don't have to face the fear of death. Where they

control the outcome. Where life's mess doesn't

reach them. But there's a catch. Because the

deeper they go into their dreams, the more they

get trapped in avoiding the truth all around

them. Because at the heart of those dreams is

this quiet little voice whispering, this is all

there is. You can't escape reality, so just ignore

it in your dreams. And maybe that's what we do.

We chase the jobs, the relationships, the experiences,

the security, thinking, if I can just get this

one thing, I'll be okay. But the dream starts

to crack. The illusion fades. The world is still

fragile. We are still fragile. And when it all

starts falling apart, the world tells us, that's

just how life is. You just gotta accept it. Grow

up. Make the best of it, and it'll all be over

soon. But that's not wisdom. That's just an elegant

form of despair. It's learning how to beautifully

give up. Because without Christ, the dream attempts

to atone for our sins without a Savior. The story

of the dreams ends only in self -destruction

and hopelessness. But what if dreams are not

meant to be an escape from hopelessness? What

if dreams are meant to actually wake us up? The

man in Luke 12, he wasn't dreaming too big, he

was dreaming too small. He stood in front of

the king of the universe, but all he could think

about was his inheritance. He wanted what he

thought would make him happy in that moment.

But Jesus was ready to offer him something eternal,

instead of letting him cling to a fading dream.

It's like he's saying, you're asking for an inheritance?

but I'm offering you a kingdom. You want to be

rich for a moment, but I'm offering riches for

eternity. Because Christ doesn't take away joy

or life, He's waking us up to the joys that are

real. Real life. The kind that doesn't fade when

our dreams may end. And that's where Colossians

is bringing us. Because Paul writes, set your

minds on things above, not on earthly things.

For you died and your life is now hidden with

Christ. You don't need to escape reality through

shallow dreams. We are meant to be reborn into

a greater reality. A redeemed dream. A life hidden

in Christ. not rich for just a moment, but rich

for eternity. A life that isn't about grabbing

what you can before it's gone, but a life that

is secured eternal, gloriously full in Christ.

Colossians 3 doesn't deny death. It says you

have died, and your life is now hidden with Christ

in God. But it doesn't stop there. It proclaims

a resurrection life that transforms every part

of your existence. What you wear, how you love,

how you eat, how you work, how you serve, how

you give, how you rejoice, to be better than

it ever was before. Just like the King of Dreams,

the man in Luke 12 doesn't need a prettier ending

to an old story. He needs to be baptized into

a new one. But here's the thing. Jesus doesn't

wake the man up from his dream just to leave

him in the cold, harsh light of reality. He wakes

him up to redeem the dreams of his life. To baptize

him. To take what was twisted and broken and

give them back to him. Whole, new, and alive

in God. See, that's what Colossians 3 is all

about. Paul says, put to death therefore whatever

belongs to your earthly nature. That's Isaiah's

version of the dream that we're putting to death.

The fatalism, the despair that we try to ignore

and numb by living out every vice and sin that

we know will only destroy us because that's all

that those sins ever do is just numb us. Jesus

doesn't tell us to numb ourselves to the feelings.

He tells us to crucify it, to be done with it.

He's already faced all of those at the cross

and won. Paul says, take off your old self with

its practices and put on the new self. That's

Luke's part in the stream. The bigger barns...

the illusion of control. Paul says, take it off.

It's like an old ragged coke. Do you really want

to wear that to the party? That's not who you

are anymore. Paul says, whatever you do, whether

in word or deed, do it all in the name of the

Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through

Him. That's what Ecclesiastes truly means about

our dreams. But now they're redeemed. The eating,

the drinking, the working, the giving, the rejoicing,

the serving, but no longer hollow. It's worship.

It's sacred. Because Christ doesn't erase the

dreams. He resurrects them and makes them new.

Instead of seeing the treasures we have been

blessed with as a way to avoid life and just

revel in more pleasures, we can actually do things

with what we've been given that can benefit the

kingdom of God that we live in. A kingdom that

is eternal, not elusive. Instead of setting aside

our treasures hoping that maybe we can use them

someday, we can give them toward what matters

today and help others while trusting that God

will provide for us as well. See, Christ doesn't

tell the man, in Luke 12 to stop desiring good

things, He invites him to desire something greater.

To be rich toward God, to live a life where joy,

it's not a last meal just before the end, but

rather a daily feast in the presence of a God

who provides, redeems, and reigns. In Colossians,

Paul is not giving us a list of do's and don'ts.

Do all these things, you'll be good. Don't do

those or you'll be bad. He's giving us a picture

of what it looks like when your dreams have been

baptized into His life. A real life that lasts

forever in Christ. When your old self has died

with Christ and your new self is raised with

Him. That's the dream Jesus wants for this man.

And it's the dream that He wants for us. Christ

is not the King of escapist dreams. He's the

King of the renewed universe. He doesn't offer

us fantasy. He offers resurrected life that brings

beauty, fullness, the very things that we try

to escape from, but instead turn toward His goals

and purposes. Because you have died and your

life is now hidden. in Christ. The old dreams

die but now you're clothed in a new self and

dreaming the dreams that God has given to you.

There's an old Japanese art called Kintsugi where

broken pottery is repaired with gold. The cracks

are not hidden. They're actually standing out

but made beautiful. The pot becomes stronger

and more precious where it was once broken. And

that's what Christ does with our dreams. The

old ones. He doesn't throw them away. He redeems

them. Changes them. Sanctifies them. Changes

them to be part of a bigger story. Let's go back

to that man. He came to Jesus with a simple request.

Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with

me. That was his dream. That was a story he thought

he was living in. Get what's fair, secure a little

comfort, make life a little easier. But standing

in front of him wasn't a judge. It was the King

of the universe inviting him into a kingdom.

And I wonder, in that moment, was Jesus just

hearing a demand? Or what if he was hearing a

cry? A cry from a man tired of striving, of being

afraid, of pretending that grabbing a few coins

would somehow make him whole. Because friends,

we are that man. Every time we reduce life to

what we can earn, secure, control, hold onto,

we're standing in front of Jesus and asking Him

to bless our small dreams. But Jesus loves us

too much. to settle for that. Jesus is not here

to help you build a bigger barn. He's here to

give you a bigger life. A life hidden with Him.

Clothed in compassion, humility, kindness. A

life that is rich not in things, but in Him.

Christ is here to baptize you, dreams and all.

To crucify what needs to die. to sanctify what

He has given you, to resurrect you into His Kingdom.

And the invitation is open today. So will you

keep chasing the dreams that fade? Or will you

let Christ redeem you in everything that you

could dream and give you a life that will never

fade? Eat, drink, rejoice. But do it as one who

is rich with God. Because that's the dream that

is truly worth living. Thanks be to God.