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.