LIFE'S DREAMS: #4 Realized Dreams

By Dr. Gilbert W. Stafford
Scripture: Luke 2:22-38

THE BIG MOMENT AT THE END OF THE GAME

Pat Allen, former dean at Anderson University where I teach, tells about the time when he was a kid playing little league baseball. Actually, he was too young to play but the team was a player short and he wanted to be on the field with the big boys. The coach told him to go to right field. In little league not many balls are hit out there. Pat was glad because he didn’t figure that he would be able to catch the ball if it came his way. Furthermore, he was not at all sure that he could throw it to where it needed to be thrown. He spent the whole game hoping that the ball would not be hit to right field. In the last inning, the score was very close. With two on base, a left-handed hitter came to the plate. Pat said that he prayed, “Please, Lord, don’t let him hit it to me.” Much to his relief, the batter hit a ground ball that went only to second base.

But as Pat grew older, his interests turned from baseball to basketball. He dreamed about a time when he would not dread getting the ball, but would actually want it to come to him and he would know exactly what to do with it. Over the years he practiced a thousand times and more making what in his dreams was a final basket that would win the game. Even in the winter, year after year, he would shovel the snow from the driveway so that he could take the dreamed-of shot again and again at the goal at the edge of the driveway. In his mind he could hear the imaginary crowds cheering when he took possession of the ball in the last few seconds of the game and won it with a final shot.

Finally that dream came true when he was a senior in college. He was co-captain of the team. They were playing their archrivals in front of a large homecoming crowd, and were 20 points behind at half time. During the second half, however, his team pulled to within one point of tying the game with eight minutes to play. The coach called a time out and told them to stall. After seven minutes and with only fourteen seconds left in the game, the coach called another time out. He told Pat either to take the last shot or get it to the other co-captain.

As they left the huddle the other co-captain said, “Don’t give the ball to me.” Pat replied, “Don’t worry, the idea of passing the ball [to you] never entered my mind!”

This was the moment he had been dreaming of, and he was ready. As the last few seconds ticked off Pat Allen made the shot. The crowd was on its feet and roaring as the ball dropped through the net. What an exhilarating moment! His dream had finally become a reality.



A BIG MOMENT IN THE TEMPLE 

In the New Testament, there is a story about a moment that was even more exhilarating. It happened when the infant Jesus was taken by his parents into the temple. For years, a man by the name of Simeon had been looking for the arrival of the Messiah. Luke 2:26 says that “it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.” According to verse 27, when he came into the temple that day he saw Jesus whom he recognized as non other than the promised one. The long awaited moment had finally arrived. So, in his exultation, Simeon took the baby in his arms and “praised God, say8ing, 29>’Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word 30>for my eyes have seen you salvation, 31>which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32>a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”[i]

In earlier programs, we talked about shattered dreams, elusive dreams, and misplaced dreams, but Simeon’s was a realized dream. Most of us, no doubt have many dreams that are shattered, elusive, or misplaced but it we focus only on these, we will miss the joy of realized dreams.

Some time ago as I was driving through the Indiana countryside, I found myself lamenting the fact that some of my dreams had been shattered. In the midst of the pain, though, the Lord began reminding me of the many dreams that had been realized. As I began recalling those, it wasn’t long until I found myself leaving the pity party and entering into a festival of joy.

Our scripture is about a man who, realizing that a dream had been fulfilled, found himself in the midst of such a festival of joy.

This text shows us what to do when our God-inspired dreams are realized.

PRAISE TO GOD 

First, we praise God. That is what Simeon did. According to verse 28, he held the dream in his arms and sang praises to God.

On May 5, 1994, a message from South Africa came through the worldwide Internet. It was from Sarah Jobling, a white woman in her fifties. She had just finished voting in the first general election following the end of apartheid. For years she had dreamed of the day when all South Africans regardless of race could vote. That dream had finally been realized. Her response was that of praise to God. She typed out the following message: “This may sound irreligious, but as I voted I felt like I was receiving Holy Communion, it was a though the sins of apartheid were being washed away.” Her message continues as follows, “During these past days the whole country has been a holy cathedral of praise and thanksgiving as the ‘congregation’ of South Africa has ‘celebrated’ together the litany of unity and fellowship as one people under God.” She adds two words of exclamation: “Joy and jubilation,” and then, “Oh taste and see, how good is the Lord.”

May 1994 was the time of a realized dream in South Africa, and Sarah Jobling did not forget to give praise to the Lord when it happened.

BLESSING TO OTHERS 

But not only are we to praise the Lord when such things happen, we are also to bless others with it. Through Simeon, Mary and Joseph were blessed. Verses 33-34 say: “And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 34>Then Simeon blessed them.”

God’s blessings are never merely for us. We are blessed in order to bless. God wants us to be good stewards of our blessings for the well being of others.

In Luke 2:36-38 we read about another person in the temple the day Jesus was brought there by his parents. Her name was Anna. She, too, had been looking forward to the time when the Messiah would come. When she saw baby Jesus, she also realized that her dream of many years had been fulfilled before her very eyes. Verse 38 says that “at that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

Notice the two things she also did: she praised God for the realized dream, and then she blessed others with the good news. Neither Simeon nor Anna treated the realized dream merely as a private affair. It may be that other people in the temple that day realized that their dream had been fulfilled, but unlike Simeon and Anna, kept it to themselves. They merely cherished the secret in the privacy of their own hearts. Sometimes we are prone to do that sort of thing when divinely inspired dreams are fulfilled, aren’t we? We simply cherish the secret by keeping it in the deep recesses of our hearts and minds.

Or, on the contrary, we might at least praise God for the fulfillment of the dream but leave it at that without blessing others with our blessing. Some of us have the attitude that what we have belongs only to us for personal enjoyment. While we might thank God for our blessings, we give no thought whatsoever to blessing others with them. But that’s not the way God wants us to handle blessings.

I know a couple who have a dream home. They could do what too many do: simply enjoy it and forget everybody else. But not so. They use their dream home to bless others. The church has retreats in it. Class parties are held there. All kinds of events where people meet people take place in that dream home, and for the glory of God. This couple knows that they are blessed in order to bless others.

I know another couple who had dreamed of living a long, healthy life in retirement. That dream is now being realized. But instead of holing up in their comfortable surroundings and spending their elder years cut off from others, they have dedicated themselves to using their good health, their unprogrammed time, and their wealth of with and wisdom to bring cheer to hundreds of others. They encourage the discouraged, entertain visitors, and reach out to those who are at loose ends. They know that they are blessed in order to bless.

I know a man who dreamed of being a linguist. His dream was realized. But he believed that he was blessed in order to bless. That’s why he volunteered his services free of charge to me and my congregation in Boston, Massachusetts when all of a sudden in the 1960’s we had an influx of Spanish speaking people who had escaped from Communist Cuba. When, quite unexpectedly, I found myself the pastor of a bilingual congregation, he made pastoral calls with me and translated my sermons. He even helped these displaced Cubans to learn enough English to pass their driving license examinations. He knew that he was blessed in order to bless others.

My friend, when your God-inspired dreams come true, remember to praise the Lord and remember that you have been blessed in order to bless.

PRAYER 

Let us pray:

Gracious Lord of all good and noble dreams, grant to us the tenderness of heart that will sing praises to you when dreams are fulfilled, and inspire us to bless others with that which has blessed us. This we pray in the name of Christ, our Lord. Amen.

[i] New Revised Standard Version used here and throughout.

Script 2595 (GWS)
September 22, 1996
SERIES: LIFE’S DREAMS
4. Realized Dreams
Scripture: Luke 2:22-38