Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

A well-known colleague of mine has been known to ask people, to challenge people, “What would you dare to dream, what would you dare to do, if you knew you would not, you could not fail?”

I’ve heard him ask that question to people literally dozens of times and I’ve honestly never thought much about it – I figured it was just him – until the personal events of my family last Sunday. Even though we knew there was a good chance – a better than likely chance – that we would continue to have tears in our eyes for a long time, we dared to dream. We dared to hope. We dared to cling to that promise of God that, with God, “all things are possible” [Matthew 19:26]. We dared to remind ourselves that God knows the plans He has for each of us and that they are plans not to harm us but to give us a hope and a future [Jeremiah 29:11]. We dared to step out, knowing that we can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us [Philippians 4:13]. Without even knowing it, we asked ourselves Dr. Robert Schuller’s question, “What would you dare to dream, what would you dare to do, if you knew you would not, you could not fail?”

That’s a great question for this Ascension Sunday! I don’t think it’s a question the angels asked the disciples as they stood there on the Mount of Ascension outside Bethany, but they very well could have. Between Jesus Himself and the angles who were left behind alongside the disciples, the stage had been set to ask that question. Jesus had reminded the disciples of all the things that had been written about Him that had to be – and had been – fulfilled – that the Christ would suffer and die and rise again, with repentance and forgiveness of sins preached to all people. Amazing things. Almost unbelievable things. Things that convinced the disciples there was a power greater than that which they personally possessed.

Jesus told the disciples that they would receive power from on high, supposedly to do the same things – and even greater things – than He had done [John 14:12], but would they dare to dream? Would they dare to do? It would have been easy for the disciples to freeze time and keep standing there, staring into the sky, leaderless and vision-less without Jesus, but the angels didn’t let them do that. The angels assured them that Jesus would keep His Word, that He would come back just as He said. In the meanwhile, however, the angels told the disciples not to surrender their dreams, not to waste their hopes, not to waste time, not to just keep staring into the sky, but to go back into the city and wait for that gift Jesus had promised [Acts 1:11].

And the rest, as they say, is history. The disciples listened to the angels. Though they had no concept of that for which they were waiting, they went back to Jerusalem and they waited for God to work. They dedicated themselves to prayer. They dedicated themselves to praising God. They did not attempt to go it on their own. They knew God had a plan for them –and that it was a wonderful plan – but they didn’t force themselves into God’s plan, but prepared themselves for God’s plan through prayer and through praise.

“What would you dare to dream, what would you dare to do, if you knew you would not, you could not fail?”

“Oh, Pastor,” you might say, “don’t ask me that. You’re just setting me up for failure. You’re just setting me up to be hurt.” My answer is, “No, I am not” because I believe that dreams are dreams and hopes are hopes because they are seemingly impossible. I don’t say, “I hope to have supper tonight” because I know I’m going to have supper tonight. I do say, “I hope to retire at 55" because I know there’s a good chance I won’t be able to do that.

Dreams are dreams and hopes are hopes because they are seemingly impossible. So, who in their right minds would dream dreams and hope hopes if they only lead to frustration, if they only often result in hurt, if they often cause us to fail and feel terrible about our failures? I can tell you the kind of people who dream dreams and hope hopes – the people of God, the people of God who are connected to Him through prayer and through praise. When you’re connected to God through prayer, you’re dreaming the dreams He’s putting in your head. When you’re connected to God through praise, you’re looking at things the way God is looking at them, not withholding praise until the dream comes true or until the hope is realized.

I am not saying that someone who is penniless today can just say a prayer and say a quick “Praise God” will suddenly find a bank account filled with a million dollars. That, I don’t think is God’s plan. What I am saying is that someone who is penniless today might see an aluminum can or a glass bottle as God’s way of giving them a penny and then five pennies and then twenty pennies and then a thousand pennies and then a million pennies, but if they abandon that hope and that dream for fear of getting hurt, guess what the result will be? They will probably always be penniless.

The same hold true for you and for me, both in our personal lives and in our lives together as the people of God here in this place. God is the One dreaming the dreams through you and through me. God is the One looking already at the finished product, saying, “Behold! It is very good!” But if we’re not connected to God through prayer and through praise, we never allow Him the opportunity to receive those gifts He has promised us.

That’s the difference in the disciples between the days after Christ’s Resurrection and the days after His Ascension. Remember after the Resurrection, the disciples asked each other, “So, what are you going to do today?” “Oh, I don’t know. I guess I’ll go fishing. Do you want to come along?” “Sure. Why not? I’ve got nothing else to do.” They had given up the hopes and dreams God had for them. After the Ascension, it wasn’t a question of what they wanted to do. It was a question of what God wanted them to do and how He was preparing them to do that and that was revealed to them through prayer and praise, through the Holy Spirit of God. Once God had finished His preparations of them, He sent them out and turned them loose and they did incredible things they could have never imagined.

So, my friends, don’t just keep staring into the sky, wondering if there’s a God and where He is. There is a God. He’s the Crucified, Resurrected and Ascended Savior. He’s sitting on Heaven’s Throne, with all might and power held in His Hands. He’s the God Who has plans, hopes and dreams for each of us. He’s the God Who dreams the dreams in our heads and gives us the power to do what He would have us do.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena