Dr. David New wrote:

He was Messiah, both God and man,
Bringing to earth salvation's plan,
But they misunderstood.
They dreamed of a king to reign in the land,
He wanted them for a heavenly band,
But they misunderstood.
They dreamed of a sword, the Romans to kill.
Instead it was His blood that they would spill,
But they misunderstood.
They dreamed of a place in His kingdom someday.
But loyalty slept when He asked them to pray.
But they misunderstood.
In the garden they took Him as He was kissed,
None realizing the mark being missed,
But they misunderstood.
Governor and King, His judges became,
They scourged Him and cut Him, mocking His name,
But they misunderstood.
Condemned to Calvary, He paid the cost,
Blood flowing down so that none should be lost.
But they misunderstood.
So in retrospect now we gaze at that day,
Knowing full well that of us, none will say, but they misunderstood.

Various incidents from the life of Jesus could illustrate the theme of misunderstood dreamers. A barrier to dreaming God's dreams could be selfishness that may often be unintentional, but based on misunderstanding. Daily God hunts that we talked about last week may help us to keep in close fellowship with Christ and minimize misunderstanding.

Overcome the barrier of selfish dreams by:

I. Recognizing the misunderstandings of people.

The misunderstandings may be our own and those of others and they may come about observing the natural course of events. One such example of this that comes to mind was when Jesus drove out of the temple those who were buying and selling. Some may have thought this indicated Jesus was going to be an aggressive, maybe even a political leader. Matthew however clearly recorded that Jesus said, "My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers." Mt. 21:13

On a particular incident when multitudes of people were coming to Jesus, our Lord cautioned them that following Him would not necessarily be easy. He said, "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple."

When Jesus was becoming a popular teacher with many people coming out to listen to him, King Herod became alarmed. He thought that perhaps Jesus was John the Baptist who had been killed had come back to life. Others thought the man was Elijah. Similarly people today have many opinions about who Jesus is.

Recall the replies when Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" They answered, "Some say John the Baptist, but others say Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets has risen." Then Jesus made the question personal, "Who do you say that I am." Peter made this bold response, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!"

We may also remember the misunderstanding of the mother of James and John. She came to Jesus asking that her two sons be seated at his right and left hand in His kingdom. Jesus told her that she did not know what she was asking.

Could it be that sometimes in our dreams we do not understand the implications of our requests? Jesus' mission was clearly to seek and to save the lost, not to serve, but to give his life for us. He was a servant leader, and some have dreams of leading without serving. Perhaps we need to understand Jesus telling us that it does not work that way. For three years Jesus taught them, healed the sick and ministered with other miracles. Jesus tried to reveal His dream plan to them and for them. In spite of these efforts, Jesus' friends and foes largely misunderstood Him and His mission.

Could it be that the disciple's dreams were self centered and self serving dreams, unlike the unselfish dreams of Jesus? In His life and in His death Jesus had the heart f a servant, willing to lay down His life as the Lamb of God. Recognizing misunderstandings, consider with me the next step.

Overcome the barrier of selfish dreams by

II. Resolving to understand and make Jesus Lord.

My friends, we have the advantage of being able to look back and learn from the understandings of those who have gone before us. We have the opportunity of studying the Scriptures to help guard against our own misunderstanding. Do we properly take advantage of these opportunities? Do we really resolve to understand and make Jesus Lord and mater? To really make Him Lord means to submit to His authority and to do what He instructs us to do. We might think again about Peter who had denied Jesus not long after they shared the Lord's supper together. Even at that supper, Jesus had made another attempt at explaining His dream to some of those closest to Him. Peter had asked Jesus, "Lord, Why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You." While I believe Peter's intentions may have been good, by the dawning of the new day he had denied Jesus three times. He may have been a willing warrior for an earthly kingdom, but apparently not for a defeated king of the heart. I do not think we should be too hard on Peter. Later, after he understood better and wads filled with the Holy Spirit, God mightily used him to be actively involved him in accomplishing His dreams, not Peter's.

One of my dreams is to see more people come to know Jesus Christ and become actively involved in our church and other fine Christian churches. I need to be careful that I do not impose my dreams for growth on our church for selfish motives. On the other hand, we must be careful that we do not selfishly desire to keep our church from growing so that we can keep things the same comfortable they have been for some time. According to the Bible, God's dream includes having us share the Good News, reach out to the needy and lost, and make disciples for Jesus Christ. I am not sure of all the details of what this may mean for our church, but I do know that God's dream is for us to be open to His will, whatever that may be.

Conclusion

Watchman Nee, a Chinese Christian wrote, "God will bless: What He initiates, What depends on Him for success, What is done according to His word, What is done for His glory." I believe Nee expressed God's dreams. Do we really want God's dreams to become our dreams?

How different we from David News' description of characters that walked with Jesus on that first Palm Sunday?

Almost all were caught up in their own self-center, self- serving dreams. The servant heart was missing, and ultimately the Lamb of God became the lamb of sacrifice, dying for all our sins. And while those around him misunderstood, he had done exactly what he came to do. In spite of all the evidence, personal contact, signs and miracles, blessing and changed lives, he was still misunderstood. His dreams for them had not yet become their dreams."

I hope you long with me for the dreams of Jesus to become your dreams. I invite you to pray the Daring to Dream Again prayer with me.

Lord, Daring to dream again sounds so good, but sometimes memories of broken dreams haunt me. Help me let go of the pain that keeps me from responding to you gentle nudgings. Your presence encourages me to set Aside fear and to become a spiritual risk taker. I want your dreams for me to become my dreams as well. Amen.

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