The Wild Goose Chase: Dreams
10.27.05
Pastor Mark BattersonThis evotional continues the
Wild Goose Chase series. Here's a link to
this week's video-
The Wild Goose Hunter. To subscribe to the
Theaterchurch.com podcast or check out Pastor Mark's
daily blog, check out the
right menu.
The
Celtic Christians had an interesting name for the Holy Spirit. They called Him
the Wild Goose. It sounds a little sacrilegious at first earshot, but I love that name. Here's why: I can't think of a better description of what it's like to be led by the Holy Spirit than a wild goose chase. When you follow the Wild Goose you'll
go places and
meet people and
do things you never dreamed of.
During this series we're looking at three stories in the book of Acts. Acts 1 starts off with a
dozen dysfunctional disciples. Acts 28 ends with the
gospel spreading throughout the entire ancient world. In between are a bunch of wild goose chases.
God Chasers
Before we
dive in let me
zoom out and make an observation:
kids love chasing things.
Last Monday was a beautiful day in Washington, DC so I left the office early and took my kids to
Roosevelt Island. Roosevelt Island is in the middle of the Potomac River near Georgetown. You have to walk across a foot bridge to get there.
We brought a net because we wanted to catch a lizard. We didn't find any lizards, but
Parker spotted a white-tailed deer.I had no idea there were deer on the island. And I have no idea how they got there. But we must have seen
a dozen of deer. We spent the next half hour
chasing deer through the woods. The amazing thing is that we got within ten yards of them. The kids were going nuts. They had the time of their lives. They couldn't stop talking about how much fun that was. Why? Because kids love chasing things! Especially wild things!
My kids love
chasing butterflies. They love
chasing rabbits. They love
chasing their dad. And they love
chasing each other.Kids love chasing things.
I'm not sure how to say this, but it's almost like we have
a chasing gene. It's part of our DNA.
We need something to chase.
So we grow up and we stop chasing butterflies. But we still need something to chase. So
guys chase girls and
girls chase guys. We
chase academic or athletic or artistic goals. We
chase degrees. We
chase dreams. Then we graduate and we
chase positions.
And then something happens: we
stop chasing and
start settling. The problem with that is this. Proverbs 29:18 says, "Without a vision the people perish." In other words,
when you stop chasing your God-given dream you start dying! We need something to chase. It's the way God has wired us. But too many of us
stop chasing or we're
chasing the wrong thing. You were created to chase the Wild Goose. Anything less than chasing God is settling for second best.
Acts 10The book of Acts is full of
turning points. But the turning point in Acts 10 is big. It's bigger than big. How do you get from a dozen dysfunctional disciples to two billion people all around the world who claim to be Christ followers? The answer is found in Acts 10.
Up until Acts 10,
Christianity was a sect of Judaism. But Peter has a dream in Acts 10 that changes the course of history.
Every non-Jewish follower of Christ can trace their spiritual etymology back to a dream on a rooftop in Acts 10:10. We'll get there in a few minutes, but let me start in verse one.
In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment. He was a devout man who feared God. He gave generously to charity and was a man who regularly prayed to God. One afternoon about three o'clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him, "Cornelius!" the angel said. Cornelius stared at him in terror. "What is it, Sir?" he asked the angel. And the angel replied, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have not gone unnoticed by God!
Let me hit the pause button right there.
The key phrase is "
regularly prayed." Let me just make a personal observation:
When I pray coincidences happen. When I don't pray they don't happen.
Here's the bottom line:
when you pray crazy stuff happens. The kind of stuff that can't be understood or explained. I'm not saying it happens every time you pray. In fact, this may be a
once in a lifetime kind of experience for Cornelius. But when you regularly pray you'll have
visions. You'll experience
supernatural coincidences. And it'll change the course of your life. But it starts with developing the
prayer habit.So Cornelius has a vision. And the angel gives him directions in verse 5:
Now send some men down to Joppa to find a man named Simon Peter. He is staying with Simon, the leatherworker who lives near the shore. Ask him to come and visit you. As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two of his personal attendants. He told them what had happened and sent them off to Joppa.
I'd like to think I'd respond the way Cornelius responded. It says "
as soon as the angel was gone" Cornelius called his personal attendants and sent them to Joppa. He didn't
hesitate. He didn't
over-analyze. He didn't
second guess. He did exactly what the angel told him to do and he did it as
quickly as possible.
It's easy to read this and think it's no big deal, but this is
a wild goose chase. Joppa was 32 miles south of Caesarea. That doesn't sound like a big deal to us, but it's not like Cornelius could
pick up the phone and make an appointment. It's not like he could
hop into a car and get there in a half hour. And it's not like he could
print out Mapquest directions. You've got to realize that the average person living in the first century AD
never traveled outside a thirty mile radius of their home. For what it's worth,
the average person walks three miles per hour. We're talking about a
ten hour walk! And Cornelius has never even heard of Peter!
What I'm saying is this: he could have written this off as
a crazy idea. He could have blamed the vision on pepperoni pizza he ate the night before. Hey, don't laugh. It says that Cornelius was the captain of the
Italian regiment.
But Cornelius didn't skip a beat.
80% Plan
Last week part of our team was in Dallas for a gathering of multi-site churches. The organizer invited the
former CFO of Pizza Hut to come and share some of his insights. One thing he said got stuck in my brain. He said, "I'd rather have an
80% plan 100% executed than a
100% plan 80% executed."
I'm a
perfectionist by personality. I want every to
dot every "i" and
cross every "t." I want the
100-page plan before I jump into something. I want the
25-year plan before I get started. But a few years ago I realized that
my perfectionism was keeping me from stepping out in faith. I wanted a 100% plan, but that is rarely the way God works.
Then one passage of Scripture really revolutionized my life. It's one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. Ecclesiastes 11:1 says, "
Cast your bread upon the water for after many days you will find it again." In other words, sometimes you just have to
go for it.
I love verse four. "Whoever
watches the wind will not plant; whoever
looks at the clouds will not reap." In other words,
if you wait for perfect conditions to do something you'll never do anything!
And verse 6 says, "
Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening do not let your hands be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well." I think we have a tendency to
over-plan and
under-plant. I think Ecclesiastes 11:6 is saying you've got to sow lots of seed and then figure out where you're getting a harvest.
Long story short, faith never comes with a
100% money-back guarantee. It usually involves an 80% plan 100% executed.
When Jesus offered the disciples an internship they
dropped their nets and followed him. They didn't have it 100% planned out.
I think this passage is extra-meaningful to me right now because of what I'm experiencing in my own life. Several months ago I was praying about the coffeehouse we're building on Capitol Hill. Our congregation has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into the coffeehouse project, but we're still going to have a
$2 million mortgage. The good news is that the coffeehouse will be worth two or three times that amount once it's built. But I'd rather not carry a $2 million note. So I was praying about it one day.
To be perfectly honest, I was asking God for a
$2 million miracle. I sort of assumed that God would send someone with lots of money who would catch the vision and
write a check. And if you want to write a $2 million check we'll certainly deposit it. But I felt like the Holy Spirit whispered something to me. I don't say this "lightly." I have probably heard what I call the
inaudible yet unmistakable voice of God a handful of times in my life. I was asking for a $2 million check and I felt like the Holy Spirit said,
"What if I want to give you a $2 million idea?"
To make a long story short, that is what God did through some
God-ordained relationships and some
God-ordained circumstances. The God idea is called
GodiPod.com. And the concept is pretty simple:
preload iPods with Bibles and sermons and worship. It's
redeeming technology and using it to serve God's purposes! That's exactly what Gutenberg did. He used his printing press to get more Bibles into more hands. We've got to
turn MP3 players into discipleship tools.
Two weeks ago that God idea became reality. If you read my blog you know a little bit about it. GodiPod.com is a separate entity for legal and financial reasons. But I believe it's going to be
a $2 million miracle for NCC.Now here's my point.
When GodiPod.com launched I didn't have it 100% figured out. In fact, I didn't have it
50% figured out. I have no idea what it'll become. I sort feel like Abraham in Hebrews 11:8: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went,
even though he did not know where he was going." It was a wild goose chase! But sometimes you have to step out in faith.
Here's what I'm getting at. I don't want to be
standing around at the end of my life with
my loaf of bread still in my hand. I want to cast it on the water. I don't want to be standing around with a sack of seed on my shoulder
watching the wind and looking at clouds. I want to sow every seed.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, "There is
one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:
that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do,
begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
Begin it now."
Meanwhile
Acts 10:9 says, "The next day as Cornelius's messengers were nearing the city, Peter went up to the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, and he was hungry. But
while lunch was being prepared, he fell into a trance."
Last week we focused on one phrase in Acts 17:16:
"While Paul was waiting." And I made an observation:
Athens wasn't on Paul's itinerary. He could have laid low. He could have kicked back. But Paul redeemed the time! Most of us wait while we're waiting. Paul saved cities.
Paul did more while he was waiting than most of us do while we're doing!
Peter does the same thing. Notice this little phrase in Acts 10:10:
"while lunch was being prepared."
Peter was waiting for lunch!
So what does he do? He redeems the time. It's not like there was a
prayer meeting on the agenda. 8 AM breakfast. 8:30 AM read newspaper. Stairmaster from 10:00-10:30. Rooftop vision at noon.
You can't schedule life-changing visions. But Peter had a
prayer habit just like Cornelius. So he prays while he waits. And here is what is so amazing to me. What Peter experiences during this
impromptu prayer meeting changes the course of history. Most of us wouldn't be Christ followers if it weren't for Peter's vision in Acts 10:10.
I said it last week let me say it again. What seems like a
detour or delay may be exactly what God uses to get you where you need to go. Athens wasn't on Paul's itinerary. A late lunch wasn't on Peter's agenda. But they redeemed the time.
You need to do a
time inventory. And you've got to
redeem the gaps. The course of history was changed because Peter redeemed the time and decided to pray on the rooftop before lunch.
Perplexed
Peter has a vision in Acts 10:11.
Peter saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. Then a voice said to him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat them.""Never, Lord," Peter declared. "I have never in all my life eaten anything forbidden by our Jewish laws."
The voice spoke again, "If God says something is acceptable, don't say it isn't." The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet pulled up again to heaven.
Peter was very perplexed.
I love Acts 10:17. "Peter was
very perplexed." I've been reading through the Books of Acts during this series and I've noticed the word
"perplexed" in several places.
The first place you'll find it is on the
Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is poured out and the disciples
start speaking in all kinds of different languages so Jewish pilgrims from all over the world can
hear the gospel in their native tongue. Acts 2:10 says, "They stood there
amazed and
perplexed."
The Holy Spirit is amazing and perplexing.
Last week I said that the Holy Spirit will complicate your life, but He will complicate your life in the way it should be complicated. He'll surprise you. He'll amaze you. And He'll perplex you. It's a package deal.
Now let me explain this vision.
Peter is perplexed because
according to Jewish dietary law, certain foods were forbidden to be eaten. They were considered
unclean. So when the Lord tells him to eat these unclean animals in his vision, Peter says, "Never." It was unthinkable.
Let me throw one more thing into the mix. Not only were certain foods considered unclean.
Certain people were considered unclean. It was
scandalous for Jewish believers to even associate with Gentiles. Gentiles were considered unclean.
Let me fast forward.
When Peter enters the home of Cornelius in Acts 10:25
he breaks every law on the books!
I wish we had
a still frame picture of Peter crossing the threshold because that doorway was like
a spiritual wormhole or portal. Peter took one small step, but it was one giant leap!
In that
nanosecond, Christianity went from a sect of Judaism to an
equal access opportunity for anybody and everybody who wanted a relationship with God. And here's the thing. Twenty-four hours earlier
it wouldn't have even crossed Peter's mind that Cornelius could follow Christ. He wasn't Jewish. But one vision while he's waiting for lunch changes all of that.
I think we totally underestimate and underappreciate the guts it took for Peter to go. In his book,
Wrestling with God, Rick Diamond says, "We all have this
inner censor that tries to keep us from looking like a total idiot." I think we've got to get past that inner censor. We need to be willing to
dance in airports and
jump in rivers.
Peter knew he'd get
called on the carpet. And he was. Acts 11:2 says, "When Peter arrived back in Jerusalem,
some of the Jewish believers criticized him. 'You entered the home of Gentiles and you even ate with them!' they said."
If you follow the wild goose you'll get criticized. Someone will always be taking potshots at you. Why?
Because you're disturbing the status quo! It's what I wrote about in the
Wired for Worship series. Why did Michal get so upset about David dancing with all of his might in II Samuel 6? I think David's excitement about God
subconsciously convicted Michal of her lack of excitement about God. So she found something to criticize. Why?
So she could stay the same. Almost all of our
defense mechanisms are designed to
protect the status quo. We become
critical of other people so we can
stay the same!
In this vision, God was telling Peter to go against everything he'd ever learned or practiced. It wasn't just counterintuitive. It was illegal. It was unthinkable. It was unconceivable.
FamiliarI was reading
The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson this week. I love the first sentence of the book: "Not long ago and not far away,
a Nobody named Ordinary lived in the Land of familiar."
I love the description of Ordinary's life:
"Not much happened in familiar that hadn't happened before."
"Ordinary found routines reliable."
"Ordinary wanted only what he had."
But Ordinary had to make a choice: follow his dream or stay in the land of familiar. It's the decision all of us must make! The only way to follow your dream is to
leave the land of familiar.That is what Peter has to do. He has to leave the land of familiar.
At first, Peter says, "Never."
Never say never! Because when you
follow the Wild Goose you
never know who you'll meet, what you'll do, or where you'll end up. Field of Dreams
Notice Acts 10:24. It says, "They arrived in Caesarea the following day. Cornelius
was waiting from him and had called together his relatives and close friends to meet Peter."I may have sent my servants like Cornelius, but I'm not sure I would have planned on them finding Peter! What amazing faith. This is
field of dreams faith-if you build it they will come. Cornelius plans on the miracle. He trusts the Wild Goose. He steps out and risks his reputation by inviting his family and friends.
What if they hadn't been able to find Peter? It would have been somewhat embarrassing! He would have inconvenienced his entire network of relationships.
I think some of us
pray for miracles but
we don't do anything to prepare for them!
Maybe it's
time to step out in faith. Maybe it's
time to leave the land of familiar. Maybe it's
time to go up to the rooftop and pray.Chase the Goose!
