There is one kind of person I truly admire.  He confuses and sometimes angers me, but I still admire him.  That person is the dreamer, the visionary.  He's the one who can look at a flat field and see a town.  I see a few pieces of good wood and he sees a finished cabinet.  I admire him and God rejoices in him.  I often wish I were more of a dreamer.

          Hans Babblinger was a dreamer.  He lived in the city of Ulm, in Germany.  Hans Babblinger wanted to fly.  He wanted to soar like a bird.  But he had a problem -- he lived in the late eighteenth century.  There were no planes, no gliders, not even any hot air balloons.  He was a dreamer born too soon.  What he wanted was impossible.  Yet Hans Babblinger made a career of helping people overcome the impossible.  He made artificial limbs -- arms, legs.  In his day, amputation was a common cure of disease and infection, so he kept busy.  He helped handicapped people overcome big obstacles.

          But he wanted to do the same for himself.  In time, he used his skills to make a set of wings.  He had watched the birds and made his wings like theirs.  One day, he took his wings up onto the hills near his city to test them.  The hills nearby were a good choice.  Updrafts were common there, and one day, with friends watching, Hans jumped off a high hill and soared lightly down.  His friends applauded, his heart raced and God rejoiced.

          Why do I think God rejoiced?  Because I believe God is always happy when His people reach beyond themselves.  I believe He is pleased when we stretch out, when we use the talents He has given us to give Him glory.  I believe He delights in seeing people do the impossible.

          Want some examples from the Bible?  Eighty-year old shepherds didn't usually go head-to-head with Egyptian Pharoahs, but don't tell that to Moses.  Teenage shepherds didn't normally have showdowns with giants, but don't tell that to David.  Night-shift shepherds didn't normally see angels, but don't tell that to the Bethlehem bunch.

          For sure don't tell that to God.  He gives us wings, as Isaiah 40 says, "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not be faint."  God wants people to dream.  Remember the passage Peter quoted at Pentecost?  "In the last days," God says, "I will pour out my spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy.  Your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams."  God wants people to dream.  And I think He is angered when people's wings are clipped.  That's the message of the fig tree, the fruitless fig tree Jesus cursed.

          Jesus and His disciples were walking to Jerusalem after spending the night in Bethany.  He was hungry and saw a fig tree.  Going to it, He saw it had no fruit and was angered.  Something about that tree reminded Him of what He saw among the religious people, so He denounced the tree, "You'll never have fruit again!"  He didn't say it kindly, and His anger really showed.

          The next day the disciples walked by that tree and saw it had completely dried up.  "What happened?" they said.  "How could the tree dry up so quickly?"  Jesus gave them an answer.  "Truly, if you have faith and don't doubt, you can do what I did to this tree and much more.  You can tell a mountain to go jump in the lake, and it will happen.  If you have faith, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

          You won't find the words dream or fly or wings in that story, but maybe if you listen closely, you'll hear God telling the dreamers of this world to strap on their wings and jump off a cliff.  And maybe you'll also hear God's anger with those who put dreamers into a cage and tell them what they want is impossible.

          That tree symbolized much to Jesus.  In that tree Jesus was reminded of something all too familiar in the church of His day.  It was all promise and no performance.  He was disgusted at the so-called believers that are all talk and no action.  He was weary of luke-warm Christians who have all the answers but take no action.  He was tired of fruitless followers.

          Remember the Laodicean Church of Revelation 3?  That church was wealthy and self-sufficient.  They could pay all their bills and still and had lots left over.  They had plenty of people in the pews but little heart for the helpless.  "I know what you do," God said to the Laodiceans.  "You're neither hot nor cold.  But because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth."  Graphic stuff!

          You see, God can't stand a lukewarm faith.  He is angered by religious people who put on a show but ignore people in need.  Those were the religious people He faced in His day, and they are still around today.

          When there was service to be done, they found fault.  They complained His disciples gathered food on the wrong day.  They complained He healed on the wrong day.  They griped that He healed the wrong people and hung out with the wrong crowd and had the wrong influence on children.  Worst of all, they saw He tried to free those tied down by all sorts of foolish rules and regulations.  When some courageous soul tried to do the impossible, they said it couldn't -- or shouldn't -- be done.

          By the way, the same thing happened to Hans Babblinger in the late 18th century.  Historians tell us the King was coming to Ulm and the citizens wanted to impress him.  Word was out that Hans could fly, so they asked him to fly for the king.  Hans agreed.  One change, however -- since there would be a large crowd and the hills were hard to climb, they wanted him to fly at a lower place.  Hans chose the high bluffs by the Danube river.  He would jump off the high bluffs and float down to the river.  Poor choice!  The updraft common to the hills was nonexistent by the river.  So in front of the king, his court, and half the city, Hans jumped and fell like a rock straight into the Danube.  The king was disappointed, the Bishop was mortified, and next Sunday the Bishop preached on the topic, "Man was not mean to fly."  And Hans believed him.  Listening to the nay-sayers, he put his wings away and never tried to fly again.  Shortly later, Hans died and his dreams of flying were buried with him.

          Through the years, Christians have become all too good at telling others what they can't -- or shouldn't do.  I'm not talking here about morality.  That never changes because that's God talking.  But I'm thinking here about how we serve people, or how we express our emotions, or what kind of songs we sing in church.  And I'm talking about how we rarely help people to think for themselves.  Does the church give people wings, or lead weights for their feet?

          What about that friend who offended you and needs your forgiveness?  Or that co-worker burdened with guilt?  Or that relative who carries a sack filled with yesterday's failures?  Or that friend weighed down by anxiety?  Or that church member who has a great idea he'd like to use?  Tell them about Jesus.  Forgive them.  Encourage them.  Turn them loose and watch them fly.

          In a wedding I had last year the woman was from another country.  When I asked her about repeating the vows, she said, "I can do it, but it will be with an accent."  She spoke beautifully!  This is how God wants it from us, each of us living our faith with our own accent.  For some, the accent is on the sick.  For others it is working for the imprisoned.  For still others it is teaching, or working with children, or listening to the hurting or helping the poor.

          One message of the fig tree is that not all of us have the same fruit.  But the BIG message is that all of us must bear SOME kind of fruit.  If we have faith, we must bear fruit.  It's not easy, but it is necessary.  We need to pray for it.  As Jesus said, "If you have faith, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."  And please remember it is faith in God, not in a religion.  Being a Lutheran doesn't save us.  Going to a Lutheran School -- or sending your kids to one -- or even teaching at one doesn't save us.  Having faith in the Jesus of the Holy Bible, Jesus, the Son of God -- that's the only thing that saves us.

          Jesus is many things to us.  He is the Shepherd in search of His lambs.  He calls out the name of His lost lamb, and the name He calls is yours.  He is the Housewife who sweeps the house in search of the lost coin, and the coin He seeks is you.  He is the Father pacing the porch waiting for the son or daughter to come home.  God wants his child home, and the child He wants is you and it is me.

          He has told us, "If you have faith, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."  It's His promise.  But don't limit this promise to perks or paychecks.  His fruit is far greater than earthly goods or promotions.  God wants us to fly, free from yesterday's guilt, free from yesterday's fears, free from tomorrow's grave.  Trust in Him and get set to fly.  One day we'll all fly home to Him.

          One final word about the church at Ulm.  It has the highest spire of any church in the world, over 500 feet high, which is a nice height for flying.  But today it stands empty.  On Sunday maybe 40-50 are in worship while hundreds of visitors and tourists walk around and look the place over.

          And how do most of those tourists get to the city of Ulm?  They fly, on jet airplanes, not a few feet above the ground, but a few miles above the earth.  So can we, when we trust the Lord for all our needs.  Amen

Copyright © 2005 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.