1 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:04,760 It's great to see you. Welcome. 2 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:07,600 If you're here last week, I hope you've had a good week. 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:11,440 I've had a quite a week. I did AI did a funeral on 4 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:14,080 Monday. I went to Zimbabwe for a few 5 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,840 days. Then I went and did a wedding in 6 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:20,160 Cape Town and flew back last night to preach today. 7 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:22,240 So I've done a wedding and a funeral. 8 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,760 I'm celebrating my 32nd wedding anniversary and a whole lot of 9 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,920 things in between. So the the title of the message 10 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:34,320 is funerals and Weddings, funerals and weddings. 11 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:38,520 And I noticed a few things this week that people get very sober 12 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:50,440 at weddings and very, very sober at funerals that very not so 13 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,760 sober at weddings. So funerals are quite sobering 14 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,960 and weddings are quite raucous. And what the book of 15 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,800 Ecclesiastes does is it kind of brings them together. 16 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,000 It brings them together. And so we're going to study 17 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:05,880 Ecclesiastes. If you haven't been here, it's 18 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:07,400 your first time, you can catch up. 19 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:09,880 But we've been studying Ecclesiastes and asking 20 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,600 ourselves, do we ever gain anything in this world? 21 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:15,440 Or is these few years we have on earth just a gift? 22 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,080 And Ecclesiastes tells us we don't actually leave a lasting 23 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:21,240 legacy. We're not meant to be leaving. 24 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,160 We're meant to just be preaching the gospel, loving people dying 25 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:27,520 and being forgotten, and we're trying our guts out to be 26 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:29,640 remembered. We put statues up of ourselves. 27 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,600 We named buildings after ourselves, We named highways and 28 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:35,880 airports after ourselves. But nobody really remembers. 29 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,360 I mean, Robert Mugabe, I went into Zimbabwe, the Robert Mugabe 30 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:44,000 airport, the Robert Mugabe highway, and in 20 years time, 31 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,160 nobody will even know who Robert Mugabe was. 32 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,200 And so we think that we actually at the center of our whole 33 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:54,440 world, but God has given us death not just as a punishment, 34 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,000 but somehow is a restriction to stop us from becoming gods. 35 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:03,200 Because left to our own devices, Robert Mugabe would have become 36 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:07,120 an eternal God in Zimbabwe, as Hitler would have been Germany. 37 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:09,720 And we would have in our own worlds because we'd love to be 38 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,440 the center of attention. And so God puts this restriction 39 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:16,400 on death upon us to remind us we're actually not that 40 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,680 important and our lives are not built around ourselves. 41 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:22,480 And actually one day we're going to die and push up daisies. 42 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:26,920 That's the truth. And the Bible says we will be 43 00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:29,360 forgotten. A few might remember us, but not 44 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,400 many. You see lists and lists of names 45 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,840 at schools, head boys and duxes of schools and captains of 46 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,040 cricket. But after the time that you were 47 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,960 there, nobody really remembers that. 48 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,840 Not true. But I want to read you a letter 49 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:46,560 written to us by a man called Yaku. 50 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,680 I don't know if Yaku is here this morning, but Yaku came back 51 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:50,560 here. Are you here, Yaku? 52 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,400 It doesn't matter. I want to embarrass you, but he 53 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,360 wrote this letter to three CI came back here was an engineer 54 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:01,200 could not find a job and sat here for nearly 20 months and he 55 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,600 found a job in the sphere that is not really who he's 56 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:06,920 comfortable with Us met him at the airport the other day. 57 00:03:06,920 --> 00:03:09,920 He was going on a business journey and he wrote to us this 58 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:11,200 letter. So I would like to read it to 59 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:16,040 you if you can put it up please. It actually says dear 3 CR 60 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:20,680 family, it's been 5 months since I stepped into this unfamiliar 61 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:22,720 world. His new work a world far removed 62 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:26,360 from the calculated precision of engineering projects and into 63 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:30,400 the whirlwind of retail sales. Some days I still catch myself 64 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:32,920 holding my breath, wondering how I got here. 65 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:36,240 But then I remember this is where God planted me and even in 66 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:37,960 the chaos He is teaching me to grow. 67 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,680 Let me be raw with you. This has been the hardest season 68 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,880 of my 35 year career. Learning to sell products I 69 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,640 barely understand, to navigate the fickle tides of retail, To 70 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,200 smile through the sting of suppliers insults. 71 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:54,600 Oh, the words I've swallowed instead of retaliating. 72 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:58,160 It's left me humbled. There are days I come home to my 73 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:01,280 family and I sit in the quiet wondering if I'm failing them 74 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:03,480 too. But Sundays? 75 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:10,320 But Sundays, Sundays have become my anchor. 76 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,240 Walking into service, weary and frayed, I cling to every word 77 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:17,360 preached, every hymn sung like a lifeline. 78 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:19,720 I know my name isn't on the list. 79 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,160 No one here knows the battles I'm fighting, but God does. 80 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,720 When the message speaks of His relentless love, I feel it is 81 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,640 like a hand on my shoulder. When the prayers rise, I'm 82 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:37,440 reminded that He sees the unspoken tears, the silent 83 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,480 sacrifices, the courage it takes to keep showing up. 84 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,720 This journey has been a mirror, reflecting all the ways I fall 85 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:45,200 short. Every day I face a new 86 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,320 challenge, a disgruntled customer, shipment gone wrong, a 87 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:50,760 moment where fear threatens to swallow my resolve. 88 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:53,440 And I think this is my chance to reflect his love. 89 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,920 And yet, so often I fail. I react impatiently. 90 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,720 I doubt, I crumble. But Grace meets me there in the 91 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:02,680 mess and whispers, try again tomorrow. 92 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:05,800 To my sister, see our family. Thank you. 93 00:05:06,280 --> 00:05:09,400 Thank you for being a sanctuary where I can set my weary spirit. 94 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:12,240 Thank you for teaching me that God's love isn't earned by 95 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:14,360 perfection but poured out in the struggle. 96 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:17,640 Thank you for reminding me that even when I feel invisible, I am 97 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:21,320 seen. This road is lonely, but I've 98 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:23,880 never felt alone. When suppliers belittle me, I 99 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:26,760 pray for strength to forgive. When my family enjoys the 100 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,280 sunsets without me, I thank God that they're safe. 101 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,240 When Sunday comes, I arrive hungry and He feeds me. 102 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:34,280 Maybe that's the lesson in the breaking. 103 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:36,440 We make space for His light to shine through. 104 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:39,920 I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I'm learning to trust 105 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,720 the one who does. And if my story, this messy, 106 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,000 unfinished story, can encourage even one of you, then every 107 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:49,560 tear, every sleepless night, every silent prayer will have 108 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,680 been worth it. With a heart both heavy and 109 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:57,600 hopeful. Yaku, if you ever see me 110 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,360 lingering after the service, no, it's because I'm storing up 111 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:05,200 strength for the week ahead. Your smiles, your good mornings, 112 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,200 your never quiet presence, they're all reminders of God's 113 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,280 love and flesh and blood. Thank you for being his hands 114 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:13,880 and feet. But he said to me, my grace is 115 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:18,520 sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 116 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:31,310 Thank you, Yaaku. So let's turn to Ecclesiastes 117 00:06:31,310 --> 00:06:33,790 now and we're going ahead a bit. I want to finish this book now 118 00:06:37,630 --> 00:06:40,270 because it's talking a lot about death and all those things, and 119 00:06:40,270 --> 00:06:43,400 so we're going to just catch the gist of it today. 120 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:49,280 Say Ecclesiastes chapter Chapter 9, Ecclesiastes Chapter 9. 121 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,080 So I reflected on all this. Say I reflected on all this, 122 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,160 Ecclesiastes 8th and verse 14 says there's something else 123 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:01,960 meaningless that occurs on earth. 124 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,920 Righteous men who get what the wicked deserve and wicked men 125 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:07,480 who get what the righteous deserve. 126 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:11,040 So I reflected on laws. It just seems like sometimes 127 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:13,560 it's just not fair. It's not fair. 128 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,720 I've seen people who have served God for 30 years and it's tough 129 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:18,040 for them. And I've seen people who have 130 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:22,280 served the devil properly for 30 years and they're blessed, he 131 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:23,920 says. Just doesn't seem right. 132 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:30,320 It doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem like God. 133 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:31,960 Are you in control? It's under the sun. 134 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:34,040 But God, do you know what's going on? 135 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:38,640 I mean, here's a girl, her name is Geraldine. 136 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:41,160 She was part of the original church plant of this church. 137 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:44,040 Her and her husband Rudy, decided that they would leave. 138 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,800 He was a world class musician. He led a band. 139 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,640 He was a famous pop star. He was an incredible athlete. 140 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:53,760 They relocated their family to support this church plant. 141 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:58,560 Her husband had a brain aneurysm and he's been sick for 25 years, 142 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:03,280 30 years sick. It just doesn't really seem 143 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:06,600 fair. So I reflected on all of this. 144 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:08,640 God. But she just keeps coming to 145 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:10,440 church. She's got her Home group leaders 146 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:13,880 and her friends and her family and her children and she just 147 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:17,440 keeps coming to church and her husband needs special care and 148 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:19,160 attention. You think, But she's a godly 149 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:20,680 girl who grew up in a godly family. 150 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,720 And every time I look at you and I see you here, it's like 3 CI. 151 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:26,720 Thank you for smiling at Geraldine and Geraldine, thank 152 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,080 you for smiling AT3CI and Yaku. Thank you for keeping coming. 153 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:33,640 Because what's really important when this upside down world of 154 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:38,120 ours and I can go through every one of your stories. 155 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,400 There's my friend who's preached all over the world, served as an 156 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:46,040 elder in the church for 25 years. 157 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:48,360 Now he's working in a coffee shop and the coffee shop's not 158 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:52,040 working. And I see him there crying after 159 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,560 God praying. And we started the coffee shop 160 00:08:55,560 --> 00:08:58,720 with hope to employ people and to look after orphans. 161 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:00,960 And I've seen this man working so hard for God. 162 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:02,720 And there's now the coffee shop is not working. 163 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,320 And I look at him, but he's here every Sunday with his hands in 164 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,000 the air saying, dear God, I'll give you glory. 165 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:11,240 Somehow I've felt about all this stuff and it doesn't really make 166 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:15,440 sense. There's a couple in this church 167 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:19,920 called Young and Wendy Cravenstein, beautiful couple, 168 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,840 served God. And when I was newly here, just 169 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,440 been here for a couple of months as a pastor 12 years ago, I got 170 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:28,280 a phone call at 4:00 in the morning. 171 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:31,000 It was young. He said, Rory, it's young here. 172 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,480 Samuel, our newborn baby or couple of month old baby. 173 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:38,440 It's looked like he's passed away in Pretoria East Hospital. 174 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:40,360 So I got changed. I raced to the hospital, Little 175 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:44,440 boy still had pink cheeks. And I remember just being by 176 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:46,480 myself with that little boy, and I thought, God, these are 177 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,600 beautiful people. These are godly people. 178 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,160 They love you, they fear you, they honor you. 179 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,200 And now we've got a child who's died in his sleep. 180 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:58,680 You can't make sense of it. So I've had this funeral. 181 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:01,840 I've had this wedding, and I think there's so much pain and 182 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:04,600 so much joy. And God says somehow can you put 183 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:08,280 these two things together and realize that I'm in the 184 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,280 soberness of the funeral and I'm in the celebration of the 185 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:13,160 wedding. And if you understand that 186 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:15,320 properly, you'll start to live properly. 187 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,400 And I remember trying to console the Craven stains. 188 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,360 And Wendy's a psychologist, and psychology couldn't heal her. 189 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:28,800 So she eventually applied to do her doctorate in psychology with 190 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:32,160 an element of faith because she realized that the pinnacle of 191 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,560 counselling in this world, which is psychology, cannot take away 192 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:41,240 the pain of death. And so psychology doesn't 193 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:45,520 believe in faith, but somehow her professors allowed her to do 194 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:50,040 a, a doctorate on how faith and psychology together can actually 195 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:51,880 come in and heal the deep wounds. 196 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:55,960 And I remember going to a conference down in Durban about 197 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:58,440 six weeks after it happened. And, and one of my very dear 198 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,280 friends, a very anointed singer, I'm not, so don't excuse my 199 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:04,280 singing, but I remember he got up and he just took the 200 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:05,720 microphone. He didn't know anything. 201 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:07,640 He just took the microphone and he started singing. 202 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:11,200 And then the Lord walked in and stood beside the bed of the 203 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:17,600 little boy and said Samuel. Then the Lord walked in and 204 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:22,200 stood beside the bed of the little boy and said Samuel. 205 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:26,840 Then the Lord walked in and stood beside the bed of the 206 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:32,960 little boy and said, Samuel and I realized God called that boy 207 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,440 home. I realized he called him home. 208 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:40,480 And I got a message from one of my dear friends, Janet Island. 209 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:44,440 I've known her since school out of their daughter's funeral. 210 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:49,920 Annabelle, I'm trying to explain how does God fit this good God 211 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:53,080 who loves us, who we pray protection over our children? 212 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:55,080 How does this good God somehow allow? 213 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:59,200 I don't know, but funerals and weddings must come together so 214 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,360 that we can understand God. And this week as I was 215 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:04,360 preparing, I started singing in my heart. 216 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:07,760 And then the Lord walked in and stood beside the bed of the 217 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:13,160 little girl and said, Annabelle. Then the Lord walked in and 218 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:17,080 stood beside the bed of the little girl and said, Annabelle, 219 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:24,640 that's my friend Ryan there. His name is Ryan de Toy. 220 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:27,920 Watched them grow up. I watched them getting born. 221 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:30,680 Now sitting in our church next to my children. 222 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:34,200 His mom and dad are some of my very dearest friends. 223 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,400 Christian, wander the toy. They've been writing me letters 224 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,480 through Ecclesiastes. They had a daughter called Gabby 225 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:43,960 Lee, Beautiful, fit, healthy, strong girl. 226 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:46,560 And one day she was going for a run in Cape Town. 227 00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:49,880 She just parked her car against the wall, smacked the wall. 228 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:54,440 She was gone. Raced at a hospital, kept her on 229 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:56,120 life support. I've prayed for that little girl 230 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:59,160 since the day she was born. I took my prayer book, which is 231 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,400 full of people that I pray for, and I asked and everybody had 232 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:04,160 left. I said, can I just go into the 233 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:07,680 theater? The life had left. 234 00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:09,080 I put that prayer book on her chest. 235 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:12,400 I said, dear God, have you heard every prayer? 236 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:14,560 I know her name was Gabriel Lee, but I started singing. 237 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,240 Then the Lord walked in and stood beside the bed of the 238 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:23,960 little girl and said, Gabrielle, and sometimes we feel so 239 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:31,360 powerless, but God has given us death as a gift so that we can 240 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:33,600 actually learn to live life properly. 241 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:38,960 It's absolutely certain that we will die. 242 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:43,920 It's how we live that Ecclesiastes is talking about, 243 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:47,320 are you with me? How are we doing? 244 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:51,920 It's not meant to be morbid, meant to be happy. 245 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:57,840 So I reflected on all this, and I concluded that the righteous 246 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:01,400 and the wise and what they do are in God's hands. 247 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:05,320 In God's hands. If I was God, I wouldn't take 248 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:07,680 those children young. But it's not my hands, it's 249 00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:10,480 God's hands. And you're not God. 250 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:14,920 So don't give up on God when God does something that you don't 251 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:19,880 understand. But no man knows whether love or 252 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:23,480 hate awaits him or share a common destiny. 253 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:26,720 The righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean 254 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:29,360 and the unclean, those who offer sacrifice and those who don't. 255 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:31,680 You think all of us doesn't matter if you go to church, 256 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:34,040 Don't go to church. Give money, don't give money. 257 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:38,400 Gamble, don't gamble, bribe, don't bribe. 258 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:46,200 You're all going to die. As it is with the good man, so 259 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,440 with the Sinner, as it is with those who take oath, so those 260 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,680 who are afraid to take oath. This is the evil in everything 261 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,240 that happens under the sun. The same destiny overtakes. 262 00:14:56,240 --> 00:15:00,520 All the hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil, and there is 263 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:03,480 madness in their hearts while they live, and afterwards they 264 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:07,280 join the dead. Anyone who is among the living 265 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:13,960 has hope. So we in God's hands, verse 4, 266 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:15,520 says while we're alive we have hope. 267 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:19,840 Even a live dog is better off than a dead lion. 268 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:23,200 Interesting. Hey, you know, I don't like 269 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:31,050 dogs, but I had the most unbelievable experience 270 00:15:31,170 --> 00:15:34,450 recently. When I get out of my car, you 271 00:15:34,450 --> 00:15:36,210 can normally hear me before you see me. 272 00:15:37,330 --> 00:15:41,170 So I was parking my car and one of my my phone kept beeping and 273 00:15:41,170 --> 00:15:43,930 there's one of my friends saying you park really badly, learn how 274 00:15:43,930 --> 00:15:44,930 to park. Wow, wow, wow. 275 00:15:44,930 --> 00:15:48,250 Because he was watching me. So I got out, looked at it and I 276 00:15:48,250 --> 00:15:51,930 said, and I heard somebody called me across the road. 277 00:15:51,930 --> 00:15:54,720 How's it? And I thought they greeted me. 278 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:57,200 So I said, Erica, how's it? But it was at the vet. 279 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:01,960 I walked across to the vet, and I realized they're crying. 280 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:05,080 Oh, dear God. I've never prayed for a dog 281 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:08,720 before, but I think I'm about to. 282 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:14,160 So I walked in there and one of our members, one of our church 283 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,680 members sitting on the backseat of his car with his beloved dog 284 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:22,280 in his hand, and he's just weeping, just weeping because 285 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:26,520 it's the end of a season. And they said, Lori, we just 286 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:30,280 prayed somehow, somehow that we'd meet you here. 287 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,880 And so here I am praying for members of church or the dog. 288 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:38,440 And I realized we've got dog lovers in our church. 289 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:47,120 I'm shocked. How I'm going to get to love 290 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:51,240 you, I don't know, but I will. I'm going to get to love you. 291 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:54,680 But I just remembered this absolutely holy moment. 292 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:58,160 But you see, friends, the reason why I said because the lion was 293 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:00,840 the king of the jungle and the dog was the lowest form, he 294 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:03,960 says, But it's better to be a live dog than to be a dead lion. 295 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:07,839 So while you're alive, while you're alive, God's talking to 296 00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:10,920 us. While you're alive, you better 297 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:13,000 do what God wants you to do, because when you're dead, 298 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:15,800 everything's gone. You can't have a chance to love 299 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:17,440 anymore. You can't have a chance to give. 300 00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:19,280 You can't have a chance to be jealous. 301 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:27,400 You can't have a chance. Everything's going to go for the 302 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,280 living know that they will die. But the dead know nothing. 303 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,480 They have no further reward, and even the memory of them is 304 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:34,880 forgotten. They love, they hate. 305 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:36,920 Their jealousy have long since vanished. 306 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:40,320 Never again will they have a part in anything that happens 307 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:42,920 under the sun. Go, say, go. 308 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:47,840 Say go see when I read that word, go. 309 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,240 I've got a little bit of a strange imagination, but being 310 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:57,080 the athlete that I am and the 100m school champion in under 7 311 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:06,200 at Harry Smith on your marks gets it. 312 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,640 That's not how they said it. Let's try it again. 313 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:17,200 On your marks, gets it. Let's try it one more time, but 314 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,680 with a gun in your hand. Point the gun up in case you 315 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:25,320 shoot someone. On your marks, get said, go. 316 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:28,560 Let's see the gate. On your marks get said go. 317 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,680 When I see that word, that's what it says, go. 318 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:34,560 So in the midst of all this thing, death is happening. 319 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:36,560 We don't understand, we're not fully aware. 320 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:44,480 God says go, have a go. Go eat your food. 321 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:52,480 Hit Nando's or Poiki. Go. 322 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:55,360 I'm going out for lunch today with the guy who's sitting up 323 00:18:55,360 --> 00:18:57,880 there. On Thursday he sent me the piece 324 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:02,520 of meat. On Friday he showed how it was 325 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:06,040 cut up. I was waiting for the marinade 326 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,680 on Saturday, but it doesn't seem like he's marinated it, so I'm 327 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:11,920 going to go and have a dry piece of meat for lunch. 328 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:20,120 Go eat your food with with gladness and drink your wine 329 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:22,640 with a joyful heart. Don't get smashed. 330 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:27,840 You're going to die. So go and have a dope. 331 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:32,120 That's what it says and we'll talk about it just now. 332 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:36,480 For it is now that God favors what you do. 333 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:38,760 It is now that God favors what you do. 334 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:45,440 Stop being depressed. Always be clothed in white. 335 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:48,800 There's a man here. He doesn't think he's prophetic 336 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:51,320 at all. But six weeks ago, he arrived at 337 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:54,720 my house with a beautiful imported white shirt, and he 338 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:56,400 gave it to me. He said, Rory, I want to bless 339 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:57,440 you with it. I said, why? 340 00:19:57,560 --> 00:19:59,720 He said, I don't know, but I want to bless you with a white 341 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:01,640 shirt. When I did the funeral, I wore 342 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:04,200 that white shirt. When I did the wedding in Cape 343 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,280 Town, I wore that white shirt. And that man's got no idea why 344 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:10,200 he gave me a white shirt. But Ecclesiastes, he says, put 345 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,280 on a white shirt. Get rid of this black. 346 00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:18,040 Black stuff, take it off. Take off your sackcloth and 347 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:24,960 asses and put on a white shirt. RIP the sackcloth off and put on 348 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:31,160 a white shirt and always anoint your head with oil. 349 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:34,440 Always anoint your head with oil. 350 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:38,040 The Pretoria E amplified version says this. 351 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:51,920 Buy a Laka Gucci outfit and you can have a couple of injections 352 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:57,640 just in your eyes, round your cheeks and your lips. 353 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:05,160 This is the only scripture I know for Botox in the Pretoria E 354 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:21,520 amplified version. Put on Gucci, keep fighting, 355 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,320 enjoy your life with your wife whom you love. 356 00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:36,400 All the days of this meaningless life that God has given you 357 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:42,400 under the sun. Enjoy her, enjoy her friends. 358 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,760 He's he's talking about a wedding, he's talked about a 359 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:47,120 funeral. He says, don't understand this, 360 00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:49,680 but you're all going to die. Funerals take a lot of 361 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,160 preparation. I did one on Sunday night. 362 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:55,640 The family came in, they cleared the stage, they put out flowers, 363 00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:58,520 not too bright flowers because you're mourning. 364 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:03,640 They put out all the rugby jerseys, the sombre, it's quite 365 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:05,040 deep. People got up and there was a 366 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,240 lot of tears. I went to the wedding. 367 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:12,080 There were 1200 candles. You walked in and just glass. 368 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:14,400 It's just spectacular. I thought he has the funeral, he 369 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,040 has the wedding and I'm reading Ecclesiastes now and he's saying 370 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:18,800 there's funeral, we're all going to die. 371 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,240 But just put on white clothes like a bride and put up some 372 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,000 makeup and have a go. Have a go. 373 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:27,880 Because you don't know how long you live for. 374 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:38,200 For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the 375 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:40,360 sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, 376 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:43,280 do it with all your might. For in the grave where you are 377 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:46,080 going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor 378 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,240 wisdom. I've seen something else under 379 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,320 the sun. The race is not to the swift or 380 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:53,640 the battle to the strong. Nor does fools come to the wise, 381 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,000 or wealth to the brilliant. Some of you think you're wealthy 382 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,320 because you're brilliant. Sometimes you're just lucky. 383 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:05,240 Yeah, and you sit there and you think I can enjoy all this 384 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:07,440 because I'm brilliant. The Bible says even your wealth 385 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:10,160 has been given to you by God, even if you've worked your 386 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:14,560 bottom off or favor to the learner. 387 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:16,440 But time and chance happened to them all. 388 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:19,560 Time and chance happened to them all. 389 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:24,880 The actual translation is time and happened, happened. 390 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:28,800 I had a schoolmaster, Tony Rick, the amazing guy. 391 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:31,120 His father was a preacher. He walked away from God. 392 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:34,040 I used to call him Pique, but there was a PK at our school 393 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:37,280 called PK Remner, an Indian guy and PK Remner and used to 394 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:41,280 organize all the buses. But Tony Richter, I used to call 395 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:43,560 him PK and he'd say, Rory, have you forgotten my name? 396 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,800 PK is the guy who does the buses and I used to quit call him PK. 397 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:48,880 I said, hey, how you PK, how you PK? 398 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:51,040 And he said why do you keep calling me PK? 399 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:55,800 I said one day you'll realize and about 10 years lady came to 400 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:57,680 me said I know why you call me PK. 401 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:01,880 I'm a preacher's kid. I said, yes, you are. 402 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,120 And I said, and your dad put Christ inside of your heart, Mr. 403 00:24:06,120 --> 00:24:10,120 Richter. Your dad prayed for you, Mr. 404 00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:12,840 Richter. And then he started calling my 405 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:17,240 son PK and he made my son captain. 406 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:23,040 And my son was the last boy to captain one of his rugby teams. 407 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:24,680 And then his daughter had a puncher. 408 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:27,720 And I mean, how many of you had punches before? 409 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:32,880 How many of you had punches? 90% of us have had punctures. 410 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:34,880 His daughter had a puncture. She found them. 411 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:36,720 What's her daughters do when they have punctures? 412 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,560 They found their dads because my daughter's husband's too dumb to 413 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:51,560 change the tire. I'm trying to get him to change 414 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:53,200 his attitude. Let alone a tire. 415 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,200 You're the most beautiful gift in the whole world. 416 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:00,680 So you find your dad. Hi, Dad. 417 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,120 It's your daughter. What's wrong, girly? 418 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:09,160 I've got a puncture. I need your fixie. 419 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:13,760 So my daughter speaks. So Tony just got in his car and 420 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:15,520 he went to go and fix his daughter's puncture. 421 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:17,880 And as he was fixing the puncture, truck went through the 422 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,240 barriers and killed him and his daughter. 423 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:23,600 But how many of you have fixed the puncture? 424 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:29,320 And time and chance happened. It just happened and you think, 425 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:30,160 why? Friends? 426 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:31,840 I don't know why, but I can tell you this. 427 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:34,840 You're alive because God wants you to be alive and you are 428 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:37,600 going to die. It might be changing attire. 429 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:46,160 I'm sitting at this wedding. The father of the bride is an 430 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:48,880 advocate. Unbelievable speaker, best 431 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:50,200 speaker I've ever heard in my life. 432 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:52,840 I heard him speak. He used to be the chairman of 433 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,560 the Hilton board. I heard him speak and then he 434 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:58,440 got up at his daughter's wedding and I heard him speak and I just 435 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:02,960 sat there and I thought of three CI and, and, and 1200 candles 436 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:04,560 and I thought of having dinner with you. 437 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,120 The reason, friends, he talks about food is because food is a 438 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:09,320 thing of heaven. Jesus comes and he eats all this 439 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,600 food and then and then he wants us to be homesick. 440 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:15,720 He wants us to think of food because we're going to eat 441 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:17,880 together. And as this father, the bride 442 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,800 got up, this eloquent advocate, he just spoke brilliantly. 443 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:23,800 I just, I was just, I wanted to weep. 444 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:27,680 I thought, I want to hear the father speak about 3 CI like 445 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:28,960 that. On our wedding day. 446 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:34,640 I got goose fire. And then the groom got up and he 447 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:36,920 started speaking eloquently. Just unbelievable. 448 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:39,680 The wine was flowing. The, the, it was just absolutely 449 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:42,120 eloquent. And this lady next to me, Pat 450 00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:46,040 McDonald, because God always puts the right person next to 451 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,360 me, Pat McDonald. Her son was best friends with a 452 00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:54,560 groom son, his name was Matthew. And Matthew came home one day in 453 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:57,400 his early 20s or late 20s, and he said, mum, I've got a 454 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:01,360 headache. He said, we'll go to bed, 2 455 00:27:01,360 --> 00:27:04,920 pinatas off to bed. And the next day he said, mum, 456 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,920 I'm not feeling so great. So he went to the doctor and the 457 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:10,520 doctor said, I think he's got a virus. 458 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:13,880 And 18 months later, he died of leukemia. 459 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:17,120 And she's sitting next to me, she said, Rory, why am I placed 460 00:27:17,120 --> 00:27:18,920 next to you? I said, Because I'm studying the 461 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:22,960 book of Ecclesiastes, Pet. And in Ecclesiastes, you've got 462 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:28,280 to take death and marriage. You've got to put them together. 463 00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:32,640 So when the father of the groom gets up and speaks, you've got 464 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:34,520 to know your son. Matthew's already sitting at 465 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:39,360 that table of the bride when the groom gets up and speaks. 466 00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:40,520 You've got to know Matthew's there. 467 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:42,240 And one day we're going to join Matthew. 468 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:44,360 And as I heard those things, I thought, one day I'm going to 469 00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:52,280 sit with you, with you. Deacon, who had Robben Island, 470 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:56,240 is a political activist sitting on Robben Island. 471 00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:00,240 You and our poles apart. Different ideologies, different 472 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:01,800 philosophies, different everything. 473 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:04,560 And one day God's going to take off our black shirts and he's 474 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:07,000 going to put on white clothes and we're going to sit next to 475 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:08,840 each other and the Father's going to talk about us and we're 476 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,600 going to be holding hands. And God's going to say, this is 477 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:22,950 my bride. So as I close, are you with me? 478 00:28:24,470 --> 00:28:28,830 It's, I know it's deeply sobering and Ecclesiastes is 479 00:28:28,830 --> 00:28:31,590 quite deep, but it's good. It's good. 480 00:28:34,470 --> 00:28:45,480 I see some of my friends. I love you, I love you. 35 years 481 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:51,720 of great marriage and separated. I don't know. 482 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:53,200 I'm thinking about all these things. 483 00:28:53,200 --> 00:29:00,560 God doesn't seem fair. Moreover, no man knows when his 484 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:02,960 hour will come. We're certain of death. 485 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:05,080 We're not certain of when, but it's going to come. 486 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:07,800 Samuel came when he was six weeks old. 487 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:14,880 Annabelle, she was 17. Gabby when she was 24. 488 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:18,560 Matthew MacDonald when he was 28. 489 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:24,160 You and I have got no idea when we're certain of death. 490 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:29,680 We're uncertain about when, as fish are caught in a cruel net 491 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:33,720 or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times 492 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,080 that fall unexpectedly upon them. 493 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:37,560 I want to just tell you this, friends. 494 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:41,080 Go eat your food with gladness and drink your heart with wine. 495 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:43,680 We know death is certain. We're not quite sure when it is. 496 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:45,240 So this is what you've got to do. 497 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:51,040 You've got to eat together. Niko, can you come stand with 498 00:29:51,040 --> 00:30:00,410 me, please? This is my friend. 499 00:30:02,050 --> 00:30:04,050 Name is Niko. Don't know how we became friends 500 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,720 but my one friend Anton said I must meet Nico and through Anton 501 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,360 who's an Afrikaans guy who welcomed me here with his wife 502 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:13,280 Erica, he said I must meet Nico and I must meet meet Anita. 503 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,200 And Nico said hey Roy, I want to take you away for a few days. 504 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:18,800 I said what we're going to do Nico, He said we're going to eat 505 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:22,200 together. I said who's going to cook? 506 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:28,760 He said I'm going to cook cook. And the first night he took AT 507 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:34,120 bone steak that was 8 fingers thick like this, he made a fire, 508 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:39,560 he sat around the fire, he put it on its on the bone like that 509 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:42,320 for an hour. And then he put it like this for 510 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:44,680 8 minutes and like that for 8 minutes. 511 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,000 And then he put it on the fat. And he called his friends 512 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:51,000 together and he started to slice the meat. 513 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,480 And I thought you're creating heaven on earth. 514 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:00,280 We're going to die. We don't know when to die. 515 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:05,040 But in the meantime, can the English and Afrikaans guy eat 516 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:12,080 together and talk about God and speak about our families and 517 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:15,520 enjoy the work of his labor? He's built a house and enjoy the 518 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,480 work of his labor. And I sat around that table. 519 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:22,920 I was deeply humbled. And I looked at the scripture 520 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:30,320 and I thought, thank you. Thank you for serving me, thank 521 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:32,480 you for serving my wife, thank you for being my friend. 522 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:37,080 I think you are the most successful man I know, or one of 523 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:41,480 them, but you still just humble yourself and go inside and get 524 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,600 me a drink. Because the Bible says go and do 525 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:46,800 what? Just serve some different 526 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:49,000 people. Get them a drink, make them your 527 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:54,920 favorite food, cook their veggies, say grace and speak 528 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:58,440 about God. So I wonder what he's going to 529 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:02,280 do tomorrow. And tomorrow he made a big fire. 530 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:05,760 I still prepare these chickens and this foil. 531 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:13,920 Sign aside in, sign aside in. You plump them on the fire, turn 532 00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:15,560 them around. I thought, I don't think he 533 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:19,160 knows what he's doing. And then he opened them up and 534 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:22,000 we smelt it. You see, God has designed it so 535 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,360 they'll become homesick. We've become homesick because 536 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:27,360 we're going to spend the rest of lives eating together. 537 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:29,440 And then I realized he's got many gifts. 538 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:31,880 He's a businessman, he's an educator, he's all those things. 539 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:37,360 But actually his gift is to enjoy God and to make food for 540 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:40,880 his friends. I want to tell you, as I've 541 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:45,720 studied Ecclesiastes, my family went away the other day. 542 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:50,920 So I just took a chicken and I wrapped it in foil and I made a 543 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:55,840 fire and I put it on. I said, God, it came out 544 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,760 perfectly. I thought, I've learned many 545 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:02,000 things in this church, but the things that we have to learn is 546 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,160 how to eat and drink together better. 547 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:17,310 Thank you. I wrote a list. 548 00:33:17,430 --> 00:33:18,630 We're going to close in a moment. 549 00:33:20,030 --> 00:33:25,110 I wrote a list. We're certain we're going to 550 00:33:25,110 --> 00:33:28,510 die. We're uncertain when, but we do 551 00:33:28,510 --> 00:33:32,590 have to go. Say, go take off your sackcloth 552 00:33:32,590 --> 00:33:36,880 and ashes. Take off your sackcloth and 553 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:41,880 ashes. Cravenstein family, the toy 554 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:47,720 family, Island family, those of you who are depressed, who are 555 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:52,280 divorced, take off your sackcloth and ashes because you 556 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:56,280 are going to die. You don't know when you've got 557 00:33:56,280 --> 00:34:00,280 to start enjoying this. You've got to trust God to get 558 00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:02,400 off your medication. And I've been on medication for 559 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:05,840 mental health, so I'm not putting any heavy on you. 560 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:08,239 You've got to work with your psychologist and psychiatrist. 561 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:11,040 But if God is speaking to us, he's buying us a white set. 562 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:19,960 This black thing must go. Ride a bike, watch the sun rises 563 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:25,280 and the sunsets, and honor God. Go to the Kruger and to the 564 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:30,719 beach and to the foot tracker monument with a black person and 565 00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:34,639 study Ephesians 2 that says that we were dead in our 566 00:34:34,639 --> 00:34:37,120 transgressions. And he made us alive with 567 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:43,520 Christ, and he seated us in heavenly places, and he took 568 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:45,679 those who were far off and made them close. 569 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:53,520 And he abolished the dividing wall of hostility that was 570 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:56,600 between US. And while you sit to the black 571 00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:59,680 person, or if you're a black person or the white person on 572 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:02,120 the steps of the foot tracker monument, gaze across to the 573 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:05,360 Union buildings. And one day, if one day somehow 574 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:11,800 we can share our favorite T-bone steak and chicken in the House 575 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:13,480 of a person who's different to us. 576 00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:18,560 But we can have the feast in heaven now before we have the He 577 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:23,440 feast in heaven. Then let's talk about God making 578 00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:26,880 21 and removing the dividing wall of hostility as you gaze 579 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:29,320 upon the Union buildings. Have an ice cream at Royal 580 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:32,560 Danish. Go and watch the show at the 581 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:35,880 bridge. Take some friends, new friends, 582 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:38,360 strangers you made at church, maybe yaku. 583 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:44,720 Learn a musical instrument. Visit the sick, care for the 584 00:35:44,720 --> 00:35:49,400 dying, cook a meal, feed the hungry, watch the series with 585 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:51,720 your family. Go on walks, visit Zimbabwe, 586 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:58,840 read a book, go to Lofters, shout for the bulls, love the 587 00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:02,800 fat ladies dressed in blue, laugh. 588 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:06,400 Enjoy your friends. Listen to David, Cromer, Kurt, 589 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:12,000 Darren, maybe Mozart. Phone your mum, Write a letter 590 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:15,240 to your friends or the man you met on the plane. 591 00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:17,240 Plant a church. Go on a mission. 592 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:23,080 Take your neighbor a cake. Start a school. 593 00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:26,480 Do some pro bono work. Look to bless. 594 00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:28,520 Be generous. Sacrifice for other people. 595 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:30,960 Let others use your gifts and resources. 596 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:33,160 Adopt A child. Speak about Christ. 597 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:34,480 Be kind. Forgive others. 598 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:37,320 Spend money. Give away a car, fix somebody's 599 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:38,320 teeth. Add joy. 600 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:40,240 Bless people. Serve coffee at church. 601 00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:41,960 Pray for your kids. Smile. 602 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:53,240 And enjoy your wife, enjoy your wife because there's some of you 603 00:36:53,240 --> 00:36:54,720 have been married here for a long time. 604 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:57,680 You're enduring your marriages and you're not enjoying them. 605 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:01,520 I remember I was walking down a French St. 606 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:09,560 I was walking down a French St. on Boxing Day in 1987 and I got 607 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:13,960 a Telegraph from a 19 year old girl. 608 00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:18,040 They said, hey Rory, I have to tell you this. 609 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:24,240 I love you Melanie. I never forget sitting down in 610 00:37:24,240 --> 00:37:31,680 that street in France. That's 40 years ago nearly. 611 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:39,160 I love you too and I want to speak to you like Christ speaks 612 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:42,040 to his church. And I know that we will die. 613 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:46,560 I don't know when we will die, but until we die, I'm going to 614 00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:48,320 go. I'm going to eat with you and 615 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:50,360 I'm going to drink with you and I'm going to enjoy you. 616 00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:53,200 I'm going to tell you that you are beautiful and that your eyes 617 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:55,080 are deep and that your voice is kind. 618 00:37:56,240 --> 00:37:58,760 And the fact that you don't gossip is a great gift to our 619 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:00,400 family. And the fact that you pray for 620 00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:03,480 people and you pray for your children and the fact that you 621 00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:07,480 cook food with so much love is a deep joy to me. 622 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:11,160 The most sacred room in my whole life is our bedroom where we 623 00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:13,560 drink tea together every morning and every night. 624 00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:16,760 And I want to say in front of all these friends, I pray that 625 00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:18,720 we would sit around the same table with them. 626 00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:22,840 We're not endure our marriage. And as our children leave home, 627 00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:24,560 we would study theology together. 628 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:27,760 And I will cook that chicken for you on the briar this week. 629 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:48,080 We are going to die. We don't know when, but in the 630 00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:51,640 meantime, let's have a go. Let's have a go. 631 00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:54,400 I'm not talking about drunkenness. 632 00:38:56,320 --> 00:39:02,080 I'm not talking about sin. God created food and God created 633 00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:04,240 drink. The devil is distorted into 634 00:39:04,240 --> 00:39:07,880 gluttony and drunkenness. I'm talking about feasting. 635 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:13,560 I'm talking about buying meat on Thursday, cutting it on Friday, 636 00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:18,000 marinating it on Saturday so that you can host people on 637 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:19,800 Sunday. And if you don't have meat 638 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:23,240 friends and just make sandwiches, and if you don't 639 00:39:23,240 --> 00:39:26,160 have sandwiches, then just invite them for tea, but get 640 00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:28,320 them around your table and enjoy them. 641 00:39:36,330 --> 00:39:40,490 I enjoy you. I enjoy you because you came to 642 00:39:40,490 --> 00:39:43,370 me after your wedding rings were stolen and you said you could 643 00:39:43,370 --> 00:39:47,090 never afford them and you took many years to buy wedding rings 644 00:39:47,330 --> 00:39:50,450 and so you decided to publicly recommit yourselves with your 645 00:39:50,450 --> 00:39:52,970 wedding rings. So when I stand here, I've got 646 00:39:52,970 --> 00:39:58,480 to tear this black shirt, I've got to RIP it off and I've got 647 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:01,440 to put on a white shirt because this is a holy place where you 648 00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:04,400 recommitted your marriage to each other, where you saved up 649 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:09,960 for years to buy wedding rings, where you took your age-old 650 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:13,320 family traditions and you shared your food and your wife and your 651 00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:18,920 house with us. But your dad, Ryan, kept 652 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:20,560 blessing me, even when your sister. 653 00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:24,200 The first person they called when your sister got sick was 654 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:27,120 me, and we raced down there and we stood around with all those 655 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:35,280 pizza boxes you'll never forget. And Eugenie, how you give 656 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:38,040 hearing to people and your whole life is about putting hearing 657 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:40,600 back into people. And I can teach every single one 658 00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:45,000 of everyone of you. We met in the car park, my 659 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:46,520 shoulder. So he's just had a shoulder 660 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:48,360 injury. We we met and we started talking 661 00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:51,160 about rugby. We thought, how did God get us 662 00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:58,320 to the same church? Why don't you stand Deacon and 663 00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:01,320 come and stand here. We close. 664 00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:15,610 Just stand like that. Look at me like this, say after 665 00:41:15,610 --> 00:41:17,530 me Viva lo no, no, I don't say that. 666 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:25,080 How on earth are we in the same church? 667 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:30,440 How are we? By the grace of God, By the 668 00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:33,760 grace of God? I never thought I'd worship with 669 00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:35,440 a man on Robben Island. Never knew that. 670 00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:37,600 I never thought I'd do that. But we're here. 671 00:41:41,240 --> 00:41:43,400 You never thought you'd worship with a white man in one church? 672 00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:55,520 Do you love me, Deacon? Too much? 673 00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:01,160 Too much. And I love you, Deacon. 674 00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:16,040 123 go. I'm going to say it. 675 00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:17,960 OK? On your marks, get set. 676 00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:28,920 I like this. On your marks, get set one more 677 00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:30,840 time. On your marks, get set. 678 00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:38,320 Take the sadness, take the joy. Put them together. 679 00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:43,000 Celebrate, feast, eat, enjoy your wife. 680 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:45,720 Don't endure her sacrifice. I'm not a wife. 681 00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:46,840 I can't tell you what you must do. 682 00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:49,520 I'm a husband, Sir. Lay down your life for your 683 00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:52,040 wife. Give up your pride, stop being a 684 00:42:52,040 --> 00:42:55,040 God, start to serve her, lay down your life for her. 685 00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:58,440 Write poetry to her, look into her eyes, treat her carefully, 686 00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:01,320 treat her gently, look after her and treat people who are 687 00:43:01,320 --> 00:43:04,080 different to us with respect because we are the same. 688 00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:07,560 God has removed the wall of dividing hostility and he's made 689 00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:09,800 US1. And so we can sit on the steps 690 00:43:11,240 --> 00:43:14,720 for a tracker monument, we can look at the union buildings, and 691 00:43:14,720 --> 00:43:17,400 then we can eat together. And when we eat together, God 692 00:43:17,400 --> 00:43:19,800 says this is my Kingdom.