1 00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:06,600 I've got shocking news that no one will ever have thought of 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,920 before, insight that no one has ever had before. 3 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:18,240 Are you ready? Brand new life is hard, maybe 4 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:21,560 not shocking life. It's it's a struggle. 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,520 It's, it is a genuine struggle and there's a very real sense 6 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:30,240 and that's just what we should expect. 7 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:36,600 But there was AII saw, saw something on just again, several 8 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:38,360 moments of Full disclosure here this morning. 9 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:42,160 Saw something, a video on social media the other day that I 10 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:44,520 didn't bother to Fact Check because I agreed with it. 11 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:47,240 And you know, why bother fact checking something If you, if 12 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:49,720 you agree with it, I'm going to share it with you. 13 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:54,760 I it needs to be fact checked, but I think that intuitively it 14 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:58,040 makes sense. And it was a guy talking about 15 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:02,400 children and the differences between raising children now and 16 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:06,760 like 30-40, fifty years ago. And the example he was using was 17 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,760 playgrounds. Now, I grew up on a playground, 18 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,080 a playground at my elementary school, Bidwell Elementary 19 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:19,040 School, had the 12 foot tall aluminum steel slide, right, no 20 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:24,320 hand rails and it went down to pavement and and so, you know, 21 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:27,000 you could die on that thing. I don't, as far as I know, no 22 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,920 one ever did. We also had the monkey bars that 23 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:32,080 were way up high that you could climb on top of. 24 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:35,280 Also over pavement. The part that wasn't over 25 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:39,240 pavement were the swings. We had the best swings, great 26 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,280 big tall swings. And when I was there, we still 27 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,520 had the board seats rather than the foldy seats because you 28 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:47,320 could jump out of those board seats. 29 00:01:47,320 --> 00:01:48,480 We weren't jumping on the pavement. 30 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:53,240 We were jumping onto gravel and big pieces of gravel, not wood 31 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:57,360 chips, not little, you know, ground up bits of rubber tires, 32 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,240 but gravel, except when it was rainy and then it was mud. 33 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,640 And that's, you know, people got hurt. 34 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,720 I, I miraculously, I never got a serious injury on that 35 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:08,440 playground. I don't know how I didn't get a 36 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,720 serious injury on that playground, but I didn't, I did 37 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,080 get some injuries doing other things growing up. 38 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:16,920 Then he showed that and then he showed a picture of a modern 39 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:19,720 playground where where nothing is taller than this. 40 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,040 And, and right now at that point, that's, you know, fact 41 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,720 checking required. We, we have witnessed those 42 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:30,000 kinds of things ourselves, if if not in person, then through 43 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,680 pictures. But this is the part that that 44 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,360 intuitively makes sense to me. But I think it warrants fact 45 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,440 checking, which I haven't done yet, which is the argument he 46 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:46,160 was making was that children need an element of risk and 47 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,280 danger in their lives to develop properly. 48 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:54,120 That if we insulate children from all risk and all danger, 49 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:57,160 we're not protecting them. We're doing them a disservice 50 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,560 because children need to learn how to evaluate and look at a 51 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,800 situation and see whether it's dangerous and then how to 52 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,680 navigate through a dangerous situation. 53 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:12,640 And then if they get hurt and, and when they get hurt, to learn 54 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:16,080 how to work through and navigate through the pain and the 55 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:17,760 suffering that comes from the injury. 56 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,480 And that all of those things are good and important parts of 57 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:24,440 growing up and maturing. And when we don't allow children 58 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,440 to experience those things, we're not, we're not helping 59 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:29,840 them. We're depriving them of 60 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,320 something that warrants some fact checking. 61 00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:37,720 But to me, it intuitively makes sense because it seems like our 62 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,360 world was not designed to be safe. 63 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:43,720 The world that God has placed us in. 64 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:46,560 There is an element of danger there, not a maybe that maybe 65 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:49,440 it's a guy thing, maybe maybe it's just a me thing. 66 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,840 But my wife Amy and I have a very different attitudes about 67 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:55,200 these sorts of things. And it showed up with how we 68 00:03:55,200 --> 00:04:00,000 raised, particularly our son. My our son James was in the ER 69 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,560 more times in the first two years of his life than I was in 70 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:07,360 the 1st 25 years of my life, maybe 35 years of my life. 71 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:13,480 First trip to the ER, he jumped over Amy who was sitting on the 72 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:18,160 floor and did a face plant on our stone hearth and and split 73 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:20,640 his lip wide open. I believe he got some stitches 74 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:24,960 on that one. The second trip to the ER, and 75 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,800 these are only injuries he had, you know, ear infections that 76 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:29,800 sent him to the ER as well. But we're just doing injuries 77 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,680 was another jumping incident. Amy was, and I saw this one 78 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:35,120 happen. I wasn't there for the first 79 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:36,240 one. I saw this one happen. 80 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:39,360 Amy was sitting on the bed. It was bedtime doing the bedtime 81 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,360 routine and James was at the foot of the bed and he launched 82 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:47,040 himself over Amy and smashed his face into the wooden headboard 83 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,400 and his tooth literally flew out of his mouth. 84 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,040 I saw it pop out and go across the room. 85 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:57,880 Another trip to the ER. Amy was determined that James 86 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,720 have no more trips to the ER. She didn't want him to jump from 87 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:05,600 anything anytime. And then a couple years ago, we 88 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,760 were going back and looking at old movies and we were, in this 89 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:12,200 particular movie, we were in our family room. 90 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,160 I was holding the camera. Amy was on the floor, Grace and 91 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:18,400 James were on the floor playing. Amy had her back to the sofa 92 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,520 and, and, and, and then there would be periodically where 93 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:24,920 Amy's playing with Grace on the floor here. 94 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,880 And I would pan the camera over and James was climbing up onto 95 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:32,800 the couch and launching himself off behind Amy's back. 96 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:36,280 And she was unaware of what was going on until she saw the 97 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:39,400 video. Like 15 years later and we had a 98 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:44,240 conversation then that that was, you know, interesting different 99 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:48,520 attitudes we had towards safety. I, I'm not saying 11 is right 100 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:52,160 and one is wrong. What I'm saying is, is that our 101 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:56,840 life is filled with struggle. Our life is filled with pain and 102 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:02,360 and the goal and our response to that I believe, should not be to 103 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:06,160 insulate ourselves and our kids and whoever else from every 104 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:10,200 experience of pain as much as possible, but rather to teach 105 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:15,160 patients perseverance and accommodation through pain and 106 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:20,720 through suffering. Jacob and Rachel and Leah went 107 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,760 through a long period of suffering. 108 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:30,360 Long period now, Jacob had every reason to believe that his life 109 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,080 was going to be charmed and blessed and free from any 110 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:38,240 meaningful pain and suffering. God told his mother while Jacob 111 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:42,160 was still in the womb that he, Jacob, the younger brother, his 112 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,080 other brother, they were twins, but he saw was going to be born 113 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,200 1st, that the younger brother was going to rule. 114 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,600 The older brother, the younger brother would be heir to the 115 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,240 promise that God made, the covenant and promise God made to 116 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,040 Abraham, that it was the younger brother whose descendants would 117 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:00,160 fill the land and occupy the land and own the land. 118 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:02,640 It's the younger brother who would be the leader, the younger 119 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,680 brother through whom all nations of the world would be blessed. 120 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:09,240 And with that kind of promise from God of that that rolling 121 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,200 God's plan, it would not have been surprising for Jacob to 122 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:16,200 think, hey, my life is set. My life is made. 123 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,120 God has made his promises. Everything is going to be great 124 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:20,760 for me. And it wasn't. 125 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:25,560 It wasn't through his own frailty and weakness, he so 126 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:29,120 alienated his father and his brother that he had to flee for 127 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:32,680 his life. He ended up at his mom's 128 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:36,840 brother's home in a distant land, and he spent 20 years 129 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:41,800 there, being repeatedly, constantly lied to and cheated 130 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,520 by his father-in-law. He worked for his father-in-law. 131 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:51,920 He worked seven years to marry Rachel, his father in law's 132 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:53,960 youngest daughter. But his father-in-law lied to 133 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,120 him and sent in his oldest daughter to be married instead 134 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:01,520 and required Jacob to work another seven years in exchange 135 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:02,920 for marrying his younger daughter. 136 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,360 He worked for Laban for a total of 20 years. 137 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:10,760 And during that time, Laban kept cheating him out of his wages. 138 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:13,920 He kept changing the rules. The Jacob was in charge of the 139 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,040 flocks. And it would be one, one season. 140 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:20,520 It will be well, Jacob, any, any flock, any, any lambs or, or, or 141 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:22,560 goats born that are speckled, those are yours. 142 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,000 And I'll keep the others. And, and too many would be born 143 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:26,520 speckled. So Laban would change the rules. 144 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:28,680 No, no, no, it's not the speckled ones, It's the striped 145 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:29,880 ones. No, no, it's not the striped 146 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:30,840 ones. It's the plain ones. 147 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:35,840 And he kept changing the rules to try to cheat Jacob over and 148 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:37,039 over and over and over and over again. 149 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:42,720 Rachel and Leah shared in this suffering. 150 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:48,520 Their father literally sold them for 14 years of Labor from Jacob 151 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:51,920 and then squandered the work that Jacob did. 152 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:54,960 So he had nothing left to leave them as an inheritance in any 153 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:59,680 meaningful way. Rachel and Leah struggled in 154 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:01,160 their relationship with each other. 155 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:04,120 Rachel in particular being barren for so many years, unable 156 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:07,800 to have children and doing everything she could to make 157 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:10,240 that happen and not being successful. 158 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:14,640 Leah knowing that even though she had lots of kids, that it 159 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,720 was her younger sister that her husband really loved and really 160 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:22,760 wanted to marry and never wanted to marry her anyway. 20 years of 161 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:30,120 this, a long struggle and God. God could have bypassed all of 162 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:31,400 that. God could have avoided all. 163 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:34,840 God didn't protect them. God made sure that that Jacob 164 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,800 didn't get cheated even though Laban was trying to cheat him. 165 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:40,560 That however, Laban changed the rules. 166 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:43,240 God made the baby sheep and goats be born in a way that 167 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,280 would benefit Jacob. But but the lies, the deception, 168 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:50,400 the dishonesty, the, the, the, the, the, the tension between 169 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:53,400 them was very real. The suffering, the pain, the 170 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:56,440 heartache, all of this very real to the point when they finally 171 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:00,920 did leave, they snuck off. Jacob invited his wives to meet 172 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,200 him out in the fields where all the flocks were and shared with 173 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:06,960 them that it was time to leave. And they packed up and left 174 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:08,800 there and never went back and told Laban. 175 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:11,320 Laban chased him down later and confronted them. 176 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:13,000 We might get to that another day. 177 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:19,200 But God didn't keep them from experiencing the suffering. 178 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:22,800 He didn't keep them experience from experiencing the heartache 179 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:28,440 and the pain. He didn't because that's part of 180 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:32,280 the life that we are living. The long struggle of faith 181 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:37,040 requires patience, perseverance through pain, not insulation 182 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:43,760 from pain. Jesus said very He was. 183 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:48,800 Jesus was not out there recruiting recruiters. 184 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:51,320 They, they, you know, whether it's college or work or 185 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:53,560 whatever, they'll tell you how wonderful everything is. 186 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:55,960 It's like, you know, time shares at a condo. 187 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:58,280 Oh, it'll all be perfect and it'll all be wonderful. 188 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:03,120 And no, it's not James. When he was being recruited for, 189 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:06,120 for the military, they told him a whole bunch of stuff just 190 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:10,480 wasn't true, just wasn't true to get him to sign up. 191 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,360 That's how recruiters work. Jesus does not work that way. 192 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:18,360 Jesus told folks up front in this world, if you're my 193 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:20,760 follower in this world, you will have trouble. 194 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:24,200 You will have trouble. Take heart, he said. 195 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:26,440 I've overcome the world, He said. 196 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:29,160 If you want to be my follower, if you want to be my disciple, 197 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:33,240 you need to deny yourself and take up your cross daily and 198 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:36,040 follow me. He said. 199 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:39,440 Animals have nests and dens and Burrows to sleep in. 200 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:42,040 But me, the Son of God, the Messiah, I'm homeless. 201 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:47,800 I sleep on the ground outside. If you want to follow me, there 202 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:50,200 will be suffering, there will be pain. 203 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:52,280 That just comes with the territory. 204 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:56,880 Part of that is when we decide to follow Jesus, when we get 205 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:58,560 baptized, when we give our life to Jesus. 206 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:03,960 We are picking sides in a cosmic battle and we now have an enemy 207 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:10,240 because Jesus has an enemy. The other part of it is, is that 208 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:13,440 the work God has given us to do is hard work. 209 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:18,120 Loving people, including our enemies, is hard work. 210 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:21,520 Laying down our lives so that others have enough. 211 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:25,200 Making sacrifices, financial and material sacrifices, so that 212 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:27,040 people that have less can have enough. 213 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:33,440 This is hard work, giving up power and position and privilege 214 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:35,560 in order to elevate those who have less. 215 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:39,240 This is hard work. It requires suffering, it 216 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,920 requires sacrifice, and it requires perseverance through 217 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:45,360 the pain, not an insulation from pain. 218 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:51,080 Paul compared this life of faith to training for a contest, races 219 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:55,480 and and fights, boxing matches, wrestling matches, and how when 220 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:57,640 you're, when you're preparing for that, when you're preparing 221 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,720 for the contest, you go into training, you make sacrifices, 222 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,480 you suffer to be prepared to compete in the hopes of winning 223 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:11,720 a prize, a crown, a medal in today's Olympics, a trophy in 224 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:16,080 school. Well, we're in the Olympics. 225 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:18,600 Full disclosure, second part of Full disclosure this morning, I 226 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:20,880 have not watched a single minute of the Olympics. 227 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:23,280 Not at all. I used to watch the I used to 228 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:25,760 just love the Winter Olympics. And for whatever reason, this 229 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:28,560 year, I haven't been interested. That's not a statement about the 230 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:30,440 value of the Olympics. It's a really cool thing. 231 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:33,240 And, and I have been able to read and learn some of the 232 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:35,440 stories, which is I think one of the funnest things about the 233 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,720 Olympics anyway, is the stories behind the competitors, the 234 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:41,000 backstories. And I've heard a few really cool 235 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,000 ones about this patient's perseverance through pain. 236 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,880 I mean, first of all, anyone who for every triple Luts or 237 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,320 whatever they're doing on that ice skating rink, every amazing 238 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:55,760 flip and maneuver and a half pipe on the snowboard, everyone 239 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:58,440 that's landed beautifully, gracefully and successfully. 240 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:03,040 There's been 150 or 200 or 1000 that have been crash and burn, 241 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:09,880 pain, bruises, broken bones, twists, sprains, Ouch, hurts, 242 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,600 suffering for every single one. That's been good. 243 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:15,960 But then there's the other kinds of sufferings. 244 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:18,200 Do you hear? There was, I, I think this guy 245 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:23,160 is from England and he was a skeleton is what he competes in 246 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:25,560 which you have to be a little bit crazy to do that anyway. 247 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:29,720 And, and, but he didn't start out and, and that level guy, he 248 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:33,400 started out in Taekwondo. That was his preferred area of 249 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:35,400 competing until he broke his back. 250 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,880 He broke his back, ended his Taekwondo career, picked 251 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,840 something much safer, I guess skeleton, and he broke his back 252 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:46,560 again. And now competing in the 253 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:51,280 Olympics, he has had to recover from 2 separate breaks in his 254 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,080 back. There's a German ski jumper. 255 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:57,320 I kid you not, I'm not sure if you've heard of this or not. 256 00:14:57,320 --> 00:14:59,520 A German ski jumper. Afraid of heights. 257 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:04,000 So, so afraid of heights that there have been times in his 258 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:06,240 competition on the really high ones, he's gotten up there and 259 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:09,520 he hasn't been able to do it. And he, he, he's gotten 260 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:13,200 counselling and therapy and psychological help to be able to 261 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:15,680 push through that fear and focus on what he's doing. 262 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:19,520 But it's amazing level of perseverance. 263 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:22,960 I think most folks that afraid of heights would say maybe 264 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,640 swimming is my sport. Golf. 265 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:33,600 The men's US men's hockey team had two goals invalidated and 266 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:35,600 called back early on. Goals mean a lot. 267 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:37,920 I'm not a hockey person. I don't understand at all, but I 268 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:41,200 know how many goals you scores is important, almost as whether 269 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:43,440 you win or lose. And they had to call back and 270 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:45,240 they've pushed through and they've persevered. 271 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:50,000 There's another person, I believe she's a cross country 272 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,080 skier. And again, I don't know why. 273 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:55,440 I don't know how anyone could enjoy cross country skiing. 274 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:58,640 I can understand the scale. There's at least an adrenaline 275 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:01,760 rush with the skeleton thing. Cross country skiing to me is 276 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:04,080 punishment. Like if I wanted to punish 277 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:08,360 someone I would say you need to go ski on flat land or uphill. 278 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:11,400 People do it for fun. Go figure. 279 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:14,240 There's one woman, I don't remember which country she was 280 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:19,640 from, and I had a 10K that she did at the Olympics, medal then 281 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:23,760 I believe, and the week before she had taken a bad fall and had 282 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:27,400 bruised several ribs. I fell down the steps a few 283 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:30,040 weeks ago and I didn't bruise any ribs and I was in my easy 284 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:32,560 chair for three days. She fell, bruised a bunch of 285 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:34,800 ribs, and did a Ken K on her skis the next week at the 286 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:38,720 Olympics. Pushing through, persevering 287 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:40,400 through pain and through suffering. 288 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:44,200 Maybe the most heartbreaking story from at least the American 289 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:50,160 side this year is what, Ilya Melanin, I think I'm getting his 290 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:54,960 name right, Figure skater who had won 14 competitions in a 291 00:16:54,960 --> 00:17:00,120 row, I understand, and was the long favorite to win the gold 292 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:05,520 and then fell and fell again and stumbled and his long 293 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:11,599 performance, long program. Now he's got to decide how he's 294 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:16,359 going to respond to that with the perseverance and the 295 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,680 patience and the pushing through and the continuing. 296 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,400 Maybe a very different experience than he's had before 297 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,640 losing in that way. But there he is. 298 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:30,280 It's part of competing. It's part of competing. 299 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:34,040 But all those folks are competing for is a little bit of 300 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:38,120 glory, a medal and maybe some money. 301 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:43,000 And within 10 years, 25 years, almost every single one of them 302 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,640 will be forgotten. I don't remember who won most of 303 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:50,880 the Olympics 25 years ago. Certainly within 50 years most 304 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:57,080 will be forgotten, if not all. Paul says we are competing for a 305 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:03,760 very different prize, the high calling of Christ Jesus, of life 306 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:07,960 with him forever, of being part of his mission and his ministry 307 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:10,320 in the world. This is what we are training 308 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:13,240 for, and this is what we are persevering for. 309 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,400 For that calling, for that relationship, for that 310 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,680 connection. My favorite story of 311 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:21,880 perseverance doesn't come from the Olympics. 312 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,920 We're one week out from what in my opinion, is the most boring 313 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:27,160 Super Bowl in history. I haven't watched all of them, 314 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:29,320 so I could be wrong, but it was a pretty boring Super Bowl. 315 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:36,520 And football story wasn't a Super Bowl story. 316 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:38,600 College football story. Do you remember Rudy Rudiger? 317 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:40,040 Remember that name? Yeah. 318 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:45,040 I love that movie and I know I've done this twice. 319 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:46,840 No one's gotten this joke yet. Rudy. 320 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:49,960 In the movie, Rudy was played by Sam Wise Gangi, which was very 321 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:51,080 interesting. I see. 322 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:53,920 I knew you would get No one else has gotten that joke. 323 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:55,280 It's funny. Trust us. 324 00:18:55,280 --> 00:19:01,520 We're it's funny. Rudy was an undersized, under 325 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:05,120 talented kid from Indiana that was desperate to play football 326 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:07,880 for Notre Dame and was determined. 327 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:09,200 And everyone told him he was crazy. 328 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:11,480 Everyone told him he was nuts. Everyone told him he didn't have 329 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:13,240 a chance. And normally you could ignore 330 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:14,800 naysayers when you've got a dream. 331 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:17,840 But when the naysayers are the coaches, who will be the ones 332 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:20,200 that decide whether you get on the team and they're telling you 333 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:22,480 you don't have a chance, normally you should ignore that 334 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,480 or you shouldn't ignore that. But Rudy did ignore it. 335 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:29,360 He also had academic problems. He wasn't smart enough, didn't 336 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:32,240 have good enough grades to get into Notre Dame as a student. 337 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:38,400 But he worked and he persevered, and he hired a tutor to help him 338 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:42,160 with his schoolwork. And he trained and he practiced. 339 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,320 And he never did make the starting team, but he made the 340 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:50,240 practice team, and he spent four years getting the snot beat out 341 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,480 of him by the starters day in and day out on that practice 342 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:59,080 field so that other people could get glory In the final game of 343 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,800 his final season. He got to go on the field, made 344 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:04,400 a tackle, was a wonderful moment in his life. 345 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:09,240 His dreams come true. His dreams come true never could 346 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:13,160 have come true without the willingness and the patience to 347 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:19,680 persevere through pain. And the goal we are striving 348 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:24,680 for, the reasons we persevere as followers to Jesus, are so much 349 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:28,600 more important, so much more significant than trophies and 350 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:33,240 glory and money. It's for the love of God and the 351 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:38,200 love of neighbor and the Kingdom of God in this world. 352 00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:41,160 That's what we're asked to persevere through. 353 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:45,640 Now here's the fact is we, we can't attain those things on our 354 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:48,520 own. We can't win these competitions 355 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,560 on our own. We, we have too many weaknesses 356 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,360 and frailties. The good news is, is that with 357 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,640 all of our weaknesses and all of our frailties, God accommodates 358 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,600 them. We're maybe here I hear a lot 359 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:04,160 about these days about accommodation and it's talked 360 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:06,880 about more than it used to be. And that's a very good thing. 361 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,800 And we, we accommodate people with physical limitations. 362 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,760 The new sidewalks being put in, I believe all have ramps on 363 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,440 them, right? So that if you can't walk up a 364 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:19,360 step, you can, your wheelchair can go up steps. 365 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:22,080 New buildings being built, if they're more than one floor, 366 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:25,200 need chair lifts or elevators to accommodate people that can't 367 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:29,520 walk up steps. The whole program of Ieps in 368 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:32,440 school, though, and implementation seldom seems to 369 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:37,520 be perfect, at least expresses in a very meaningful way the 370 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:40,720 real desire to accommodate students who need to learn in 371 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,800 different ways. Other accommodations for other 372 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,280 kinds of things, whether physical challenges or mental 373 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:49,800 challenges, emotional challenges. 374 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,760 We, we are increasingly as a culture willing and able to 375 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,560 accommodate, or at least recognize the need to 376 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:59,080 accommodate. Nah, we've got a long way to go, 377 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:03,280 but it's there. God was doing this long before 378 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:05,040 any human beings ever thought of it. 379 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:08,840 God accommodated Rachel, God accommodated Jacob, God 380 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:10,440 accommodated Leah. Jacob. 381 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,040 When, when, when Laban was cheating him, when he kept 382 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,440 changing the rules and whether he's going to get the speckled 383 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:18,360 sheep or the street sheep or, or whatever sheep he was going to 384 00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:21,000 get for his payment, whatever was born, Laban would change it 385 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,040 to make the other. But, but Jacob had a strategy 386 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:26,600 and his plan. So there was a widely held 387 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:30,600 belief in those days that whatever a mother was looking at 388 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:36,040 when she was impregnated affected the looks of the child, 389 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:40,080 the baby. And so so yeah, I know it's, 390 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:42,320 it's kind of nuts, but that's what folks believed. 391 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:45,640 And, and it had some pretty sinister takes on it because 392 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:50,920 when a human baby was born with dramatic physical differences 393 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:53,840 was often assumed that the mother had done something wrong. 394 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:58,480 So, so it's funny, but it's also sinister when it's sheep. 395 00:22:58,480 --> 00:22:59,920 It's funny. We can laugh at the sheep. 396 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:03,360 Is it where sheep and goats? So Jacob's strategy, he got 397 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:05,280 sticks. He knew where that the that the 398 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:07,360 sheep and the goats did their breeding near where they did 399 00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:10,120 their drinking, their water. And he got sticks and he made 400 00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:12,600 them striped and he made them polka dotted and he put them up. 401 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:15,560 So all of those ewes, all of those goats that were getting 402 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,560 bred at that point, we're looking at striped and spotted 403 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:22,360 or speckled things. That was Jacob's plan. 404 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,120 We know that's nuts. It's ridiculous. 405 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:30,200 It doesn't work that way. We understand genetics much 406 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,320 better than Jacob did. Much better. 407 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:43,080 God knew the Jacob strategy was not meaningfully productive, but 408 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:47,440 God blessed him anyway. He didn't scold Jacob for not 409 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:51,360 knowing what he didn't know. When Rachel got the Mandrake 410 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:54,880 roots to try to increase her fertility so she could have a 411 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:59,160 baby, God didn't scold Rachel for not knowing what she didn't 412 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:03,680 know, for picking a different strategy than just just praying. 413 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:07,440 God bless them. God accommodated their 414 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:09,480 frailties. God accommodated their 415 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:12,920 weaknesses. God accommodated their the the 416 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:16,160 flaws and brokenness broken. This is in their life. 417 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:20,160 Jacob himself was a liar and a cheat and a manipulator of 418 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:26,680 people at times. God looks at looked at them and 419 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:30,080 looks at us and our brokenness and in our frailties and in our 420 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:31,560 weaknesses. And God says, you know what? 421 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:34,760 I can, I can work with that. I can work with that. 422 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:40,920 Jacob's wasting time making striped and speckled sticks, but 423 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:43,240 I'm not going to punish him for that. 424 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,920 I'm going to bless him. And he did bless him with the 425 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:53,280 livestock that he needed, the wealth that he needed that would 426 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:55,760 move the mission forward that God had planned for him. 427 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:01,040 And this is what God invites us to as well, to be patient with 428 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:05,160 our own frailties and our own weaknesses, and to be willing to 429 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:07,960 accommodate frailties and weaknesses and others around us 430 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:13,680 too, and allow them to be who they are, warts and all, flaws 431 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:18,280 and all. And that's, that's part of the 432 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:22,000 work sometimes that's part of the sacrifice and part of the 433 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,360 suffering. It's finding ways to accommodate 434 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:26,400 folks that need to be accommodated. 435 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:28,880 It's, it's it. There's always an element of 436 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:33,440 self-interest in that though, because all of us at some point 437 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:35,760 always are going to need accommodation. 438 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,240 If only when we stand before Jesus at the final judgment, 439 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:42,320 we're going to need accommodation. 440 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,720 We're going to need that. So it's good to practice it now 441 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:50,240 too. But this is this is the life 442 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:54,320 that we have and the life that we're called to one of human 443 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:59,360 struggle as we live out God's divine purpose for us of sharing 444 00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:02,760 his love and practical and tangible and meaningful ways 445 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:04,840 with people in this community around us. 446 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,520 And it's not going to be easy. It's not going to be simple. 447 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:10,560 There's going to be struggle, there's going to be pain, 448 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:12,280 there's going to be suffering along the way. 449 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:17,960 Thank God that our God accommodates our weaknesses and 450 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:21,240 frailties and teaches us how to do the same for each other. 451 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:29,840 And thank God that God's purposes and power transcend and 452 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:35,160 redeem all of our brokenness, all of our weaknesses, and all 453 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,200 of the pain and suffering that comes our way. 454 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,040 In Jesus name, Amen. Amen.