What I learned from Forest Gump
Eric A. Snyder, Minister, Farwell Church of Christ
February 17, 2002
A few years ago a movie came out that swept this nation by storm. It was a movie that spanned more than 20 years of us history. It was a movie about someone named Forest Gump. That movie did incredibly well and even received some awards. The reason that the movie did so well was that people felt like they could identify with the main character. Not only that they really liked the main character.
Who wouldn’t like this guy. He wasn’t the smartest Kid, He wasn’t the most popular kid, and in the beginning he even had some physical handicaps. But people really liked this guy. Chances are you sat there in the movie theater just liking the Character and you didn’t even know why. Perhaps it was because he seemed to be the underdog through all of his life and Good things just kept happening to him.
Or perhaps it was his integrity that drew you to Gump. He was the kind of guy who was a promise keeper. He always kept his commitments. Whatever it was people just seemed to be drawn to him.
Yes, the time has come and Forest Gump dies and goes to Heaven. When he gets to the pearly gates he is stopped by St. Peter.
"I’m sorry, but we have had so many entrants to Heaven lately that we have had to institute a test for admission." St. Peter informs Forest Gump.
"I’m not very good on tests," Forest Gump responds.
"Well, everyone has to take our test. First, What days of the week begin with the letter "T". Second, how many seconds are there in a year. And third, what is God’s first name?" St. Peter lays out the questions on the test. "I’ll give you an extra day to prepare."
With that Forest Gump leaves to ponder the answers to the questions.
The next day Forest Gump returns.
"Are you ready for your test?" St. Peter asks.
"I guess so," Forest Gump replies. "First, what days of the week begin with the letter "T"?"
"Well that would be today and tomorrow" Forest answers the question.
"That’s not quite what we were looking for, but I’ll give it to you." St. Peter responds to the curious answer. "Second, how many seconds are there in a year?"
"Well, That would be twelve." Forest Gump replies.
"TWELVE, where do you come up with twelve?" St. Peter responds in surprise.
"Well there’s the second of January, the second of February, the second of March, the second..."
"O.K., O.K., very original. I’ll give that one to you as well. Now the third question, what is God’s first name?"
"Well that would be Howard," Forest Gump answers matter of factly.
"HOWARD, now where did you come up with Howard?" St. Peter replies.
"In the Bible. It says ’Our Father, who art in Heaven, Howard be thy name...."
But there were some life lessons that were scattered throughout that movie. I came away from that movie with a few words of wisdom. I learned “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get” I also learned “Stupid is a stupid does” and that doesn’t have anything to do with IQ but has everything to do with decisions. Then I learned that no longer an I going to spend hours on the conclusion of my message. When I come to the end I’m just going to say “That’s all I have to say about that” Then it will be over
That pretty much describes the Character that we were all drawn to in the movie. And during his whole life forest just seems to keep his commitments and generally good things happen to him. That pretty much sums up his life. We all watched as he came to the end of that movie and he was standing at the grave of his wife Jenny. And he said “I still don’t know weather momma, or Lieutenant Dan was right. Do we just float through life like a feather on a breeze, or do we have a destiny.
Friends I would suggest that is the question that people are asking today. Do we just float around accidental like a feather on a breeze or do our lives have meaning and purpose.
I also believe that if you asked most people they would tell you that we just kinda float around accidental like a feather on a breeze.
They would say that we just kind of float around accidental that there are no morals no absolute truth that anything goes.
Henry David Thoreau said “that Most men live lives of quiet desperation”
I would suggest that sums up how a lot of people feel about life most people would agree with John Lennon when he said "Life is what happens while you are making other plans."
I don’t know about you but I refuse to get hollow meaning from people who have not put their lives into hands of a living God.
You may even think that we all kinda float around like a feather on a breeze.
I was in a minister’s meeting a few months ago and when the meeting was almost over I asked the other ministers what books they were reading. They told me the names of the books of the books, one gentleman was reading a book on Islam. He told me that he was shocked to find out that one of the goals of the Muslim world is to convert everybody. Their goal is total world domination and will not rest until every person is converted to Islam. And I responded “Well isn’t that our goal with Christianity?”
The idea of whatever you want to do, whatever you want to believe is fine has gone way too far. Jesus said no one comes to the father but through me. So just in case you were wondering. Islam is the wrong religion. Buddhism is the wrong religion. This spiritual relativism, the whatever you believe stance has to stop. But it won’t stop until followers of Jesus make things clear. But the tragedy is that this anything goes theology on life has crept into churches.
Last year I went to a baccalaureate ceremony here in Farwell and the speaker stood up and said and when to talk to God, or whomever you perceive that to be, you need to be mentally focused on that.
Why should we proclaim Christ to a dying world if it does not matter
But this spiritual laziness is not just pervasive in the Church it’s ingrained in our culture.
In fact our schools that teach evolution are not helping anything by teaching a theory that we all have evolved from accidental pondscum.
There’s no meaning we just kind of happened by accident. And so we have no purpose we just drift through life. Ts. Eliot has said we are the empty men, the stray men, hollow we have no purpose.
We live in a world that subscribes to talk show truth. Donahue had a woman on his show not to long ago who had an affair with all five of her husbands brothers. And it happened someone stood up and said I think if it’s all right for you then it’s all right. And everybody applauded
That’s the society we live in, there are no standard morals no conscience no right and wrong so there is no absolute truth
Would it surprise you to find out that the word that sociologist are using to describe our Junior and senior high kids is the Whatever Generation. Partially because it’s a buzz word that is used regularly but mainly because it describes how they feel about life in general.
That’s the word they use to describe our kids
It surprised me to hear that in a USA today poll 80% of all high school kids said that they regularly cheat on a high school exams.
It also surprised me to hear that 68% of those high school students said that they have shoplifted.
But you know whatever. We just kind of float around accidental.
In a recent USA Today headline said that crime for the baby boomers generation has declined while the crime rate for teenagers has skyrocketed.
Did you know that in the last 10 years murderers convicted between the ages of 12 and 15 have risen 251%
In fact in a recent trial of a 15 year old murderer his friends were outraged that the judge set such a high unrealistic bond on him. And they were quoted as saying “we don’t see what the big deal is, people die every day”
You know whatever.
Today’s kids are being programmed to think that life is not what you make it but that we all just kind of float around accidental like a feather on a breeze.
Mike Breaugh tells a story of someone approaching his High school daughter and saying is it true that you Christians can’t have sexual relationships until you turn 18. She said no it’s until you are married
This guy didn’t have a clue.
People float around sexually as well, I heard a story recently about a college girl that went on one of those spring break trips she was determined to be a good Christian girl and for the first 5 nights she stayed in the room. But for the last night she caved in to the peer pressure she went out and got drunk and spent the night with a guy on the beach. When she woke up the next morning the guy took her to the airport and gave her a box. He said I don’t want you to open this until you get on the plane, he kissed her on the forehead said goodbye and she got on the plane. When she got on the plane she opened the box and there was a note inside. The note said “welcome to the wide world of aids.
You see you can float around accidental like if you want to, but you will not float around the consequences of sin. It will grip you, it will destroy you and it will rob you of your destiny.
I know a lot of people who are gripped by sin and they think they can get out but without Jesus you can’t get out.
I heard a story of a honeymooning couple who went to Alaska and took some 4 wheel drive vehicles unknowing the dangers out on a beach full of Glacial silt. The wife was messing around she jumped off of her vehicle and landed in the silt up to her knees and the more she tried to wiggle the more she went down. He husband came over and tried to help her out. Some people saw what was happening from the road and called the fire department. They came out and tried to blow the silt out with their hoses. Then they brought in a helicopter and tried to pull her up but when they did it was causing damage to her body so they had to stop, In a matter of minutes the frigid waters of cook inlet drown this helpless girl.
That’s the way sin is it grips you and when you try to get out it just gets tighter and deeper you cant get out until you ask for help.
You have 2 choices in life
You can float around accidental like or
You can put you life in the hands of a loving living God who has a plan and a purpose and a destiny for your life. You could do that with your life.
You could put your life into the hands of the destiny maker and when you do you will learn what it means in Philippians 1:6 when it says that God who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it on to completion.
He’s saying he has a plan for you he has a design for you he has a destiny for you. And that’s why I want my life to be in his hands.
Maybe you’ve floated around accidental like for way too long.
I love being in the hands of the one who holds our destiny. That’s the option I choose
"Live every day as if it were your last, because one of these days, it will be."
-- Jeremy Schwartz
"The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live."
-- Joan Borysenko
Will you live with your life in the hands of God?
You don’t just stumble into the future. You create your own future."
-- Roger Smith
I want to do something with my life I want to make a big splash with my life.
Let me ask you how do you get into a pool? If you’re like me you probably put your foot in the water and step back and say “whoa that’s cold” or you start in at the shallow end and work your way into it.
Or perhaps you’ve learned that’s no way to get into a pool. You might be one of those people who gets a running start and does a cannonball. The water goes everywhere and everybody gets wet, The ripples go all over the pool.
Friends, that’s a lot like how you get into life by taking a leaf of faith and by rippling on as many people as possible.
"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."
-- W. M. Lewis
If you put your life into the hands into Jesus it will be fulfilling and Jesus will lead you on adventures that you never thought you would be on.
I never dreamed that I would be in a preaching ministry
But I know that’s how I the ripple effect works and I don’t know what the ripple effect is yet, but I know I have made a difference for Bob Halsey. He now preaches for the Central Church of Christ in Kenton.
Now Bob’s making ripples. And other people are making the difference for others.
I’m thinking about my parents who started going to church when I was for and had some friends in the St. Louis Church, Who brought me to see what God could do in my life at an early age.
I’m thinking about some long time family friends of our Pete and Jeanie who started coming to church because of the relationship that they had with my parents now they love the lord and are getting excited about what God is doing in their life. They recently Moved to Florida and have become involved in a church down there. Now they’re rippling on people and making a difference in people’s lives.
That’s what the kingdom is it’s people introducing other people to Jesus.
Hebrews chapter 11 says By faith Abel, By faith Enoch, By faith Noah, By faith Abraham, By faith Isaac, By faith Jacob, By faith Moses’, By faith Rahab.
Then he says I don’t even have time to tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised.
They were stoned ; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground and the world was not worthy of them.
Do you see how it works those guys are 4000 years ago. And were still feeling the effects of their life.
What do you want your epitaph to be?
I know what I want on mine.
It’s not what Lou Holtz said his mother wanted on hers “I told you I was sick”
Here’s what I want on my tombstone “ Eric Snyder We’re still feeling the ripples”
I want to be a disciple of Jesus I want to put my life in the hands of the destiny maker.
So we have 2 choices in life you can either float around accidental like or you can put your life into the hands of the destiny maker.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
