Youth Service - Reaction to Hardship – Carrot, Egg, Coffee
(Start by boiling carrots, an egg and coffee in three separate pots)
Who’s been watching the Olympics?
• Any special Olympic moments that stuck out for you?
• What is fascinating about the Olympics is that we see individuals and teams under enormous pressure
• And its an interesting study in human nature to watch how various athletics react to that pressure
• We saw Ian Thorpe an experienced campaigner shed tears of relief after he won the 400m freestyle
• We saw Jodie Henry’s freshness as she faced the media after winning the 4x100 relay with her answer to the dumbfounded journalists wondering how they had done it - “that’s what we do!”
• We watched as the Chinese and American divers lost their nerve after a spectator climbed on to the diving board dressed in a tutu and took a dive off the high board to impress his girlfriend
• We watched as the fastest men in the world strutted their stuff in the lead up to the 100m final
• Maurice Green even has GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) tattooed on his arm – he finished third and looked a bit of a goat
• We watched as a team of rowers turned on a team mate for quitting 600 meters from the finish
• And we watched a Greek tragedy unfold with the circumstances surrounding the gutsy comeback from surgery of Jana Pittman
• So we witnessed a whole range of human emotions – some reacted well to the pressure, some reacted poorly
The Olympics is a microcosm of real life
• Every day you and I face pressures – the pressure to get out of bed and go to school, pressure of exams, the pressure of work, pressure to pay the bills, pressure of family life, pressure to be a Christian
• And just as we saw in the Olympics we all react to pressure in different ways
I have three items here, some sliced carrots, an egg and some coffee
• While we’ve been talking I subjected these three items to boiling hot water
• I need a volunteer to help me
• Can you feel the carrots for me? How do they feel? Soft
• Okay, break the egg and peel off the shell
• And finally can you sip the coffee
• each of these items faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently
• The carrot went in strong, hard, but after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
• The egg went in fragile, its thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior. But after sitting in the boiling water, its inside became hardened
• The ground coffee was unique in its reaction. Both the carrots and the egg allowed the boiling hot water to change them whereas the coffee changed the water
So the question I have for us to consider today is which one of these three objects are we when adversity knocks on our door?
• How do we respond?
• Are we like a carrot that gives the appearance of being hard and tough, but when a little pain and suffering comes along we wilt and become soft and mushy?
• Are we like the egg, which starts out flexible and easy going, but when subjected to the hardships of life we allow them to harden us and make us bitter
• Our shell may looks the same on the outside, but inside we have allowed circumstances to make our heart hard and tough
• Or are we like the coffee bean where the hot water makes us into something better, useful and stronger
Going to get you to do some work today, want the adults to mix with the kids in three or four groups
Carrot
• Want you to help the kids come up with some Biblical examples where someone started off tough like the uncooked carrot and wimped out when they were put under pressure?
• Peter denied Jesus, Saul and His army against Goliath, Esau and Jacob and the bowl of soup
Egg
• Examples in the Bible where someone allowed adversity to make them hard and bitter like the egg?
• Cain, Saul wanted to kill David because of jealously, Judas betrayed Jesus, the Pharisees
Coffee
• And Biblical examples where the pressure of the situation made them stronger like the coffee?
• Abraham, Joseph, Joshua and Caleb, David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lions Den, Peter in jail, Paul
• Ask groups to share their examples
Why does God allow us humans to suffer pain and pressure?
• Want you to think back to the example of the coffee. What did the hot water do to the coffee that it didn’t do to the carrot or the egg? The hot water or the pressure the coffee was subjected to made it into something better
• What is unique about the coffee bean is the hotter the water, the better the coffee tastes
• God too uses the pain and adversity of this life to make us better, in fact He uses it to make us more like Him
• Hebrews 12:11 (NRSV)11 Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
• Notice the word “trained”. It will only be useful if we cooperate with the process
• It is those who don’t cooperate with the process that become mushy or hardened
• Petria Thomas is a good example of how adversity has made her a better person
• But if we hang onto our wounds, then we become bitter, angry and hardened like Judas or the Pharisees
• Romans 8:28-29 (NLT)And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son….
• Let me share with you a section from Max Lucado’s book: In The Eye of the Storm.
• It puts this “everything” mentions in this passage of scripture in perspective
Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse. Even the king coveted his treasure. A horse like this had never been seen before.
People offered fabulous prices for the steed, but the old man always refused. "This horse is not a horse to me," he would tell them. "It is a person. How could you sell a person? He is a friend, not a possession. How could you sell a friend?"
The man was poor and the temptation was great. But he never sold the horse. One morning he found that the horse was not in the stable. All the village came to see him. "You old fool," they scoffed, "we told you that someone would steal your horse. You are so poor. How could you ever hope to protect such a valuable animal? It would have been better to have sold him. You could have gotten whatever price you wanted. No amount would have been too high. Now the horse is gone, and you’ve been cursed with misfortune."
The old man responded, "Don’t speak too quickly. Say only that the horse is not in the stable. That is all we know; the rest is judgment. If I’ve been cursed or not, how can you know? How can you judge?"
The people contested, "Don’t make us out to be fools! We may not be philosophers, but great philosophy is not needed. The simple fact that your horse is gone is a curse."
The old man spoke again. "All I know is that the stable is empty, and the horse is gone. The rest I don’t know. Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can’t say. All we can see is a fragment. Who can say what will come next?"
The people of the village laughed. They thought that the man was crazy. They had always thought he was a fool; if he wasn’t, he would have sold the horse and lived off the money. But
instead, he was a poor woodcutter, an old man still cutting firewood and dragging it out of the forest and selling it. He lived hand to mouth in the misery of poverty. Now he had proven that he was, indeed, a fool.
After fifteen days, the horse returned. He hadn’t been stolen; he had run away into the forest. Not only had he returned, he had brought a dozen wild horses with him.
Once again the village people gathered around the woodcutter and spoke. ’Old man, you were right and we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us."
The man responded, "Once again, you go too far. Say only that the horse is back. State only that a dozen horses returned with him, but don’t judge. How do you know if this is a blessing or not? You see only a fragment. Unless you know the whole story, how can you judge? You read only one page of a book. Can you judge the whole book? You read only one word of a phrase. Can you understand the entire phrase?
’Life is so vast, yet you judge all of life with one page or one word. All you have is a fragment! Don’t say that this is a blessing. No one knows. I am content with what I know. I am not perturbed by what I don’t."
’Maybe the old man is right," they said to one another. So they said little. But down deep, they knew he was wrong. They knew it was a blessing. Twelve wild horses had returned with one
horse. With a little bit of work, the animals could be broken and trained and sold for much money.
The old man had a son, an only son. The young man began to break the wild horses. After a few days, he fell from one of the horses and broke both legs. Once again the villagers gathered around the old man and cast their judgments.
"You were right," they said. "You proved you were right. The dozen horses were not a blessing. They were a curse. Your only son has broken his legs, and now in your old age you have no one to help you. Now you are poorer than ever."
The old man spoke again. "You people are obsessed with judging. Don’t go so far. Say only that my son broke his legs. Who knows if it is a blessing or a curse? No one knows. We only have a fragment. Life comes in fragments."
It so happened that a few weeks later the country engaged in war against a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded, because he was injured.
Once again the people gathered around the old man, crying and screaming because their sons had been taken. There was little chance that they would return. The enemy was strong, and the war would be a losing struggle. They would never see their sons again.
"You were right, old man," they wept. "God knows you were right. This proves it. Your son’s accident was a blessing. His legs may be broken, but at least he is with you. Our sons are gone forever."
The old man spoke again. "It is impossible to talk with you. You always draw conclusions. No one knows. Say only this: Your sons had to go to war, and mine did not. No one knows if it is a blessing or a curse. No one is wise enough to know. Only God knows."
The old man was right. We only have a fragment. Life’s mishaps and disappointments are only a page out of a grand book. We must be slow about drawing conclusions. We must reserve judgment on life’s storms until we know the whole story.
• So the first thing we need to know about pain and suffering is that God uses them to make us more like Him
• We don’t always understand the “why” because like this wise old man, we tend to look at things a page at a time rather than looking form God’s perspective of the whole grand book
Pain and suffering also make us trust Him more – we grow in faith
• All those Olympians went to Athens hoping to come home with a medal of gold
• God is interested in something much more important than a room full of gold medals
• 1 Peter 1:6-7 (NLT)So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. 7 These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold.
• The world thinks medals and gold are important, but you know what God gets excited about – its when we trust Him
• So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
• You and I are in a unique race. We are not competing for a puny Olympic medal
• Those medals are going to end up in a dusty draw somewhere, what we are competing for is going to last forever
• You and I are going to stand on the victory dais in heaven before the whole universe and God will declare us to be world champions of “Faith”
When we look at the great men of faith in the Bible, one thing stands out in all their lives
• Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV) Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
• Here is this great audience of those who have gone before us cheering us on
• let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
• What is the secret of turning trials and pressure into coffee rather than wimpy carrots, or hard boiled eggs?
• Its looking to Jesus for our strength and help
• who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
• For Jesus the pain and suffering of the cross was worth it because it meant He could share the joy of eternity with you and I
• God Loves it when we say, “I don’t know why I’m under all this pressure, but I’m going to trust you anyway to make me a better person. To make me more like you”
• Our church needs men and women of faith right now. Our church is only small, we don’t have a lot of people or resources, but God doesn’t need much
• 1 Corinthians 15:57-58 (NKJV) 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
• What he wants are a few willing souls who are willing to trust the Lord Jesus Christ and He will give us the victory
• He wants people who like the coffee beans affect the circumstances around them rather than let the circumstances affect them
• He wants people who are always “abounding in the work of the Lord”
• 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (RSV) 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; 27 but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
