"i Want It To Matter"

“I want it to matter”

Holly Springs 1/6/19

If you have your bibles with you today I want you to turn to Isaiah 44:24, again that is Isaiah 44:24: here is what it says:

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,

Now that is not the only place in God’s holy word that mentions God knew you before you were born. You will see this in Psalm 71:6: 6 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.

And of course you remember this one from Psalm 139: 13-16:

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Do you know that is one of my favorite pieces of scripture? To know that God knitted me together is awesome. I can remember when my mother used to knit, and what started out as just a ball of yarn would soon become a beautiful sweater, pair of slippers or beanie hat to keep my head warm. Understand you are beautiful because God knitted you together.

O as we begin the New Year I want you to think on that for a moment.

You may not know the name Tyler Trent. But let me tell you a few things about him: He liked Mahi Mahi: grilled, not blackened. And he liked Starbucks coffee: something with peppermint, preferably. He liked pizza – thin, not thick – and popsicles. And Pepsi Max.

Toward the end, with the cancerous tumor eating into his lower back and then spreading all over his body, Tyler didn’t have control over much. A bag hung next to his bed, connected by a tube to kidneys that weren’t functioning on their own. His legs weren’t working. Or his left arm. But with his right hand he could type on his phone.

And he could eat. Lord, could he eat. Doughnuts with sprinkles. Waffle fries from Bub’s Burgers, extra marshmallow sauce. Pancakes. Sweet tea, no ice. Those are just some of the items I brought Tyler over the past few months. It was our ritual: “Tyler,” I’d text. “I’m coming to see you.”

Two McDonald’s breakfast burritos for $2, he’d text back, with a smiling emoji.

“Tyler,” I’d text another time. “See you in an hour.”

Black cherry malt.

You don’t have cancer, I told Tyler one time. You have a tapeworm.

You’re not dying, I told him another time. You’re pregnant.

He smiled. Always, he smiled. Want to feel like a hero? Make Tyler Trent smile. Those are the words of Jack Doyle a sports writer in Indianapolis.

You may have heard of Tyler Trent, if you have it’s because he was in the news recently. Tyler 20 years old a student at Purdue University loved his boil makers.

Tyler fighting was also fighting cancer for the third time in his life and wanted badly to be at the Purdue vs Ohio State university football game.

Now I know not many of you are big football fans, but Tyler did get to go to that game. Not only did he go but he was on the sideline and got to watch his beloved Boil Makers beat the buckeyes of Ohio State.

When the game was over every staff member, player and coach came by Tyler and told him he was the reason they won the game. Tyler smiled at them and said Boil up and hammer down, that’s the Purdue university chant.

Pretty cool story right?

Well it doesn’t end there. You see we’ll only see his smile in pictures, now. He’s forever 20, now that his battle with cancer has ended. Last Tuesday evening, surrounded by family at his home in Carmel. The former Purdue student’s fight and resolve and optimism which was intoxicating, uplifting and remarkable came to an end.

But his story does not end with his death. He was the honorary captain at the Music City Bowl in Nashville Tennessee where his Boil Makers lost to Auburn 63 to 14.

It was shortly after he saw his team beat that he said “I just want it to matter”

He wasn’t talking about the game, he wasn’t talking about the popularity he had gained over the last three months of his life and he wasn’t talking about the fact his team gave him the credit for beating their arch rival.