The University of Hard Knocks 2 Corinthians 12:7-9

The University of Hard Knocks 2 Corinthians 12:7-9

This past week, universities have been in the news with the sad shooting rampage of yet another crazed student at Northern Illinois University. After what happened here and at Virginia Tech, we wonder just what we are instilling into our young people to make institutions like these almost irrelevant. But we’re grateful to have so many institutions of higher learning, especially in our state. We have of course the rivals NC State and UNC Chapel Hill. We have Duke University in Durham, UNC Greensboro and East Carolina Univeristy and Elon. Across the country everyone knows about Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. In England there is Oxford University and Cambridge. I remember when I graduated from Old Dominion University in Norfolk there were those who graduated with honors. On their diplomas the faculty announced they had graduated Cum Laude. With higher honors they graduated Summa Cum Laude. And for the distinguished few scholars they received Magna Cum Laude. Then there was a category for everybody else who weren’t quite as distinguished- they were just glad to graduate: “Thank De Lordy!” But I want to tell you about another school. It has had more students and more graduates than any other school that ever existed. It has thousands of campuses throughout the world, its tuition fees are the costliest on earth, and its drop out rate is enormous, but the lessons we learn there do more for us than those in any other school. I am speaking today of the University of Hard Knocks.

Paul received his degree from the University of Tarsus. He was a brilliant scholar and distinguished alumni. He sat at the feet of Gamaliel and other great teachers of that day. But he learned far more from the UNIVERSITY OF HARD KNOCKS, for there he sat under God’s great teaching. In the text he tells us that he had a “thorn in the flesh,” which buffeted him. We don’t know what it was, the Bible does not tell us. For some reason God has kept this knowledge from us. Surely that is best, for if He had revealed this knowledge, many of us would say, “That doesn’t apply to me, for I have no such thorn.” As it is, the text could apply to any of us. The thorn could be any affliction, any trouble, anything that keeps us from being what we ought to be. But even though the thorns are there, God’s consolations are always available to us.

Paul prayed, “O father, remove this thorn from my flesh.” Did God do that? No, God doesn’t always answer our prayers exactly as we ask. He did say in effect, “No, Paul, I am not going to take away the thorn, but I’m going to give you more grace and power so that you can bear it.” And Paul, great man that he was, said, “Thank You, Lord. I’d rather have the thorn with Your added grace than to be without the thorn and not have Your grace.”

I. How We Grow Through Hard Knocks v.7

Two couples marry. One couple has everything they need without ever having to work for it. The other couple has a hard time climbing up the ladder of life. The couple who has the hard time will have the greater chance of a successful marriage. Their hard knocks will bring them closer together and make them strong. Our country became the great nation it is because of the hard knocks. When the early settlers arrived, they did not find an easy life. They had many hardships and struggles. It was a constant battle just to exist. 2 Tim 2:3 Paul says: You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

God’s servants grow in the same way. Often the growing process nearly kills us, but it always turns out to be for our good. If our early churches had started as magnificent temples like some of the megachurches we have today, they would have perished. But the early Christians had to hide in caves and secret places of the earth. They were hounded by their enemies, and many of them died for their faith. But they grew stronger and more faithful because of these hardships.

Our church is strong today because of the bitter experiences through which they have passed. It takes these things to make us. Perhaps we would not want to go through them. But we are stronger in our faith and our commitment to Christ because we have gone through them. A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Prov 17:17

II. The Curriculum of Hard Knocks v.9

1. There is the hard knock of failure 101. Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. Job 5:7 I’ve heard people say, “There are so many things I wanted and planned to do. But I am an old man now and it is too late. I feel that my life has been a failure.” But sometimes these failures bring success. It is said that Edison failed dozens of times before he invented the electric light bulb. But he didn’t grow bitter, frustrated or angry- he just kept trying. In the University of Hard Knocks you will have to take many exams. Some of them you will pass, but very few the first time around. Some of the courses you will have to repeat time and again. When you fail a subject you don’t want anybody to know, and you feel like such a dummy! But there are worse things than failing a course or failing in a relationship and that is what Paul discusses in 2 Timothy 2: 7 “Ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth.”

2. There in the hard knock of Disappointment 201. Moses had a dream. God had appointed him to lead the children of Israel to the Promised Land. But Moses failed God on one occasion, so God allowed him to see the promised land but not enter it. How often our dreams are shattered when disappointments come. Maybe we have known the sad spurning of relationships like the poor tree toad in this story:

A tree toad loved a she-toad That lived up in a tree. He was a two-toed tree toad.

While a three-toed toad was she. The he-toad tree toad tried to gain the she-toad’s friendly nod. For the two-toed tree toad loved the ground the three-toed tree toad trod,

The he-toad tree toad tried in vain to gain her friendship, But from her tree toad bower

With her she-toad power The three-toed toad Vetoed him.

Its not easy being green, is it? But its not that we have suffered from disappointment that matters, but in how we respond to it that shows us whether we have passed this course or not. The Christian life can sometimes feel like a roller coaster ride when strong hope and faith collide with an unexpected reality. When our prayers aren't answered as we desired and our dreams become shattered, disappointment is the natural result. We're like Peter, who tried to remind Jesus, "We have left everything to follow you." (Mark 10:28). Maybe we haven't left everything, but we have made some painful sacrifices. Doesn't that count for something? Shouldn't that give us a free pass when it comes to disappointment? You already know the answer to that. As we’re each struggling with our own private setbacks, godless people seem to be thriving. We wonder why they’re doing so well and we’re not. We fight our way through loss and disappointment and wonder what’s going on. But your life will begin to change when you start asking God, "What would you have me do now, Lord?" Oh sure, you’ll still feel angry or disheartened by disappointments, but you’ll also discover that God is eager to show you what he wants you to do next. Not only that, but he’ll equip you with everything you need to do it.

3. There is the hard knock of Bad Health 501. Some of you are going for your masters in this one. When God made man, He gave him a wonderful body; but man fell into sin, then disease and sickness set their hold upon him. When Jesus comes back we will have no sickness and He will give us a perfect body, but now bad health seems a part of our education. In sickness we often learn the lessons of patience, sympathy, faith, and courage. Some of the finest Christians in the world have grown spiritually because of bad health. Fanny Crosby, who wrote more hymns in our hymnal than any other writer, was blind and in constant ill health. Yet out of her hardness comes the sweetest words we have ever heard sung. They would never have had the influence for God they had if they had not lost their health. It brought them closer to Him. We need to remember what the Scriptures tell us in I Corinthians 15:51-53 (read)

4. There is the hard knock of Persecution 301. Here is a woman who wants to go to church and serve the Lord, but her husband ridicules her and even forbids her to go to God’s house. Or here is a man whose wife is worldly and who nags him about the work he tries to do for the Lord. He does his best, but he is always handicapped at home. Some people are persecuted by friends.

III.The Lessons We Learn from the University of Hard Knocks? V10. “Glory in Weakesses” All of us are going to the University of Hard Knocks. Are we getting any benefits from going? Yes!

1. These Hard Knocks Toughen Us. They train us not to be so thin-skinned. The way to ruin a child’s future is to shield him from every danger. Soon he goes out into the world and life knocks him down. The person who gets a few hard knocks when he is young is better able to cope with life. "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son" Revelation 21:7. James 1:3 says Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

2. These Hard Knocks Teach Us. There is no hope for a man who goes through the troubles of life and learns nothing from them. Some of the biggest men in life were once failures. Its only when we are confronted with our pride and to give that to God can we ever hope to succeed in the University of Hard Knocks. James J. Braddock Cinderella Man- electricity cut off and babies starving, swallowed pride and got help from relief.

We Christian men can be like that: too proud to ask for help. Except it’s not the relief office we’re afraid to go to. It’s God. Somewhere along the way we got the idea that it’s wrong to ask for help, that it’s something no real man should do. Experience is the greatest teacher in the world, but her lessons are the hardest.

3. These Hard Knocks Tenderize Us. Selfishness and pride must be knocked out before we can help others. We must be tenderized. Hard knocks make us grateful and fit us to sympathize with others. Pride is a funny thing. Psalm 10:4 (NIV) tells us: "In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God." The psalmist recognized this shortcoming in men thousands of years ago. It hasn’t gotten any better since. God, the source of all wisdom, is eager to give us the direction we need, yet we’ll take one dead end after another rather than ask him for help. Jesus was different from us. He constantly sought his Father’s leading. His character was flawless, free from the pride we display. Instead of trying to make it on his own, he depended heavily on the Father and the Holy Spirit.

IV. Some Distinquished Alumi of the UHK.

We always measure schools by their famous alumni. 1. Job lost his property, his children, his health. But he said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” And he came out a bigger and better man. 2. David’s life was full of persecution and his enemies often tried to kill him. But through it all he could say, “The Lord is my shepherd.” And he became a great king. 3. Daniel had the courage to say no. He kept on praying and was finally thrown to the lions, but he came out victorious. 4. Paul was thrown out by his fellow Pharisees after his conversion. He was beaten, stoned, left for dead, even shipwrecked. 5. John Bunyan preached Christ and was put in jail for 12 years. But he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress that has taken its place next to the Bible in influence. 6. Of course there is Jesus, the greatest of them all. He was despised and ridiculed. He was beaten, cursed, and crucified. But He came through it all and today has a “name that is above every name.”

“As For Me and My House” Joshua 24: 14-28

"As For Me and My House"     Joshua 24: 14-28

            Life is filled with choices. We must choose when to go to bed and when to get up. What to eat and what not to eat. What to wear and what not to wear. We choose what to do with our time. We choose where we'll go to work and where we'll go out to eat. Life is filled with choices.  Some choices are easy to make. Some are difficult.You and I are who we are today because of the choices we made yesterday, The choices we make today have an impact on the decisions we will be making tomorrow. They establish a pattern and a foundation for our life. But some may say, "But pastor, I haven't always made the right choices!"  You and I may never be able to undo the choices we made yesterday, But I have good news for you. Who we have tomorrow, is determined by the choices we make today! Today I want to focus on the right choices we make with respect to our families in Joshua  24.  We spend many years with our children teaching them about life, about God, about what is right and what is wrong, and someday they will be on their own and will have to make their own choices. And we just hope and pray they make the right decisions.
            Joshua I am sure in many ways felt like he was the father of these people. The bond he felt may have been stronger than even the bond Moses had with these people.
Joshua had been with these people longer, his entire life, where Moses spent the first third of his life living in Egypt, but in pharaohs household, the next forty years he spent in the wilderness and it was only the final 40 years that he lived with the Israelites. Joshua on the other hand lived with them in Egypt for about forty three years, he worked beside them building cities and making bricks. He shared with them the sorrows of slavery and the dreams of deliverance. And going through tough times like that build very strong bonds. And for the last 67 years of his life he was a leader of these people. While Moses was alive Joshua was Moses' right hand man. It was Joshua who led Israel in the defeat of the Amalekites, less than 3 months out of Egypt (Ex 17). And Joshua was also on Mt. Sinai with Moses, when the law of God was given. And when Moses died, Joshua was the one God choose to be the chief leader. And Joshua had been that leader for over 20 years. And now the time had come when Joshua would send these people, his people, the people he had spent his entire life with, the people he had: worked with, dreamed with, cried with, laughed with, fought with and witnessed the Mighty Power of God with. It was time for the Israelites to be kicked out of the nest (so to speak) it was time for them to fly on their own, make their own choices, and decide their own destiny.
    
And in chapters 23 and 24 Joshua shares with his people some final words of exhortation. Joshua knows that they will have to make a choice now, and that they will make many more in the future.
           
Kind of, in a small way like the final words a parent shares, before their child leaves to go off to college. Some of you are going through this with your own children.  We're doing this with ours and I can tell you, its frightening.  Reminding them of the things they should already know and encouraging them to do what's right, and wondering if as a parent you have forgotten anything or left anything out.   Once Joshua has had his say, verse 28 of chapter 24 says, "THEN JOSHUA SENT THE PEOPLE AWAY EACH TO HIS OWN INHERITANCE", the people would now be on their own and would have to make their own decisions, their own choices

Then Joshua also says, "as for me and my house."  Joshua declares, as he sends his people out, fully knowing that he cannot make the choices for them that they need to make, that they ought to make, makes the declaration of where he stands.  Its like Joshua is saying, "I can't tell you what to do, all I am going to tell you is what I am going to do, and what my household is going to do."  We're going to serve the Lord!  I heard this story about a young man who was being very helpful to a sweet little old lady.  He saw her in the supermarket and helped her with her groceries as they were being loaded into her car.  After ward, she turned to tip the young college student and he refused, she said, "Your parents must really be proud of you.  You are such a nice young man.  How I wish there were more young people like you."  The boy blushed and then he said, "Well ma'am, this might surprise you but at one time in my life I had a drug problem."  The lady looked at him and asked incredulously, "A drug problem?  How could such a nice young man like you have a drug problem?"  The boy replied, "Because when I was a kid everytime the doors were open, I was drug to church for Sunday School, for church, for Sunday night church, for Wednesday night church, etc!"

Maybe you have a "drug problem" in your attitude about coming to church.  You say, "I don't want my kids to have to endure what I had to endure. We were in church every time the doors were open."  I contend that what you said was not the real problem.  Here's the real issue behind the so-called "drug problem."  Most people when I talk with them.  What they didn't like was how their parents looked and how they acted at church versus how they really looked and acted at home. 

            You gotta be real. V. 14 serve God in sincerity and truth.  James 1:8 says A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.  The world will tell you you have to put on your game face, have to make them think you have more money than you have or more spiritual than you are, etc.  We need to understand that if we are going to make a generational impact, if we are going to leave a generational legacy like Joshua was going to leave to our children and to our sons and daughters and to our granddaughters and grandsons- we gotta be real.   One of the reasons why this generation is being lost is because they have seen so much insincerity, and inauthentic Christianity- they are utterly fed up with people who act like they are somebody they are not.

            When I was in college, I stayed in a friends house who was in the navy.  He was deployed for a 6 month cruise.  He asked me to drive his 1967 VW Beetle to keep up the carberator.  Which was good because when I went out the door I discovered that my 1970 Ford Maverick didn't  have any gas in it.  Now let me tell you something.  When you drive a VW Beetle, what you see is what you get.  If you don't see the heater, its because they didn't make one.  Same for the radio.  Did a little research on this little car and found out that Ferdinand Porsche  was commissed by Hitler to build an affordable, practical car for the German people.  22 million Volkswagens built from 1937-2003.  They created it, made it what it was, and they didn't try to make it into something it wasn't.  They never changed the design, because it worked.   If you want to go off road four wheeling, this is not the car you'd want to drive.   If you want to go across country with your family- this is probably not the car I would pick to drive, either.  Get real.  .  Why am I telling you this story?  Because iF you want to make a difference with your kids, with your families- get real with them!   Let them see who you are, because they are going to see it anyway.  If you try to put on a false front they will see right through it.  Our kids today are far brighter, far more intelligent these days than when we grew up.  And if there is anything kids today cannot stand- it's a fraud, a phoney!  We could be fooled back then, but today's kids can't be fooled.  If you are trying to be something that your'e not your kids will be able to see right through it!  They will understand you're a fraud and here's what they will learn- they will learn its okay to be a fraud.  And my friends, we shouldn't let our kids see us being frauds.  Philippians 4:9- The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you."  In other words, say the right things, teach the right things, but most of all be the right things.  Then we will make the generational impact like Joshua left his people.

II.  Be honest.  In truth.  We've got to shoot straight with our families.  We've got to shoot straight with our kids.  We've got to let our children know that we're not perfect.  We don't have the answers.  Because when you teach your children that you don't have all the answers and that you don't have it all together, that you are just learning right along with them about what this relationship with God is all about.  When we are honest, this is something that is going to carry over, this is something we are going to be able to pass on.  Job 31:6 Let me be weighed on honest scales, That God may know my integrity Proverbs 12:17. He who speaks truth declares righteousness,  But a false witness, deceit.  Prov 14:5, A faithful witness does not lie,.Prov 19:5  a false witness will not go unpunished, but he who speaks lies will not escape."  What is that punishment?  What is that false witness will receive? I think in your family, if you allow your family to see someone who is not what he professes or claims to be, who does not have honesty inside him, integrity inside him- here is the punishment you will get- you will teach your children to live exactly the same way.  How many of you would like to raise a generation of liars, raise your hands?  No.  We want to raise a generation of children who understand what it means to be honest, don't we?

            A few years ago one of my children called me up on the phone "Dad, don't get mad!  (that automatically tells me that someone is going to say something that is going to make me mad- so I was trying my best to stay calm)  But John blew up the pickup!"  You don't want to hear the words blown up and car or house in the same sentence, much less in the same breath.  A lot of other kids would have gotten scared and ran into their room and hid or when confronted about it, lie about it, etc.  Now I wasn't happy about it, but I got to thinking, praise God.  At least he had the courage to come to me and be honest about it. I much rather him call me than the police, or the fire department, etc.   You let them know that no matter what happens you will love them no matter what, that they can be honest with you- any situation that has happened that you can be there for them.  That is the fruit of what it means to be honest because if you are honest with them, they will be honest with you.  Joshua is clearly calling his people to make an honest choice, an honest commitment.  Because faith is not something that can be compelled or rammed down somebody's throat and they had better like it.  Faith is something that is caught, rather than taught.  It is taught by our example.  Joshua knew in his heart that if he gave his people a choice they would probably serve the Lord, because they had seen what happens to people who serve other gods- those other gods didn't do anything for them. He saw what happened to people who road the fence.

III. We need to be committed- "choose you this day." 15 committed to God, committed to the family.  The world is going to tell you everything but that.  If you want to make sure you want to make an impact on your families, then you always always, always make sure that they understand that there is no one else you would rather be with than them.  Everything is after your relationship with your children.  Make sure you tell them that there is nothing else more important than them.  Sometimes we got to turn that computer off or turn that game off, or get away from the things we enjoy doing and spend time with them

            Be connected to God, be real, be honest, be committed.  There is nothing that you can do that will make a difference, but only Christ through you can you hope to make that impact, and get your children to love the Lord the way you love Him.  Understand that you have got to be connected to God.  Jeremiah 31:3-4  They shall be my people, I have loved you with an ever lasting love…you shall be rebuilt. 

A couple of years ago David, my VW owning friend, called us up to wish us a happy thanksgiving.  We had not heard from him in several years.  I asked David, "Do you still have that VW Beetle?"  He said, "Yes- its got over 500,000 miles on it.  I was going to get rid of it, but our daughter needed a car she could drive to high school and college.  So I rebuilt it, and it now runs better than it ever did!"

This is what God wants to do in your life as well.  If you haven't been real, or authentic, and you still want to transform your family, your life into what it should be, the way that God intended it- here's how you do it.  Understand that you can't- understand that only God can.  This is the simple design that simply works   What happens if you make those mistakes in your life, or if you are not honest, not real, not committed, not connected.  Jeremiah 31 says, "You will be rebuilt."   When you make a mistake, I will love you with an everlasting love.  I will rebuild you.  You make a mistake with your spouse, your children, or what ever, you make a mistake with them God says I will rebuild you.