Mockingbird
New member
"Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." John 12:24
The first time I took notice of this verse, oddly enough, was when I was watching an anime; a christian character was reciting it in order to gain courage as she prepared to sacrifice herself for her friends. Until then, it had been to me one of those verses which we so frequently pass over because we have yet to understand their meaning or because we are distracted by other verses which are much more familiar to us. Having been given the verse highlighted in such a peculiar way, however, I immediately set upon searching through my Bible to see if such a verse did indeed exist and there it was.
I wonder what the apostles must have felt as Jesus said these words to them. It is likely they did not understand at first, but we remember how Peter lovingly yet ignorantly rebuked Jesus, saying "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You!" (Matthew 16:16:22). How like Peter we all are, loving, yet ignorant. We wish to hold the grain in our hands, treasuring it, holding it to our hearts with the hopes of keeping it there forever; and who can blame us? We could never by our own power allow the grain of wheat to fall to the ground, never allow anything so precious to us to die. Still, no matter how tight we hold them, the grains we hold manage to slip through our fingers. By our own power we would never allow them to fall, but it is beyond our power, and they do fall.
I am reminded of a speech given by a man named Tony Dungy. It is a very popular speech; I'm sure we have all read it more than once in an e-mail chain letter or other such thing. I would not be surprised if it has been posted on this site as well, but it is one of those things which is beneficial to be reminded of every so often, so in closing I will post it here for those who have not seen it for a while, or perhaps even for those who have never seen it at all. (full version can be found at <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.suffering.net/dungy4.htm">http://www.suffering.net/dungy4.htm</a>).
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>. . . But I think the most important lesson that I've learned about the Lord, I learned from my oldest son, James. As you heard, James would have been 19, but he died right before Christmas. James was a Christian, and he was, by far, the most sensitive, the most compassionate, of all our boys -- very, very compassionate, very sensitive. As most teenage boys today, James was getting a lot of messages from the world that maybe that's not the way to be, and you've all seen them on TV, in the movies, the music they listen to, the magazines that they are able to read, and you get those conflicting signals and mixed signals. And he was struggling very much with how you should respond to the world, and he ended up taking his life right before Christmas, and it was tough. It was very, very painful. But as painful as it was, there were some good things that came out of it. When I was at the funeral, I talked about one of my biggest regrets, and it goes right along with the last thing that Bart just shared. James was home for Thanksgiving and was leaving, going back to school and going back to work, and just the normal process. You don't think about it. I said, "Hey, I'll see you later." My daughter took him to the airport, we just exchanged, "See you later," and that was the last time I saw him." I talked to him on the phone a lot but never saw him again, and I shared at the funeral that my biggest regret was that I didn't give him a big hug the very last time I saw him. I met a guy the next day after the funeral, and he said, "You know, I was there, I heard you talking, I took off work today. I called my son, and I said, "I'm going to take you to the movies, and we're going to spend some time and go to dinner." That was a real, real blessing to me. I've gotten a lot of letters like that from people who have heard what I said and said, "Hey, you brought me a little closer to my son," or "a little closer to my daughter," and that is a tremendous blessing. We are able to donate some of James's organs to Organ Donors Program; got a letter back about two weeks ago that two people had received his corneas and now can see. [applause]
That has been a tremendous blessing.
I had the privilege of talking to a young man who is James's age who was going through some struggles; didn't know if he could make it, and we talked for about a week, and his voice just didn't sound good, but every day it sounded a little bit better and better, and about 10 days later he called me back and asked me how I was doing, and I could just feel in his voice he was doing better, and he was going to make it, and that was a tremendous blessing.
I got a letter from a girl in our church who had grown up with James, and she said, "You know, we've been going to the same church in Tampa for all these years. I sat there in church every Sunday but never really knowing if there was a God or not. I came to the funeral because I knew James. When I saw what happened at the funeral, and your family and the celebration and how it was handled, that was the first time I realized there has to be a God, and I accepted Christ into my life, and my life's been different since that day." [applause]
And that was an awesome blessing.
So all those things have kind of made me realize what God's love is all about. But here, the biggest part of that, I know in my heart that James's death has affected many people and benefitted many people, and that makes me feel better, but I also know this -- if God had a conversation with me and said, "I can help some people see; I can heal some relationships; I can save some people's lives; I can give some people eternal life, but I have to take your son to do it, you make the choice." I know how I would have answered that. I would have said, "No, I'm sorry. As great as all that is, I don't think I want to do that." And that's the awesome thing about God. He had that choice, and He said, "Yes, I'm going to do it" 2,000 years ago with His Son, Jesus, on the cross. And because He said yes, because He made the choice that I wouldn't make as a parent, that's paved the way for us to come back into relationship with Him. That's paved the way for us to see changed lives like Curtis's. That's let us know with certainty that we can live in heaven. That's the benefit I got by accepting Christ into my heart; that's the benefit James got. I went back to work one week after my son died. I had a lot of media people, a lot of sportswriters, a lot of fans ask me, "How could you get back to work so quick after something like that? How have you recovered so quickly?" And I'm not totally recovered. I don't know if I ever will be. It's still very, very painful. But I was able to come back because of something one of my good Christian friends said to me after the funeral. He said this, "You know, James accepted Christ into his heart, so you know he's in heaven, right?" I said, "Right, I know that." So with all you know about heaven, if you had the power to bring him back right now, would you?" And when I thought about that, I said, "No, I wouldn't. I would not want him back with what I know about heaven." That's what helped me through the grieving process -- because of Christ's Spirit in me, I had that confidence that James is there at peace with the Lord, and I have the peace of mind in the midst of something that's very, very painful. And that's my prayer today -- that everyone in this room would know that same thing. <div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>
The first time I took notice of this verse, oddly enough, was when I was watching an anime; a christian character was reciting it in order to gain courage as she prepared to sacrifice herself for her friends. Until then, it had been to me one of those verses which we so frequently pass over because we have yet to understand their meaning or because we are distracted by other verses which are much more familiar to us. Having been given the verse highlighted in such a peculiar way, however, I immediately set upon searching through my Bible to see if such a verse did indeed exist and there it was.
I wonder what the apostles must have felt as Jesus said these words to them. It is likely they did not understand at first, but we remember how Peter lovingly yet ignorantly rebuked Jesus, saying "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You!" (Matthew 16:16:22). How like Peter we all are, loving, yet ignorant. We wish to hold the grain in our hands, treasuring it, holding it to our hearts with the hopes of keeping it there forever; and who can blame us? We could never by our own power allow the grain of wheat to fall to the ground, never allow anything so precious to us to die. Still, no matter how tight we hold them, the grains we hold manage to slip through our fingers. By our own power we would never allow them to fall, but it is beyond our power, and they do fall.
I am reminded of a speech given by a man named Tony Dungy. It is a very popular speech; I'm sure we have all read it more than once in an e-mail chain letter or other such thing. I would not be surprised if it has been posted on this site as well, but it is one of those things which is beneficial to be reminded of every so often, so in closing I will post it here for those who have not seen it for a while, or perhaps even for those who have never seen it at all. (full version can be found at <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.suffering.net/dungy4.htm">http://www.suffering.net/dungy4.htm</a>).
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>. . . But I think the most important lesson that I've learned about the Lord, I learned from my oldest son, James. As you heard, James would have been 19, but he died right before Christmas. James was a Christian, and he was, by far, the most sensitive, the most compassionate, of all our boys -- very, very compassionate, very sensitive. As most teenage boys today, James was getting a lot of messages from the world that maybe that's not the way to be, and you've all seen them on TV, in the movies, the music they listen to, the magazines that they are able to read, and you get those conflicting signals and mixed signals. And he was struggling very much with how you should respond to the world, and he ended up taking his life right before Christmas, and it was tough. It was very, very painful. But as painful as it was, there were some good things that came out of it. When I was at the funeral, I talked about one of my biggest regrets, and it goes right along with the last thing that Bart just shared. James was home for Thanksgiving and was leaving, going back to school and going back to work, and just the normal process. You don't think about it. I said, "Hey, I'll see you later." My daughter took him to the airport, we just exchanged, "See you later," and that was the last time I saw him." I talked to him on the phone a lot but never saw him again, and I shared at the funeral that my biggest regret was that I didn't give him a big hug the very last time I saw him. I met a guy the next day after the funeral, and he said, "You know, I was there, I heard you talking, I took off work today. I called my son, and I said, "I'm going to take you to the movies, and we're going to spend some time and go to dinner." That was a real, real blessing to me. I've gotten a lot of letters like that from people who have heard what I said and said, "Hey, you brought me a little closer to my son," or "a little closer to my daughter," and that is a tremendous blessing. We are able to donate some of James's organs to Organ Donors Program; got a letter back about two weeks ago that two people had received his corneas and now can see. [applause]
That has been a tremendous blessing.
I had the privilege of talking to a young man who is James's age who was going through some struggles; didn't know if he could make it, and we talked for about a week, and his voice just didn't sound good, but every day it sounded a little bit better and better, and about 10 days later he called me back and asked me how I was doing, and I could just feel in his voice he was doing better, and he was going to make it, and that was a tremendous blessing.
I got a letter from a girl in our church who had grown up with James, and she said, "You know, we've been going to the same church in Tampa for all these years. I sat there in church every Sunday but never really knowing if there was a God or not. I came to the funeral because I knew James. When I saw what happened at the funeral, and your family and the celebration and how it was handled, that was the first time I realized there has to be a God, and I accepted Christ into my life, and my life's been different since that day." [applause]
And that was an awesome blessing.
So all those things have kind of made me realize what God's love is all about. But here, the biggest part of that, I know in my heart that James's death has affected many people and benefitted many people, and that makes me feel better, but I also know this -- if God had a conversation with me and said, "I can help some people see; I can heal some relationships; I can save some people's lives; I can give some people eternal life, but I have to take your son to do it, you make the choice." I know how I would have answered that. I would have said, "No, I'm sorry. As great as all that is, I don't think I want to do that." And that's the awesome thing about God. He had that choice, and He said, "Yes, I'm going to do it" 2,000 years ago with His Son, Jesus, on the cross. And because He said yes, because He made the choice that I wouldn't make as a parent, that's paved the way for us to come back into relationship with Him. That's paved the way for us to see changed lives like Curtis's. That's let us know with certainty that we can live in heaven. That's the benefit I got by accepting Christ into my heart; that's the benefit James got. I went back to work one week after my son died. I had a lot of media people, a lot of sportswriters, a lot of fans ask me, "How could you get back to work so quick after something like that? How have you recovered so quickly?" And I'm not totally recovered. I don't know if I ever will be. It's still very, very painful. But I was able to come back because of something one of my good Christian friends said to me after the funeral. He said this, "You know, James accepted Christ into his heart, so you know he's in heaven, right?" I said, "Right, I know that." So with all you know about heaven, if you had the power to bring him back right now, would you?" And when I thought about that, I said, "No, I wouldn't. I would not want him back with what I know about heaven." That's what helped me through the grieving process -- because of Christ's Spirit in me, I had that confidence that James is there at peace with the Lord, and I have the peace of mind in the midst of something that's very, very painful. And that's my prayer today -- that everyone in this room would know that same thing. <div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>