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With my sermon today, I'm going to stay with the theme that we have on topographical

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locations, sort of being relative, topographical locations in the Bible being

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relevant today in this modern world. There are a few particular moments in my

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life that have left me amazed, humbled, and a bit bewildered. There are thousands

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of moments in my life, of course, that have contained these elements, but these

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two have a significant impact on the foundation of my faith.

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And when I say bewildered, I mean unsure or confused regarding my understanding

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of what I'm supposed to understand. Don't worry, I'll make sense of that. At least

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I'll try. Jeremiah 29, 11 states, for I know the plans I have for you, declares

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the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

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future. This comes in the Bible when God is telling those placed in exile to

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trust in him all the while and also be able to return to their home. This text

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has often stirred those of faith to be patient and to accept that God has

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placed before us the trials and tribulations, sometimes as great

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pathways, sometimes as peril. But along our journey, with the end being that

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with faith kept, our future will be bright and we should appreciate it.

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A buffer or addition to this verse can be Proverbs three, verses five and six.

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Trust in the Lord of all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding

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and all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths. I believe

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these verses to speak as a command for us to trust in the Lord, yet not to

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attempt understanding or deciphering what God's plan is for us because, for

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one, we're not that smart. It's hard for us to try to figure out and know what

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God is saying. The other is perhaps we might get it wrong. I believe we are

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simply to appreciate the life we are given, to believe that God desires for

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us to prosper and to have dreams fulfilled, but on his terms, not our own.

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But again, sometimes these moments through life, though life can be

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altering and glorious, they can also also leave us wondering for meaning and that

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is the biggest problem that I have. I like trying to figure out things. I like

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trying to understand my purpose and my place and that sometimes gets me into a

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little bit of trouble or at least makes life a little bit more difficult for me.

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Can we have the first slide? My main man, Liam, he's working on it.

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Okay, so with this slide you can see what Judea is and then you can see all the way

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across where it says India. As the story goes, Caspar, spelled with a C, also known as

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Gaspar, with a G, was one of the three wise men, one of the three wise kings who

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had come to Bethlehem to celebrate the birth of the king of all kings. Caspar,

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following the bright star from the east, had brought with him the gift of

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frankincense, I had to look at what it was, a fragrant and nourishing oil. He was

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the king that hailed from India, which would have been at minimum a

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thousand miles going across that landscape and I had seen a few places

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that there might have been a town or a city called Kerala, which would have

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added at least 300 miles to it and I'm not certain if he rode on camel or

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horseback, either way it would have been slow and long. A couple of millennia

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later, my wife and I decided to leave our jobs and take on the grand adventure of

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travel. I had always wanted to live outside the country when I was younger,

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so we had gotten to a point where we had jobs that we enjoyed but we

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thought we'd take a chance before we started a family. So we had a friend of

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ours and we were living in the Chicagoland area and we had a friend that worked for

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one of the sort of global people-oriented organizations, so we asked

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are there exchange programs around the world that we could go to? Not knowing

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for how long but we were just interested in doing so and we were thinking some,

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we were more than likely an English friendly speaking country. We packed all

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of our stuff and gave it to her grandmother and she loaded her entire

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house with it and they had come back to us. Well they said, well they need a

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basketball coach in India. Can we have the India, the next photo? For eight

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months we traveled around India and I was coaching basketball. We met numerous

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people from a variety of different cultures and backgrounds, faiths

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obviously. We were challenged in so many ways, unbelievable ways and I came back,

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we both came back with a greater appreciation for America, for the world

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and for our own lives. About 15 years later, well first let me say this, we

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stayed in contact with one person from India. Now we met a ton of people but

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only one we stayed in contact with and he was someone that was interested in

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coaching basketball for a career. So we would get, we would email each other back

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and forth or send, actually it was Facebook, back and forth over that 15

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year span and a couple things happened with this person that I found really

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interesting. If you look at this picture, you see the shoes that I'm wearing? Now

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it's hard to make them out but they're Adidas somethings. It was the back in the

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early 2000s, the late 90s. There was this kid that I met, he was six foot seven

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and he had just started playing basketball and I was coaching a variety

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of ages and this kid was 17 years old and he had on some gym shoes that

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were brand new but I could tell they were going to fall apart within a week

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because they were just very cheap shoes. So I got to know him a little

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bit over the couple of weeks that we had spent with him. So I pulled him around a

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corner one day and I said, hey I want you to try these shoes on see if they fit.

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And I think he was thinking that he, I wanted to know what size shoe he wore. So

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he tried on the first shoe and then he tried on the second shoe and then I said

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you can have those. And he didn't know what to say, he was really appreciative

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and thankful, he was almost in tears and I walked away from him because I didn't

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want to see his reaction anymore and I didn't want to see what would happen

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when he turned the corner and got back with all his buddies now having a

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different pair of shoes on. And I walked away from him and I never saw him again.

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What's interesting is the one person that I knew was at that camp that day

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and I get an email post or a Facebook post and he says just out of the blue

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15 years later, did you give someone your shoes? Turns out he had run into that

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guy 15 years later, this guy was now in his 30s, he had played professional

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basketball or had been playing professional basketball for 10-15 years

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ever since then and somehow they came across each other and they started

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talking and they said something like you remember when we were playing

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playing in that camp or what have you and then it just came up the guy said

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yeah and that one guy probably couldn't remember my name said he gave me his

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shoes so then of course he in turn asked me if I had done so and I said yes of

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course and I hadn't thought about it in years. Another thing happened 15 years

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later, same guy says Eric and Amy there's these two kids that are having trouble

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at this basketball camp in Arizona, they're from India and can you sort of

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look into it? Well prior to that moment we had had an exchange student live with

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us for about three months through the high school through Rock Island High

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School they just needed someone to sort of house this young lady from Fahrain

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which is somewhere in the Middle East and so we housed her for about three

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months and then she went to another place and then possibly a year after

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that we housed a person in our home for a year from Myanmar so when she left not

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that anything bad had happened but I was done with hosting people so when I get

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the phone call from the same person that says hey can you look into these two

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boys I said to Amy we're not taking them in so eventually we started talking to

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them and they were having a lot of trouble there was some abuse and things

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like that happened at this basketball camp in Arizona so I said we both said

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hey why don't you guys just get on a plane we actually have family in

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Arizona so we said hey can you house these boys for a couple of days because

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we were actually on vacation can you house them and then we'll soon as we get

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back we'll put them on a plane and they can come to us and then we'll figure out

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where they can go. When they got off the plane Amy and I looked at each other and

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said they're not going anywhere it was automatic it was instant and they now

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one of them got married they both graduated from Augustana College they

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call me dad and it was a great experience that we had the challenge

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with that that I have with all of that is perhaps trying to understand it was

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all on purpose. I wanted London I wanted you know somewhere in Europe but then

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India shows up when it comes down to where we could possibly travel to so we

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did it we're adventurous but it seems to me that the whole point in going was so

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that we can have these kids come to our house but I'm not supposed to consider

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that. What I'm supposed to do is be thankful for the opportunities that I

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have because when we start looking for signs and symbols it can be somewhat

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detrimental to us when we're trying to figure out what our path is as opposed

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to just accepting life as it is and doing what we possibly can to make life

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better. For who? For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord plans to

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prosper you not to harm you but plans to give you hope and a future. Can we see

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the next slide? So this is a map of Jericho. One of the great stories that

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comes out of the Bible that happens in Jericho particularly obviously you know

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right there where it's highlighted comes a story in Mark 10 verses 46 through 52

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Bartimaeus a blind beggar the son of Timaeus was sitting by the roadside and

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we heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth he began to cry out and say Jesus son of

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David have mercy on me being told that Jesus was near Bartimaeus went to Jesus

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and Jesus said what do you want for me to do for you and the blind man said

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Rabbi let me recover my sight and Jesus said to him go on your way your faith

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has made you well and immediately he recovered his sight and he followed

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Jesus on the way. Can I have the next slide? This is an old-school whirlpool

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maybe they still make them so basically you know if you never had an injury

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before sports related injury you get in that thing the temperatures right over

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the water of course the temperature can be right around 54 degrees or so and

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if you don't know that is extremely cold but not enough to give you frostbite

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but enough to make everything that's inside it go completely numb within

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three minutes and I am telling you those three minutes could be the worst three

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minutes of your life feeling everything just sort of tighten and literally shrink

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it feels like. About 30 years ago in February it's not about I know 30 years

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ago in February I was sitting in one of those it was my senior year at August

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Anna College and I was playing basketball and my knees had bothered me

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the entire time I played basketball in college they did not bother me at all in

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high school but it's like the moment I got to college everything was sore

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consistently I was a pretty good athlete but by the time my senior year came

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around I could no longer not I couldn't jump as nearly as high I couldn't run

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nearly as fast I was constantly in ice bags I was constantly in that thing so I

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did not have the career that I wanted I played and my friends and my teammates

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and I were very good but I did not have what I wanted personally from the game

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of basketball but I still loved and had a great experience so I'm sitting in

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that tank we had three games to go in our season and I'm sitting in and we're

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about to leave to go play our archrival we have three games to go we have to

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win one game and we would win our conference and go to the national

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tournament so one of the three we have to win we had all done the math and we

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figured that out so I'm in the tank we're getting ready that we had vans and

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not buses back then 12 passenger vans can you imagine I'm like one of the

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smallest guys and we got two 12 passenger vans for like 12 to 15 people

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it's tight knowing this is gonna happen I'm icing everything below me so I can

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get it cold and so then when I'm in this van driving for two and a half hours it

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won't hurt as much as I'm cramped up in the back of it so as I'm sitting that in

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that tank my coach walks by looks in looks at me in the tank where everyone

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else is getting dressed and he says my name is Eric everyone calls me he says

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hey are you going to the game I'm like yeah I'm going I just I've got to do

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this right now so when he walks past me knowing how difficult my career had been

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knowing how much pain I had been in I said a prayer and I said this is the

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first time I can actually remember ever saying a prayer in my entire life I said

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God I just want to be in the game at the end and I want it to matter I don't want

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to be in that game if it's a blowout and that's when you put me in if we're up

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20 or down 20 I don't want to play in that if it matters I want to be in at

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the end of the game so get out of there get into get in the van go to the game

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now what you don't know is the game before our absolute best player all

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American he was also became the MVP of the final four that we made it to that

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year he sprained his ankle so our absolute best player was not going to

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be playing in that game leading scorer average 27 points a game he was not

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going to be playing so we were down a player so I but I didn't start but that

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was okay we end up getting in in the first half and then two starters bowed

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out early in the second half so I played actually most of the first half or much

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of the first half all of the second half and then we went into overtime and I

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played all of the overtime it was so glorious for me we won the game 79 78

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and I hit the last two free throws to win the game I told my friends before

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the game forgetting about the prayer and everything but just because this is our

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arch rival we hated them so I said and I talked to Ash a little bit when I'm on

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the basketball court so I said to my friend I said my teammate I was like

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dude when we win conference today I'm gonna do the cabbage patch right there on

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center center court you know the cabbage patch remember this from late 80s early

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90s yes yeah I am dating myself yes yes but it's coming back I'm gonna bring

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baggy stuff back to you know yeah yeah absolutely absolutely so and in fact I

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did that at the end of the game and the reason the reason I bring that story up

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like I brought up the first one is I'm trying to understand if God answered my

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prayer that is the difficult part that I have with life I can take all that it

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throws at me the good the bad the mundane and ninth to me 90% of life is

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mundane it is average it is brushing your teeth these are regular things that

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we all do that no one even thinks about we got some highs and lows but for the

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most part it goes just like that so with hat with having this challenge of

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understanding the signs and symbols that exist it makes me wonder it makes me

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contemplate always was this on purpose I'm always trying to figure out what my

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path should be as opposed to simply allowing life to be what it is and me

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being the best possible person while I'm going through it and I imagine from time

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to time you guys do the same we're always looking for hope we're always

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looking for options we're always looking for a path or at least

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understanding and at times perhaps we shouldn't can have the next slide

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what I have to tell myself when considering these moments and so many

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others is not to worry about meaning or purpose in hindsight many events we can

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often find in many events we can often find signs and symbols that detail what

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we think God's intentions are but the truth is as far as I can understand God

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knows what he knows God does what he does and I'm only a man trying to be

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good son of God I believe I must simply accept all moments good bad or mundane

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and be grateful for them as an example when we score a touchdown or fumble ball

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perhaps we should simply be grateful for being in the game and not get too bogged

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down with what God's plan is I remember back in the 90s another day you

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mentioned a date over remember back when yeah you date yourself the Bulls were

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playing against the Phoenix Suns and Charles Barley after I think it was game

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four I think they had one everyone thought the Bulls are going to win that

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game and then win the championship and then the the Phoenix Suns won the game

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and Chicago literally was boarding up stuff because the year before there was

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like chaos in the city so they were boarding up windows and everything so

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when the Bulls won there'll be this grand celebration and then people get

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out of hand but Phoenix won that game so Barclay walking out said God told me we

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were going to win this game and win the series now I'm not questioning Charles's

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faith or anything but sometimes again and Bulls end up winning that series

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sometimes we are we are so hungry for signs and symbols that we don't we put

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too much emphasis on that as opposed to just simply living our lives and I think

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to me that is extremely important I think we are best when in times of joy

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and triumph perhaps even glory we should simply fall to our knees or knee

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you get a football player fall to one knee and thank thank God for the

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touchdown and give thanks for merely the opportunity to be in position to do

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something great have joy envelop us in the times of great ache a failed test a

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lost job the death of a loved one we can ask for patience and a pass with and a

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pathway out of the agony yet accepting the time and distance to be whatever it

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is as God had planned it

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your Lord thank you for all the moments the triumphant the normal the unusual

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and the tragic please help us understand that we don't have to

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understand we can simply trust in you and be the best sons and daughters of a

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glorious father

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your name we pray

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we pray

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yes I know you won't be able to see it but this is the guy who's talking about

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in India I I had the privilege Amy passed away handful of years ago and

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Eric is remarried to the lovely and wonderful Cody but I had the privilege

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of getting to go to India with Amy for us really 10 12 15 to something I mean it

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was I loved every single minute of it and I actually mentioned is one of the

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places like odd if I can live anywhere else international was my answer like I

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don't know that's India or if that's London or wherever but I got to meet him

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and what was amazing I've told people this before that everywhere that we went

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or we went all the way from the south all the way to the north everywhere we

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went people remembered the two of them

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that's what happens when you just follow God when you just decide I'm not going to

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try to make sense of absolutely everything

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I'm just going to put one foot in front of the other I'm going to go to India

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because that's what was available and that's what I'm going to do and I'm

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really excited that you guys get to hear that message from Eric in particular

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because the experiences that he's had in his life I think lend some credibility

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to what he just said does that make sense and so I hope that you embrace it

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that you internalize that and that that impacts and affects the way that you

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pray about what God might have for you next