This is a three-part series of a message I shared at church in the month of October 2023.
The goal of our message today is to understand the magnitude of our suffering and how through Jesus Christ we will be more than conquerors.
Intro
Have you ever been asked to be the judge of a situation in which you were completely unaware of what happened? This story is called “Two boys, at the river, skipping rocks.”
It was a beautiful sunny day, a little cold, and off we went to our favorite place, “Forest Falls.” On the way, back and forth talking escalated to screaming in the back of the car, and too quickly turning into punches and kicking. I pulled over and asked the boys to apologize to each other… silence. Repeating the same statement, I reminded them that without an apology we would not continue the trip. Again, silence. Trying it from a different approach, I continued, “we are wasting each other’s time here if you don’t say sorry.” But he started it, said the oldest. “At this point you both need to apologize for punching each other.” Quickly, the youngest said, ok, ok, sorry! Turning to the older one I said, is your turn. “No, it was his fault.” After a few more attempts, the older would not apologize. With frustration the younger one said, “just say sorry, we’re going to be here all day, ahh.” “No!” A few more complaints happened and finally, the angry boy gave up and said “sorry!” …Alright, let’s go! Not too long passed, and friends at last the brothers ran from the car down the slope to the river. Searching for rocks, splashing the water, skipping rocks, seeking “shelter” and loosing track of time. What a pretty sight, this is what they were made for, to enjoy life with zero worrying or distress. Off they went, getting lost through branches and bushes, laughing and playing games, building forts, and then… the scream “aaaaahhh.” I turned around and ran to find the oldest brother laying on the ground, angry and sobbing, he screamed “I hate you, get away from me!” to his brother. His brother ran and hid himself.
Are you ok? I asked. I think I broke my foot! He replied and kept screaming. Let me see, “no, no, don’t touch it, it hurts.” What happened? I asked. “It was his fault, it always is. I never want to see him again!”
“I think you are ok,” I said but he replied “no I broke my foot!”
“Believe me if it was broken, you would be in so much more pain.”
At the distance his brother slowly started to approach, “are you ok?”
Come back Jake, I said. Peter your brother is sorry for what happened, can you please say sorry to Peter, Jake? “I’m sorry, Peter.” “No, he’s not sorry, it’s always his fault! He hurt me.” “But he didn’t mean to, you guys were playing together. Please, forgive your brother, he didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“No, he doesn’t need to be forgiven, everyone else can except for Jake. It’s his fault, it’s always his fault, he always gets the toys, I never get anything, “Opa” always gives him everything. I won’t ever forgive him; he doesn’t deserve it. Everyone else can, but not him, he doesn’t deserve him!”
Tapia 