sermonette: Resilience in Service

Fighting Our Selfishness and Reaching for Boldness
Hunter D. Swanson
Given 14-Feb-26; Sermon #1859s; 16 minutes

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The Olympics have been taking place, as I'm sure many of us know, and I must admit I do not usually watch them very much. To be fair, I actually really never have. Growing up, I was always much more of a fan of X Games and other extreme sports, always loving dirt bikes and the crazy tricks people would pull off rather than watching someone scrub the ice as hard as they can in curling. But I must admit, in my old age, curling can get a lot more intense than I realized. I mean this past weekend I feel like we did not want to turn off curling to switch to the Super Bowl. And now while I may have my preferences, there is no doubt that all the top level competition is entertaining, and a large part of that is how difficult competing at the highest level is. We are drawn to watching incredible feats of human strength and endurance, especially if we have ever done anything remotely close. Doing anything at a high level is very demanding on our bodies and minds, and the Olympics in particular requires quite a lot of resilience. Whether it be physical resilience or mental resilience, often both, these athletes face some of the most adverse of situations and injuries in order to even be in the competition, and you do not have to look far to find incredible stories about it. This year's popular story of such resilience is the US skier Lindsey Vonn. For anyone who does not know, Lindsey Vonn has an extremely impressive collection of medals, both in World Championships as well as the Olympics and plenty of World Cup wins. These wins, however, did not come without a price. According to Team ACL.com, since 2007, Lindsey Vonn has had 13 injuries, which I want to read out. I'm quoting from the article, quote, February 2007, sprained right ACL. February 2009, severed tendon tendon in right thumb. December 2009, microfractures in left forearm. February 2010, broken right pinky. February 2013, torn ACL and MCL in right knee and tibial plateau fracture in right leg. November 2013, same year, torn right ACL again. December 2013, MCL sprain in right knee. August 2015, broken ankle. February 2016, multiple fractures in the left knee. November 2016, fractured humerus and right arm. November 2018, torn LCL and meniscus in left knee, and three tibial plateau fractures. In January 2019, impact injury to peroneal nerve. In January 2026, torn ACL in left knee. And just pausing from the article, let me add number 14, February 2026, racing on a completely torn ACL complex tibia fracture. Back to the article. During this exact same time frame of injuries, she has compiled a resume that stands among the greatest in history. World Cup wins, 84. Overall World Cup titles, 4, Olympic medals, 31 gold and 2 bronze, and world championship medals, 82 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze. Lindsey Vonn is remarkable not because she was injured, but because of her ability to come back always. Lindsey Vonn is now the most successful female alpine skier ever, but she did not get this title without challenges, unquote. While she clearly has pushed through many things physically, her mental fortitude and resilience cannot be understated. For one, simply just can't, you can't push through those injuries without it. And I do not know about you, but while I'd like to think I'd keep going, the reality is I'd probably call it quits after the 1st torn ACL, let alone the 3rd. Here's the interesting part though, we may not be Olympic athletes. I know I'm not, but we all have the ability, the capability to possess the same level of resilience. You may ask how to that I answer, through our service to God and one another. It is no secret that service and sacrifice are difficult, and our selfishness really does not like being uncomfortable. As I think we know too that selfishness runs rampant to anyone that allows it, and it is extremely difficult to not let it. And while there is nothing new under the sun, it certainly feels like society is more self-serving than it has been in a long time. And I think we see a large product of that in social interactions. And I, I say this as someone who is very much a homebody and struggles to expand my social circle because of how exhausting I find it. But what really got me thinking about this was actually a video I came across on Instagram. I tried finding it again with no success, but the person in it said something along the lines of, you all are too busy worried about being uncomfortable or challenged that through secluding yourselves, you have forgotten how to even talk to people. Now, A bit extreme, maybe, but relevant and telling of the general view on socializing with people in today's world, absolutely. And honestly, I think a lot of us fall into the same traps. And how often have we been there even with our brethren, whether we want to admit it or not. For example, how often have you thought anything along these lines? I do not have the energy to help today. I just have too much going on right now. I can't make the time. Someone else is going to have to do it. Or even they do not deserve my time or effort. Why should I make sacrifices for them? Now you might find it interesting that I started with the Olympics and turned to a general lack of social skills, but I assure you they are connected more ways than one through resilience. And since I keep mentioning that word, I'll define it real quick. Resilience is the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties. Again, the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties. Now the Olympics requires the overcoming of fear, the willingness to be uncomfortable, and the boldness to commit yourself to using and developing the gifts you were given despite the challenges. Serving God's people is really no different. We must overcome our fears of our ineptitude, be willing to be very uncomfortable, and possess the boldness to commit ourselves to using and developing the gifts that God has given and called us to use regardless of the challenges. Now you might be thinking, whoa, no need to get so intense here, but I can assure you this is a much bigger deal than we often want to admit. I know it's strong language, I'm not accusing anything, but the lack of boldness and the lack of willingness to be uncomfortable in serving God's people is a form of cowardice, and God feels very strongly towards the cowardly. If you would turn with me please to Revelation chapter 21. That's a good way to gain perspective on something, of course, is to see the end result, and even though the end result is not here yet, we have been given insight through these scriptures. And trust me, I do not think we want to let ourselves lack any boldness or resilience. Revelation chapter 21 reading verses 6 through 8, verse 6, and he said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and He shall be my son. But The cowardly, unbelieving, abominable murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. I do not know about you, but as far as resilience goes, this makes it pretty clear to me which way I should lean. To be a son of God, we must overcome. To face eternal death is to be a coward among the unbelieving and abominable. Now while that is certainly terrifying and adds some pressure, it's not all bad. God can and will see us through absolutely any situation that we need him in. And when it comes to requiring service of us, God will give us absolutely everything we need if we ask for it in faith. My wife and I started reading the Bible again from the beginning this year, and with that we have revisited the pages of Exodus as you do early on. While I know the story, it is always fascinating to regain perspective on someone who did not really believe they had what it took, but God used anyways, despite their pushback. And there really are fewer better examples, in my opinion, of overcoming a lack of self-confidence and being very uncomfortable, yet possessing resilience and service to God than the story of Moses. And I'd like to just briefly look at them as an incredible example, example of service to God through adversity, which obviously we do not have time to go through what it feels like a quarter of this entire book. So I just want to cherry-pick one interaction. If you would turn to Exodus chapter 4, please. We will read verses 10 through 16 for a little bit of hesitation from Moses. And it is important to note this section of scripture is preceded by Moses meeting the Lord at the burning bush and the Lord giving a presentation of the miracles he would perform through him. Uh, Exodudus chapter 4, we are going to read verses 10 through 16. Exodus 4:10. Then Moses said to the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. So the Lord said to him, Who, who has made man's mouth, or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say. But he, Moses, said, O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else you may send. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses. And just to pause here for a second, this is hilarious to me. Moses talked to God Himself, and God showed incredible things such as turning his staff to a serpent, making his hand leprous, and then restoring it. Uh, you can almost feel God's irritation here after showing Moses these things. So returning back to verse 14, I'll just start again. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he's also coming to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do. So he shall be your spokesman to the people, and he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God. Now the biggest point I want to draw from this is not necessarily the humor, but how easy it is to focus on our own faults and weaknesses and be terrified to serve and perform duties regardless of our faith or in Moses's case, regardless of speaking to God Himself. If God wants to use us, he will use us. It is so easy to be like a little child trying to make any excuses we can to show ourselves as unqualified and not up to the task, but the reality is God is all powerful and will give us exactly what we need to succeed. And Moses here gives us an example too that even when God can become angry from our pushback, he can still use us and will still give us what we need to perform his will. On the flip side, I think it's worth considering that sometimes we do truly believe we are the perfect person for a job, but maybe God does not see it fit for that situation. Maybe God sees someone else fit for the situation who is seemingly less qualified for reasons we may not immediately understand, and of course we need to learn to be OK with that too. I'd be remiss if I did not at least remind us in our timidity of I Corinthians chapter 1, 26, 27, for when we feel unworthy, no need to turn there. It reads, for you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. Feeling a lack of confidence or ability in ourselves is not a bug in the code, if you will, but a feature, and through Moses we can see that he ultimately gained strength through the process and became more confident not in himself but through what he knew God could and would do through him, and we should too. God has not given us spirits of cowardice or timidity. No, He's given us gifts and spirits of power, which we know through II Timothy chapter 16 and 7. They read, Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Before moving on, I do want to point out one more thing. One of the biggest things I think we can be scared of is becoming stuck doing something. Maybe it's something like being scared to get stuck cleaning the coffee pots or stuck back in the sound booth or stuck speaking or stuck helping someone who we might find difficult. And no, of course, these are not just examples of coincidence. Yes, I have had some of these thoughts myself. But you know who was stuck? Moses Did he not serve through a lack of confidence in scary situations and the lack of comfort, of course, that he probably did not want to be in? Did he not have thousands and thousands of Israelites complaining to him at every turn? In fact, I think considering getting into long-term service to God as being stuck in something to be afraid of is an attribute of cowardice that we talked about earlier if we are not careful. Is serving God not to be honorable. If so, then should it not be considered an absolute honor to get stuck serving God. Something to think about. As we come to a close, I would like to wrap up with the importance of service to God through serving his people with a section of scripture. It's a lengthy section, but I think it's incredibly important and gets the point across very well. If you would turn with me please to Matthew chapter 25. Yeah. Matthew 25, and we will be reading from verse 31 all the way down to verse 46. Matthew 25:31. When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats, and He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right hand, Come, you blessed to my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the king will answer and say to them, assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. Then he will say to those on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not take me in naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? Then he will answer them, saying, assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. brethren, whether, whether it is the Olympics, X Games, or World Championships, there is no doubt how impressive the feats are that the athletes achieve and how much strength and turns and resilience they they require. Yet they strive for a goal that will dissolve and not last. We, the very weak and base of the world, strive for the ultimate goal that will last forever and has true value. We may not be Olympic athletes, but we are children of God, and through that we must serve one another. We have the tools we need to serve God, to be His people, and to fight against Satan and this world, of course, through God's true strength, endurance, and His resilience. Let us not be cowards, but bold, willing to be uncomfortable, trusting that God will provide, and move forward in true service to God's family, our one true King, and the one and only Almighty Father.