Carrot, Egg Or Coffee Bean?

Last Sunday’s sermon was preached by Brother Ron Nawrocki with the title “Carrot, Egg Or Coffee Bean?” (1 Peter 2:12-21; Luke 10:25-37). The sermon and the whole service can be watched on our WIC YouTube Channel.

 

For those wondering if I’m the President of Poland – no, sorry to disappoint, I’m just a humble cousin from Arizona in the US. But my English is probably better.

 

Two weeks ago, Pastor Harry’s sermon on “No good fortune, No God?” reminded us of how many of us will have our faith tested, or we may even question whether there really is a God, given what has or is happening to us.

He used Peter’s denial of Jesus 3 times as a well-known example. Unlike us, Peter experienced many real life events that clearly showed Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. And yet when Peter’s life appeared threatened – he denied that he even knew Jesus.

 

I believe Peter experienced a Kairos Moment when that rooster crowed. It was that AHA moment, when he realized his faith was smaller than that mustard seed. It’s very likely that single event led to his becoming such a prominent apostle carrying Jesus’ message forward.

And today we heard a small segment of one of his many letters.

 

I could have named today’s sermon “Bad fortune - no God?”

 

You probably think that I’ll explain what any of our readings today have to do with these 3 food related items. Not yet !

For now – I just want to make sure you all have seen them – you have a visual behind me - and I brought some with me. If you’ve never seen one of them - I could toss it to you … maybe not - that may be very messy.

 

Now fasten your seatbelts – I will be covering several books, a World War, and my current adversities in a very short time.

 

If I asked if any of you who had something happen in your lives that led you question your faith – I suspect the answer from several would be yes, or even several times depending on your age.

It’s those dramatic events that we feel should never have happened - especially to a follower of Jesus.

I don’t need to ask if you survived those events – since you’re all with us today.

 

Some of you might be experiencing a dramatic event right now & you are here to ask for God’s help. You don’t know how it will end – but based on surviving and maybe thriving after past crises, your faith will likely help you through the current crisis.

And just maybe today’s message is for you.

 

I’ll share what Beata & I have been going through for the last 18 months, which is testing our faith, and our past decision to be Good Samaritans.

 

For those who don’t know - after we moved from Poland to the US in 2007, we decided to set up a business that would help people become homeowners. That was still early in the Great Recession, during which about 6 million people in the US lost their homes as values declined and millions of jobs eliminated.

 

The Bible tells us that helping others, especially those less fortunate, is one of our highest callings. I did very well in the 1^st half of my life, despite growing up in a ghetto, and having a few business start-ups fail.

So I figured the 2 of us could help others to have similar success with just a little of our help. That has been our mission for the past 19 years.

We state our Mission as “Home Ownership Providers – Funded by Savvy Investors”

And by the way – in addition to investing a lot into the business - we took no salary during the entire 19 years as compensation for the long hours we spent each day, week, month and year. We relied on the income from our savings & investments to cover our living expenses.

 

A few years after starting, we expanded our mission to include helping people avoid losing their homes due to some financial crisis or life event. During those years we’ve helped about 100 people, and I get a lot of satisfaction from each success.

Just a few weeks ago, before we traveled to Poland, we received a nice thank you note from a family we helped to save their home during Covid, and in those 6 years helped them fix their credit so they could get bank financing.

 

But that satisfaction changed dramatically at the beginning of last year. A woman we helped avoid foreclosure in 2016, by buying her home at a price far higher than anyone would offer, decided to file a lawsuit against us to extort money from us.

Not only did she file that lawsuit, she lied about the entire transaction, accusing us of fraud. I won’t go into a lot of detail, but since she made a dozen accusations, but provided no evidence, we spent 6 months and tens of thousands of dollars to prove that she was lying. … But that was not the end of the lawsuit.

She withdrew all of those accusations, and her lawyer started searching for some legal details in the contract to continue that lawsuit against us. Now 18 months into the lawsuit, it is likely to last at least another 6 months.

Due to the expense and time spent on the lawsuit – we have not been able to help many other people.

 

If that wasn’t enough to have us question our mission and even our faith … in mid 2025 a 2nd woman who we had helped avoid foreclosure in 2021, again in 2022, and twice in 2024, decided to file a lawsuit against us so she didn’t have to make the payments on the loan we provided.

When her attempt to get a restraining order against us foreclosing was denied, she filed for bankruptcy to delay losing her home. So that is now another court case that will likely to last for several more months and cost us an additional $10,000 or more.

 

If that wasn’t enough to have us question our mission and even our faith, a 3rd woman who we helped become a homeowner, decided to file a lawsuit against us in December 2025 to try to extort money from us. Admittedly this 3^rd lawsuit is to a great extent caused by the 1^st lawsuit.

This 3^rd lady was named as a co-defendant in the 1^st since she bought the house from us, that we bought from the lady filing the 1^st lawsuit.

That 3^rd case may not be finished until mid 2027 !

 

So today we are forced to spend our time and money to defend ourselves in 3 lawsuits and a bankruptcy for being Good Samaritans.

 

Maybe the Bible is wrong?

Maybe we should not bother helping others, we should just focus on our own lives & our family’s lives?

Maybe God does not like our mission to help others less fortunate than us?

Maybe God is saying Good Samaritans should be punished?

Maybe God disagrees with Peter’s letter that says “God is pleased when, conscious of His will, you patiently endure unjust treatment”?

 

What we do know – is that we are no longer willing to invest our time & money to help anyone who asks for our help. We also feel like God has let us down after spending (maybe wasting) so many years helping so many people succeed.

And we know that when these 3 cases are over – the many lawyers representing both sides will earn over $250,000 and everyone directly involved in the lawsuits will lose money – some more than others.

 

Clearly we have no idea how any of these 3 lawsuits will end, nor even if more baseless lawsuits may be filed against us in the future. We also do not know whether we should just close the company when this is all over – or just redefine who we help.

Finally, we do not know until it’s over - whether we are Carrots, Eggs, or Coffee Beans.

 

The story about those 3 food related items comes from a book named “The Coffee Bean”.

A carrot is hard, seemingly resilient – just like so many people that feel they are invisible – 3 meters tall & bullet proof.

            - but what happens to the carrot when you subject it to adversity like hot water?

            - it softens - dramatically

I like the author’s use of hot water – since “being in hot water” is also an English idiom for being in trouble. When kids do something wrong – we refer to that as being in hot water.

 

The egg on the other hand is delicate, and easily destroyed – just like so many of our friends & family that will come to help us when we need them. But, if we deceive them or let them down, they will be devastated.

            - but what happens to the egg when you subject it to adversity like hot water?

            - it firms up & gets far more resilient.

Much like the passage from Romans 5: 3-5 …

            “³ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 

            ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”

In other words: If it doesn’t kill us – it makes us stronger !

 

But the coffee bean on the other hand, even when subjected to far more adversity

            - 1^st it’s roasted, then it’s ground up, and then put in hot water …

            - unlike the other 2 - it not only but also changes its environment

            - It changes the hot water from being an adversity – to a wonderful hot beverage, with an enticing aroma

 

Will I turn out to be a carrot or an egg?

Will Beata turn out to be a carrot or an egg?

            - I do not believe either of us will turn out to be a coffee bean

 

After sharing the horrible story of what we are dealing with - I thought it would help to share a real life example of a coffee bean.

It would be too easy to use Jesus as that example.

 

Let me share the story of A. A. Milne – officially Alan Alexander Milne [M-I-L-N-E]

He experienced something in his life I doubt any us, or for that matter any human beings will ever experience.

 

Alan Alexander Milne joined the military when WWI started.

            - In 1915 he was commissioned an officer with the Royal Corps of Signals.

            - In one August 1915 incident – yes, 111 years ago next month – he warned his commanders of enemy movements.

            - They ignored his warning – and 60 British men died in that brief clash.

Today we would say that could lead to PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – despite him doing everything right – 60 of his countrymen died.

 

Ultimately he went to fight in the Battle of the Somme [S-O-M-M-E] – which has been described as “Hell on Earth”.

By the way - that battle influenced J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth – which is the setting for an entire series of books, including The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

 

That battle started July 1, 2016 and lasted 4 ½ months, exactly 110 years ago.

On the 1^st day, the British Army suffered 57,000 casualties with 19,000 dead.

            - that’s PTSD on steroids

 

During that one battle, there were 1 million casualties, 420,000 were British - A.A. Milne’s countrymen.

Of those - 127,000 of Milne’s closest friends and countrymen died during that battle.

We would expect Milne would be a vegetable from that level of PTSD.

 

By the Way - the term PTSD did not exist then …

During WWI they coined the term “shell shock” to describe the difficulty sleeping, cold sweats, stuttering and panic when even a balloon pops.

 

While he was suffering from that shell shock, his wife gave birth to their son – Christopher Robin. Milne became an absorbed father, and to connect with his son he invented stories involving his son’s stuffed animals.

 

At the London Zoo they saw a black bear named Winnipeg, who had been a mascot during WWI.

            - Milne loved that bear, he felt like he & Winnipeg were both veterans of that horrible war – and that “Hell on Earth” Milne survived

            - so Milne bought a brown teddy bear for his son

He could use that bear to help explain to Christopher Robin why his father had such strange reactions to everyday sounds like loud noises and buzzing.

 

Mark Oct. 18^th in your calendar – maybe set an alarm to remind you of this message.

That day will commemorate the 110^th anniversary of the end of the Battle of the Somme, and the 100^th anniversary of the publication of “Winnie the Pooh” by A.A. Milne.

Milne is a great example of the coffee bean. He took an absolutely awful adversity, a test of his faith, witnessing the death of 127,000 of his countrymen – to change the world for the better.

 

Will Beata or I become examples of coffee beans after all 3 lawsuits – even if all are resolved in our favor? Not likely – but we can at least strive to be like eggs. Growing stronger under the adversity we have been enduring.

 

Fortunately, the good Lord has strengthened my faith with so many favorable outcomes from past adversity – which has helped me endure.

 

And having the privilege of sharing sermons about what I have learned about God’s grace has helped a great deal.

            - I think back to my sermon on Let Go – Let God,

            - on What is Faith?

            - on Forgiveness,

            - on Anger,

            - about the occurrences related to my wedding ring & Beata’s engagement ring, and

            - so many more.

 

When I put these sermons together I always hope the message helps at least 1 person at just the right time.

            - It turns out that these sermons help me over & over

 

So in closing – look back at the adversities in your life – past and present … and yes Beata, this applies to both of us as well !

            - 1^st re-read today’s passages including Romans 5: 3-5

            - 2^nd read or watch some of the Winnie the Pooh stories

            - 3^rd look for other examples of Coffee Beans, among your friends & family, in books, and even in Poetry

            - Beata recently found a great poem by Rudyard Kipling - IF

 

Then put your adversities into perspective vs. A.A. Milne witnessing the deaths of 127,000 of his friends and countrymen.

God helped A.A. Milne survive that battle & convert his horrific experience into a wonderful story for children of all ages.

Milne not only helped his young son understand his strange reactions to everyday sounds – his son Christopher Robin’s name will live on forever as the little boy with Winnie Pooh.

 

Will Beata & I survive the insanity we are living through? Yes.

            - “God is faithful, and he will not let us be tempted beyond our ability”

 

When and how will these ridiculous lawsuits end? We don’t know.

Will the business we started to help people become homeowners & avoid losing their homes continue? We don’t know.

 

I pray that:

            - Beata & I have the strength & faith to persevere,

            - all these legal cases will be finished by the time we travel to Poland next summer …  2 ½ years of suffering for being Good Samaritans is more than enough.

            - and I pray that one or more of you find comfort or inspiration from this message today.

 

Amen.