Matt Chandler - Worthless Sacrifices

Okay, we’re going to be alright. Let’s promise you we’re going to be alright. Timothy Treadwell—I don’t know if you know that name—he was like an All-American high school swimmer and diver. A bit eccentric, but an athlete if you count swimming and diving as athletic—which I do, like I do. You’ve seen those; I mean, they’re yoked. So it’s good. He was legit. In fact, he was so legit that he actually got a full ride to swim and dive at Bradley University. Yet he had some hiccups in life; things went bad for him there. I don’t have time to tell his full story, but he spirals at Bradley and becomes addicted to alcohol and heroin. His life is just absolutely falling apart. He hops on a plane with a friend of his to go to Alaska—maybe the crisp air will clear his head and heart. He gets to Alaska, and he and his buddy are packing deep into the backcountry. As they’re hiking, they run into a large male grizzly bear, and that’s a terrifying moment. I know some of you are closer to my age; you’ve seen «Legends of the Fall,» so you’re pretty sure that you’d like a good death, like Tristan, and you wish you saw a grizzly bear. I know you think that, but in light of a 1,500-pound mammal that’s been created by God simply to kill, my guess is you’d be a little braver than you sound after watching Brad Pitt. He sees the bear, and it becomes a transcendent moment in his life. In fact, he never does heroin again; he actually leaves alcohol behind and becomes hyper-fixated on grizzly bears. He begins to do this as often as he can in the summer months in Alaska: he hops on a plane, buys a camera, and heads into the backcountry to find this group of grizzly bears. He makes camp where he knows they are and takes zero precautions against the bears. He cooks his food outside and keeps it out; he’s trying to woo them in. He is warned at every turn that these grizzly bears are not Teddy Ruxpin. They’re not something to be cuddled with or trifled with. He is warned repeatedly, both in writing and verbally, that there is coming a day when these grizzly bears will kill him, and anyone else he brings into the scenario will not have had enough food to hibernate. He is food to them, and that tent is just like a Chipotle wrapper; it is not going to defend him. So he still—he needs hot wire, he needs bear spray; he should have a rifle. But Timothy is convinced that not only are these grizzly bears not going to do that, but that they have actually accepted him as one of them. It’s not uncommon; you can watch all sorts of videos. He actually gets the name «Grizzly Man»; that becomes his name. He’s interviewed for television, documentaries are made, and you can watch this mentally ill man cuddling up with thousand-pound grizzlies, scratching their ears. Here it’s like anyone else would like to do that if it were safe. I do! I think grizzly bears are amazing; I think that would be incredible. I’d like to go a couple of rounds with one. I know how it would end—I’m saying, like, new heaven, new earth; I’m not going to die doing it.

So, on October 5th, 2003, Timothy brings his girlfriend, Amy, out there, and they spend a week with the grizzlies, hanging out, shooting videos. They try to leave early; they decide the salmon aren’t running as much as they used to. I can clearly tell that my bears—the ones that love me, that have adopted me as one of their own—they have gone on. This is a new group; they’re a little more aggressive, but we should get out of here. So he goes to the airport, tries to get a ticket out, and it just doesn’t happen—there are some situations that arise, and he’s unable to get a ticket. This man decides to go back and camp where they had been camping. If you know this story, you know how it ends. About a week later, an airplane comes to pick up Timothy and his girlfriend, Amy, and they can’t find them. They find their campsite completely destroyed; they find human remains around the campsite. Is this too much? I’m sorry if it is, but I need it for this text. They find a giant female grizzly that aggressively approaches them, and they have to put it down. An autopsy reveals that Timothy and Amy are actually inside this grizzly. That story is this text. Are you tracking with me? That story is this text. You have this massive, powerful, unstoppable force that draws you to it in its majesty, but if you pat it on its head or try to cuddle with it, it could absolutely kill you. But if you show honor and respect, you could gaze upon it, marvel at it, and even have your heart stirred to worship concerning it. Yet what Timothy does, and what Timothy is guilty of, is something you and I can be guilty of.