Participants:
Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ003122S
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00:24 The story of Jesse Owens is so remarkable.
00:27 It eventually created this museum 00:29 honoring him in the Alabama town of Multan. 00:32 It's called the Jesse Owens Memorial Park. 00:36 Alabama 00:37 is where this Olympic athlete grew up. 00:50 This birth home replica 00:52 pictures what it was like for him 00:54 in a small town in the early 1900s. 00:57 He was the son of sharecroppers. 00:59 This African American kid 01:01 didn't seem to have much of a future. 01:04 It was a time and place in the US, 01:06 with a culture of slavery still seem to linger. 01:10 The niche of blacks 01:11 was still the bottom of the barrel. 01:18 At the age of seven, 01:19 James was expected to pick 100 pounds of cotton a day. 01:24 Those long days of hard work 01:26 for a little boy under the blazing Alabama sun 01:29 were required just to keep the family fed. 01:32 What's more? 01:34 James suffered from chronic bronchial congestion. 01:37 He also had to fight several bouts of pneumonia. 01:43 But his Christian family kept believing 01:46 that God had a way to a better place. 01:50 When the lad turned nine, 01:51 they managed to move north to Cleveland, Ohio. 01:55 Rumor had that black people had more opportunities 01:58 in the industrial north. 02:00 The family did do a bit better, and James started school. 02:04 When a teacher asked him his name. 02:06 He answered J.C., 02:08 that's what he was called at home. 02:10 The teacher misunderstood his southern drawl 02:13 and heard Jesse, the name would stick. 02:17 Now he was Jesse Owens. 02:55 Far across the Atlantic Ocean in Germany, 02:58 a lad named Ludwig Luz Long was growing up. 03:03 Born in Leipzig in 1913, 03:06 this tall blue-eyed blonde kid 03:08 seemed to have a promising future 03:10 in that prosperous city. 03:12 He did well in school, 03:14 and his parents could provide for all his needs. 03:21 In 1920, when Luz was in grade school, 03:24 Adolf Hitler was already in charge of propaganda 03:27 for the German Workers' Party. 03:29 He delivered many antisemitic tirades, 03:33 blaming the Jews for all his nation's problems. 03:36 Hitler soon got in control, turned it into the Nazi Party, 03:40 and began waving his swastika flag. 03:43 The superiority of the white Aryan race 03:47 would become part of its platform. 03:51 Luz Long and his family lived in this volatile world, 03:56 but Hitler would see them as part of the right race. 04:03 Back over in Cleveland, 04:05 Jesse Owens felt inspired by his Christian family. 04:09 He worked hard to do well, in a race regarded as inferior. 04:14 African Americans had to struggle harder 04:16 to get anywhere. 04:33 But in high school, 04:35 Jesse managed to excel in a different race, 04:37 a foot race or running race. 04:39 He would become a remarkably speedy teenager on the track. 04:47 Jesse would tie National High School records 04:49 in the 100 and 220-yard dashes. 04:53 He would also rise to the top in the long jump 04:56 called the broad jump back then. 04:59 This lad was accepted to Ohio State University. 05:02 He took this sports program up a few notches, 05:06 easily becoming the swiftest on the track. 05:10 In 1935, as a sophomore, 05:13 he would participate 05:14 in a high-profile college event, 05:16 the big 10 championships in track and field. 05:20 Jesse ran the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds, 05:25 tying the world record. 05:27 In the 220-yard dash, 05:29 he raised under the world record, 05:31 clocking 20.3 seconds. 05:34 And then he created a phenomenon 05:36 in is one long jump. 05:38 He soared for 26 feet eight and a quarter inches. 05:42 That was a world record, 05:44 a record that would last for 25 years. 05:50 Over in Germany, 05:52 Luz Long joined the University of Leipzig. 05:55 He studied law there 05:56 and also became part of the Leipziger Sport Club. 06:00 After graduating, 06:02 he practiced as a lawyer in Hamburg but 06:04 continued his keen interest in sports. 06:07 Adolf Hitler was now Germany's dictator. 06:10 The Nazi Party seemed to be controlling 06:13 every aspect of life. 06:15 But Lud tried to focus on his personal goals. 06:21 At the age of 23, 06:22 he would participate in the European Championships 06:25 in athletics. 06:27 At this 1936 event 06:29 Luz finished third in the long jump, 06:31 leaping for 7.25 meters. 06:34 By the summer of 1936, 06:37 he held the European record in the long jump. 06:40 Now he was looking at the Olympics. 06:43 The Buckeye Bullet 06:45 was heading in that direction as well. 06:48 In his junior year at Ohio State, 06:50 Jesse Owens competed in 42 events 06:53 and won them all. 06:55 He excelled at the big 10 championships, 06:57 and then caught America's eye for good at the Olympic trials. 07:02 This was an exceptional all-around athlete. 07:08 Things were rather complicated, however, 07:10 as Jesse Owens boarded his ship 07:12 for Europe and the Berlin Olympics. 07:14 Many people in America wanted to boycott these games. 07:18 The Nazi regime over there 07:19 was already persecuting and excluding Jews. 07:23 The brown shirts only wanted athletes 07:25 who would demonstrate the superiority 07:27 of the Aryan race. 07:29 And people knew that 07:30 Hitler would use this big event as Nazi propaganda. 07:34 Others, however, 07:36 asserted that the Olympic Games belong to the athletes, 07:38 not the politicians. 07:40 Americans excelling in these sports 07:43 should have the chance to shine they said, 07:45 regardless of the host country. 07:51 The debate was quite intense 07:52 as Jesse sailed across the Atlantic, 07:55 but he was pondering a different issue. 07:57 It's something suggested here 07:59 in the welcome center house at this memorial park. 08:04 Jesse was now a married man and the father of a child. 08:08 These personal items you can see here, 08:11 were donated by his wife Ruth. 08:13 They give us glimpses of his life. 08:16 Jesse was getting a lot of publicity. 08:18 And he began wondering 08:20 if all that was crowding out the spiritual side of his life. 08:25 I had an almost overwhelming input 08:28 to drop down on my knees and thank God 08:31 for letting this opportunity come to me, 08:34 and to ask his help to make the most of it. 08:39 All of this came over Jesse, 08:42 as the skyline of New York 08:44 disappeared beneath the ocean waves. 08:48 This was America's most promising athlete, 08:51 the son of a sharecropper, the grandson of slaves, 08:54 was now the man everyone was talking about. 08:58 But he wanted to focus on someone bigger than himself. 09:02 He'd been brought up 09:03 on the teachings of Jesus in His Word. 09:06 And so now that he was climbing the highest of mountains, 09:10 he wanted God to meet him at the summit. 09:16 Well to Jesse Owens 09:17 it did seem that God was there for him 09:19 at the Berlin Olympic Games. 09:21 Yes, even with the swastika flags 09:23 flying all around, 09:25 even with Nazi troops parading, 09:27 even with Adolf Hitler, 09:29 high up in the stands presiding over 09:32 what he was sure 09:33 would be proof of his racist superiority. 09:36 Surely, the Aryan's would get the gold, not quite. 09:41 Jesse Owens would smash the Nazi agenda, 09:46 almost single-handedly. 09:52 This 177-centimeter, 75 kilo African American 09:58 took off fast in the 100-meter dash. 10:01 He sped over the Berlin stadium track 10:03 in 10.2 seconds, 10:05 winning the gold medal 10:07 that made him the fastest man on earth. 10:12 Hitler didn't like that at all. 10:14 But Jesse was just getting started. 10:19 Then came the 200-meter dash, 10:22 that man who had to pick cotton all day long, 10:25 now seem to speed effortlessly passing everyone else. 10:30 Jesse won a second gold medal, 10:32 setting an Olympic record 10:34 in the 200-meter dash at 20.7 seconds. 10:38 Then there was the 4 x 100-meter relay race. 10:41 Owens ran the leadoff, 10:43 his team would win by 15 meters, 10:47 setting a world record time of 39.8 seconds, 10:51 that would last for 20 years more gold. 10:55 The Nazis had been portraying African Americans 10:58 as inferior for some time. 11:01 Before the Olympics, 11:02 they loudly ridiculed the United States 11:05 for relying on what they called Black Auxiliaries. 11:09 One German official at the games 11:10 complained about the people 11:12 Americans were letting represent their country, 11:15 those he called non-humans like Owens 11:18 and other negro athletes, 11:21 but Jesse felt something quite different 11:22 when he walked the streets of Berlin. 11:25 People kept asking for his autograph, 11:27 they wanted to stand beside him and take a picture, 11:30 and the 110,000 11:32 who packed that glittering Olympic stadium 11:35 didn't boo Jesse when he won his races. 11:37 They cheered him on with gusto. 11:40 And then came 11:42 the most remarkable of rendezvous. 11:45 It was something 11:46 Hitler wouldn't have dreamed off. 11:51 The event, the long jump. 11:54 Jesse was competing there as well. 11:57 That is reflected here at the long jump pit 12:00 at the Jesse Owens Memorial Park. 12:03 It gives us a clear picture of the remarkable distance 12:06 he would cover many years ago. 12:15 The German champion Luz Long was competing as well. 12:19 Yes, the lawyer from Leipzig still very much an athlete 12:23 they'd never met. 12:25 They were just warming up beside that long runway 12:27 toward the leap over the sand, 12:30 Jesse and Luz 12:31 were the top competitors in this event. 12:35 But strangely enough, in the qualifying rounds, 12:38 Jesse was struggling. 12:40 He almost failed out. 12:42 On his first two attempts, 12:44 He stood beyond the line on the takeoff board. 12:47 He hadn't made the required minimum distance. 12:50 And now Jesse had just one more attempt left. 12:54 Few people can understand 12:56 what kind of pressure must weigh down on an athlete 12:59 in the Olympics. 13:05 But one man did, Luz Long. 13:08 This tall blonde German with Hitler's eyes on him 13:12 was Jesse's chief competitor for gold. 13:15 And this is what Jesse would remember 13:17 the rest of his life. 13:20 Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, Jesse Owens. 13:25 It wasn't the loudspeaker calling my name a final time. 13:29 It was a man standing right next to me. 13:32 As Jesse looked over into Luz Long's face, 13:35 he knew he was supposed to be staring down 13:37 his arch-enemy, 13:39 one of the high hopes of the Nazis. 13:41 But as Jesse recalled... 13:44 The way his hand rested on my shoulder, 13:47 the vibrations I felt as he looked at me and smiled, 13:50 made me know somehow, that far from being my enemy, 13:55 he was my friend. 13:58 Luz introduced himself 13:59 and sit in slightly broken English. 14:02 "I think I know what's wrong. 14:04 You give everything when you jump. 14:06 I the same. 14:08 You cannot do halfway, 14:10 but you're afraid you will fail again. 14:13 " Jessie nodded. 14:15 "Hey, that's right." 14:17 "Well, I have an answer," Luz said. 14:20 "Same thing happened to me last year in Cologne." 14:24 Now there were just seconds left 14:25 before Jessie had to qualify or default. 14:29 Luz quickly told him to just remeasure his steps 14:33 and jump from 15 centimeters back 14:35 of the takeoff board. 14:37 That way he could give 100% 14:40 and still not be afraid of failing out. 14:42 After all, 14:44 Jesse could easily make 14:45 the 7.15-meter qualifying minimum. 14:51 Luz then laid down his towel 14:53 at exactly the place where Jesse could safely jump. 14:57 It was simple as Jesse would recall. 15:01 I could feel a surge of confident energy 15:04 surging back into my body for that brief second, 15:08 before beginning my run. 15:10 I went as fast as I ever had 15:13 took off and felt almost like I was flying. 15:23 When Jesse Owens landed, 15:24 he had set another Olympic record 15:27 over eight meters in the long jump, 15:30 and that was leaping some 15 centimeters 15:33 in front of the takeoff board. 15:35 He had made the finals to say the least. 15:38 And now all that had just happened 15:41 began to strike Jesse Owens. 15:43 Luz Long had made quite a courageous gesture. 15:49 The tall blue-eyed blonde German 15:52 had befriended a black rival 15:54 in front of Hitler and all his Nazi troops. 15:57 Jesse could hardly think of how to thank him, 16:00 but he offered his friendship 16:02 and the two got together that night 16:03 over coffee in the Olympic Village. 16:06 Jesse and Luz talked on into the night. 16:08 They're up much later 16:10 than athletes were supposed to be. 16:12 But these two men 16:13 from two very different worlds 16:15 had made a remarkable Olympic rendezvous. 16:26 The long-term finals did prove to be quite intense. 16:30 Jumpers would exceed 16:31 the old Olympic record five times. 16:34 Luz Long had set his own record of 7.87 meters. 16:38 But in the end, 16:40 Owens managed to leap over that to 8.06 meters 16:44 and the gold medal. 16:45 Luz was left with the silver, 16:47 but he was the first to congratulate Owens, 16:50 the two men posed together for photos, 16:53 and they walked arm in arm 16:55 out of that huge stadium into the dressing room. 17:01 As it turned out, 17:03 Jesse Owens knew how to greatly value 17:05 Luz generous gesture. 17:07 He would make this statement. 17:10 You can melt down all the medals and cups I have. 17:13 And they wouldn't be a plating on the 24-karat friendship 17:18 that I felt for Luz Long at that moment. 17:26 This gold medal tree here at the park reflects that. 17:30 It's a pretty simple, ordinary oak. 17:33 But back at the 1936 Olympics, 17:36 four seedling oaks, 17:37 representing his four gold medals 17:40 were presented to Jesse Owens as a gift of the German people. 17:44 Jesse knew how to value those gifts. 17:47 He planted one at his mother's house 17:48 in Cleveland, 17:50 one at Ohio State University, 17:53 and one at the high school where he practiced track. 17:56 The fourth tree died before Jesse could plant it, 18:00 but the Owens Family Guide park officials here 18:03 this oak to plant 18:05 as a symbol of that fourth gift. 18:16 When World War II broke out, 18:18 Luz had to join the German army. 18:21 He was severely wounded 18:22 during the Allied invasion of Sicily, 18:25 taken captive, 18:26 he would die in a British military hospital 18:29 on July 13, 1943. 18:33 But after the war, 18:34 Jesse Owens managed to keep in touch 18:36 with Luz's family. 18:38 He would tell the man's son, 18:40 how courageous his father had been in the Olympics, 18:43 how much he respected the man. 18:46 He would always make the Long family feel proud. 18:50 You know, 18:51 I believe there's a clear reason 18:53 why Jesse Owens could honor that Olympic gesture so highly. 18:57 Why he would in fact make it resonate 19:00 down through the years. 19:02 And that is the faith he grew up with. 19:05 The God he wanted to meet on that mountaintop in Berlin. 19:09 Jesse wanted to share his faith 19:11 when he met with Luz that night at the Olympic Village. 19:14 He asked him about his background, 19:16 his religion. 19:17 Luz kind of shrugged. 19:19 His family had been rather secular. 19:22 And Hitler's Germany was diminishing Christianity 19:25 everywhere it could. 19:27 But Jesse wanted to affirm this man anyway. 19:30 Yes, he was German. 19:32 Yes, he might even have to fight in Hitler's army. 19:36 But as Jesse put it... 19:38 I felt that beneath that, he was my brother. 19:42 I believed in Luz Long. 19:47 And that was because this German athlete 19:49 had expressed something 19:51 that shines out of the New Testament, 19:53 the New Testament Jesse Owens grew up with. 19:56 The Apostle Paul had made 19:58 some remarkable gestures in this world, 20:01 a world of big racial and religious boundaries. 20:05 He saw Jesus Christ 20:07 as the man who makes the greatest 20:09 and the widest of connections. 20:11 Here's how he put it in Galatians 3:27 and 28. 20:18 "For all who are baptized into Christ, 20:20 have clothed yourself with Christ. 20:23 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, 20:25 neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, 20:29 for you are all one in Christ Jesus." 20:35 But the Apostle Paul proclaimed something 20:37 all over the Mediterranean world. 20:40 He said that Jesus Christ changed everything. 20:43 He made it possible for everyone 20:45 to be accepted by faith, as a beloved child of God. 20:50 He gave everyone the chance to rise up in God's arms 20:55 to heaven itself. 20:57 That's what it meant to be clothed with Christ. 21:00 His righteousness could envelop you, 21:02 give you a new identity, 21:05 His grace could become the clothing that defines you. 21:09 And so in Christ, there was no Jew, no Gentile, 21:14 no slave, no free person, 21:17 no male, no female, no black, no white. 21:23 All those differences in status that so many struggled with, 21:27 so many fought about, just weren't important. 21:31 It was a person's spiritual life 21:35 that gave them a significant place 21:37 in this world. 21:39 One of Christ's most famous parables 21:42 is the Good Samaritan. 21:44 Well, the Samaritans were the people 21:46 his listeners despise the most. 21:49 In Jerusalem, they were way on the outside. 21:53 Priests and scribes were way on the inside. 21:57 But in this story, 21:59 Jesus makes the Samaritan the hero 22:02 who rescues a wounded Jew. 22:05 Christ last words were, 22:07 "Go and make disciples of all nations." 22:15 Yes, he wanted grace circling around the world. 22:19 Jesse Owens understood that. 22:21 It's not unlike this replica of the 1936 Olympic torch 22:26 still burning bright. 22:28 These Olympic torches circle the world. 22:32 Well, Jesse wanted that grace circling too. 22:36 He wanted to make sure his rendezvous with God 22:39 would burn bright, 22:41 even while rising to the mountaintop 22:43 as the world's greatest athlete. 22:46 That's why he could affirm Luz Long's gesture so well. 22:51 Luz reached across a racial boundary. 22:54 That's what Christ did in the widest possible way. 22:59 Jesus broke down all barriers. 23:02 He reaches out to every culture, 23:04 He can penetrate every human heart, 23:08 He holds up the torch of grace. 23:12 I think people should remember Jesse Owens for many things. 23:16 First of all, 23:17 the abilities that he developed 23:22 and used all through his life 23:24 and treat the way he treated others, 23:26 he was a great humanitarian, 23:29 he did well in college, 23:31 he broke out all kinds of track records, 23:34 he is an inspiration 23:36 to all youth and adults and older people. 23:40 Even our president of the United States told 23:42 he's one of the greatest athletes in the century. 23:46 And you can go to Russia or England or Australia, 23:51 and they know who Jesse Owens, a lot of people. 23:54 And that's an inspiration 23:55 to know that he could do that 23:58 coming from how he is raised here. 24:00 He grew up as a sharecropper son, 24:02 grandson of a slave, 24:05 and he just had a lot of determination 24:08 and inner strength about him 24:10 that he could accomplish the worldwide recognition 24:14 to his humanitarian acts of kindness 24:18 and generosity and athletic achievements. 24:22 And that's an inspiration to know that 24:24 he made that kind of impact worldwide. 24:28 This famous Jesse Owens statue 24:31 embodies this man breaking through barriers. 24:34 He had to do that 24:35 even after his Olympic achievements. 24:38 He got a ticker-tape parade in New York City 24:41 but then he couldn't take the regular elevator 24:44 just for white people 24:45 to his reception in his honor at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. 24:50 He had to ride the freight elevator. 24:54 Endorsements didn't come his way much. 24:57 Jesse would have to make a living at special events, 25:00 running races against dogs and horses. 25:03 It wasn't until the 1950s 25:05 that he finally managed financial security 25:09 becoming a valued public speaker 25:11 for corporations. 25:13 In time, he would win the Medal of Freedom, 25:16 America's highest civilian honor. 25:19 But what Jesse Owen did always have 25:22 was this New Testament spotlight. 25:24 The sense of a God who values individuals so much 25:29 that it was willing to give up his life 25:31 for their rescue. 25:33 His embrace of humanity reaches far beyond race, 25:38 far beyond culture, far beyond religion. 25:41 It can gather everyone into the kingdom of grace. 25:46 Have you been able to reach beyond the barriers 25:49 around you? 25:50 Wouldn't you like to live in a kingdom 25:53 that transcends 25:54 every artificial boundary we put up? 25:57 You can do that through your own rendezvous. 26:00 If you'd like to connect with God today, 26:03 if you'd like to experience the grace and acceptance 26:06 that God offers, 26:07 then I'd like to recommend the free gift we have 26:10 for all our Incredible Journey viewers today. 26:15 It's the booklet, Seen Through God's Eyes. 26:20 I'm sure you want to read this small booklet 26:22 that shares the unending love God has for all of us. 26:26 This booklet is our gift to you and it's absolutely free. 26:31 I guarantee there are no cost or obligations whatsoever. 26:35 So make the most of this wonderful opportunity 26:38 to receive the gift we have for you today. 26:43 Phone or text us at 0436 333 555 in Australia 26:49 or 020 422 2042 in New Zealand, 26:54 or visit our website TiJ.tv 26:58 to request today's free offer, 27:00 and we'll send it to you totally free of charge 27:03 and with no obligation. 27:04 Write to us at GPO Box 274 Sydney, 27:08 New South Wales 2001, Australia 27:11 or PO Box 76673, Manukau, 27:15 Auckland 2241, New Zealand. 27:18 Don't delay, call or text us now. 27:24 If you've enjoyed our visit 27:25 to the home of Jesse Owens in Alabama, 27:28 and our reflections on the love, grace, 27:30 and acceptance Jesus offers, 27:33 then be sure to join us again next week, 27:36 when we will share another of life's journeys together. 27:39 Until then, let's commit our lives to God 27:43 and ask His blessing upon us and our families. 27:46 Let's pray. 27:48 Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love. 27:53 Thank You that we can feel valued and accepted 27:56 because of Your love 27:57 and the gift of salvation that You offer us. 28:00 We open up our hearts to You, the God of grace, 28:04 forgiveness, and mercy. 28:06 We accept Your gift of eternal life 28:09 and want to make a rendezvous with You. 28:12 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. |
Revised 2020-10-04