Video of Israel Folau breaking down in tears while delivering an Easter church sermon has emerged as he prepares for the showdown meeting that could well end his international rugby career on Saturday.
In the video, Folau speaks about dealing with a situation where an employer challenges a person's religious beliefs, quoting a bible passage about three men standing up for their beliefs even under the threat of death.
He told the congregation at Sydney’s Truth Of Jesus Christ Church: “At some stage, each and every one of us will face our own fiery furnace, and some of us may have already faced that.
“In your workforce, if they’re telling you something that will compromise your faith, this is a test of faith in which you’re going to be put in a challenge, and the question is, ‘What are you going to do?’
“With these guys, they were challenged and it was a matter of life and death, physical death. But they understood their treasures were stored up in heaven, not here on earth.
Video report of Folau sermon
“As the scriptures say, don’t set your mind on things below, but set it on things above.
“We all know as born again believers in Christ, that everything we have here is all temporary.
“And it says in the word, ‘For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?’."
Folau became visibly emotional during the sermon, crying as he paused for more than 30 seconds. A fellow churchgoer handed him a tissue as he proceeded to wipe away tears.
The Wallabies star, widely considered one of the best rugby players in the world, is expected to be sacked by Rugby Australia at a meeting on Saturday morning for his latest homophobic comments.
He sparked a storm last month by claiming homosexuals were going to hell unless they repented on social media, and he has shown no signs of backing down.
Folau was backed by the likes of England player Billy Vunipola, who also received widespread criticism and was booed at Saracens matches and even confronted by a rival fan following the Champions Cup clash against Munster.
Gareth Thomas hits out at 'feeble and unacceptable' Billy Vunipola apology in live TV admonishment
In the video, first shown on Channel 9 breakfast TV program The Today Show in Australia, Folau adds: “This life that we live in is pretty hard,” Folau said. “The God of this world, Satan, has deceived many. But the one that lives inside us is all powerful. He can deliver us from anything.
“I encourage us all to store our treasures up in heaven, where it all counts.
“Just because we’re believers in Christ, does not mean we’re not prone to the temptation or challenges that we’re going through.
“There’s nothing special that would keep us from that — in actual fact, we probably go through more challenges than anything else.
“We’re going to be hated by the world, persecuted by the world.”
