Sermon Tone Analysis

*"The Risk Takers"*

*Matthew 25:14-30*

*When I was in high school ... full of energy and enthusiasm... looking for kicks ... I actually thought I might like to go sky diving**.

/I must have been out of my mind... /*Then one summer when I was about a third year college student I dated a guy who offered to take me.

But I didn’t’ have the nerve.

So I didn't do it.

And as a result, I've never been sky diving, or hang-gliding, or cliff-hanging, or extreme rock climbing.

I've never been bungee jumping ... although it’s possible one of my girls might have.

*But I /have/ been para-sailing and white water rafting – on a very /elementary/ level, that is.

*And I’ve ridden on the back of motorcycles ... and on plenty of scary roller coasters.

*For years now, I’ve hoped to go snow skiing.*

But I haven’t yet gotten up the nerve to try it.

Some of my friends tell me there's nothing more exciting than standing on top of a mountain slope, looking down at the steep descent that goes on forever ... then shoving off and flying down the slope on a pair of skis.

But now with my back  I’ll probably  never get a chance to experience that.

*We **all **take risks.**

*We enjoy taking risks.

All through my life, until just recently, the scarier the roller coaster, the better!

Risk taking brings a "rush."

*But I want you to think about **something for a minute.

-- *That physical rush, which comes in such ways, is /nothing/ compared to the spiritual rush that comes when you’re willing to take a risk for God.

*Risk taking is a part of life.*

Some of you do may it daily through the stock market .... *You **also take a risk when you start a business ... or get married ... or **choose to have children.*

We take a risk every time we get into a car.

*Life is risky /../.

So is genuine faith in God*.

And Jesus talks about that in the Gospels -- * about how we move forward and grow spiritually to **the **degree that we’re willing to risk.*

And surely we can all think of things in our own lives that would involve taking a risk for Christ... like doing something that might further God’s realm fresh for the 1st  time... or changing something about ourselves that needs changing for the sake of those around us.   *But it’s also true in the life of the church that being willing to take risks is a necessary part of spiritual health.*

For instance, think about the present challenge before our church right now.

It clearly calls for a decision that is going to involve risk –whichever direction we go.

And every year the stewardship team challenges us to take a risk with our giving... *It’s been said many times over that we **grow in Faith in direct proportion to our willingness to risk.*

*So **this morning I want to think about Christian risk taking.*

Jesus Christ calls us to take risks for the church and for His mission in this world.

And, one of the greatest examples of this is Jesus’ Parable of the Talents, which we just read.

*In it Jesus tells about a master who entrusted his **servants with certain talents.*

/(which, of course, parallel the //talents, abilities, and resources //each of us has been given by God/.)

I*n the parable, one person was **given **5 talents, another 2, and another 1 talent.*

The master expected them to use their talents ... invest them ... until he returned.

As we heard, the one with 5 talents invested them well, earned 5 talents more ... and was blessed by the master with even more talents.

The one given 2 talents also invested his, earned 2 talents more ... and was blessed by the master with even more talents.

But the one given only 1 talent ... hid his talent for safe keeping ... didn't invest it or increase it at all.

Then, when the master returned, he was upset with this servant -- said he was lazy and good for nothing, and took his 1 talent away from him.

*The master was upset because the man wasn’t willing to take a risk.

*He would have been more pleased if the man had risked and lost it all than he was with the fact that he wasn't willing to take a risk.

*Now -- There are three risks the Lord wants us to take if we are to move forward **and **grow in faith.*

Our refusal to take these risks not only shows a lack of | 2 |

trust in God, but it also warps our perspective on God.

When confronted with his refusal to risk, the one-talent servant revealed his twisted perspective on his lord.

He said, /"I knew you to be a hard master, reaping //where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed."

/(Matthew 25:24) *But nothing was further from the truth.

*His lord was anything but a hard master.

In fact, he joyfully rewarded those servants who were willing to take risks for his sake.

*So, the 1st risk our Lord wants us to take if we are to move** forward and **grow in faith is that of participating rather than just observing.**

*The truth is, there are always those who sit on the sidelines of life rather than risk getting involved.

It’s been said there are three kinds of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say, /"What happened?"/

*/Which are you?

And, what does the Lord /**/think of it?

/*Those who just observe rather than get involved will find themselves with a warped perspective, a skewered view of what's going on.

·     For example, over the past year we've been holding a series of information meetings regarding our "Open and Affirming” endeavor here in the church.

We’ve sent out information and letters explaining it all and inviting people to come and dialogue, learn, better understand.

We have a table in the back with books to read and CDs to watch, all simply to educate us all re: human sexual preference.

And still some say they don’t know what it’s all about...  

·     We’re holding cluster meetings, complete with lay leaders, to which everyone was invited to talk together about the challenge set before us with Baldwin Wallace and our building.

Those who have attended one already feel they have a better understanding of what God is trying to do through this church and how they feel about our future options.

*Those who don’t  attend ... who don’t get involved ... will have no idea, or a vague idea at best what options  we actually have as well as what the pros and cons of each of those options might be as they impact the future of this congregation.

*You can tell the difference from the things people say  --  and the questions they ask  -- whether they are participating or observing.

*The 2nd risk God wants us to take -- if we are to move forward and grow **in faith -- is the risk of doing something rather than doing nothing.**

*In Jesus’ parable the master would have been much more pleased if they had risked and failed than if they weren't willing to try anything at all.

Every church that achieves great things for God ... including this one ... experiences many failures for every success they achieve.

*But the key is **the willingness to try.

*Now I know all of us have our "hesitancies" about change.

You know, /"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

/And we all feel that way to some degree.../ /But, if we don’t fix it now, it might not work later.

Or, the famous/ "Seven Last Words"/ of the church -/"We never did it that way before."/

*We may need to risk, so that change might bring about something even better.

*

*Jesus never said that the kingdom of God was like a man reclining in his easy chair.**

*No, Jesus compared the kingdom to one willing to tasks risks ... and willing to invest time, talent and resources in what it takes to move forward and grow for God.

*I love the name of a 13th century** church which is called /"Our Lady of Risk."/ *It’s named for Mary ... who was willing to take a BIG  risk and accept God's call to become the mother of Jesus.

*For the sake of our church and its future, just as the members of that ancient church, we /must/ be willing to do /something/ ... to take a risk ... rather than do nothing.*

And we dare not be spectators.

We /must/ be participants.

*Then **there's the 3rd risk God wants us to take if we are to move **forward and grow in faith -- and that’s the risk of accepting **responsibility rather than blaming**.*

It's quite obvious that we live in a /"blame somebody else" /rather than /"accept responsibility" /world today.

People look at all the problems in society today - deteriorating family life, declining education, decaying urban centers, growing crime, increasing environmental problems, corrupt politicians - and instead of accepting their own responsibility for them, they want to blame somebody else – /blame the //government, blame big business, blame the economy, blame heredity, blame your parents, blame the teachers, blame the leaders, ... even blame God.

/

*The truth is:  The problems in our world today are nothing more than the **sum total of what's wrong with each of us.** *So we need to accept responsibility ... and do something about it ... rather than just sit back and blame everybody else.

*I truly believe that the church is our greatest hope for dealing with the **problems in our society** today – otherwise I would definitely NOT be in the ministry.*

*/And/ I believe that in the years ahead we're going to see the church become more and more important.

*Many people believe that the church can do a better job in solving local problems than government agencies have done or can afford to do.

But in order for the church to really have an impact in this society, you and I -- every single one of us who see ourselves as the church -- MUST accept responsibility & get involved.

To keep the church strong, we all /have/ to get involved.

*Jesus calls us to take risks for His church and for His mission  --  the **risk of participating rather than just observing, the risk of doing **something rather than doing nothing, the risk of accepting responsibility **rather than blaming.**

*But to do this means that we must be willing to trust God.

We must trust God enough that we’re willing to attempt something that we know will fail ... unless God makes it happen.

When's the last time you did that?

Have you ever really done that?

*Just about everything we are doing right now in the life of this church, I think, falls into that category.

* None of the things we are working on, considering, dialoguing about, -- the visioning we’re attempting will not succeed unless God is behind it -- unless God makes it happen -- unless /God's spirit in us /makes it happen.

*The question is whether or not we are willing to trust God enough to take a few risks ...to get involved ... and make commitments ... so GREAT things can happen here?

*Only you can answer that question for yourself..

One last thing – it’s the final word learned from today’s lesson: * One day we will are all going to be accountable for what we do ... or fail to do.*

Maybe you don’t believe that.