The Risk Takers

Risk takers.

Maybe that makes you think of Evil Knievel or the

tightrope walker Phillipe Petit.

Certainly Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin…the first men on the moon, were risk takers.

And how about Charles Lindberg the first to fly solo

across theAtlantic or Ruby Bridges as a little girl

desegregated a school.

Risk takers come in all shapes and sizes…and are

willing to put it all on the line for what they believe.

Guess what…I hope you are feeling

courageous..because that’s what Jesus asks us to do.

Be a risk taker…

Look.

Jesus is teaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee

or, if you prefer the Hebrew name, the lake of Genessaret.

The crowd has grown so large…that Jesus is going

to use the natural amphitheater of the water so

that everyone can see and hear.

So he gets into a boat belonging to Simon..the one

who will be renamed Peter a little further along in the story.

When Jesus finishes teaching, he says to Simon:

Simon, take a risk.

Put out in to deep water.

And get ready for a catch.”

Simon, rolls his eyes.

Really?!

After all he has been up all night fishing…throwing

nets out, and lugging them back in…over and

over again..and has caught nothing.

All he wants is to go home, take a shower, see his

family, and go to bed.

Besides, it’s the heat of the day…there aren’t going

to be any fish around.

Simon Peter just wants comfort.

But there is something about Jesus.

Simon Peter, in true fashion, whines a little bit and

then says, “But if you say so Jesus, ohh okay.”

And Simon, with Jesus in the boat, put out into the deep water.

And lo and behold, they caught fish all right…so

much fish they could not even pull their nets

in…they had to call for help.

They ended up filling two boats full of fish.

And all Jesus says is: See.

Don’t be afraid.

Take risks.

And when you do, you’ll be preaching the Gospel

you’ll be showing the world my way of love.

And you will be catching people.”

And Simon Peter, a small business owner, left

everything behind and followed Jesus.

He took the risk….and WOW!

Peter becomes a premier disciple, a leader in the

church…a promoter of the Jesus movement that

continues to this day…INCREDIBLE…and all

because he took a risk.

Look.

Who in their right mind would have done what Peter

did?

Can we imagine such a fool hearty thing?

Think about it.

Would we leave a hefty bank account?

Would we leave our family and friends?

No…because we just are not risk takers.

After all look at the extremes we go to to avoid risks.

Some of you may say, “Hey, wait a minute Rev…we

take risks…after all we drove here!”

And I’d agree jumping into the car is a risk…but for

the most part we avoid risks.

We like safety….we like comfort.

Our lives evolve around the tried and true.

If we are in the mood for a new restaurant, we search

yelp to see how it’s rated.

Even in church, we sit in the same pew…

comfortable, reliable…it doesn’t shake things up.

We have mattresses that can adjust to our comfort

level and comfort inserts for our shoes.

Why we even have comfort food…like macaroni

and cheese and mashed potatoes.

And if we were to push it, and we will, because

that’s what Jesus wants us to do, our whole

economy, our political structure, and our social

policies exist to keep us comfortable.

White America overwhelmingly controls power and material resources.

White America, yes I did say white America, for

white America dictates where we live, what jobs

we can get, and our very health.

It is no wonder that we need a wall to keep darker

toned people out.

Why our first-aid kits have“flesh-colored” Band

Aids that only match the skin tone of white people.

The products white people need for our hair are

in the aisle labeled “hair care” rather than in a

smaller, separate section of “ethnic hair products.”

We live in a country where one in three African

American male go to jail.

All to keep us comfortable, safe, secure.

If we hear Jesus message…these things should bother us.

Looking at our society and knowing the Gospel the

reality of the country we live in should make us

uncomfortable, maybe even angry or turn away in denial.

Like Simon Peter we can roll our eyes.

Whine and say but Jesus it isn’t us…

We didn’t do those things.

We are not responsible.

Let’s not rock the boat.

We can not be risk takers.

How do we overcome out innate desire for comfort

and still be a Christian?

How do we follow Jesus into deep water…the deep

water and live his way of Love.

May be this will help.

Listen.

Tom was frustrated.

For six months as a Peace Corps volunteer, he’d

worked diligently to earn the trust of an African tribe.

He was eager to share with them plans for irrigation

ditches, lessons about crop rotation, and new

ways to market their surplus fruits and vegetables.

But he remained a distrusted outsider.

One day, a young boy came to Tom's hut.

He pointed to the far end of the village and said:

"The family that lives in that hut is sick.

They've been abandoned to die.

But the kids are my friends.

Can you help?"

Tom rushed into the forbidden hut, entered, and

immediately realized that the family had

contracted yellow-fever.

For the next six days, Tom bathed, fed, and nursed

the family until each was strong enough to be

transported 90 miles to a hospital.

Each family member returned later, completely healed.

The villagers began to call Tom the "great fearless one."

And from then on they worked side by side and

forged a community of mutuality, of trust, of love.

Tom wrote about this amazing turn in his journal.

He said: "It's easy to be fearless when you've been

vaccinated against the disease.”

"It's easy to be fearless when you've been

vaccinated against the disease.”

And that’s the point: We’ve been vaccinated against a disease.

We have been vaccinated against the disease of hate.

We have been vaccinated against the disease of fear.

For we were vaccinated at our baptism when we

became followers of Jesus Christ.

The time has come to live into our immunization and

leave the shores of comfort and face the crisis

wreaking havoc in our nation.

It is time to put out into deep waters and be risk takers.

Listen.

Our movement into the deep water begins by our

acknowledging the hatred that is sweeping our country.

Our risk taking begins by becoming aware of how

the color of our skin so divides us and penetrates our society.

Our following Jesus begins with ACT …a…c…t( an

acronym developed by the Council of Churches

to help us live into our discipleship today).

A…AWAKEN…awaken ourselves to the truth that

racism is ever-present, deeply rooted in

American culture, and profoundly damaging to

our communities.

Awaken, the hardest step, the one that takes the

longest, but let us today begin to awaken.

C…CONFRONT…confront racism, speak truth to

ourselves, our communities and institutions, and

stand against injustice.

T…TRANSFORM…transform the hearts, minds,

and behaviors of people and structures that shape society.

ACT, awaken, confront, transform and push out into

the deep water with Jesus become a risk taker.

The truth is: the love of Christ can turn the crisis we

are facing, in to something profoundly different.

This crisis can be transformed into the very vision

God has for the world.

God has a vision, a dream, of a beloved community,

not one fragmented by race and hatred, but a

beloved community of God’s children, where all

are equal despite color, gender, identity, or

anything else.

As Christians it is our responsibility to bring Christ’s

love to this country and beyond.

Simply put: that is our job.

That’s what it is to call ourselves Christians.

For a Christian walks and makes known the way of

love of Jesus Christ.

Now more than ever we are being called into deep water.

The deep water of racism.

I assure you, I promise you, I guarantee you, we will

be led on our way, we will be strengthen in our

work, we will be surrounded, by the love of Christ.

With Christ, we will stand up to walls of injustice.

With Christ, we will not be silent in the face of racism.

With Christ, we will not tolerate any longer acts of

hatred or policies that promote the insidious

disease gripping our country.

For we are led on our way by his triumphant sign,

and the hosts of God in conquering ranks combine.

Lift high the cross.

The love of Christ proclaim til all the world

adore his sacred name!

Friends, we cannot wait any longer.

Its time to push out into the deep water and be a risk taker!