Dr. M. Taylor Bach

2 Corinthians 11:21-28 John 2:1-11

Are you a risk taker? Some people take risks just for the fun of it. Some people take risks for a purpose. Some people avoid risks for all they're worth. This past week I had the opportunity of talking to one of our teenagers who just graduated from high school and as a birthday/graduation gift, he went sky-diving. He said that the pilot took him up 10,000 feet and then they jumped out of the airplane tethered to the instructor and floated down. He said it was an incredible experience. He had a buddy there who's not a member of our church and he said, “Well, I did it, too. But as I jumped out, as the air was circling around us and my body was falling at about 150 miles per hour, I heard the instructor on my back say, 'Oh darn!'” (Actually he said something else but I can't say that from the pulpit.) (Laughter) The main parachute wouldn't open but they had an auxiliary chute on; the instructor pulled the rip cord and it opened. It is a smaller parachute so they floated to the ground more rapidly. He said they landed three miles off of their target on farm land and had to call for help to get them. But they landed safely. I asked both of these young men, “Would you do it again?” Both of them said, “Yes! In a minute!” That is taking risks for fun, right? I am not real big on that kind of risk-taking but there was a time in my life when I was. I think I shared with you once about going up in the air with my son who had just gotten his pilot's license. He said, “Hey Dad. Watch this.” We climbed to 6,000 feet and he turned off the engine of the plane. The plane immediately went into a spin and started to descend. After it fell 3,000 feet, he turned the engine back on and we landed safely. This was risk with a purpose. It was practice about what to do in an emergency. It was fun. It was also terrifying! So some people do those kinds of things and take risks just for the pure fun of it. But we as Christians ought not be the ones who hide and take no risks at all. We are the ones who should take risks for a purpose. We don't put our lives at risk just for the fun of it. I am not sure that is really a good idea. I look back with hindsight over some things I did in my life and question my sanity. As Christians, we should step out in faith, share our beliefs with others and sometimes this involves risks. Sometimes it is scary.

What do you call a person who doesn't take risks? We call them normal. Safe. Maybe invisible. Predictable. If we Christians are all those things, who's going to know about our love for Jesus? Who's going to know about our love for our church? We've got to take some risks and get out of ourselves and let people know that we're Christian.

In the reading that Jill Parsons read in 2 Corinthians this morning, we find Paul describing some of the risks he took. All of these risks were for a purpose. Five times he was beaten forty lashes minus one. OK, thirty nine lashes. Why wasn't he beaten forty times? Because the Roman centurions who tortured people discovered that if you were beaten forty times, you usually died. So he was beaten one less time than what kills people. “Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned,” Paul says. What do you think he did to get those rewards? He took risks. He shared the Gospel. He told people about his love for Jesus Christ. He told people about his encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road and his encounter with Jesus in prayer. He said, “I spent a night and day in the open sea.” That was swimming in the open sea because his ship had wrecked. Imagine his exhaustion. “I was in constant danger from rivers, from bandits, and danger from my own countrymen. In danger in the cities and danger from even my own false brothers.” Why was that? It was because he took risks. He was willing to tell people of his love of Jesus Christ and he was willing to risk all these dangers and potential harm to his physical well-being. Paul was really quite a very courageous person. Are there ways that we can be courageous, too?

The first thing that comes to my mind is the example of Jesus Christ as a risk-taker. For some time He wanted to down-play the risk He was taking. The Gospel that Jill read described how Jesus turned water into wine. You have to realize that was a risk for Him. Suddenly He would be thrown on to the public stage. You can't create a miracle like that and any longer be invisible. Now He would be highly visible. He said to His mother, “It is not my time yet.” As we read the passage, we think He was almost irreverent to her. She says to Him, “They have no more wine.” He says, “What is that to me?” The passage doesn't give any further dialogue but implies she looked at Him in a certain way or she said, “Son, I know you can do something about this.” So He went ahead. That started His public ministry. He took the risk to change water into wine and from then on to be noticed. His ministry was launched.

Jesus took the risk creating miracles. After His initial miracles, do you know what He said to people? He said, “Now don't tell anybody that I did this.” What is going to happen when you heal somebody? They're going to talk about it! Everybody talks about themselves anyway. So if somebody says, “Hey, I thought you were crippled. What happened to you?” They are bound to say, “Jesus came along and He touched me and I was healed.” So Jesus thought He would keep it quiet so that the danger was minimized for Him. Theologians call this the “messianic secrete”. It didn't happen. Jesus was taking a risk in healing people. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey in His final days (the day we call Palm Sunday), it was an enormous risk. He was going right into the center of where the Jewish leaders hated Him and were convinced that they had to get rid of Him. He gave an example to all of us as to how we are to fearlessly share our faith, our love for God.

This brings to my mind the name of a person that I read about some time ago. His name was Erwin McManus. He was a young man about twenty two years old and he lived in a very poor section of town in Dallas, Texas. In this area there was a high level of crime and drug addiction. But he became a Christian and felt called to take a risk and go out and tell others of his conversion and the fact that he loved the Lord. He wanted to give witness to his faith. While he was walking the streets, he discovered an attempted murder. Apparently, he was a witness to it. I don't remember the whole name of the fellow who did this but his first name was William. William slit his brother-in-law's throat. Now some of us may want to do that but we have self control (laughter). But this young man did. Erwin tipped off the police and William was arrested. He was thrown into jail for attempted murder. His brother-in-law didn't die so his jail sentence was set at seven years. While he was in jail, he sent a message to Erwin& “When I get out, I am going to kill you.” William managed to get out early - after only three years. So when Erwin heard that he was out, he was terrified. He thought, “Oh my gosh! This is not good news. William is going to come after me.” So he said, “I think I will take the risk and meet him first. I will just go to him first.” That is what he did. He discovered where William was living. He went directly to his apartment, walked in and said, “I hear that you want to kill me.” William took out a knife and said, “This is the knife I slit my brother-in-law's throat with” (implying “I am going to kill you with it”). Erwin spontaneously said, “And if you use that knife any more, it will put you in hell.” That opened up a dialogue between them. William didn't kill Erwin. In fact, Erwin reported, “William became my front man, my protector in the ghetto. Wherever I went out, William announced that I was his buddy and that I was the one who was going to keep him from hell. So I was able to go around in the community and witness my love and faith to Jesus Christ.” Wow! That is really risk-taking. That is like jumping out of an airplane.

There is an old saying. I am sure you have heard it. “A turtle doesn't make progress unless it sticks its neck out.” We have to be like the turtle. We have to make progress. We have to stick our neck out. We have to be willing to take risks for a purpose. And what is that purpose? That purpose is to give glory to God, allow Him to see our good works, as the Bible says, and allow others to see them so they, too, come to an intense relationship with Jesus Christ.

It is our challenge. Sure it is a little bit scary like parachuting. It is our calling  each and every one of us. Step out. Take a risk. Jump.