Text:             Matthew 25:14-30

Title:             Part Six:  Where is the Body?  “Risk Management”

Date:             May 4, 2008

Today we complete a six weeks sermon series on what it means to be the body of Christ. To quickly recap, we have said that if the church is the body of Christ, we must  intentionally love as Jesus loved (unapologetically and unconditionally); we must be faithful in worship with others; we must seek spiritual formation, and we must serve one another.   Remember we asked the question, “Who am I going to serve today because I serve God every day?”  With that in mind let us move to today’s topic, which is risk.  To be the body of Christ, we must intentionally risk and to help us understand what that means, let us return to the parable that Jesus told.

Three servants were given a large sum of money to take care of, to be responsible for, while their master went away.  Two of them—apparently-- were day traders. They they invested his money and apparently knew when to buy low and sell high because they both doubled what they had been given.  But the third was not willing to risk what did not actually belong to him or her as so this slave did what was safe.  This slave decided to be cautions, which at times is wise.  What is the old adage?  I will start it and you finish it.  “It is better to be safe….than sorry.”  Right.  We have heard this all of our lives. How about this one: “An ounce of prevention is worth……exactly….a pound of cure.”  Discretion and deliberateness are virtues, not vices.

Getting back to the story, this slave feared the master, thought the master could be harsh and so he probably thought, “You know, if I am able to preserve that which is given to me, I can at least minimally stay in good graces with the master.”  So the slave knew exactly what to do.  Bury it.  Guard it.  Keep it a secret until the master’s return and then dig it up and say, “Look here, just as you have it to me, I give it back.  It’s all here.  Count it.  I did not steal any.  I did not mismanage your money.  I did not try to take advantage of your absence.  Here, take what is yours.  I did not risk that which I was responsible for. “

Now the master, hearing this, goes ballistic on the third servant.  We have seen how he responded to the other two.  “Good job!  Here’s more.”  But to the third slave, talk about harsh.  Called the slave lazy, worthless, and wicked. And then the master took what had been given from the slave and gave it to one of the day traders and then threw him out.

Question:  What is this story about?  It is really not about.  No, this story is about being called to risk.  It is a story for the church.  It is a story about being responsible in a manner that goes against the grain. After all, to be the body of Christ is to be like Jesus, to re-present Jesus to the world.  We are to see as he saw, say what he said, and do as he did. And when you look at Jesus’ ministry you can see that he was all about risk taking, not risk managing.

Most of us are familiar with the term risk management. Risk management is a discipline for dealing with the possibility that some future event will cause harm. It provides strategies, techniques, and an approach to recognizing and confronting any threat in fulfilling its mission.  It sounds a lot like the church, doesn’t it?  But Jesus was not about risk managing.  Instead, he was about risk taking.  Had Jesus not been willing to risk rejection, he would not have read scripture in the synagogue in Nazareth, and read from the scroll of Isaiah. Had Jesus not been willing to risk ridicule, he would not have sat at table with his critics.  Had Jesus not been willing to risk being viewed as ritually unclean, he would not have touched the lepers. Had Jesus not been willing to risk religious condemnation, he would not have openly spoken against the present powers and status quo.  Had Jesus not been willing to risk his own life, he would not have gone into Jerusalem, the city known for stoning the prophets.  To be the body of Christ is to be willing to risk.

But what are we to risk?  None of us had to risk our own safety to come to church today.  We are not in a nation that if you risk showing your faith you can be persecuted.  What does it mean today, this parable to risk?  We are challenged to risk the public expression of the gospel and not to keep it safely tucked away.  This parable is for the church who has been entrusted with the gospel to not allow prudence and caution to become self-protectiveness and restraint.  This is a story for the church that says do not allow your inhibitions to turn into fears.  Do not allow your fears to immobilize the very center of your responsibilities and purpose.  This is a story for the church that says we are accountable to God, who is calling us to take risks, get out of our comfort zone, become vulnerable, and trust God’s grace and presence.

But how often is the church willing to do so?  How often are we willing to risk?  Instead, are we not more about risk managing than risk taking?  Are we not more about playing it safe than we are about throwing caution to the wind—the wind being the spirit of God, and trusting where God will lead us?  So often the church is so afraid to risk, it does nothing.  Churches that do nothing die. Churches that are willing to risk don’t.  When it comes to the gospel that we have been entrusted, when the church is about risk managing and not risk taking, we cease to be like Jesus and we cease to be the body of Christ.

The question we must ask is:  Are we willing to risk what the master has given us?  The difference between the three servants is that two were willing to risk while one was not.  Which are we?  Are we willing to risk caring?  Are we willing risk giving until we have nothing left to give? Are we willing to risk witnessing in the name and love of Jesus—not only telling people about Jesus, but showing people Jesus?

When it comes to addressing social ills and needs are we willing to get off the side line and get on the front line?  Are we willing to accept people for who they are and not as who society wants them to be?  Are we willing to be rejected, ridiculed, persecuted, and judged by others because we are trying to take the ministry of Jesus seriously?   Are we willing to risk failure?  Are we willing to risk the very life of this church for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ?  What did Jesus do?  What did Jesus say?  “Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it.”   You cannot take what has been given to you, what has been entrusted to you, and bury it, hide it, keep it safe, and keep it a secret.  You have to risk.

Before you invite someone to worship with you, you have to first be willing to risk rejection if they say no.  Before the church can truly be a place that offers God’s love and grace to all, we must first be willing to risk being ridiculed by those who view the gospel through the lens of judgment and condemnation.  Before the church can be willing to make a difference in the lives of others, we must first risk becoming involved on a level that could cause this congregation to give all that we have away.

Before this church can take our message out into the world, we must be willing to risk being seen as ritually unclean.  What do you mean, people might say, that you don’t have to take the Bible literally and still be a Christian?  What do you mean there are times that the church must teach and act in ways that are contrary to the scriptures because we do not believe it is congruent with the gospel and ministry of Jesus?  What do you mean everyone has their individual right to interpret scripture based upon their life experiences and relationship with God?  What do you mean everyone is welcome to Christ’s table?  Not only that, but what do you mean that everyone can also serve at Christ’s table?  What do you mean it is good to question issues of faith?

It is risky to say such things in a west Texas culture that is predominately fundamental when it comes to Christianity.  And we have seen, have we not, the danger in being fundamentalist.  Are we willing, as a church, to lift up our voice to others a different voice and choice to the gospel?  Is the church willing to say there is a different way to understand God’s love and grace?  It’s risky.  But you know, it’s just so much easier not to risk, to play it safe.  The biggest danger in risking the gospel, and risking in the name of Christ is not that it will fail, but that it will succeed.