Every time we leave our front door and get behind the wheel of our car we take a huge risk, the risk that we will be able to keep a 2000 pound vehicle on the road, driving straight, and that everyone around us will be able to do the same. When we buy food in a store there is a certain risk that it will have some organisms in it which shouldn't be there. We risk our happiness by getting married, we risk our futures by having children. Many of us put our money at risk by placing it in the stock market, which has no guarantees that you will ever see your principle again, or through gambling in casinos or through the lottery - gambling is a huge growth industry in our nation right now. Risk is weaved into the very fiber of life - starting a business, moving to a new area, trying anything new, all of these involve risk.
Life is risky.
All too often the last entity in the community identified with risk is the Church of Jesus Christ. This is where we do the safe, conservative, corner cutting things. It means that we are first and foremost called to be risk takers, to hear the Master's voice and obey, even when we don't fully understand. The present challenge before our church is filled with risky decisions, the decision to add onto our building, the decision to add air conditioning to our sanctuary, the decision to raise the money to fund the building through an organized process of prayer, discernment and celebration rather than through the well known method of knocking on doors and begging. In a few weeks we will be called upon to risk our very substance for the sake of the challenge before our church, Spreading Out to Spread the Word.