“Risking to Win”
Matthew 9:18-26
Verse 21 (The Msg): “You took a risk of faith”
Motivational speaker, Jim McCormick, is a former corporate Chief Operating Officer, MBA, and holder of three skydiving World Records and member of a successful skydiving expedition to the North Pole.
He observes: “Salespeople and managers who consistently perform at a higher level have certain things in common. They are committed to their success, have a passion for their profession, have clear goals and are uniformly more comfortable taking risks than most. Their ability to take intelligent risks is an important ingredient in their success and a huge determinant in anybody’s level of achievement…
“The comfort zone is seductive. We all desire comfort. It’s human nature. However, too much comfort does not serve us well. An inability to step out of your comfort zone will profoundly limit your performance.”
While many think taking risks is foolish and never wise, "risking to win" philosophy recognizes the reality of taking intelligent risks, as beautifully portrayed in the following prayer as quoted by Sir Francis Drake as the attributed prayer of Jeanine Curryer, in September 1997.
"Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.”
This prayer of Curryer concludes with the statement on the screen and I ask you to stand and finish the prayer with me.
“Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.”
Risking to win is need in the church today – daring to take risks as did the father and woman in today’s Scripture passage. Our text will not involve a study of their choices but is the basis of our focus. The honor paid her by Jesus is the honor to which we must all aspire. We need to take intelligent risks for fear of being charged with being too comfortable, complacent or careless.
We will explore how critically important risk-taking is in partnering with God in Kingdom-building business. As we march to God’s drumbeat we’ll see that taking risks cannot be avoided if we are to be victorious for God! Whether this focus is a personal venture that God wants you/me as individuals, to take or if we consider this subject in the context of this church as members of Christ’s body, we must evaluate the need for a risk-taking partnership with God.
I’ve enlisted four people who know what taking risks is all about. They’ve been there, done that, got the tee-shirt to prove it! Our first guest is
1. Knee-knocking Nehemiah!
Nehemiah found himself up against a deep and hopeless situation. The Babylonian people had begun an eighteenth month siege on Jerusalem, starting in 588 B.C. and ending in 586 B.C. The city was in ruins and though an attempt was made by the prophet Ezra to rebuild the city, he was stopped by force and what progress he had made was destroyed and the city driven into even deeper destruction and public humiliation. (Don’t always succeed or win on the first round).
When Nehemiah heard of the setback he was completely discouraged. He had not even heard that the progress had been halted. However, Nehemiah did not know at that point that he was strategically placed where he was in the king’s court. “Nehemiah was the king’s cup-bearer, a place of great trust, as well as of honour and profit.” (Matthew Henry)
As Dr. of Theology, J. Carl Laney, writes, “God had sovereignly placed Nehemiah in an important post and prepared him for a strategic ministry.” Matthew Henry draws our attention to the king’s position regarding Nehemiah. “Kings and great men probably looked upon it as a piece of state to be attended by those of other nations. By this place at court Nehemiah would be the better qualified for the service of his country in that post for which God had designed him.” Having Nehemiah as his entourage, the king would have respect toward this important figure-head in his court.
This significant honor bestowed on Nehemiah, by God, was not without its risks.
Chapter 1 reports of Nehemiah’s heavy heart which led up to 2:2"king asked me…I was very much afraid.” Nehemiah was expendable property. While the king valued Nehemiah’s service, his request to rebuild Jerusalem could be seen as an attempt to overthrow the Babylonian leader. Once Nehemiah went public with this request it could issue certain opposition from other’s in the king’s court who may wish to make life very difficult for him. So, we can understand why, when the king asked Nehemiah what he wanted, Nehemiah 2:4"prayed to the God of heaven." Not only did he pray because of fear but more than that, he wanted to speak for God, to represent God, to advance, not hinder, the cause of God. The king’s answer could mean a granted desire or his head decapitated from his shoulders.
The first action in Nehemiah’s risking to win project is his eight-verse prayer in chapter 1! He pours his heart out to God, taking ownership for the mess the nation is in. He recognized his own contribution to their disobedient state of affairs.
The king showed favour – granted the request. Chapter 2 – Nehemiah was scouting out the city ruins for project rebuild. No one knew where he was. Why? "As yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work!" (v16)
Nehemiah was planning the project before he even had the workers! Who does that? PEOPLE WHO RISK TO WIN!
It was said of Nehemiah, “He did not sit still and say, "Let God now do his own work, for I have [none] to do,” but set himself to forecast what he could do towards it. Our prayers must be seconded with our serious endeavours, else we mock God.”
→ First six chapters are filled with accounts of risk, high stakes, opposition (tons of opposition), discouragement, temptation to quit, second-guessing his conviction and wondering if he was wrong, and evaluating the worth of continuing.
→ End result – 42,360 exiles returned to Jerusalem, identity was restored and God was pleased to be in relationship with his people again!
God wants to do new and great things through the Salvation Army church in this community! Each of us is strategically placed and intentionally positioned by God to be where we are to make a profound difference for him! Relishing the trail-blazing victories of the past should not be the realities that define us in the present. God has a brighter future in store than that! We need to see that we were meant to be something more than whom we are. Through prayer, repentance and faith for greater things!
The second person I’ve enlisted is
2. Dare-devil David!
Background: Israel had defeated the Philistines in an earlier war and driven them out of the land. King Saul took many matters into his own hands and disobeyed God (disobedience is always at the root of backsliding and losing ground to the enemy). Philistines likely heard about the Prophet Samuel rebuking Saul and so they seized the opportunity to advance against them. While Israel likely had the larger fighting force, they could not see past one obstacle – the giant. The Philistine charge that whoever wins a one-on-one battle takes all, was a brilliant strategy. The Philistines realized they likely would not have defeated Israel had the two armies engaged in battle.
This unfortunate reality for Israel is the result of lack of TRUST.
The Ladies Home Journal (Sept, 1981) asked, “In whom do you trust?” Responses were:
Walter Cronkite 40% of the vote
(http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/cronkitewal/cronkitewal.htm): “Walter Cronkite is the former CBS Evening News anchorman, whose commentary defined issues and events in America for almost two decades. Cronkite, whom a major poll once named the "most trusted figure" in American public life…went ashore on D-Day, parachuted with the l0lst Airborne (in WWII), and flew bombing missions over Germany”
Pope John Paul 26% of the vote
Billy Graham 6% of the vote
God 3% of the vote
While the Philistines trusted a giant, Israel’s army went from being a force to be contended with to being a weak relic of a former glory. It was likely because they were not trusting God. That day at Ephes Dammim and the Valley of Elah only one person trusted God, never mind 3%. His name was David.
• 1 Samuel 17 – a shepherd challenged the Osama bin Laden of his day to a showdown!
• Five Stones from the river. Why five stones? In case he missed? Not a chance! His trust in God was so sure that there wasn’t a chance he’d miss! I think it was prophetic. Later we read of a battle against the Philistines at Gob. 2 Samuel 2122Four Philistines (who) were descended from the giants of Gath, were killed by David and his warriors. Not only faced one giant – they were now facing a people descendant from giants – maybe hundreds of them! But when you face one you can face them all! Taste God’s power once and nothing can match it and make us stand down!
• David another example of being strategically placed – God brought him to the army (v. 12–30) The natural norms (military might) were not sufficient to do what God wanted done. He needed a man after God’s own heart and he found one! RISKING TO WIN!
3. The Risky Duo (Father/Son)
Risking to win is usually painful.
A 55 minute documentary called Giving a Child Away is the riveting story of two families torn by love. When Joanna and Darren found out they were expecting an unplanned child, they came to a momentous decision: they would “give” their new baby to Darren’s childless sister. It was to be a gift of love from a brother to a sister. But as Joanna’s pregnancy progressed, they began to have increasing doubts about what they were doing. No one could have anticipated the heartache that would result. This emotional, high quality film throws fundamental questions into the air about love, adoption and family. One of its greatest strengths is that it gives no straight answers
“When I rang Tracey and told her I was going to let her adopt our child she was overwhelmed. … She had to pinch herself,” recalls Tracey’s sister-in-law, Joanna.
“The further we got down the pregnancy, the more doubts we had,” recalls Darren. Matters were not helped when Joanna found out that the baby she was carrying was a much longed for girl. “That was the hardest part for me to deal with,” she states. “Knowing that it was a little girl and Tracey was going to get that little girl that I had always wanted.”
Their lowest point came when the baby was born. “I just got caught up in the excitement of Sydney being born and had forgotten all about the adoption. Then I realised that this wasn’t our child anymore and I just broke down crying,” says Darren. Desperate to get away quickly, the couple had to wait three days before the adoption papers could be signed. Then they returned home to learn that rumours were circulating that they had sold their baby for $50,000.
Today, two years on, baby Sydney is thriving with Rick and Tracey. But both couples - and Sydney’s biological siblings - are still struggling to cope with the deep feelings that have been stirred up. Everyone’s emotions come to the fore when the two families reunite for a short holiday on Hamilton Island just before Christmas.
“Even to this day, we still have doubts about whether we’ve done the right thing,” admits Darren. “I really worry about Sydney one day asking the question ‘Why?’” In an effort to heal some of the pain, they decide to have another child. “I so desperately want this child I’m carrying to be a little girl … like the one we lost,” says Joanna. Tracey too is hoping to adopt another child and her sister has agreed to act as a surrogate mother. However, as Darren and Joanna spend more and more time with their little ‘niece’, the impact of what they have lost hits them. “I made a terrible mistake for myself,” confides Joanna. “I would never do it again. Never.”
• God sent Jesus to earth. If we could interview God today I believe he would say, “I would do it all over again!”
• Timing was strategic and intentionally planned as in the two earlier stories we looked at.
→ Emphasis on the law of Moses
→ Legalistic impressions and rules on the people set them up to fail
→ Jesus took on religion. No less than six times in Matthew 5 Jesus began his teaching with “You have heard” each time finishing with “but I say”
• Luke 6 – chose 12 men who appear to be of no particular status or repute to spread his message throughout the world after he returned to the Father, although we know they were strategically chosen and placed! Risking to Win! One would hardly thing this is the proper process or selection to winning a war against sin.
• If nothing else, it demonstrates that God can take the unlikeliest, motley crew and do something profound through them!
• Jesus whole life and ministry was characterized by RISK!
If you think being in relationship with Jesus is a touchy-feely, get-in-touch-with-your-gentle-side kind of religion, you’d better look closer and redefine your understanding of God. He’s got RISK-TAKER written all over him!
• God is not a pushover! God is not a lucky rabbit’s foot you carry in your pocket (the rabbit wasn’t so lucky)! God is not a place to keep safe and cozy until we get to heaven! He is an adventure who will rock your world!
• Jesus was a revolutionary. He shook the status quo until it killed him on a cross and God shook the world.
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer left a prestigious teaching career in America and returned to his German homeland to fight against the dreaded Nazi regime. Before he was executed in a Nazi prison camp, he had made the comment, “When Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
Can we come close to a shadow of a resemblance?
How? Have to know the God that Nehemiah and David knew.
WRAP UP
• Risking to win is not bad business
• Scary business and not easy to embrace
• Don’t always achieve success on the first attempt
• Requires tremendous courage, trust and faith
• It’s the only way anything great is achieved for the Kingdom of God.
Requires Allegiance
