Taking The Risk

Taking the Risk

Mt 14:28-32

Giving honor to God, our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ; who calls us together, that we may lift our voices and praise His holy name. To the Pastor, I thank you for affording me this opportunity to do what the Lord has called me to do. To the other preachers of the Gospel who are here, to the worship participants, to the voices in this choir, saints and sinners - I believe that covers everybody - praise God that you heard the call to worship this morning. Praise God that when you woke up this morning there was no other place that you could be but in the house of the Lord. Thank God that you were troubled in your spirit, that there was a hunger and a thirst in you, that someone would not leave you alone until you could pray for yourself in this place, until you could lift up your voice in song in this place, until you could sit under the preached word of God. For I tell you, there is nothing out here that can do for you what God can do for you.

Now lets look to the word of God. In the 14th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew there are a few verses; verses 28-32, that speak to us this morning. Mt 14:28-32 (READ). Our text today is the 29th verse (READ). And our subject for the morning is, “Taking the Risk.” Turn to your neighbor and say, “Taking the Risk.” Turn to your neighbor on the other side and say, “Taking the Risk.”

It seems that the world has its share of risk-takers, the seemingly unafraid to try anything and everything. Have you noticed, those who are unafraid to tackle new skills. Those who just charge ahead into uncertain territories. The world has its share of those who will climb Mt. Everest just because it is there. Or swim the English Channel just because it hasn’t been done that way before. Who will put their lives on hold in order to pursue a dream of winning an Olympic medal. There are those who appear to move without fear or trepidation at any number of task and they make the hardest task seem simple. They make the impossible, easy; the complicated, elementary. And when look at them we admire the world’s risk-takers. For without them our world would be dull. Without them our life would be even more difficult than we think it is. For risk-takers expand our horizon, they expand the boundaries of what is and what can be done. Risk-takers shatter our perceptions and our pre-conceived notions. Thank God for the risk-takers who bring a fresh-air to the old and the stayed and bring brand new visions to old dreams. We admire their strength. We admire their tenacity. We admire their courage. Their willingness to run ahead without a way being cleared. We admire them. We love them and we hate them at the same time.

For often these risk-takers are not appreciated. Often they are misunderstood. They called foolish and impractical. We love them and we hate them at the same time. Hate them because as soon as we get used to something they come along and tell us that there is something else. As soon as we get comfortable these risk-takers come along and unsettle us. As soon as we learn how to do it they come along and show us there is still yet more to learn. You thought you were hot-to-trot when you could your computer. Thought you where saying something when you could work your 286; and then they come with a 386 and you turn around and now there is a 486. Soon as you got you Word Perfect 5.0, then there came 5.1 and Word Perfect 6.1. Soon as you got your Word Perfect they came along with Windows 95 and we’re into Office 2000. You love them and you hate them at the same time. We hate them because some of us never try to rise and approach the task ourselves. And instead of trying, we fall down to our preconceived notions that this is the way it has always been done. But where would we be if Nat Turner never preached his “Bloody Sermon?” How many of our forefathers would have taken a ride on the Underground Railroad if Harriet Tubman stayed down when that stone hit her head? Would there ever have been a Michael Jordon, or Marion Jones, or the Williams sisters; if Jack Johnson hadn’t stepped in the ring…If Jessie Owens hadn’t laced-up his spikes…If Althia Gibson had walked on a tennis court…Yeah, risk-takers. Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hammer, Martin King, Malcolm X, and all those unsung heroes whose names are merely footnotes in the pages of history.