Risk It!
by Staff Writer Teri Underwood

This article is actually a sermon that my sweet husband preached recently. While listening to the Lord speak through him I realized that my life needs some risk. I hope by reading these words a new desire and fervor for serving God are sparked in your life!

Ever heard these words. . . BE CAREFUL! When did we become so careful conscious? Can you imagine God leaning out of heaven and looking down at Jesus and saying, "Son, Be careful! Don’t do anything to get into any trouble down there. Just say some nice things that people can remember and write down for future reference. You might want to help some needy or feed some hungry; but, please be careful!"

No! You couldn’t! But you could believe God leaning out of heaven and saying, "Risk it! Go for it! Whatever it takes to redeem mankind, risk it!!!" And likewise God says to us, "Risk it!"

But we have turned into a generation of casual Christians.

Episcopal priest Robert Capon recognized our problem: "We are in a war between dullness and astonishment." See, the most important issue we face as Christians is not abortion, pornography, the breakdown of the family, moral absolutes, MTV, drugs, racism, sexuality, or even school prayer. The critical issue today is dullness. We have lost our astonishment. The Good News is no longer considered good news, it is okay news. Christianity is no longer life changing, it is life enhancing. Jesus doesn’t change people into wild-eyes radicals anymore, He changes them into nice, careful people.

Whatever happened to radical Christianity? The un-nice branch that turned the world upside down? What happened to the kind of Christians whose hearts were on fire? Who had no fear? Who spoke the truth no matter what the consequences? Who made the world uncomfortable? Who were willing to follow Jesus wherever He went? And who were considered dangerous by those who were in power?

A.W. Tozer said a long time ago, "Culture is putting out the light in men and women’s souls." He was right! Our problem is we have lost our light, our passion, the twinkle in our eye, the joy of our faith!

The Bible names our problem: SIN. Don’t let that fool you. Sin is more than turning our backs on God, it is turning our backs on life. Immorality is much more than adultery and dishonesty, it is living drab, colorless, dreary, stale, unimaginative lives. The greatest enemy of Christianity may be people who say they believe in Jesus but are no longer amazed, astonished, or risky. Jesus came to save us from flat souls as well as corrupted souls. He came to save us from dullness (JOHN 10:10). We have forgotten how to dance, how to sing, how to laugh, and how to live.

Twenty-five years ago a Baptist evangelist was delivering a more fiery than usual sermon. As He was giving it his all, the congregation was giving it their all! Now, up in the balcony things were coming alive. They were standing and shouting and one attractive young lady on the front row of the balcony began to lose her balance. As she began to flip over the railing, the man behind her reached to grab her and caught a handful of her dress – ripping it off of her. Well, at the last minute, she grabbed hold of the railing. So there she was suspended from the balcony in her underwear.

Without missing a beat, the evangelist shouted out, "I pray anyone that looks at that half-naked woman hanging from the balcony will go blind on the spot!"" Well, one little old farmer down in front elbowed his wife and said, "I believe I’ll risk one eye."

To risk or to be dangerous presupposes doing!

The gospel of Mark is full of risk-takers.

Chapter 3 – the man with the withered hand, sitting in the back shadows of the Capernaum synagogue. Jesus told him to stand up and stretch out his hand . . . just what the man had been unable to do for years. Jesus is saying, "I’m here today. Risk it!"

Chapter 5 – The woman who reached out through a massive crowd just to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. "Who cares about the crowd. He’s here today, I’ll risk it!"

Chapter 6 – Andrew risked it in front of 5,000 people when he brought a boy with five loaves and two fish to solve their hunger problem. Sure the people laughed, but they ate!

Chapter 9 – The father of a demon-possessed boy risked it when he said to Jesus, "I don’t know what else to do. Help my unbelief."

Chapter 10 – Blind Bartimeaus, blind son of a blind father, risked it when he cried out, "Jesus, have mercy on me."

In Mark 2:1-12 we find a group of real risk-takers! This it the story of the four men who brought their lame friend to Jesus through the roof of the house where He was preaching. We notice there were a lot of people there. We are talking about a serious flock of folk. Why were they there? Two reasons. . .

1."Jesus was in the house." (vs. 1) There has and always will be something fascinating about His presence. If we will still only allow ourselves to look, because it is still true.

2."And He preached the Word to them." (vs. 2) To a world full of question marks He offered truth full of exclamation points. And that hasn’t changed either! What does God have to say? Find that out and people will rally to hear you.

There are four main things to observe about these guys who were radical, passionate, and dangerous.

I. COMPLICATION
They couldn’t get in the door, not even through a window. As a matter of fact they had a hard time getting close to the house.

Does life ever seem that way? Just when you figure out a plan, boom some big obstacle. For a long time it seemed to me that whenever real life was about to begin, there was always some big obstacle in the way. Something had to be gotten through first; some unfinished business; terms to be satisfied; a debt to be paid ~ then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles are my life!

How we respond to those complications determines what kind of person we will be. Sometimes we will all fail when we face our obstacles.

• The first time you tried to walk, what happened?
• You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim?
• Did you hit the ball the first time you swung the bat?

Babe Ruth held two records for a long time – one for home runs and one for strikeouts. Don’t worry about failures! Worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try.

II.COMMITMENT
(vs. 4) When they could not, they made an opening.

A. - A visible commitment. Vs. 5 – When Jesus saw their faith. We have been taught that faith is internal but here we see just what James meant when He said, "Faith without works is dead."

B. - An invisible commitment. Invisible because he is not mentioned but not unnoticed. Demonstrated is commitment because he is not mentioned. It is the man who owned the house with the new hole in the roof. You have to love the positive, outreaching attitude of concern exemplified by the owner of this house - "Whatever it takes to get this man to Jesus, do it! I can get another ceiling, he may never get another chance."

III.COMPLETION
Vs. 5 – Notice the first thing that Jesus did for this man. Was it to heal him and let him walk? NO! He went to the root of his problem. He forgave his sins and then healed his body. That was what the men had brought their friend for. You can be sure that this forgiven, healed man had no trouble getting out the door. The same crowd that blocked the doorway for entry into the house now gladly moved aside. It must have been like Moses and the Red Sea.

IV.COMMENT
"We never saw it like this before." (vs. 12) The Bible does not need defending today. It needs demonstrating! Showing the world what they have never seen before.

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