We are concluding our series on More Than Survivors today. We have focused in seven different Sundays on how to thrive spiritually. I hope that you have found this series helpful and it has been helpful to me as well. Make conscious choices. Flee all too convenient evil. Get support for your new identity. And today, ‘Run the Risk’.
Risky behavior has two problems. First, how can you tell the difference between a really dumb decision and a risk that is worth taking? We all know people who make really bad choices. I can think of three people where if they got an extra thousand dollars, they would either immediately go to a bar or buy a stock that no one ever heard of. I have one friend who has a million get rich quick schemes and they are all big on concept and low on practicality.
The other problem with risky behavior is that its …. Risky. People want security instead of risk. One of the reasons that our nation is in such bad shape is that people would rather vote for the problems they have instead of risking a vote for the solution that they are not sure of.
I was in a church recently where the congregation is decreasing and the pastor spent most of the money restoring the building to its very traditional look. If the church had said, we are shrinking and we need to change the look of our building to attract people, -- its an uncomfortable risk. Maybe it will work. Maybe it will not. We do not like those moments and decisions in life.
The tragedy of a life without any risk is that you probably will not live out God’s plan for your life. I see a lot of people who go on year after year without the friends they need because they are afraid to step out and try to make a friend. I see people go on year after year in jobs that are not right for them and they are afraid to take the risk and look elsewhere. I see husbands, wives, and children who are unwilling reveal important and risky information about their lives to people they love because they fear the risk of rejection.
We are going to hear about Ruth and Naomi this morning. They are both caught up in unhappy life circumstances, but Ruth particularly decides to run the risk. She risks more than any of us are likely to and you’ll be hearing about it as the Scriptures are opened this morning. It’s a message to give you more courage to take risks to improve your happiness and relationship with God.
The Book of Ruth begins in tragedy. Three women are left with three dead husbands and no means of support. Moments of great loss throw a person back on internal resources. At that point it is what we have inside ourselves at times of loss that will have to count. Sometimes our losses in life are what make healthy change possible.
Ruth and Naomi are risking their landed state. In Israel, everything was attached to the land. Every person had a portion of land in their tribe. If they got into trouble and lost the land, it came back to their family every 50 years. Every person in Israel had the right to work. Every farmer had to leave some food in the field for those who were truly in terrible trouble. And by law, every person had to take a day off every week. With the death of a husband, a plan through levirate marriage to attach the rest of the family to another family for protection. It was a wonderful plan to care for a society. A legal right to land, a job, food for emergencies and a day off. God would truly bless our own country if we copied the basic principles found in Israel.
But Naomi married and left for Moab, trying to escape famine in Israel. Her sons married two Moabites and then the sons and husband died and Naomi’s rights are not clear as she returns to Israel.
Ruth has such respect for her mother in law that she abandons the chance to marry in Moab and comes to Israel as an immigrant. Moab is an ancient enemy of Israel so Ruth comes into Israel as a symbol of a hated society.
We see that risk is sometimes part of what God blesses. I cannot tell you if investing your extra hundred dollars in a stock scheme is wise. I suspect that it is not. But if you want to be more than a survivor, there probably are moments when you are involved with risk.
Since we are here on Mother’s Day, there are times when one parent needs to make a move to try for greater healing in a family issue. Most families have secrets that no one dares to deal with but it just drags down or even endangers those in the family. When you try to fix a problem in a relationship – there are no guarantees. You can try something but you also depend on the response of another person. Run the risk. Like Ruth, try something.
Running the risk as a church. We take risks as a church. We live in a neighborhood that is changing rapidly. And however the community changes, we need to be there to offer welcome in Christ’s name and to be changed as newcomers make their own contribution to our Christian community.
Our nation has been engaging in risky behaviors of the bad kind, the war, the national debt, and now we are in an uncertain time where people of conscience could stand up and tell the truth about the corruption at the CIA and just how many in Congress got prostitutes and government money. Or the collection of our phone records. At moments like this, it is scary because you can get fired for doing the right thing. Or you can have a dramatic good effect such as the guy who revealed the problems of the Nixon white house. I pray that God has placed a Christian in some key role who is willing to tell the truth and run the risk.
Being More Than a Survivor takes conscious choices. If you live life on automatic, you will never be the Christian that you can be. Ask God for help today to move consciously forward in your spiritual life.
