Risk & Reward
I wanted to piggy-back for a moment onto Sunday’s sermon, and on the challenge of risking, inherent in Jesus’ parable of the talents. I do think that one of the biggest risks we can engage in, in this world, is relational. But it has the greatest potential payoff.
I’ve been reading the latest book by Curt Thompson, MD called The Soul of Desire, discovering the neuroscience of longing, beauty and community. And in it, he states something profound, “It takes less than three seconds for the… effects of shame to register in the mind… [but] anywhere from thirty to ninety seconds for us to fully receive… a compliment…”
That means that our minds and bodies are primed for heartache and rejection in interpersonal encounters, more than we are for the beauty and goodness that God is inviting us in to.
Let that sink in.
Every time we reach out to someone – even a good friend – there is the chance we will be rejected, and we will feel it within the blink of an eye. And each of these compounds on the other to the point that sometimes, we just give up altogether. We give up on an individual relationship, we give up on a group of people, we give up on a church community… and we give up on God. Because, if we can’t find love and connection between the people around us, how are we ever going to feel it with God?
It’s risky business to reach out in a bid to connect with someone, because we might be turned down. But as we saw in the Parable of the Talents… the risk pays off. And in Jesus, even the biggest risk – to lay down our lives – is met up with something beyond what we could imagine.
We’re building something beautiful throughout Canonsburg – as I say at the close of services on Sunday – A community bound together by the love of Jesus Christ. But in order to do that, to realize it, to experience it, it requires us to take risks. And reaching our hand out (and our heart, and expanding our calendar and table) is part of that. It’s something that we need, and it’s something our surrounding community needs. They need to see that the stuff we talk about on Sunday morning, the good news, is really good for them. And honestly, it needs to be good news here and now, not just some day, somewhere out there. Because if it’s not good now, if the community where we’re living, where our feet are planted, isn’t experiencing goodness and beauty, if it’s not filled with joy and peace – how is anyone going to believe that the future ever will?
So, take a risk. Come out Saturday to the Men’s Breakfast or Ladies’ Brunch. Extend your hand after worship, and then strike up a conversation with an invitation. Clear your calendar and your table so that someone can experience the beauty of you in their presence for an hour. Because you are the embodiment of of Jesus Christ. You are the temple of the Lord, by the Holy Spirit. You have the opportunity to impact those around you in profound ways – just by taking the risk to invite someone in.
Welcoming You to Grow in Jesus – one risky invitation at a time,
Pastor Don