Do you enjoy taking risks? I don’t count myself an especially brave person, so when my son who lives in Los Angeles suggested that we hike Mt. Baldy in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, I had, shall we say, questions. I knew it was around 10,000 feet, that it was a rocky and physically demanding hike, and that some hikers experienced some pretty unpleasant physical distress due to the height. But something in me was intrigued. To make a long story short, I had a great time, but did not quite make it to the top due to an unfortunate case of elevation sickness. But next time I am able to go back, I want to give it another go. Some risks just seem worth taking.
But which ones? It would seem foolhardy to take all of one’s retirement account, and try to make a killing at the race track. And at whose risk? As COVID infections rate rise, engaging in culture without regard to wise protocols such as masking and social distancing is not just a risk to ourselves, but to those others we love, and even to the already stretched medical community. And how does faith play a role? When Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer went back to Germany to engage Hitler’s regime, he understood the risks, but he wrote, “There is no way to peace along the way of safety. Peace is the great adventure. It has to be dared.”
Jesus told a story about a person who went on a journey and gave different amounts of wealth to three different individuals. To one he gave five measures, to a second, two, and to a third, he gave a single measures. As the story unfolds, the ones with the larger sums multiplied their investments, and the third put his in a hole in the ground. The “master” upon discovering this, commends the first two, and sharply criticizes the third. Historically, there have been two primary ways of interpreting the story. But in either interpretation, it is the willingness to risk, to brave a different path, that the story celebrates. The parables of Jesus are intended to shake up our settled world, and invite us to some really difficult choices.
We’ll take this up in worship on Sunday. The sermon is titled, “Inviting the Right Kind of Peril”, arising from Matthew 25: 14-30, which will be read in the service by Torry and Lisa Hamilton. We’ll also receive ten new members into the St. Mark’s community, as we watch a zoom call in which they make the promises of church membership. We’ll have a children’s moment, hymns and prayers. And we’ll be led musically by our Sanctuary Singers, accompanied by Nara Lee and directed by Gerry Sousa.
We look forward to connecting with you at 10:30 Sunday morning for an online worship experience. Visit www.smumc.church and click on the Live Stream banner.