September 23, 2015

It'll be a lot of fun to go out there and risk our lives.
Sgt. Floyd Pepper

For those who do not know, Sgt. Floyd Pepper is the bass player for the Electric Mayhem, the band from the original Muppet Show and movies.  I always wondered if he and Janice had a thing going on . . .  But I digress.

I had a conversation this week with a parishioner and we were discussing the idea of risk.  In general, is the short-term reward greater than the required risk, or does the risk outweigh the potential reward?  This is the question we all deal with at some point, and this question has a multitude of implications.

Many a professional athlete has cut his/her career short in the pursuit of winning a championship “now.”  But that idea is being challenged by Matt Harvey, pitcher for the NY Mets.  The Mets haven't won a championship since 1986, and the Mets' fans want Harvey to pitch well into the playoffs.  But he and his agent have stipulated an “inning limit” so as not to damage his arm and his long-term career.  The argument is one of risk:  does he risk his arm and future for a World Series, or does he risk a World Series for a long career?

At Celilo Falls, near what is now The Dalles Dam, Native Americans would fish for salmon, recognizing that the salmon provided food for their families, their tribe, and the generations of people who would come after them.  When the white man showed up and saw the abundance of fish, they nearly fished the river dry.  It was a question of risk:  the Native Americans were willing to risk losing out on personal abundance in favor of long-term survival, whereas the white fishermen were willing to risk losing long-term production in favor of short-term gain and immediate profits.

But for us as Christians and as members of St. Luke's, risk might have a different connotation.  The annual pledge drive approaches; are we willing to risk increasing our pledge toward the long-term health of the church?  We are continuing to examine and tease out those dots in order to answer the question, “Who do you say St. Luke's is?”  Are we willing to view them as an indicator of who we might be, and then risk making the necessary changes to live into a possible new way of being?  The Episcopal Church in general, and St. Luke's in particular, has something to offer the people of this community.  Yes, we have a website, and yes, we've painted the doors red; but are we willing to risk meeting people face-to-face and talking with them one-on-one?  Are we willing to risk putting a public face on our private faith?

At some point we need to get up, get out, and take a gospel risk.  We need to risk our self-esteem in the face of rejection.  We need to risk our need to be “safe” and talk with those we might not normally talk with.  We need to risk changing from the way we've always done things for new and challenging ways that, quite honestly, may or may not lead to immediate results.

In short, we need to risk our immediate lives for the long-term arc of the gospel.  Maybe that means we risk being more outgoing.  Maybe it means we risk increasing our pledge.  Maybe it means we risk doing things differently.  And maybe, just maybe, if we take risks for the gospel, we can echo the words of Sgt. Floyd and say, “Hey, that was a lot of fun.”

Amen.