4th Sunday
after Epiphany
February 3, 2019
Drawn In: Week 3
Esther 4:6-16;
Matthew 25:14-30
(an outline)
Intro – Our brains need crafting and creativity, not
optimizing
1. Creativity
requires risk –
a. Don’t
know how it will turn out, how it will be received, if it will have meaning or
worth or help us on our way toward our goal
b. We
assume creation for God was without risk
c. Art
and life = lessons in risk
d. What
if we change language to experiment? Try? Risk is a scary word
e. Robert
Gruden (author): Creativity is not comfort of safe harbor but thrill of
reaching sail
2. Risk
makes you turn focus off yourself and onto others –
a. Ex:
God at creation went from interrelatedness to other-relatedness;
b. Ex:
Esther by herself safe but risks for sake of people – “If I perish, I perish”
c. Ex:
3rd servant never turned focus off himself and fear for himself
3. Risk
is less scary when you’re rooted in God
a. Confidence
to risk is rooted in deeply in experience of God’s love that draws us in and
won’t ever let us go (God’s deep love is source of our confidence)
b. Unplug
from your safety nets – like disciples who leave everything; like us moving to
MD from NC
c. 1st
two servants took risk to see what they could do for their master
d. Vision/dreams
we’re talking about aren’t motivated by shame or fame but from deep-seated
knowing/trust
God is involved in risk with us
If we truly trust Jesus, then even failure is okay because
it’s the step in faith that counts (Rosie Revere, Engineer – perfect first try)
“What can you do to risk what God has given you to expand
love and grace in the world?”
No comments:
Post a Comment