Risk to Reward Ratio

Series: Exodus

 “Risk to Reward Ratio”

 Message @ Jericho Ridge Community Church – Sunday, July 15, 2012

Text: Exodus 2:1-10 // Series: “Exodus”

 

Well good morning, friends.  I’m so glad you’re here.  If you are new or visiting with us, this is a fantastic time to jump into things here at Jericho Ridge because this morning, we begin our summer teaching format and series.  During the past few summers, we’re done something called family friendly Sundays, which eventually and unfortunately degenerated to mean nothing more than “the kids are in the room with us”.  But this summer, we are working hard to develop a more intentional Sunday morning experience that expresses our heart to learn and grow together across multiple generations, ages and have some FUN doing it.  Sundays at Jericho Ridge are not designed to give you all of the answers…  Rather, they are designed to stimulate conversations about God, give you an opportunity to experience the life-changing presence of God in the context of community, and to equip you with some of the tools necessary to navigate the challenges and joys you and those around you will face. 

 

So with that uber brief purpose statement / apology aside, I want to jump right into things in the book of Exodus.  Exodus is like the sequel to the book of Genesis, which we studied together last year.  And just like a good movie sequel, it picks right up where the original left off: with the story of Joseph.  Kids – what do we know about Joseph?  (coat of many colours guy, etc).  Now the book exodus gets its title from the main theme of the book: Exodus is the historical account of the Exit or departure or the people of God from their 400 year sojourn and captivity in the land of Egypt.  But why do you think they would they want to leave?  Under Joseph, things we pretty good, he was 2nd in command of the whole country, wasn’t he?  Well, the opening chapter of the book of Exodus explains to us that things had gotten really, really bad.  The Egyptians had made the Israelites their slaves, they made them do all the hard work out in the hot, hot sun.  They made them build cities and they kept them oppressed by beating them didn’t do what they said.  But not only that, the Egyptians Pharaoh made a law: and the law was that if a baby was born and it was a girl, it could live.  But if the baby was a boy, then soldiers would come to your house, take your baby brother and thrown him into the Nile River so that he would drown.  It was a horrible, horrible law and it was a horrible, horrible time to be alive.

 

But God had a plan.  He always does, though often it doesn’t seem like it and often it doesn’t match our plans or our timelines.  God’s plan involved three women: 1 mommy, 1 kid and 1 princess.  And these three women took incredible risks but as we’ll also see, they experienced God’s amazing provision and protection. 

 

Now, to help us remember the theme of this story, for the adults, we’re going to use a term for the world of financial planning.  You know when you go into the office to talk about a mutual fund or stock purchase and they give you a little piece of paper to assess how much risk you can tolerate as an investor.  Your financial planner needs to get a sense of your risk tolerance because high risks can often come with high rewards.  But you have to be willing to take them. 

 

Kids, for those of you who don’t own mutual funds or stocks, I have another idea as to how we’ll remember the point of this story.  I have a t-shirt and I’m going to need a volunteer to come up here and put it on.  OK, each week, we have a little icon or picture that is taken from the story to help us remember the lesson.  Week 1, its bulrushes because as we’ll see in a minute, the story of the great exit begins with the birth of the one that God would use to rescue His people.  And the lesson that I want us to remember is captured in this little phrase that almost rhymes: So I want you to put this t-shirt on and repeat after me: “God’s radical provision flows to those who risk big for His Mission” Thank you for your help you can sit down.  I will need the t-shirt back, however, for next weekend J 

 

Alright, if you have your Bibles, turn to Exodus 2 – the text will appear up on the screens but I’m going to tell it as opposed to simply reading it.  And our story begins with a bunch of unnamed characters.  A mom, and special baby boy… and you all remember what Egyptians did to baby boys, right?  So this special baby boy was born.  And for 3 months, his mom and his family kept him hidden – let’s stop right there.  How many of you have an infant 3 months or less in your homes?  Now, here’s a question for you: how quiet are they?  Babies, especially when they get hungry, are NOT known for being particularly quiet so you can see how hiding this special baby would be no easy task!  And so eventually, the mommy decided it was too risky to keep the baby at home.  So she takes what seems like an even greater and monumental risk: she builds a little basket our of reeds, kind of like the bulrush, she weaves together a little boat, in Hebrew its called a tevah, the same word that is used of another vessel that would save God’s people: the ark in the story of Noah.  So she makes a tevah, not for sailing him down the river, but just so that he can be out of their home in a more neutral location.  But this is high risk plan!  Placing a 3 month old baby boy afloat in one of the world’s largest rivers: the Nile.  If he’s found by the wrong people, he’s dead.  If he slips out of the boat or floats downstream, he’s dead.  But if he stays at home and he is found, he’s dead anyways.  His mom is a women who blends risk with faith. 

In the New Testament, in the book of Hebrews 11:23 it says “It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command.”  It was a risk alright, but it rooted in a deep faith and confidence in God.  And one of the things that I love about Jericho Ridge is that many of you share this same trust, which has led some of you to take risks for God.

 

I think of Lindsey Schacter, who right now is down leading team in Haiti, rebuilding an orphanage that was damaged by the earthquake several years ago.  It takes guts to keep raising funds and to stay involved in a place that the world seems to have moved on from but she’s doing it.  I think about her father-in-law, Joel, who is one of our elders.  When he was a newer Christian, Joel decided that he wasn’t going to work on Sundays.  He was going to take a Sabbath day, as the Bible reminds us to do.  Which was risky, because he’s a real estate agent and so much of your business model depends on being available to people at any time.  But he took a risk and was obedient and God has been faithful to provide.  I think about Howard and Kara.  They are headed to a creative access country to work with a marginalized people group – it’s a big risk but they know that God is calling and equipping them for the work.  I think about when Jericho Ridge started 7 years ago and how some people on the launch team sold their homes and moved into Willoughby and Clayton so that they could live out the rhythms of life on mission with Jesus here in this place.  More recently, kids, some of you took risks to extend invitation to your friends to come to day camp.  These are the stories and the people who inspire me because of their faith and confidence in God.  A holy boldness to step into the future with confidence and trust in God.

 

Which brings us to our second character in the story, the little baby’s sister.  We learn later in the book of Exodus that her name is Miriam.  Let’s watch this short video clip together to see how the story unfolds.  [Clip is 1 min 24 seconds from “Mo and the Big Exit”]

 

You see, as the baby rests and floats amongst the bulrushes of the River Nile, he is not alone.  His sister is watching out for him.  And Miriam watches as a princess picks up her little brother.  And then she takes, what I think is the biggest risk in the whole story.  She approaches the princess.  Now, in Exodus 2:6, it says that the princess had compassion on the baby, but I don’t know if Miriam could see that from a distance.  Think for a moment of the courage it would take for her as a Hebrew slave to approach a member of the royal family.  Let’s just say, for example, that Kate Middleton, since her wedding now properly known as Catherine, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, the Countess of Strathearn and Baroness Carrickfergus, to name just a few of her honorary titles.  Let’s just say that Kate was down at Fort Langley for an official function.  She’s surrounded by security, she’s here for another purpose.  What kind of courage would it take for you to break through the crowds and go up to her and boldly make a suggestion to her?  That would take guts! 

 

So, to get at this, we’re going to play a game.  This is a game that puts us in Moses’ mother’s and sisters’ shoes. She had a scary choice. If she did nothing, her son Moses would be killed by bad men. If she did something, it was risky and he still might die. But something was better than nothing.

If we step out in faith and do something, even if we’re not really smart or really big or really strong, we can count on the fact that God protects people who show courage.  Let’s play a game and pretend we are as courageous as Moses’ mother.  What I need if for all of the kids and anyone else who wants to play this version of tag come over here by the Welcome Centre.  I need two volunteers to be it – one for the front and one for the back.  If you are ‘it’ you have to close your eyes: except if you come over here you can open them.  If you are playing, your goal is to get across to the other side.  If you get tagged, you are out.  Ready, go!

 

Alright, let’s talk about what happened.  What would have happened to you if you had stayed in the corner? (you would surely have gotten tagged.)

What would have happened to Moses if his mother had stayed in her corner, meaning she did nothing to get her baby away from the Egyptians? (Moses would have gotten killed.)  What is a “risk”? What does it mean to “take a risk?” (It means you do something rather than nothing. Most (all) of you risked leaving the corner to keep the people who were it from catching you. The game prize doesn’t just go to the people who reached “The Water,” or who “got there first.” The prize goes to… Everyone who left the corner. (Give out prizes to all).  Why is that? Why am I rewarding all those who left the corner? Because they all showed courage. They all took a risk.

 

Moses’ mother was not a genius. A baby could have drown in that water.

She was not a strong warrior. She had a baby only three months ago.  She was not rich. She was a slave.  She was not perfect.  But she had a mother’s love, and when it came time to show courage, she didn’t

just stand there, too afraid to do anything. She trusted God would help her.

God rewarded Moses’ mother’s love and her courage.  If you show courage to do the right thing, God will help you, too. The Big idea is that: God’s radical provision flows to those who risk big for His mission. 

The challenge for me, and I think for many of us, is that we are naturally risk averse.  But if you never leave your spiritual safety zone, you’ll never experience the reward.  Some of you have never left your spiritual safety zone: you’ve never come for prayer with our prayer team. You’ve never told anyone at work that you’re a Christian.  You’ve never read the Bible with your kids for fear of making a mistake or that they’ll come up with a question you can’t answer.  You’ve never prayed for someone in faith or given a prophetic word of encouragement because you are scared that you might get it wrong.  That’s living in the safety zone.  And spiritually speaking, it’s a no risk, no reward proposition.  That’s because God has a way of responding to faith.  Earlier in Hebrews 11, the Bible says this:

“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”  Did you catch that?  God is not in the practice or rewarding passivity!  He rewards those who actively and sincerely seek Him.  Maybe today you’re here and you’re on a spiritual journey you are seeking God.  Well, my friend, you’ve come to the right place on the right day!  Today is your day to step out in faith and move beyond skepticism to sincere seeking.  Today is your day to take the ultimate risk and to trust God with your life.  In a few minutes I am going to pray and when I do, I want you to take a risk and to put up your hand if you want to begin a relationship with God today.  Our team will come and find you and walk you through what it means to live an adventure with God. 

 

For those who have started down that pathway, I want to ask you a question for response.  When was the last time you took a risk in your spiritual life?  It might be a small risk like reading your Bible and doing your Momentum Journaling at lunchtime in a public place. It might be a risk like beginning to give more and more of the money away that God has entrusted to you if though you could think of a whole lot of other things to spend it on.  It might be asking God to give you the courage to risk again because you took a risk and it didn’t turn out like you thought it did so you shut down and became risk-averse in your spiritual life.  Kids, it might be a risk like talking to your friends who came to day camp and inviting them to come to Jericho with you this summer.  Youth, it might be inviting a friend to come to Cultus Lake with you in August.  It might be to raise your hands in worship and not worry about what other people think about you.  It might be to go to Guatemala and be a part of our house building team in September.  It might be serve here at Jericho as a Youth Sponsor or as a Life Group leader this fall and the very thought of that terrifies you, but you know that you know that God is calling you to do it.  I don’t know what kind of risks God is inviting you to take in your life, but I do know this…  No risk, no reward. 

Think of the reward that flowed into the life of Moses’ mom and sister in our story from Exodus 2.  Because of their willingness to take risks… because Moses’ mother was willing to risk defying a bad law; because his sister was willing to speak up.  She offers a suggestion to the Princess that she could find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby.  The princess agrees and offers to pay for his care.  God’s incredible protection and provision flows into their lives.  In a few short hours, Moses’ family goes from illegally hiding him, to being fully PAID by the royal family to raise him!  When they got up that morning, there was NO WAY in their wildest dreams that they could have imagined how God was going to honour the risks they were taking.  But they knew one thing: that doing nothing was not an option. 

 

How about you?  What are you willing to risk for God?  Or more specifically, what area of your life is God inviting you to step out in faith so that He and only He can be your provision and your protection?  If you are having trouble answering that question, then ask the opposite question:   (Conversely, what is “off-limits”?)  What are you not willing to do if God asks you?  What area of your life are you insistent on playing it safe?   

 

Dustin and the team are going to come and they are going to sing a new song for us as the ushers come and we’ll prepare to receive the offering.  This song is by the David Crowder Band and it speaks of the reality that sometimes when you are in that place of risk, it feels very, very unsafe and uncertain.  But our call as people of faith is not to be afraid but to boldly approach God with confidence, to find help in our time of need knowing that God’s radical provision flows to those who risk big for His mission.  Why not step out in faith this morning like Moses’ mother and his sister and see what God might be willing to do for and with and in you.   

 

Let’s pray together as we worship and then our prayer team will be available. 

    

(Remember to call for salvation). 

There's an old saying that applies to investing as much as to our spiritual lives: No risk, no reward. Join us as we begin our summer teaching series in the book of Exodus with an exploration of faith and risk in the story of the Birth of Moses.

Speaker: Brad Sumner

July 15, 2012
Exodus 2:1-10

Brad Sumner

Lead Pastor

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