Sermons

"God calls us to be Holy Entrepreneurs!"

Michelangelo once said, “The great danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high, and we miss it, but that it is too low, and we reach it.”[i] Today, I want to talk about taking risks. Risk is something with which many of us have become all too familiar in the past two years. The declines in the stock markets have exposed many to the down side of risk, to the fact that taking risks sometimes means experiencing negative results. The problem with the risk that many took during the nineties is that in many cases it was risk fueled by greed. It was risk accompanied by an attitude where the normal rules of prudence and due diligence seemed somehow suspended in what came to be called the New Economy. Many lost a great deal of money even as some of the people who drove the markets profited famously.

While risk may have negative overtones given this financial meltdown, risk actually is a very good thing. In 1996, Peter L. Bernstein, an economic consultant, wrote a book entitled Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk. In this fascinating book, Bernstein makes the argument that what distinguishes modern times from the more distant past is the notion of bringing risk under control. We have the ability to willfully and intentionally engage life with a certain element of risk.

Without risk, where would we be? Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, once declared: “The willingness to take risk is essential to the growth of a free market economy.” [ii] It is not just in the realm of finance that risk is important. When a surgeon performs an operation, an engineer designs a bridge, an entrepreneur launches a new business venture, an astronaut walks on the moon, or a politician runs for office, he or she is engaged in risk taking. Risk means taking chances. Risk is intentional “exposure to uncertain change.”[iii] Risk, uncertainty, and change go hand in hand.

Risk management may be a modern phenomenon, but the characters in Jesus’ parable of the talents certainly knew about risk. A master entrusted his three servants with very large sums of money, each according to his ability. The first two servants doubled the money, much to the pleasure of the master. The third servant sought to do nothing more than preserve the capital that the master had entrusted to him. This he did by burying the money in a hole in the ground. This did not make the master happy at all. On the contrary, the master took away from the servant even the little that he had.

This parable warms the hearts of capitalists everywhere. Turning a dollar into two dollars is the ultimate success story in our world. However, this parable has much to offer beyond its capitalist leanings. The point of this parable is that we are to put to good use whatever God entrusts to our care. This is the ultimate stewardship story. God gives us talents, time, and treasure, and expects that we will put them to good use. Each one of us possesses an abundance of resources that God asks us to use. The deciding factor in life is not what God gives us but what we do with what God gives us.

The two who doubled their master’s money did so because they were willing to take risks. The story does not tell us how they made the money, but we can be sure that it involved risk. The third servant, the one who preserved his master’s capital, was unwilling to take risks. He was paralyzed by fear. His fear led to inactivity and complete ineffectiveness. He was not able to fulfill the wishes of his master because he was unwilling to take risks. His lack of action led to complete failure. As Michelangelo said, there is great danger in aiming too low and reaching it.

I wonder how many of us are like the first two servants and how many of us are like the third. How many of us are willing to risk what God gives us so that we can do great things? God gives us what we have so that we can participate in this world as God’s servants, as those called to continue the work of Jesus through or lives. Often, fear grips us such that we lack the ability to step out in faith and to take risks for the sake of the Gospel. We fear failure. We fear change. We fear uncertainty. We fear the lack of security. One of the marks of spiritual growth is the desire and ability to put fear aside and to take risks. To risk failure and to embrace change and uncertainty are essential components of spiritual maturity.

I believe that this parable calls us to be “holy entrepreneurs.” It calls the church to step out in faith, believing that God is with us and that God will bless our efforts. It calls us not to play it safe but to take risks for the sake of the Gospel. Here at Emmanuel Church, God has entrusted us with a variety of gifts – a beautiful building, talented and committed people, some financial resources, and a sense of vision and purpose for the future. However, even with all of these resources, there is uncertainty ahead. Just meeting the budget and preserving our buildings is difficult, costly, and time-consuming work.

Last spring, the Vestry and I charted a course that we believe will lead us towards the future that God has in store for us. We have a vision for the future about which we are very excited. However, there is a fly in the ointment. The implementation of the vision is very expensive. Now, the Vestry faces a serous challenge regarding next year’s budget. Moving forward with the plan that we set last year involves considerable risk. Of course, the risk is that we will not have enough money. However, I am not sure that this is such a bad place to be. God calls the church to trust, to step out in faith despite the risks, and to believe that God is with us.

Here at Emmanuel Church we do not intend to suffer from the plight described by Michelangelo. We will not aim too low just so that we can succeed. Instead, we will continue to dream large dreams, to attempt great things, to step out as holy entrepreneurs so that we can do our part to proclaim the Good News in our world. As the third servant found, the risk of not taking risks is even greater than the risk of taking risks. The risk of not stepping out is irrelevance, ineffectiveness, and a slow and painful death. The risk of stepping out in faith is that we will fail. However, I would rather fail attempting great things than fail of irrelevance. We have a history here of using what God gives us to do God’s work in our world. Despite the uncertainties and the inherent risks, we intend to continue that tradition next year and in the years to come. Please join us in being risk takers, holy entrepreneurs bent on transforming our world. Amen.

[i] Quoted in Synthesis, November 17, 2002, p. 4.

[ii] Quoted in Peter Bernstein, Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk, 328.

[iii] Gastineau, Gary L. and Mark P. Kritzman, Dictionary of Financial Risk Management, p. 241.