I picked up a major California paper – there was this big article on
Extreme Sports and how popular they are. Tied into that article was
another item about all our extreme fashions – not only extreme clothes
but also ornaments attached to the body. There was a cartoon in this
article which shows a teenager who has a nose ring – baggy clothes and
spiked hair. He says to a friend “I don’t really like dressing this way,
but it keeps my parents from dragging me everywhere they go.
There was NO article in this paper on “Extreme Faith”.
Maybe we have made being a Christian too easy. Maybe we need
to offer people the opportunity to risk life and limb for Christ, as did the
early church. Maybe we need to give people the opportunity for danger,
as did the great missionary movements that have swept through the
church throughout the centuries. We have made being a Christian so
convenient and so comfortable that our faith has lost its edge. A faith
that demands too little will not grab hold of the passion that many people
need in their lives today.
Maybe we have made it all too easy. And that is a shame. People
are risking their lives simply for the purpose of getting high. People are
mutilating their bodies just to get others to notice. And yet there is a
world out there that still needs to be saved by men and women with
adventurous spirits who are committed to Christ.
I want to particularly address the younger people in our community
for just a few moments. The most rewarding adventure a young person
can devote himself or herself to is that of following Jesus. That is what
extreme faith is all about – following Christ.
Our scripture lesson today is about a young man named Samuel –
perhaps twelve or thirteen – who gave his life to serving God. Samuel
had been left at the Temple as a child by his parents to serve as an
assistant to the prophet Eli. One night as he lay in his bed Samuel heard
God speak his name. At first he thought it was Eli who was calling for
him, but Eli realized it was God. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down,
and if he calls you, say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” So
Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord called his name
again. And this time young Samuel said, “Speak, Lord, for your servant
is listening.” And the Lord spoke to Samuel. Here is what he said:
“See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of
everyone who hears of it tingle.”
In other words, God was saying to Samuel, “I’m getting ready to
cause some excitement in this land and I want your help.”
Young people, that is God’s call to every generation: “I’m getting
ready to cause some excitement in this land I want your help.” And, if
enough young people – and enough older people answer as did Samuel,
“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” then exciting things do
happen. Suddenly extreme adventures as well as extreme fashions seem
somewhat irrelevant. Suddenly you are in tune with the mind and the
heart of the universe and every day throbs with the excitement of being
alive to God.
A missionary society wrote to the great missionary David
Livingstone deep in the heart of Africa and asked, “Have you found a
good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other
men and women to join you.” Livingstone wrote back, “If you have men and women who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men and women who will come if there is no road at all.” Christ is still looking for men and women like that today, people who will come if there is no road at all. Better than extreme sports – more exciting than extreme fashions. God is looking for men and women who have extreme faith. What will our answer be?
