Rev. David Holwick S
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
June 10, 2001
Luke 12:4-7
YOU ARE AT RISK
I. Lots to worry about...
Vivid memory of my childhood - my dad changing a light bulb.
It was in the bathroom.
So he stood on the toilet.
The seat broke.
So did my dad's foot.
The annual number of people hurt by their toilets: 40,000.
Your risk of dying in a bathtub this year,
or the lifetime chance of contracting flesh-eating disease:
one in 1,000,000.
Your risk of getting struck by lightning: one in 1,900,000.
Your risk of being attacked by a shark: one in 100,000,000.
But when I am swimming at the Jersey shore, he is aiming for me!
The odds of getting HIV from a blood transfusion: one in 400,000.
The odds of being killed by another person: one in 50,000.
The risk of dying from smoking by age 35: one in 600.
Chances a cat will die after falling six stories: 10%.
Chances a person will die after falling six stories: 90%.
The risk a person will die, period: 100%.
#7068
II. Our greatest fear is fear itself.
A. We fear what grabs our attention.
1) Child who is murdered in Morristown.
a) We naturally think it will happen to our family.
b) Advertised dangers are seen as worse than quiet ones.
2) Consumer scares.
a)The TERROR of cigarette lighters!
"Bic" lighters can spontaneously catch fire in your
pocket.
It is true - on average, one American a year is killed
by them.
John Stossel was asked to do an investigative report
on it, but he refused.
Why? It is an ant-sized danger.
Each year 50 Americans are killed by 5-gallon plastic
buckets.
Should Stossel expose that?
He refused, saying it was an insignificant risk
compared to so many other things.
Someone else gladly did the expose... [1]
b) By fearing little things, we are unprepared for the
big ones.
B. We fear what is out of our control.
1) Radiation, toxic waste.
a) Three Mile Island incident.
b) Tainted church water due to leaking service station
tank. Those who have been attending our church for
twenty years or more are DOOMED!
2) These issues are real, but pale compared to dangers we
can control ourselves. Three main health dangers today:
a) Smoking.
b) Drinking.
c) A fatty diet. #1025
The RAND institute in Santa Monica just released a study
that says obese adults have more chronic health problems
than smokers, heavy drinkers or the poor.
Obese people have on average nearly twice the chronic health
troubles of people of normal weight.
They found this out by calculating people's body mass index.
You multiply your weight in pounds by 703 and divide that
result by your height in inches, squared.
I was relieved to find out I am not obese.
Just plain old fat.
(If you stretch before you measure your height you lower
the number and can eat ice cream all day.)
3) Your body is a temple. Do what you can to take care of it.
a) It may seem ironic that the sins Rev. Earle used to
rant about in this church, really do matter.
b) Maybe we worry about the esoteric stuff because we
would rather not deal with self-control.
c) We have a responsibility to make prudent choices in
life.
III. There are real dangers out there.
A. There is much misery and suffering in the world.
1) Through wealth and knowledge we can avoid some of it.
2) Floods don't affect us like they affect Bangladesh.
B. But no one can avoid all of it.
1) Many evils seem to happen by chance.
a) They can come in waves.
2) According to the Bible, other evils are invisible.
a) Dark spiritual forces can affect us.
IV. Live boldly anyway.
A. Don't let fear limit you.
1) Many won't go to Haiti because of fear of planes.
a) Tali Hull rode tap-taps to Cite Sole slum, gunfight
broke out next day. Gale doesn't worry.
2) The worst disaster is being safe by doing nothing.
The great hockey star Wayne Gretzky said:
"You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take."
#598
T. S. Elliot, the great writer:
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly
find out how far one can go."
#16829
B. Risk makes life worth living.
Risks must be taken.
Because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
If you risk nothing and do nothing, you dull your spirit.
You may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But you cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, and live.
Chained by your attitude, you are a slave.
You have forfeited your freedom.
Only if you risk are you free.
#16829
V. God knows what you are up against.
A. We are tempted to think he doesn't care, or messes up.
1) Jesus says he knows the hairs of our head.
2) Our heavenly Father cares for the smallest creatures in
Nature, and he cares for us.
B. Our perspective is too limited.
1) We are concerned about our health, our wealth, our life.
a) Worse things can happen can death.
b) Death will happen to all, but salvation will only
happen to some.
c) Will it happen to you?
2) Jesus is saying God should be our ultimate fear.
a) It's not that he is worse than toxic waste or the Mafia.
b) But he controls eternity. Don't irritate him!
3) God calls us to absolute and unreserved surrender.
a) We may not understand what He's doing, or why.
b) Just trust that he has his reasons.
C. Surrender to God.
1) Get right with him.
2) In the end, nothing can harm us.
=======================================================================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] "The Real Cost of Regulation," by John Stossel of ABC News, in
Imprimis, May 2001, page 4.
# 598 Internet: J. Walter Cross of Bradenton, Florida, December 11,
1994.
# 1025 "Epidemic of Fear," Reader's Digest, quoting from Washington
Post; November 1989, page 26.
# 7068 "Odds and Ends," by Rick Gamble, in Cross Current (5999),
Volume 24, No. 18; May 9, 1999.
#16829 "Quotes on Risk," by T. S. Eliot and unknown author, in
Bits & Pieces, November 26, 2000.
These and 17,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://illust.holwick.com
=======================================================================
