Ecc Sermon Week 12

Intro/Welcome

Welcome to One Hope, My name is Justin

Glad to be here with you.

Welcome those online.

Opening Question:

anyone want to be a millionair?

maybe a few extra thousand dollars?

If you wanted to make some money in the stock market what will you need to do?

Invest?

Risk?

“No risk, no reward”

What about learning to ride a bike?

You have to risk

you might fall, you might crash

but why do you keep trying?

b/c you want to grow, to experience new things.

In both of these cases you cannot grow unless you risk to some degree.

We cannot grow without risk (Slide)

How do you feel about risk?

Do you readily take risks?

Are you afraid to take risks?

Risks are necessary for growth

But risk and growth aren’t limited to the financial sector Or bike riding

In order to grow in all areas of life, it will require some degree of risk.

Vocationally, Relationally, Emotionally, Spiritually, Ministerially

This is what Solomon says to us today,

risk is necessary growth, but because of who God is we can do so wisely and boldly.

Bible

We’ll be in Ecc 11:1-6 today

Go there in your Bibles

Let me pray

Pray

praying

Risk is necessary

We cannot grow without risk (cannot grow individually)

- Establish the point that risk is necessary for grow

Ecclesiastes 11:1 (CSB) (Slide)

1 Send your bread on the surface of the water, for after many days you may find it.

no risk, no reward

Risk will require us to hand over that which we value most to another’s care

money, your heart, your life..etc.

Could be literally — invest in overseas trade

there is risk.

But risk is necessary. Invest wisely

Matt 25 — parable of talents

God has given us gifts to use for his purposes (we cannot grow the kingdom)

Matthew 25:21 (CSB)

21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’

Matthew 25:24–25 (CSB) (Slide)

24 “The man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

Matthew 25:26–27 (CSB) (Slide)

26 “His master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy servant! If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, 27 then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and I would have received my money back with interest when I returned.

Matthew 25:30 (CSB)

30 And throw this good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Jesus says the same thing.

It’s not about you

It’s about the Kingdom fo God

God gives us gifts to use for his purposes (Slide)

Jesus has invested in you — with gifts, and skills and the personality that only you have.

What will you do with all that God has given you?

all the time, talent and treasure?

Why we don’t risk?

like the 3rd servant — we are afraid

Fear

We are afraid of failure

We want Certainty

Fear — we want guarantees — certainty

Ecclesiastes 11:4 (CSB) (Slide)

4 One who watches the wind will not sow, and the one who looks at the clouds will not reap.

A Handbook on Ecclesiastes (11:4)

Will not sow: readers are meant to understand that the wind direction tells the farmer that it is not the best time to sow or plant the crop.

Israelite farmers depended on the rain-bearing winds from the sea to water their crops. Here the unstated meaning is that the farmer looks to the west to see if the wind will bring rain.

If the wind is from the eastern deserts, then the farmer knows that it is wrong or foolish to plant, because that wind is hot and dry.

Will not reap: farmers require dry weather when they bring in the grain harvest. If there are clouds rolling in from the west, the possibility of rain is high. This is not the time to reap.

The third person in Jesus’ parable

he calls him wicked.

Transition

So if we want grow, and i’m assuming we all do

We don’t want to stay where we are at

Then risk will be necessary

so how can we risk wisely?

How to risk wisely.

1. Diversify

Ecclesiastes 11:2 (CSB)

2 Give a portion to seven or even to eight, for you don’t know what disaster may happen on earth. (Slide)

Economically — diversify

Diversify (Slide)

“don’t put all you eggs in one basket”

don’t send all your good in one ship — who knows what disaster may fall

Don’t put all of your hope in one place, in one relationship in one endeavor

God is bigger than that

you can put all your eggs in God’s basket

Be open to all options — not just the one you want.

Giving Generously

This could also mean to give generously

b/c God will take care of you

You never know how those you bless will turn out.

Illustration: Story of how blessing someone came back to bless

Former Ct that became a friend.

2. Look not at what you don’t know but what you do know

Ecclesiastes 11:3 (CSB) (Slide)

3 If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or the north, the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

Pic: Cloud and Tree (I will prompt when to show) (Slides)

If a cloud looks rainy it’s likely to rain —

there are natural patterns you can bank on in general

once a tree falls there it lies — it’s not going to move after that

in other words, once something has happened it’s final

we can trust that things won’t shift afterwards

Let that inform how we risk.

What are some of the things we know? What can we bank on that will generally be true? (proverbs)

Financially — long term view — stock market trends up

Seasons of work — tax season — it’s going to be hard,

we just had a kid, it’s going to be different

relationally — if the person you are interested in has a history of cheating or ill treating people — it would not be wise to pursue a relationship with them

Emotionally — if you have not healed from past wounds, you are likely to repeat the process

Spiritually: God is good, God is in control

Transition

There’s one more thing that we know to be true.

We’ve seen

So far... (Slide)

Risk is necessary for Growth (Ecc 11:1)

Don’t give into fear or demand certainty (Ecc 11:4)

Diversify (Ecc 11:2)

Look at what you do know (Ecc 11:3)

3. Invest with Faith in God.

Ecclesiastes 11:5 (CSB) (Slide)

5 Just as you don’t know the path of the wind, or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman, so also you don’t know the work of God who makes everything.

We ultimately don’t know how things will turn out

Just like the wind or formation of life in the womb

But we do know this:

God makes everything.

Ultimately God is over everything.

God is not too concerned with our success and failures but rather what is happening in our hearts

what kind of people we are becoming.

if you achieve success — it may be to test whether you will praise God or not

if you experience failure — it may be to test whether you really trust God to take care of you.

We can believe Romans 8:28 b/c we were made for another world and for another purpose than wordly success

God is preparing us for eternity.

He is molding our character.

So then when it comes to RISK

So then it matters a great deal how we think about God

Are we like the last servant in Jesus’ parable? Or like the first two?

One of the most important questions we can ask (larry crabb?)

When you think of God, what expression is on his face?

When you think of God, how does he look at you?

This reveals what we think about God.

Are we fearful of God?

Do we see the face of disappointment? (that perhaps our fathers and mothers gave us?

Or do we believe what God’s Word reveals?

A harsh God? in some sense, but a God of grace and Mercy

A God of love.

This is what the Cross was all about.

Revealing God’s Love to us

it is an objective, historical fact that demonstrates that God loves us — the God is for us — that God will never abandon us.

We may run from him, but he will never run from us.

God isn’t against you, you are are against God!

God is for you! He proved it

Romans 8:32 (ESV)

32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

He forgives our sin but he does even more:

Entrance into heaven

presence with God now and forever

A God that walks with us intimately every day.

He covers of our every failure

Christ’s won for us, so we can be free to lose (our identity, joy, satisfaction, comfort doesn’t depend on us ‘winning’)

We’ll never experience God’s goodness and love unless we take some risks

in fact, how will we ever know unless we risk

and unless we fail.

God is glorified when we trust him.

We can’t grow unless we risk

Therefore Risk

Therefore invest! Risk

— who knows what God might be doing but we do know that he will care for us

RISK — Because God is over everything

RISK — Because in Christ ultimately we will overcome

In light of that, if we could believe that, the last thing it means for risking wisely is to go all in.

4. Work hard in Faith (go all in when you risk)

Ecclesiastes 11:6 (CSB)(Slide)

6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hand rest, because you don’t know which will succeed, whether one or the other, or if both of them will be equally good.

risking doesn’t mean just sitting back and waiting for God to do something

It doesn’t even mean waiting until you have 100% certainty on something

It means planning, praying and making a move

and doing so diligently, faithfully, until the end.

God doesn’t bless us in-spite of our hard work, but precisely becuase of it in faith.

b/c we trust the normative processes that God has set in order.

Let’s go all in when we risk it.

It’s like riding a bike — you can’t give it half effort

you have to go all in — start peddling — go faster

if you hesitate you won’t get off the ground

Where is God calling you to risk?

So where is God calling you to risk right now?(Slide)

Vocation

is it in your vocation? is he calling you to another?

is he calling you to take a risk with a particular plan or project?

Relations

is it in a particular relationships? to take a risk and ask that guy or gal out?

is it to share vulnerably how you have been hurt by something done or said?

is it to take that step towards marriage?

Financially

Is it to wisely invest the money that God has given you?

Are you being wise with his money or are you just spending it?

How can you make it work for you?

Spiritually

Where is God calling you to great risk with Him?

To confess your anger or hurt or bitterness towards God?

to share that with a confidant or your group leader?

Is it to trust God with a part of your story? Something painful? A miscarriage? Past abuse?

To share your faith (God’s Love) with that friend or neighbor?

Is it to trust God for the first time with your whole life?

I remember risking this?

Of course with God it is not a risk at all, it is the only sure investment we have.

Ministerially - In Kingdom Ministry

Where is he calling you to risk more than you think you can?

to serve not by your energy and strength, but by his?

Where do we limit God in our lives?

Some of you he may be calling to full time ministry, to over seas missions, to church planting here and abroad

are you ignoring this call out of fear? or false humility?

God has called you for a purpose, he has gifted you for a reason and deep down inside there is a passion for something.

maybe it’s making money, maybe it’s worshipping through song, maybe it’s art, maybe it’s missions

Risk boldly, but wisely

God is calling your to risk wisely and boldly

Examine you life

Where is he calling you to risk?

don’t give into fear

don’t wait for certainty

how can you do so wisely?

diversifying, looking at all options

trusting in what you do know (the natural laws, reading the times)

how can you do so boldly?

trusting ultimately in God’s provision

Working diligently towards that goal — going all in.

Let’s Pray