Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Being a disciple is not about what you know or can prove or even how much you believe. Faith is something we can make sound a lot easier than it really is. When we say someone has faith - it doesn't mean they don't have doubts or fears. You know those clear, glass walkways at the Grand Canyon or Tianmen Mountain in China or the CN Tower in Canada. I know engineers spent a lot of time and the contractor a lot of money to make sure they are totally safe - I have faith in their work - but I'm still not going out on one. A disciple is known for the risk they are willing to take. They know there are bad people in this world - that everyone is dying, there may not be a monster under the bed but he might live down the street, there are babies in cancer wards, little boys and girls living without fathers and mothers, elderly people living alone. They accept all that as true. The leap of faith - the risk - is they are willing to make is in spite of all these terrible things - there is a God who loves the world and is working through His people to bring light into the darkness and hope into a hungry void that doesn't want to let go of its victims. That is a risk!