Sermon, "Worth the Risk Always," from September 6th, 2015 by Rev. Dr. Luther W. Symons

"Don't do it! It's not safe!" I said. My brother was about to canvas a neighbor, and it just didn't seem worth the risk. Two things: First thing: my brother was a Sea Cadet, and a very proud one, at that. We we living in the interior of northern British Columbia on a large lake that was part of a network of lakes and rivers that flowed thru to the Pacific Ocean. The sea cadets corps there had an older vessel that these boys were taught to manage, maintain and operate as they cruised around the lake and on their annual "exercise" to the Pacific. And in order to do this, all the boys had to participate in fund raisers. Second thing: one of our neighbors was the quintessential 'grumpy old man.' On one occasion, after one of our street hockey pucks had broken his garage window, my brother (the shooter in question) had to "visit" this neighbor. First, to make confession, and then later, to offer restitution. It went poorly on both occasions. And so now when my brother was going back on this fund raising mission, I knew for sure that he was doomed. I knew that this wasn't going to go well for him. Join us this weekend to hear how a foreigner (a Syrophoenician woman), who knew exactly what to expect, fared with Jesus when she needed to ask something of him. She knew that this wasn't going to go well for her. -Rev. Dr. Luther Symons