The word “extreme” has fallen on hard times these days. Extremist viewpoints are caricatured and maligned by politicians and pundits as they mount their pulpits and practice their craft of shaping our thoughts. The Republicans try and convince us that the Democrats are extreme in their social liberalism, their taxation of the people, and their runaway spending. The Democrats try and convince us that the Republicans are extreme in their cruelty to women and children, to the marginalized and downtrodden, and their coddling of the rich and radical religious right. It’s an extreme situation. Those taking aim in the war of words want us to know that to be extreme is to be something less than sophisticated, socially well-adjusted, and sensible.
It’s not just the arena of politics where “extreme” has become synonymous with uncivilized and deranged. For months a little white-haired lady labored day-in and day-out sewing a beautiful bridal gown. She pulled every stitch with love. Fastened every bead with the hopes that joy would flood the family of the blessed bride. One day last week she hung up her needle and thread, sent the dress out to be pressed, and bagged it to be delivered to the anxiously awaiting young bride. The little white-haired lady who had labored endlessly never dreamed that she would see her gorgeous gown worn by a six foot nine man with a Carol Brady wig, nose rings, and tattoos. Talk about extreme! Talk about “What-was-he-thinking?”
Extreme has also been used to describe one of Dennis’ old flames, a girl who got her big break singing in a wedding gown, Madonna. Madonna has been around for along time now and it seems that each year that passes reveals an even more extreme manifestation of Madonna’s madness. Her latest “out there” adventure is to have a baby. Lord help us! Having a baby is a beautiful thing, a wonderful experience, the highlight of my life. For most of us, when we decide that we would like to have a baby, we first come to the conclusion that we need a husband or wife. Not Madonna. Madonna simply hired her personal trainer to perform the given task. Extreme? I’d say so.
Extreme is wild, unrestrained, untamed, and out-on-the-edge. The place most people don’t desire to be when they have the option of being in the middle, on solid ground, firm footing, and secure. Just a couple of months ago I watched one of our homeboys, Matt Hoffman, compete and win the competition in what else, “The Extreme Games.” Now you would have to know Matt to know why the word “extreme” fits him so well. Matt has broken more than twenty-five bones in his body as he has worked to perfect his craft, riding bikes.
Matt doesn’t take a lazy Sunday afternoon stroll down a paved path. Matt rides his custom fitted Hoffman bike up fifteen foot ramps where he goes into orbit and does all kinds of death defying spins, flips, and sometimes crashes. Extreme? You better believe it!
Many call Matt crazy, or worse. Many watch in amazement as Matt succeeds at doing things that the rest of us wouldn’t even attempt. Matt is part of a new breed of young people who are trying to find more in this thing called life and are looking for it in what is called “extreme sports.”
Why are those who live on the edge deemed as extreme? Why do we cower back in disbelief when extreme walks into the room? Why are made to feel so uncomfortable by those who are unwilling to accept the “we’ve always done it that way” mentality?
I’m not convinced that to be extreme is all that bad. As a matter of fact I have determined in my heart that I want to live on the edge, I want to stand atop the winner’s platform of the extreme game of life. Extreme doesn’t have to be such an irritant under our skin. Extreme doesn’t have to be synonymous with the lunatic fringe, unless those who give their lives to living on the edge are living apart from Christ.
Early in Walt Disney’s days as a dreamer, as an extremist, times were tough. Walt was a dreamer living among a people of colorless dreams. There were all kinds of ideas that flooded Mr. Disney’s mind, but he was hesitant in sharing some of the dreams with his board because he knew how they would respond. They were men of safety and security, who wanted nothing more than to know that what they were doing would succeed. Walt wasn’t driven by such a weak motivation. Walt was a dreamer.
One day Walt decided that he could no longer be content to live in the valley, he had to keep pressing for the top of the mountain. Walt decided that he would take a different approach to his board of advisors. Walt would occasionally present to his board some unbelievable, extensive dream he was entertaining. Almost without exception, the members of his board would gulp, blink, and stare back at him in disbelief, resisting even the thought of such a thing. But unless every member resisted the idea, Mr. Disney usually wouldn’t pursue it. Walt figured that unless every member vehemently opposed his idea, the idea wasn’t big enough to merit his time and creative energy. What a concept! Way to go Walt!
Walt Disney was a man who was an extremist! He wouldn’t settle for security when he could pursue excellence. My friends, if it was good enough for Disney, nothing less should ever be accepted by the men and women of our King, the King of extreme!
I want us to take a long, hard look at the King of extreme this morning. We need to come to realize that God is “out there.” Not remote and distant, but taking risks that none of us would dare take, taking action when none of us would move. Take a look at Ephesians 2:1-10 as we begin our study.
In the past you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God. {2} Yes, in the past you lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God. {3} In the past all of us lived like them, trying to please our sinful selves and doing all the things our bodies and minds wanted. We should have suffered God’s anger because of the way we were. We were the same as all other people. {4} But God’s mercy is great, and he loved us very much. {5} Though we were spiritually dead because of the things we did against God, he gave us new life with Christ. You have been saved by God’s grace. {6} And he raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the heavens. He did this for those in Christ Jesus {7} so that for all future time he could show the very great riches of his grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus. {8} I mean that you have been saved by grace through believing. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. {9} It was not the result of your own efforts, so you cannot brag about it. {10} God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing. (Ephesians 2:1-10 NCV)
Isn’t that great?! Our God is the King of extreme. He takes those who have taken His beautiful gift of life and trashed it and turns them into troubadours of His triumphant love. He takes those who have rebelled against His Holy Name and He draws them back to His heart. He takes those who are mired in sin, spiritually dead, and He breathes new life into them. I ask you this morning, “Is He the King of the extreme?” Not convinced? Do you still believe in that “gentle Jesus meek and mild” stuff that you were given in Sunday school so many years ago? Do you still long for “warm fuzzy” sermonettes to stroke your ego and soothe your conscience? Dear friend, you need to know before you leave here this morning that God doesn’t walk the middle road. You’ll find him walking on the edge to bring His extreme mercy, His extreme grace, His extreme love, and His extreme forgiveness to those who are in need.
I love how Paul begins this second chapter of his letter to the church in Ephesus. Paul is speaking to me and you when he says,
In the past you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God. {2} Yes, in the past you lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God. {3} In the past all of us lived like them, trying to please our sinful selves and doing all the things our bodies and minds wanted. We should have suffered God’s anger because of the way we were. We were the same as all other people. {4} But God’s mercy is great, and he loved us very much. (Ephesians 2:1-10)
It is so easy for those of us in the church to dismiss ourselves from the roster of those whom Paul deems as spiritually dead. The way we do that is to conclude that Paul, when he refers to those who “live according to their sinful selves,” is referring to the Dennis Rodmans, Madonnas, Ted Bundys, and Jeffrey Dahmers of the world. I certainly think those types are included in Paul’s audience, but I’m convinced that we who are in the church do ourselves a great disservice when we limit our list to those who exhibit extreme behavior, those who live in a destructive way. Those who murder and maim, rape and riot, drink, drug, and degrade their bodies through detestable sexual practices provide a simple escape for those of us who are more tame, trained, reputable, and respectable.
Those who participate in these kinds of activities are labeled as extreme today, but Paul doesn’t let those of us who refrain from extreme behavior off the hook so easily. I am convinced from my study of God’s Word that there is something worse than extremist, unsociable, aberrant behavior, and that is dead, numbing, existence in which nothing is ever risked, nothing done, nothing thought, nothing stood for which cost anything.
In verse 1, Paul says we were “spiritually dead.” Dead. The Greek word for dead, “nekrou.j” means “dead, useless, unable to respond to God because of moral badness or spiritual alienation, of what is of no benefit morally or spiritually.” Jesus spoke to a church which was dead in the book of Revelation. Jesus said,
Write this to the angel of the church in Laodicea: “The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of all God has made, says this: {15} I know what you do, that you are not hot or cold. I wish that you were hot or cold! {16} But because you are lukewarm–neither hot, nor cold–I am ready to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:14-16 NCV)
The church in Laodicea never ventured out of the middle of the road. They never risked it all for the Kingdom. They never attempted anything which they knew they could never do. They simply ambled into a building each Sunday morning, received their Sunday morning bulletin, sang their Sunday morning songs, prayed their Sunday morning prayers to a Sunday morning God, listened to a Sunday morning sermon, and slithered out the Sunday morning door to leave Sunday and go back to tombs of existence. They were dead, unable to respond to God because of their spiritual complacency and contentment. They were content with Sunday morning, but we serve the God of every moment, every minute, and every motion and movement.
As you read the Word of God you don’t find God among the dead, lifeless souls aimlessly walking around. You find God moving and working among those who are out on the edge. You find God enter into the life of an adulterer who had his lover’s husband murdered and move him to greatness so that even today when you ask a Jew, “Who is the greatest King in the history of Israel?” they will lay back their heads, gaze into the heavens while a twinkle illuminates their face and say, “David, our dear David.”
You will find God move among the red light district of Jericho until He finds the madam in charge. God moved upon her heart and she responded by becoming a working girl of a different sort. Rahab’s found faith is mentioned in Hebrews 11:31, the “Faith Hall of Fame” alongside such notables as Gideon, Joseph, Abraham, and Moses.
You will find God walking a dusty road between Jerusalem and Damascus in search of someone with a fire burning in their soul. God searched in the churches but none was to be found. He searched in the seminaries, but none was to be found. He searched in the women’s groups, but none was to be found. God even searched among the Promise Keepers of Jerusalem for a man of conviction, a man of passion, a man of commitment, but none was to be found. Suddenly, God stumbled upon a man breathing fire. Acts tells us,
In Jerusalem Saul was still threatening the followers of the Lord by saying he would kill them. So he went to the high priest {2} and asked him to write letters to the synagogues in the city of Damascus. Then if Saul found any followers of Christ’s Way, men or women, he would arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem. {3} So Saul headed toward Damascus. As he came near the city, a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. (Acts 9:1-3 NCV)
God found His man. An adversary turned into an advocate. A man breathing the fire’s of hatred and racism who suddenly began to breath the fires of forgiveness and reconciliation. God’s grace won out and you and I have benefited from God’s unbelievable risk!
Throughout history God has been able to accomplish all of His purposes, and He has done so through the lives of those people whose pulse raced wanting more from life, expecting more from life.
As long as there is a pulse there is hope. When the pulse subsides and the monitor maintains a flat-line, tears fall and hope is lost. I know the reality of this truth all too well. I’ve stood at the bedside of those I love and stood by families as they watched the monitor become motionless. When life is gone, hope is gone, dreams are gone, possibilities of something more, something different, something new are gone!
It is this stark, grim reality that makes Paul’s message of hope in Ephesians so extremely incredible. Paul says, “You were dead.” There was no hope for you or me. There was no possibility of life for any of us. The pulse had ceased. The monitor had grown still, but His love broke through. His love broke through. Paul says it in another way, he says, {4} But God’s mercy is great, and he loved us very much.
God’s great mercy, His extreme love has broken through the chaos, the coldness, the lifelessness, and it has been made available to me and you. God’s great mercy has caused the monitor to come to life and let everyone know that life, and life everlasting has come!
I was reminded of the power of God just the other day while I was driving down the road and passed the House of Hope. Just a few years ago the little house that sat down on the corner was an eyesore. There were many who thought the house should be bulldozed and others who would have gladly done the job if they would have had the keys. Something happened at the House of Hope. There was a group of people who were given a vision by Almighty God and they took it to heart. Hammers and nail, sheet rock and shingles, carpet and cabinets were all meticulously put into place with love. New life was breathed into an old broken shell of what use to be a home. Today that rundown shoddy shack is called by a new name, the House of Hope!
What God can do for an old broken down house He can most certainly do for you my friend. Paul writes of God extreme power to transform lives by saying,
{5} Though we were spiritually dead because of the things we did against God, he gave us new life with Christ. You have been saved by God’s grace. {6} And he raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the heavens. He did this for those in Christ Jesus {7} so that for all future time he could show the very great riches of his grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus. {8} I mean that you have been saved by grace through believing. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. {9} It was not the result of your own efforts, so you cannot brag about it.
There are many in this sanctuary this morning who are needing, desperately needing to experience the life God has provided through His son Jesus. It’s not a self-help program. It’s not so that you and I can be prosperous and happy. God has provided new and everlasting life for us so that He might demonstrate to all of creation His extreme love and mercy for His people.
Are you in need this morning? Is life drudgery for you? Do you find yourself dreading each new day? Do you focus more on your memories of the past than on your dreams for the future? Does life seem an endless list of things to do, places to go, people to see, and yet it provides no lasting solace or satisfaction for you? Does your everyday life reflect the extreme activities of love, forgiveness, and grace which resonate in the heart of God or are you simply existing? You need not simply exist any longer my friend. You and I were not given the breath of life by Almighty God so that we might wile away our years until the end. We were created to live, to live in Christ and to experience the extreme grace, mercy, and passion of the Lord.
Two butterflies, colorful and majestic monarchs, sat side by side on a tree limb. Beside them was the ruptured cocoon from which they had just emerged. “Come fly with me,” said the first, flexing his new wings, stretching them to their full span till they looked like magnificently crafted stained glass windows. “Those caterpillar days are gone forever.” “Don’t be silly,” said the other. “We were born caterpillars and we will always remain caterpillars. That’s the way it is.” “Well, then, why did the Maker see fit to give us these wings?” said the one. The other butterfly thought for a moment and then said, “I don’t know. Some sort of cruel joke, I suppose. He did the same thing to the ostrich, you know.” “Nonsense!” said the butterfly. “Look at all the other butterflies. They are flying. What do you say to that?” The second butterfly looked out over the meadow and said, “They’re not flying. They are just being blown about by the wind. Stupid of them, too. Can’t they see it’s dangerous? Easy prey for hungry birds and, when they land, mischievous children as well. I’ll stick to crawling and climbing, thank you very much. It may be slow, but it’s safe and sure.”
Life among the dead, dreary masses may be safe and secure, but it unnatural for you and me my friends. We were born to live, to truly live, and there is no way to truly live unless we live in Christ. Won’t you invite Him in?
Ephesians 2:1-10