Recently I marveled at the awesome majesty of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The soaring peaks of grandeur, the sheer cliffs dropping away at the side of the road, the Elk trying ever so hard to redecorate my car by running in front"
It was truly a magical experience to spend time in God's garden.
During our short stay in Colorado, I embarked on a climbing adventure with my three children and went hiking up the side of a mountain. Now Sam and Laura, ten and eight respectively, seemed to have a healthy fear of chasms, cliffs, cutaways and cactus" but not Oliver (aged five). Death defying leaps, descending at full speed ahead, and cries of "wow this is cool' punctuated the end of a Colorado summer high in the Rockies.
And in the middle of an almost heart attack, it struck me that my five year old boy has no concept of his own mortality. The closest he has ever come to death has been his goldfish Bob " who was recently dispatched in a porcelain grave. In his mind, nothing could touch him; he was going to live forever!
We had reached Colby, Kansas on our way home to Tennessee when we heard the news. Steve Irwin, dead at 44. The man who seemed to constantly cheating death as he lept on to the backs of crocodiles, shouting "Crikey' all the while, was indeed mortal. The news here in hometown USA has been saturated with Steve these past few days, with Animal Planet - a television station " planning a Steve Irwin Croc Hunter Marathon this coming weekend. And in the middle of this national outpouring of grief, I feel terrible for his wife Terri, and their two small children. Sure the world has lost an icon, but they have lost a husband and a father.
Then came death number two. Colin Thiele, famed writer of such classics as Storm Boy, Sun on the Stubble, and my personal favourite, Blue Fin. As a young 'un, I grew up near Port Lincoln in South Australia where the book was based, and also near Streaky Bay where the movie was filmed. Holidaying on the shores of Streaky every summer, I still remember the exact location of the house and the jetty rail cart used in the movie.
Then death number three. As tragic as the first " Peter Perfect, King of the Mountain, died age 61 in Western Australia whilst competing in the sport he knew and loved. A man not without character flaws " he drove for Holden " but a man who was seen as immortal and enduring, a symbol of the great Aussie bloke.
Never before in my memory has Australia experienced such tragic national loss as happened in the first few days of Spring in 2006.
Life is so fleeting, so fragile, so dangerous.
But the antidote to fragility and danger is not cotton wool. Our God does not call us to circle the wagons and protect ourselves from life at every turn. We are called to live a life that risks the way of Jesus.
Sometimes that risk ends in persecution and death " as in the case of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his children at the hands of Hindu extremists. But when we risk the way of Jesus our focus seems to shift from our mortality. Slowly the blurry image of eternity begins to take shape.
Steve Irwin had the courage to risk his life in the pursuit of that which he passionately believed in " the care and protection of animals. In the process Irwin lost his life. Brocky took unimaginable risks for decades behind the wheel, to the delight of race fans coast to coast. In the process, Brocky lost his life.
One of the many TV tributes to Irwin featured footage of a recent interview. Irwin, asked what would happen if he died, responded with a statement that is eerily prophetic in hindsight:
"I want to be remembered for my enthusiasm and passion".
Just a few months ago on his website, Brocky wrote,
"There is much that can be achieved by harnessing the interest, enthusiasm and passion that people have for car racing and focusing that on community and personal issues. I am working on this and as such, more will be revealed in the fullness of time."
Enthusiasm and passion" enthusiasm and passion" enthusiasm and passion.
We hear these words but most Christians don’t understand them. When we should be about the completion of the Great Commission, we are constantly side-tracked by things that sap our enthusiasm and passion. The risk of sticking your neck out for anything, much less Christ, has become too hard, too expensive, too time consuming, too "risky'.
We could learn a lot from Irwin and Brock. Get passionate!! Be enthusiastic!! Become a revolutionary! And who cares if we fall flat on our faces, become a laughing stock, or even lose our life in the process? Those who are not willing to lose their life for the sake of the Gospel have no business calling themselves "Christian'.
It's time we put aside our security blankets " whatever they may be " and rise up with courage and commitment to tell the world about Jesus, risking the way of grace and love. Though we may be mortal, the cause of Christ is eternal. Come and join me in risking the dangerous way of Jesus! You could very well lose your prestige, your money, your possessions, your life " but so what?! You can't take it with you when you go.
Irwin and Brocky lived an enthusiastic and passionate life to the fullest, and in the living, lost their lives. Thiele, though living a full life and dying in his twilight years, lived his life as such to bring joy to the faces of children (and adults) all over our sun-burnt land.
So" where's our enthusiasm for the Kingdom? Where is our passion for living? Where is the "joy' of our salvation?
Wake up church ! Jesus commands us to go into all the world, leaving behind our excuses and failures and everyday ordinariness and risking the message of eternity, preaching it from Broome to Brisbane, Darwin to Dubbo, Sydney to Swan Hill and Melbourne to Murray Bridge.
Song of Solomon chapter 8 (The Message).
Love is invincible facing danger and death.
Passion laughs at the terrors of hell.
The fire of love stops at nothing"”
it sweeps everything before it.
Flood waters can’t drown love,
torrents of rain can’t put it out.
The kings are dead - Steve Irwin, king of the crocs; Colin Thiele, king of the kids; Peter Brock, king of the mountain.
Long live the King. Jesus.
Mike and Amy Rayson and their children left Australia for Tennessee in August 2005, where they quickly discovered Walmart and Chucky Cheese! They are missionaries to the local church in the United States of America.
