His name is Hans Rey, and he likes to ride bikes. On his roof.

Yes, you heard right: On his ROOF.

Every once in a while, Rey goes down into the garage of his little hillside house in Laguna Beach, California, and looks over the 12 bikes he has stored there. He might pick out the gray GT Ruckus, take it into his backyard, climb on, and then bunny-hop it up 16 stairs to a deck.

From there he'll jump it onto a reclining chair, then onto the deck railing, then onto the roof, where he'll do a front wheel-stand on the downslope, turn, ride up to the chimney, jump three feet up and perch on the chimney top. Sports Illustrated reports that this makes him look "very much like some kind of bicycle-factory weather vane."

He'll finish with a chimney wheelie that he maintains as he jumps back onto the downslope, then converts into a front wheel-stand before he shoots off the gutter and 10 feet into the backyard pool, where he bobs up smiling as if to say, "Bet you haven't seen that before."

That's for sure.

Is he crazy? Well, maybe, but he's also an extreme mountain biker. Maybe the best in the world. And remember, kids, he's a trained professional -- so don't try this at home!

Hans Rey can do so many unbelievable things on a bike that people have been trying for years to come up with a nickname that does justice to his two-wheel talents. The media has called him all kinds of things, but perhaps the most fitting nickname is the one he invented himself: No Way Rey.

He calls himself No Way Rey because, he says, each time his friends in California would dare him to try a seemingly impossible jump, climb, downhill or rock-hop jig, they would say, "No way you can do that, dude." Then he would go ahead and do it.

No Way Rey. It really seems to fit. From leaping off rooftops and rock crops to riding down a 1,000-meter waterfall, this extreme mountain biker performs stunts that others haven't even dreamed of. (Craig Vetter, "How does he do that?" Sports Illustrated, October 14, 2002, http://guessthecover.si.cnn.com/mp/gtc-entry)

But Hans Rey is not the first to hear the words, "No way you can do that, dude." The very same sort of doubts were raised by people who gathered around Jesus throughout his ministry. I want you to get involved in this sermon and play the role of the people as I tell this story - please respond with the words NO WAY every time I say, "And the people said … NO WAY!" Give it a try now. And the people said … NO WAY!

Here we go. In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and Jesus said, "Be silent, and come out of him!" (Luke 4:33-35). And the people said … NO WAY!

When several people brought a paralyzed man on a bed to Jesus, he said, "I say to you, stand up and take your bed and go to your home" (5:24). And the people said … NO WAY!

Jesus commanded his disciples, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you" (6:27-28). And the people said … NO WAY!

In the house of a dead girl, Jesus took the little one by the hand and called out, "Child, get up!" (8:54). And the people said … NO WAY!

Then he told his disciples, "The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised" (9:22). And the people said … NO WAY!

And after his resurrection, Jesus promised them, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). And the people said … NO WAY!

To all these things, people said, "No way you can do that, dude." Absolutely no way. Then he would go ahead and do it.

You could call him Jesus (No Way) Christ.

The ministry of Jesus was full of "no way" miracles, "one way" teachings, and " new way" experiences of the power of God. This extreme messiah drove out demons, healed the ill, taught love of enemies, raised the dead, predicted his own resurrection, and promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to all of his followers. Then he was lifted up to heaven in the Ascension, and a cloud took him totally out of sight (Acts 1:9).

To such a tale, you might be tempted to say, "No way!" But the testimony of Holy Scripture tells us, "Yes ... Way!" The jaw-dropping story of Jesus (No Way) Christ gives us a new way to experience the power of God in human life, and a new opportunity to channel that divine energy into world-changing work.

Is there any way we can do this? Jesus says we have the power. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can become No Way Christians following a No Way Christ.

The time has come for us to see the work of ministry as a kind of an extreme sport, like mountain-biking or BMX. BMX stands for "Bicycle Motocross," and it was created in California in the early 1970s by a bunch of kids on modified Schwinn Stingray bikes -- kids who went out to a vacant lot and created a brand new sport of their own. Today, the sport involves more than 150,000 riders, ranging in age from 4-year-old children to adults in their late 50s. BMXers have a distinctive terminology, of course -- one that can help us to define ourselves as No Way Christians:

First, there are the Flatlanders. These riders generally stay on the ground, and their tricks revolve around different ways of riding a bike without touching the pedals. These stunts can be quite difficult, but they are not terribly dangerous -- this category is probably the safest area of the sport.

You won't see these particular bikers doing jumps off rooftops into swimming pools!

If you are a Flatlander Christian, you're down-to-earth and committed to the meeting of physical and spiritual needs. Like the seven servants selected in chapter six of the book of Acts, people who were "full of the Spirit and of wisdom" (6:3), you commit yourself to meeting the needs of the most vulnerable members of the community. You collect canned goods for a food closet, wash the clothes of the homeless at the Lamb Center, act as a mentor to a single mother, support one of the Children of Chernobyl, say a prayer with a sick church member in the hospital, and share a passage of Scripture with a nursing home resident.

This is not a dangerous form of ministry, but it is essential to the health and growth of the Christian community. Acts tells us that when the seven servants performed their tricks, "the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem" (6:7).

The second group of No Way Christians is made up of the Vert Riders. As the name implies, these bikers "go vertical" -- they take after their skateboarding friends, and get "big air" as they fly out of the u-shaped half-pipe ramp. Vert Riders fly as high as they can, performing crowd-pleasing stunts such as no-handed, 540-degree spins ... back flips, front flips, and flairs.

Christian Vert Riders are determined to get closer to God through creative, inspiring, and heartfelt worship. They are launched toward the heavens by lively singing and passionate prayer, and they get "big air" as they enjoy the emotional charge of a great sermon, or the inspiration of a gorgeous anthem. They know what Hans Rey is talking about when he says, "Riding is almost like meditation."

Vert Riders are always zipping back and forth in the half-pipe of a service of worship, gliding between tradition and innovation, and between comfort and challenge. The most important thing for these riders is that worship never be boring, because they know that the God we serve is NOT a boring God. The old and the new always have to be blended, because the Lord our God speaks to us not only from an old and familiar past ... but from a fresh and unfamiliar future!

I think of myself as a Christian Vert Rider, leading you in a service of worship, along with other staff members and volunteers in this church. I know that I'm going to fall off my bike sometimes, and even get banged up in some nasty crashes, but I wouldn't dream of doing anything else.

The final group of No Way Christians is the Street-riders, bikers whose routines consist of jumping gaps, grinding, and various other stunts. These folks are not afraid of encountering and impacting the world as they hit the streets, and their bikes are generally very strong due to the stresses of landing on concrete. ("About BMX," BMX for Life Website, www.angelfire.com. Retrieved November 18, 2002)

Jesus speaks about Street-riding Christians right before his ascension: They are the ones who will be his witnesses "in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Street-riders are not afraid to talk about their faith, and to express their belief in the love of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the saving work of Jesus Christ. They are fully prepared for people to say, "No way, dude," but they don't let rejection get them down. Like Street-riders who have taken a fall, they pick themselves up and hop right on the bike again.

So, what kind of a Christian are you? A Flatlander, a Vert Rider, or a Street-rider?

All three are essential parts of the X-Games -- the Christ-Games -- that we are invited to play. Each of us has been challenged by Jesus (No Way) Christ to continue his work in the world, and we have been given the amazing Holy-Spirit-power needed to get the job done.

This is a New Way, not a No Way. So let's hit the streets. Amen.

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