All In

Mark 8:31-38

Don't put all of your eggs into one basket. That's wisdom that makes some sense. If you collect a basket full of eggs and you drop the eggs, the eggs break, then you don't have any eggs!

The saying “don't put all of your eggs” is used to refer to situations other than that of collecting eggs from your chickens. It can refer to a course of action that you put all of your resources into following. If it fails you lose everything. This is of course the opposite of the phase and idea of going “all in.”

All in is a poker term meaning that you bet everything on the hand of cards you are currently holding. It says you are so sure of what you have that you are willing to stake everything on it.

Now I have to admit I know little to nothing about poker. My dad taught me how to play when I was about 12 years old and I have long since forgot how to play. As for making bets and wagers the closest I come to that is watching Jeopardy on T.V. But I have to say that I am an “all in” kind of guy.

It may take me a while to make a move or to come to a decision but when I do I like to follow that course of action to its destination. Commitment and loyalty are important to me. Diane and I were committed to keeping three siblings together when we were considering adoption, then a fourth sibling came our commitment remained the same...keep the family together. And so we are walking that path through all the experiences that that commitment has started.

They say don't “put all your eggs in one basket.” “Don't go all in.” I say if you have two baskets, then you have doubled your chances of losing half your eggs. All In? There is something about a shared fate.

When a family, be it a nuclear family or a church family or the human family chooses together, a course of action and commits to it in unity there is strength in enduring what may come. There will always be challenges. There will always be bumps in the road. But when you are “all in” you are invested. When you are “all in,” you find ways to overcome challenges. When you are “all in” you can also make the mistake of narrowing your vision too much.

The question has to be for us: what are we willing to go “all in” for? Some folks, especially now as we are in presidential campaign season are willing to go “all in” for a political party. Some folks go all in on a particular issue.

What do you go “all in” for? Anything?

During this season of Lent we as the community of Christians have committed to introspection, to fasting and self-denial and to considering our own mortality. It is a season of pairing down. It is a season of removing the unnecessary from our lives, of reminding ourselves what is really important and what we truly are willing to go “all in” for.

I was so encouraged this week when I got a call from someone who had a vision for God will for that persons life. It is a grand vision with no clear answer as to how to get there but it is certainly something that will be a conduit for the love of God.

The ministries of this church reach out to so many people. The meals that you provide directly at the community kitchen, and the ones that you provide indirectly with your gifts to the Haiti Hot Lunch program make an actual physical difference in peoples lives. That is something to get behind. But God may be calling you do do something else. As wonderful as the ministries of this church are, there is something in your heart that is growing, something that God planted there. Nurture it, explore it, and share it. Because there are lots of people with lots of gifts waiting to waiting to use them to serve God. And your vision may be the one that God is calling us to go all in for.

In the scripture lesson today Jesus was telling his disciples that he was going all in. He was saying that he was going to suffer and he was going to be killed. Jesus was telling them that the course of action that he was taking would surely lead to these things. He was willing to go through all this because of his love for us. He was willing to sacrifice his comfort and his life so that those that follow him can have eternal life. The bumps on the road were pretty big to say the least but, to Jesus, they were worth it because of what the result would be.

Peter couldn't see the big picture. Why go through all that? Why go through the trouble? Why go through the pain? Why put yourself in a position like that? Why would you want to leave us? Peter loved Jesus. Peter certainly did not want Jesus to suffer or die. I am guessing that the rest of Jesus' disciples felt the same way but Peter was the only one with the guts to say it to Jesus.

He said it to Jesus privately. He took Jesus aside to have this one on one conversation to get Jesus to reconsider. But Jesus turned and answered him by speaking to all the disciples and the crowd. If any of you wants to be my follower you must put aside you selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for your self, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life.

So what do we go “all in” for? Jesus said it should not be anything that is for selfish ambition or to keep the life or lifestyle that we have carved out for ourselves. But we should go all in for the burden that Jesus lays on us. To be his disciple means we follow him without reservation using the gifts he has given us to honor God.

Jesus said to Peter “get behind me Satan!” because Peter was acting as an adversary. Peter was thinking selfishly. Peter was trying to divide his eggs between a few different baskets.

When it comes to following Jesus, he wants us to be “all in," bumps and all.  

The time did come for Jesus to suffer and he did die and on the third day he rose again defeating the power of death for ever. On the night before he died he took bread and broke it...