Choose Life... Give it up

After what I can only describe as a weak sermon on Sunday, I read with envy the lessons for this week. Having strung quotes together like I was writing a seminary paper, I am excited by the possibility this week of really hearing what the Spirit has to say as Keith preaches on some awesome texts. My lectionary group met this morning, and we dealt with the whole range of readings. It was interesting to see how we each dealt with them as some preach social justice, some preach stewardship, some preach discipleship, but all preach the gospel. What I was left with was an understanding across Deuteronomy 30.15-20 and Luke 14.25-33 that to choose life is to choose to give life up.

The call in Luke to hate mother and father, wife and children, sister and brother, and life itself is a toughy Then it goes on to again call us to pick up our cross and "give up" all our possessions. Luke and his cost of discipleship, jeez. A great homiletical approach came from our discussion however. The call in Luke 14.25-33 is a call to the Major Leagues. Very few of us are actually called to such a level of discipleship. But everyone of us is called to play the game. The most basic commandment, to love God and love neighbor means to hate (read here give up) life itself. We cannot play the game, we cannot walk as a disciple of Jesus without at least, AT LEAST, giving up our lives for his service. To, as Moses says, "choose life," is to give it up for the sake of the gospel. That is the very least we can do and still be called followers of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

From there some of us will be called to AA or AAA ball as we turn our relationships with those we love over to God, knowing that they are gifts from him alone; not possessions for us to latch tightly onto. A very small percentage of us will be called up to the majors where we will be expected to give up all of our possessions, again knowing that they too are gifts from God alone; not things which we can hoard. This very elite group of Bonhoeffer's and Theresa's (even in her doubt) will be given the chance to measure up with the greatest pro player of all time, God himself, Jesus Christ. The rest of us will try to measure up to them, or two lesser saints along the way.

All in all; to choose life, a real life the way God intended it to be, is to give it up, the way God intended it to be. I only hope that I can someday make it to AA ball.