Going All In
By: Rev. Terry Carty
Place: Kingston Springs United Methodist Church
Season: Third Sunday after the Epiphany; Music Appreciation Day
Main Point: Discipleship – what would we be willing to go “all in” for?
We don’t usually think of Jonah’s experience beyond thinking of his fish tale. That must have been a big fish!
But Jonah’s problems are not what I focus on in today’s reading. Look what happened to the Ninevites. Jonah, mister gloom and doom, started walking through that corrupt city telling the people that they would be overthrown in forty days, and … they listened! Not only did they listen, but they did something about it. The whole population from youngest to the oldest totally repented of their corruption and did everything that they were supposed to do to make amends with God and set their lives straight.
They went “all in.”
I am not much of a poker player but I know what ‘all in’ means: it means that you push your whole stack of chips or money – whatever you have left – and wager everything on having the winning cards in your hand. If you win, you win a bunch. But if you lose, you lose it all. I learned that from watching the western TV series Maverick when I was a kid. In fact, most of what I know about poker, I learned from Maverick.
Thinking about going ‘all in’ this week has reminded me of some other images. I still love old western movies and TV reruns. But I have always found it unbelievable how when the bad guys did their inevitable bad thing, the sheriff would run out in the street and say lets go get ‘em – an immediate posse would form with every able-bodied man grabbing a gun and a horse and riding out immediately into who knows what. They would go ‘all in’ which included crossing the desert with no water, riding their poor horses to death, shootouts to the finish, and often giving up their own lives for the cause of good. I don’t really believe that it happened that way in real life.
Or maybe it does. ‘All in’ became the motto for the Auburn Tigers a couple of years ago. The whole school committed to that football season – especially the team and coaches – and it resulted in the national championship.
The stories that we are getting back from our soldiers in Afghanistan are ones that vouch for the ‘all in’ nature of survival in that hostile environment. When attacked, they go ‘all in’ – every fight is the most important one of their life – everything is at stake and no resource is withheld.
When Jesus walked past Simon and Andrew, he said “follow me” and they immediately left their lives and went with Jesus. James and John did the same. The went ‘all in’, left livelihood, families, homes, and followed Jesus to who knows where.
It seems unlikely – like the posses out of my beloved old cowboy movies. It is hard to see ourselves giving up everything like that and going out to tell people to repent and believe the good news. But, like the Auburn Tigers and the soldiers, the disciples went ‘all in’. They put their whole lives on the table.
I think that Jesus still calls us to follow him. I think that Jesus calls us to put all of our resources into living lives that are consistent with his emphasis on loving God and loving humanity. I think that Jesus wants us on his posse to embrace goodness and reject evil. I think that Jesus wants us to go ‘all in.’
But going ‘all in’ is a scary thing to do. That is why I don’t gamble – I don’t like the risk. I like safe things. My tendency is to hold back. But it has been a long time since Jesus walked along the Sea of Galilee. We have seen that the risk that the disciples took by going ‘all in’ has changed lives for centuries. We have seen glimpses of God’s kingdom in our midst and have enjoyed the ‘all in’ love of the saints in our own lives.
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What would it take to go ‘all in’ for each of us? What would we risk? And what would be the gain? When the disciples followed Jesus, they went along to learn what ‘all in’ would mean to them. Are we willing in this day and time to follow Jesus and discover what our going ‘all in’ would mean to the happiness of our families, to the welfare of those who are barely getting by, to our mental health, to our spiritual security?
Jesus still calls ‘follow me.’ Find ways this week to respond, “here I am Lord.”
Go all in.