All In

Luke 9:51-62

Most of us are familiar with the saying "All In." For those of us not, it's a poker term which states you are going to place all of your money on one hand. The hope is that you win, of course, but it's in the strategies of going All In that can be found interesting.

Most poker players will tell you the act of going all in is done only when you are certain, absolutely certain, the other player cannot win. Notice I did not say if you can win, rather if you think the other player cannot.

I have seen players who are holding nothing more than a pair go all in and win a hand because they knew for certain the other player didn't have enough confidence that they were holding a better hand. This action is better known as "the bluff."

Playing a poker hand and going all in takes courage, confidence, and, most of all, the willingness to lose everything. As a friend of mine puts it, "You live by the bluff, you die by the bluff."

In our passage today I see a Jesus who is willing to go all in, every time. I think the difference here is that he holds a hand that will always win. Jesus is approached by two people in this passage. The first commits to Jesus that he will follow Jesus anywhere. Jesus tells him that he actually has nowhere to go.To put it in poker terms, Jesus has no chips.

The second person invited by Jesus to follow him. The response is one of  uncertainty and doubt. Jesus tells him that there's no room for doubt on this journey. In both instances Jesus calls their bluff. In doing so Jesus has won the hand with less than a pair, and although he plays with no chips his winnings exceed all expectations.

If we are going to follow Jesus we have to be willing to go all in, all the time. Jesus gives us the courage, strength, and willingness to travel the road with him regardless of how many chips we have. As long as we have the love of God as one of our cards we can never lose.