get up!

There is more to following Jesus than an all-access pass to heaven after death. This has been the subject of sermons and conversations at my church for the past few months. The point seems obvious - too obvious - to warrant an entire sermon series, focused Bible studies and even weekend seminars. While the intellectual point may be apparent, its application certainly is not. Just look... around.

I am part of a highly-educated and generally well-resourced congregation, so this message has been very challenging and demanding. It has caused some discomfort, some shifting in seats and adjusting of collars; it has also stirred a lot of excitement. Consciously or unconsciously, a lot of us have come to view church as hospice care - it is all about making us more comfortable until we reach our inevitable destination (death, then afterlife). But what all this talk has awakened is our dormant but deep desire for church to be physical therapy - a place where we receive from Jesus and extend to one another help in re-gaining and strengthening muscles (of compassion, hospitality, justice) that have atrophied, so that we can go out as healed people and live a more active and meaningful life in the here and now. Jesus never told us to "go gentle into that good night." His words were, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." (John 5:8)

Following Jesus is an all-access pass to heaven, and the pass is effective immediately.