Go Big or Go Home!

You’ve likely heard this expression before, and I have too. But I’ve always thought it was sports related, so I didn’t pay much attention. But Go Big or Go Home (GBGH) is used when you want to encourage someone to be extravagant or do something to the fullest. It’s a philosophy that encourages one to be bold, even daring—go big or go home.

During this long season of pandemic, it seems the virus is going big and we’re the ones going home and staying there. The virus is not the only thing that’s getting too big, too bold, too extravagant. All the other news can also be too big to handle. In addition to the daily COVID count increases, there’s continuing social unrest and political distress.

That’s why I often wait for the feel-good stories at the end of a news broadcast; when they tell about someone who has benefited big by someone else’s graciousness. Or when someone has done something unimaginable, bold, or courageous (gone Big) and the reward was multiplied.

· A Lutheran church in Missouri that organized a “killing the medical debt” campaign. Through financial gifts large and small they paid off 1.5 million dollars of medical bills.

· A former little league coach, who donated a bucket of baseballs with a note about how much he loved playing with his son and grandson long ago and hoped someone else would enjoy using the baseballs with their children. The family that received the balls invited him to play catch with their young son; and a relationship of love and playfulness with their “new grandpa” developed and flourished.

· An 18-year-old high school senior bagging groceries overheard the cashier telling a customer there wasn’t enough money to cover his groceries and he would have to put some back. The young man gave the man $35 so he could have the food he needed.

They took what they had—the gift of compassion, the ability to advocate and organize, the desire for connection, the joy of loving their neighbors known and unknown—and received an abundance of love, connection, compassion and joy in the process.

During this season leading up to Advent, we hear great “Go Big or Go home” stories from Jesus. In today’s parable Jesus tells a story about a landowner who had a fortune. He was leaving for a while and entrusted his money to the servants in charge of keeping his property prospering. They each got a different amount-five talents, two talents and one talent.

Before we go any further-let's talk about that money. Because we hear 5-2-1 it’s easy to imagine it’s an insignificant amount. But a “talent” was an astronomical amount of money, equivalent to 20 years of wages. In the United States today the average income is roughly $50,000, so just one talent is a million dollars!

The landowner entrusted these servants with a lot of money. More than they had ever managed before. What are they to do with the money? Go big? Or go home? One “went home” so to speak, and buried the great gift entrusted to him. And two dared to do something they had never done before—they worked with the valuable gift and the gift was multiplied.

Too often we use Jesus’ parables as allegories, attempting to assign each character to someone or something in the real world. For instance, a preacher might use this in stewardship season to say, “Jesus is the landowner and we are the servants who need to use our money wisely so that we will be rewarded in the afterlife.” As one pastor reminded me, parables are more like gymnasiums for thinking, designed to help us catch a glimpse of an idea or a way of living that is otherwise difficult to describe.

In this case, today’s parable asks us to imagine a daring, fruitful way of life. As he often does, Jesus uses a “how much more” argument to make his point. If this harsh master can invite resourceful servants into his joy, how much more will the God of love and justice do the same?

God always “goes big” with the gifts God gives to us. More extravagant, more abundant, more life giving than we can possibly imagine. We find our home in the abundant gifts of God. The abundant life of God. The abundant joy of God.

What a good and hard word for us right now as we face big COVID related restrictions, big news cycles and big losses. Can we live in God’s joy, abundant life and love, even in this?

I asked HT members how they are experiencing joy these days. The answers were fun to read and reminded me that we are living in God’s abundant joy, even now.

· Relationships with immediate family are being strengthened

· There lots of down time to cuddle with pets

· Cooking and baking as become more fun as we try new and creative foods

· Keeping a gratitude journal

· Savoring the gorgeous fall colors and cool fall weather enjoying the outdoors.

And so--- Is there abundant joy, even in this? Even in a pandemic? Yes. Though it may not look as we envisioned. It may not look as we desired. We live into the joy of God’s presence when we go big with the gifts entrusted to us.

· We practice generosity, so that we might be more generous, even on the days that are hard.

· We practice graciousness, so that we might be more gracious, even on the days that are hard.

· We practice joy, so that we might be more joyous- even on the days that are hard.

Practicing these gifts, and others entrusted to us, won’t always be easy, that’s certain. There may be times we prefer to go and hide in sorrow, anxiety, and grief. But I’m confident the Holy One can hold us in our anxiety and in generosity, keep us in graciousness, even in the midst of sorrow, and invite us into joy even when full of grief.

It's counterintuitive, but joy and sorrow can co-exist. Think of times you’ve attended a lunch following a funeral. People gather in a fellowship hall or home filling it with laughter, stories, and memories. Even in deep sorrow, gratitude and love abound. We laugh through tears, feeling grief and joy at the same time.

As the apostle Paul reminds the Thessalonians in his letter. There is an abundance of what we need to survive and thrive in God’s embrace. He says, “Put on the breastplate of love and faith...for God has destined you, not for wrath, but for everlasting life in Jesus Christ. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing”

Maybe if Paul were writing the letter today, he might say something like this, “Team, you’ve been given an overabundance of everything you need for a full and rich life. Use these gifts, as I can already see that you are doing. Be bold and extravagant as God is. Go big, not home, and trust the one who has welcomed you into the joyful presence of God.