This week, we’re about giving our all. About living full out, about being alive the way Jesus describes living. “I have come that they might have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10 NRSV). This is what the life of faith offers; this is the example that Paul presents with his full-out life, embracing all that came to him, the good and the bad. This is not to say that we present a life that ends up in jail. For most of us, that isn’t really the result of living a full-bore life of faith, although there are those who invite us to get into “good trouble.”

The abundant life brings change, challenges status quo, works for justice and equality, threatens power and privilege. The life poured out in service draws attention, and the attention is not always positive. This life that just might wear us out, would wear us out if we tried to do it on our own, but it comes with a promise. “But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength” (2 Timothy 4:17 NRSV). We who are called to give everything find that there is more of everything than we knew, because of the one who stood by us. We are sent with a challenge, but more powerfully, we are sent with a promise.