This devotion was written and shared with our IMPACT campers by Liv, one of the IMPACT Program Coordinators in Summer 2019.
The theme of IMPACT this Summer is FULL SEND. What are some things you think of when I say “Full Send”?
We asked some Camp Luther staff members what it means to FULL SEND, and here’s what they said:
“Give everything you’ve got without always knowing the result”-Flow
“Hold nothing back.” -Flow
“Going all in, no holding back, devoting your entire mind and heart into it” - Timber
“To literally or metaphorically dive headfirst into whatever you are doing.” -Lucero
“When you don’t know what you’re doing, so you say ‘this may be wrong but I’m gonna do it!’” -Sojo
Our theme is based on a passage from the book of Philippians. Check it out below:
Philippians 2:3-11
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
So, for some background, this is Paul saying all this. Paul is a cool dude with a wicked story. Paul used to kill people who claimed to believe in Jesus. Yet here he is writing a letter to the people of Philippi (a church he established) telling the people to embody the attitude of Christ. Talk about a turn around. Paul charges people in this letter to be selfless, to be humble, to put others first yet to still take care of yourself, and to cling to God among other things. Before Paul was created, before Paul assassinated Christians, before he had a change of heart, before he planted churches, and even before we talk about him here today, Paul was known and loved by Jesus. No matter how bad it got, Jesus loved him, and Paul chased after him (one way or another).
So how does this relate to the IMPACT FULL SEND theme? When we say FULL SEND, a lot of the time it is in high risk situations. Crazy activities like cliff diving, rule breaking, viral video making-type stuff right? Well, who is to say that we shouldn’t full send, hold nothing back, give everything, devote our entire minds and hearts into having the same attitude as Christ Jesus had? Let’s dive deeper into what that looks like.
Can you imagine being Peter in his denial at Jesus’ death, John the beloved with his broken heart at the crucifixion, or, really, any of the apostles? Can you even imaging being Judas, the one whom Jesus anonymously called out at the last Supper? Can you imagine knowing that you were the one guilty for the plan to betray Jesus. It is incomprehensible. Fortunately for us, the Bible doesn’t call us to embody their attitudes, but rather the attitude of Christ Jesus.
There is an article that I’ve been moderately obsessed with lately called, “Jesus Knew…But Judas Ate Too.” It’s by Nic Burlson. It is really short. Take a look.
Think about this for a second. Jesus knew. He goes into that room with His disciples. He knows He is going to be betrayed. He knows it is Judas who will turn against him. He knows that He has been sold out for a handful of silver. Stabbed in the back by one He has poured His life into. Yet, in that room, hours before the death of Jesus, Judas ate too. Jesus fed Judas too. Jesus prayed for Judas too. Jesus washed Judas’ feet too. I struggle to fathom that kind of love. A love that would feed the mouth that deceived you. A love that would wash the treasonous feet of the traitor. A love that could forgive even the vilest of betrayals. I honestly struggle to comprehend it. And then, suddenly, I realize that I’m Judas. And in that moment, I’m so thankful & altogether overwhelmed that Judas ate too.
This article does not call us to embody Judas, it says that we are Judas. I think about how many times I sin, how many times I have metaphorically “sold out Jesus for even less than 30 pieces of silver”. But what’s more than my sin, my brokenness, my shame, and my guilt is that Jesus knows all of it. He knows me and all of the dirt and baggage I carry. He takes it upon His shoulders, carried it to the cross, and loves me still. He did all that. He died and rose again for you and for me.
So as I look at Judas in the mirror, I know Jesus loves me still. As I recognized that you might see the same Judas in your mirrors, I know that Jesus loves you still. As Paul looked at Judas in his mirror, he knows that Jesus loved him still and by the inspired word of God charges the people of Philippi and us to strive to have the attitude of Christ Jesus. We are called to FULL SEND into humility, into serving, into love.
As followers of Jesus, we are called to FULL SEND.