"Get up, let’s go."

How do you determine your favorite verse? Is it a perfect summary of the Bible, or your life, or some mixture of the two? It’s always interesting to hear how different people love such different verses. But that’s the same for anything, right. Consider movies; How do you determine your favorite movie? We all likely base the whole movie on one beautifully timed moment. Moments like when Mondego first sees the Count of Monte Cristo, or when Doc first tells a blood thirsty Ringo, “I’m your huckleberry.” These moments are so much deeper than the few seconds they last. These moments carry an entire story on their back. So when it comes to picking out a favorite verse, what do you similarly share enthusiastically? Which verse do you lean forward for and give the back story on? 

Genesis 50 comes to mind as a possibility. Joseph is sold in to slavery by his brothers, and eventually ends up as the only one who can help his family survive. The pendulum of circumstances has swung dramatically and the suspense of vendetta has built into one crucial moment, but instead of wrath we find unfathomable grace. Joseph says “..you meant all this for evil, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, the saving of many lives.” Talk about a mic drop! But as prophetic and beautiful as that verse is, that’s way too early in the book to be a front runner for favorite. ‬Though we all probably gave a fist pump, assuredly no one would say Annakin winning the pod race is their favorite scene in Star Wars. 

So what about an opposite approach? You could go with Revelation 21… after centuries of kept promises, stories like Joseph and anticipation through Christ, we finally arrive in the land we’ve always longed for and He says it. He says “I am making everything new!” And somehow on that last page, the real story will begin to unfold in ways we can’t quite describe. But can we circle back to Doc Holiday for a moment? Because what makes that quote so great the first time he says it, is how littered it is with unresolved conflict, the “not yet” is what makes us giddy. Ringo is the tip of the cowboy iceberg and we’re about to see the whole thing get dealt with magnificently. 

“What then shall we say?” as Paul liked to write. Well as I mentioned earlier, my simple point is not to convince you of my own favorite verse (which I will strive for in a moment), but to encourage you to feel the weight of the grand story as you include age old recordings in your Instagram bio. If I were to ask you what your favorite movie was, you’d likely light up with a moment (or two) to describe why. So similarly, is your favorite verse from your favorite book? I hope so! I hope that verse triggers something deep within you where you can help but point to the total beauty of God’s word. When you’re asked by your child what your favorite verse is, I hope you lean forward with a grin and hit pause on Bluey, ‘cause this story is infinitely better. 

Alright, so what’s my favorite verse? It’s John 14:31(b). Pretty riveting when I put it like that, right? Verse 31 says, “but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.” Again, still not that great, so allow me to set the stage a little. 

The words “Get up, let’s go” are positioned in the most perfect place, and it’s wildly applicable to the nearness of our Creator. Consider just for a moment the concept of Immanuel; God with us. The idea, that as Philippians 2 dramatically points out, God left the throne room and stooped to not only a back ally manger, but a place known as the scull, where He was beaten and spit on by the very thing He made. He did that willingly, not against His will, so that we could know more fully His character. If we want to know Jesus’ take on the issues, we can point to His complete revelation of Himself in His life and His word. Oh and if that’s not enough, he’s given us The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, God inside us in order to maintain nearness to those He calls His own. Pause. Think about everything I just said. It’s not just “some Jesus story,” It’s mind numbing. Now hear that God inviting you with Him. Frankly my dear, it doesn’t matter where we are going, I’m in. 

Next though we actually do get to step into the “where” a bit more. Consider where this text is positioned. We’ll start small then scale out. John 14… obviously in between chapters 13 & 15. In John 13, Jesus washes His disciples feet in the most clear illustration of servant leadership pre-cross. In John 14, Jesus makes the famous statement that He is “The Way” in which we should go, He ends the chapter with “Get up, let’s go,” and then in John 15, Jesus gives the beautiful vine and branch illustration stating that apart from Him we can do nothing. So recap, Jesus washes you, instructs you (which would be arguably good enough), but then He graciously invites you to come with Him rather than on your own, and He illustrates that fully in John 15. “Get up, let’s go” is God’s entire message through Jesus’ ministry in flesh. This is where we scale out. Think about Jews and gentiles for a moment. Everything about Jewish culture was exclusivity, the line of Abraham and God’s covenant with His people. Jesus shows up in flesh after roughly 3000 years of thinking that way and says “Get up, let’s go.” And they did, they left the holy huddle, the religious resort, and they met prostitutes and tax collectors where they were in order that they too may be grafted in (Romans 11:13-21). On a similar scale, now consider this simple statement within the canon of scripture as a whole. From Genesis and creation, to Revelation and glorification. He has a sovereign plan to grab you by the heart and invite you to leave what we’ve created and established here, for something infinitely more wonderful There. This is the call to us and we get to be ambassadors to those we love. “Get up, let’s go.” 

Which lands us finally on the last reason this text has become my all time favorite verse; I believe we are to disciple others the same way Jesus did. There’s an idea out there that Christians are supposed to avoid sinners. “What fellowship does light have with darkness (2 Cor. 6:14)?” I used to hear that verse and think that Christians are supposed to retreat and be Perfect little White Washed Pharisees. “What do we have in common with them?!” But it’s the opposite! Jesus did the opposite! We are called to go love “them” because He first loved us! (1 John 1) While we are unlovable- He loves us! (Romans 5:8) And He invites us into a relationship with Him! (John 14) It’s not the light that is overtaken by the darkness, it’s not the light that retreats because it doesn’t want to associate with darkness, it’s the light that penetrates the darkness and the darkness that disappears! We aren’t called into the Kingdom of heaven to look down our nose and use it to our advantage; rather we are called to go and serve humanity in faithful humility. Those who call themselves followers of Christ, have the same mindset as Christ. We go and gracefully enter into the public conversation and joyfully extend the invitation; “Get up, let’s go.”