Did you ever wonder what a beautiful and tan bikinied young woman had to do with drinking beer? Did you ever wonder about a whole street full of people could so happy that they dance and sing because they are drinking a soft drink? Did you ever wonder if buying that convertible really would improve yourself image?

Probably not. If you are like me then you probably pay very little attention to commercials and when they are over you probably don’t even remember what the commercial was advertising. But such advertising must work either subliminally or consciously. Because I don’t think there is anyone who does not respond on some level to these commercials. There used to be a coffee commercial about someone coming home for Christmas that used to bring me to tears every time I saw it. Christmas does that to me. It creates an impulse or reaction in me. And I think that is just what the advertiser is trying to do. They want me to associate their product with my response to Christmas, or the woman in the bikini, or singing and dancing with such happiness that I could be starring on Broadway. Basic stuff. Advertising 101. Nothing wrong with that because we all can decide for ourselves, we are adults, and we must decide for ourselves. It is called taking responsibility. And we really cannot live in a free society if we refuse to do that.

But as free as we are we do have these impulses and we come by them honestly. Abbie has a killer lollipop Jones. She loves lollipop. If you ever wanted to sell Abbie something you should make it the shape of a lollipop. It is amazing her reaction to this candy. I believe that in the moment when she wants a lollipop she is quite sure that she must have that lollipop. I believe she is quite sure that having that lollipop will be close to Nirvana. You should see her. She leans way forward with her hands on her hips and screams I want payeee!!!! That is what she calls a lollipop. I want payeee!!! It is really cute once or twice but it is so grating after that. The truth is she does want payeeeee!!!! And you should see here when she gets it. She holds that thing right in front of her face and dances around saying, “I got payeeee!!!!” And then the ensuing sugar high lets you know exactly how much she loves it.

But you know she seldom ever finishes the thing. There is another impulse that comes along not too long after that and she is on to the belief that it is the thing that if she has it will be Nirvana. And so on and so forth. Perfectly natural she is not yet two.

The trouble is that such impulses last a lifetime. I don’t think they remain as strong and I do think that we develop tools to cope with them. And sometimes we even begin to understand that fulfilling impulses has a limited enjoyment at best. It is called maturity.

A mature person does not act on impulse. Impulse is a whim. It might be fun but usually anything we do on impulse has about as much lasting positive impact as my daughter’s lollipop. That is why Jesus always discouraged impulsiveness. Faith is not about whim or impulse it is about commitment and endurance in the face of great challenges. Jesus needed people with maturity around him. Perhaps that is why the disciples were so disappointing to him.

Peter is probably the most impulsive of any of the disciples. He always wants to rush in. He always wants to lead the way. He always bites on what Jesus is offering and yet hardly ever follows through.

You might remember what he said to Jesus when Jesus told the disciples that they would abandon him in the end. Peter said maybe them but not me. Peter not only abandoned Jesus but also denied him. When Jesus walked out on water Peter thought that was a good idea and bid Jesus to have him come out of the boat too. But as soon as he got out of the boat Peter panicked and screamed for Jesus to save him. And in the reading for today he is the first and only person to put forth that Jesus is the Christ but as soon as he hears even a little about what that might mean he rebukes Jesus. Rebukes him.

Peter had great impulses. His intentions were good intentions. But Jesus does not need good intentions. He does not need people buying on impulse. That doesn’t bring the kingdom. Commitment and endurance do.

That is why you hear Jesus say things like, “For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Or “If any one would come after me, let him (or her) deny him (or her) self and take up his (or her) cross and follow me.” This is not the soft sell. This is not appealing to impulse buying. This is a challenge to all that hear it and there is no way to reinterpret it to be anything less than quite challenging. Jesus is especially clear here. If you don’t want to give this your all don’t even bother.

This is not the easy way. This is not the way of easy harmony. This is probably going to hurt some. This is probably going to demand more of you than you want to give. Faith is not a vicarious activity it is facing the crap in your life and in this world and not backing down. It is about making changes that need to be made. It is about giving your life over to your God in a way that seems like you are losing everything. It is Mother Theresa choosing to live among the poor. It is Mahatma Ghandi going on a hunger strike until his people quit killing and acting violently against one another. It is what Dr. King meant when he said I don’t care about the accolades I just want to leave a committed life behind. It is what you and I can do every day when we choose to do the will of God that usually takes a little more time and a little more effort.

It takes time to visit those who are lonely. It takes effort to remake relationships. It hurts to admit that you might have been wrong but what you want is reconciliation. It takes energy to put pride aside and reach out to those you might have hurt. It is a little awkward to go and visit the gravely ill. It is uncomfortable to talk about the really deep things in your life. It costs to help those who need help.

Jesus knows it and he says it. If you want things to be made right, if you want to do God’s will you have to want to give yourself away. And that is a tough sell. Especially today. We are already wearing ourselves out. We are already without any more time. We are already spent. What more can we give to God?

It is a good argument except that if we were really savvy about our time and lives we would really hear what Jesus is saying and offering. Jesus says give of your whole being and you will receive a real life, not just a shell of busy-ness that leaves you exhausted. The claim here is that if you give yourself to the right things you will have more energy for everything else. You will be better able to cope with everything else. If you give rather than trying to gather and horde you will have more true riches than you ever dreamed of.

You see Jesus is clear. Our question cannot be what is in this kingdom for me? Frame the question that way and it will never be enough and it will always be disappointing. But if we turn it around and ask simply, “How can I help, what can I give?” the world is different and we are different and we receive far more than we could ever acquire. Our very lives.