“Baggage Claim” – A United Church of Christ StillSpeaking Daily Devotional by The Rev. Kaji Douša

[They asked him,] “In the resurrection, then, for which of the seven will she be wife? For they all had her.” Jesus answered them, “You all are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God… God is God not of the dead, but of the living.” And when the crowd heard it, they were astounded at his teaching. – Matthew 22:28-29, 32-33 (as translated by Wilda C. Gafney in Year A)

Many Christians spend a lot of time thinking about how to get to heaven. My guess is: fewer think about what we need when we get there.  

Still, in this life, we carry much that’s unhelpful. Why? 

That tension frames this exchange between Jesus and some Sadducees. Their question reveals the hidden premise they’d already packed for heaven: if we need it here, surely we’d need it there.

They ask Jesus about resurrection, but their question treats a grieving woman—a woman who’s had to bury seven husbands—like a problem to solve. They don’t care about the hardship she faced. Instead, they shove her personhood into someone else’s claim.

Mercifully, Jesus will have nothing to do with erasure. Ever. He won’t let anyone flatten the resurrection into some continuation of earthly possession. It’s just not possible to drag ownership, control, anxiety, or erasure into Godly living.  

Let’s be honest. We all have things we keep dragging along that we don’t need. Leave all that at the altar. Here’s how I sort things: whatever can be taken away isn’t yours to carry into eternity.  

See, your ticket to heaven has no baggage allowance. There’s no baggage claim past the pearly gates! So if God doesn’t need it, why do you? 

The life God intends for you is infinitely bigger. Freer. Holier. Than whatever has tried to claim you.  

Lay down what you can. Let Jesus free you from what you can’t. And let God astonish you.

Prayer

Holy One, help me release what I don’t need. Free me from every heavy load I keep dragging along. Loosen every claim I have made, and every claim that has been made on me, that doesn’t belong in life with you. Make room in me for your freedom. I’m ready to be astonished, God. Amen.