Throughout the New Testament, story after story points to the slow rhythm that marked Jesus’ life. Jesus was never in a hurry. Never rushed. Moved at his own sweet slow speed. Even when emergencies occurred. Even when it was a matter of life or death. Why was that? What can we learn from him and how God works through the death of his good friend, Lazarus? This is what we turn to today.    

In today’s scripture, Jesus tells a string of parables about three lost things. A lost sheep. A lost coin. And a lost son. It is interesting to think about how each person who lost the items responds and how they teach us what God is like. If you are feeling lost in life or have a loved one who is lost, then this message might just be for you.  

In today’s scripture, Jesus sends seventy-two disciples out on mission to the places he was about to go.  But his mission was more about the hospitality that the disciples would receive as they went to homes of people that they would not normally frequent.  You see, God takes very seriously his call for us to provide radical hospitality to others and most especially the foreigner, alien, and most vulnerable in our society.  

Whenever we read this story, we often focus on the miraculousness of Jesus feeding such a large crowd with such limited resources. But what if the true miracle was something we could experience every day? Jesus models for us how the kingdom of God breaks into our midst when we slow down enough to gather around food, bless what we can each offer, and share stories with one another.  

Love has one speed…slow.  It is the speed at which Jesus lived and walked.  As busy as he was, we never get the sense that Jesus was hurried.  He had enough margin in his life to slow down and engage people lovingly as they had need.  In our fast paced, technologically driven culture, this is not a speed at which most of us operate.  As we begin this season of Lent, how might the Spirit of the Lord be inviting us to slow do

  At the start of Jesus’ ministry, he slowed down his disciples and gave them a very simple lesson on how to live as his followers. These were not people that one would typically put in a room together. And yet Jesus knew that through them and changed lives, they would change the world.  

I think it would be an understatement to say that Jesus lived a busy life. People from all over were constantly vying for his attention. But no where do we get the sense that Jesus was hurried or too busy to handle interruptions with grace and mercy. In today’s scripture we see how Jesus handled the interruption of a woman in need of healing while he was on the way to a more urgent crisis.      

Today’s gospel story of Jesus being rejected at his hometown synagogue in Nazareth can be confusing.  At first, they loved what he had to say until he reminded them of the time in the past when they were so busy and complacent that they missed being part of God’s work in their world.  This failure as God’s people made them so mad that they actually tried to kill Jesus.  It’s a story that requires diving into more deepl

Immediately after Jesus as baptized by John the Baptist, he was led away by the Spirit into the desert where he was tested for forty days and forty nights. While he was there, he was hungry, lonely, and away from his normal spiritual rhythms of worship. This time  created perfect ground for the devil to tempt him in many ways. But with the help of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word hidden in his heart, he was able to avoid falling into sin. The Good News is

Jesus’s baptism is a great example of how Jesus modeled being a beloved child of God. Before preaching or teaching a word. Before doing any miracles. Before answering all the demands for his time and attention. He retreated into the wilderness to be baptized by John the Baptist. Not because he needed forgiveness for his sin, but because he enters the baptism waters with us and says, “I am with you. I love you. And I will accomplish all I desire in you