February 9, 2024

Greetings from Brainerd, where I am attending the annual ECMN Clergy Conference until Saturday afternoon. The theme of the conference this year is Questions of Jesus. Right at the outset, I learned a new Bible Fun Fact that I share in case you ever come across this in trivia, or you want to dazzle dinner guests one night:

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus asks 307 questions.
He himself is asked 183 questions, of which he answers only 3.

Who knew?! It's almost as if the questions matter more than the answers. Could it be? A few questions Jesus asks over the course of the four Gospels include:

• Who do you say that I am?

• What do you want me to do for you?

• Do you believe that I am able to do this?

• Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

At our conference, we've been asked to ponder the questions Jesus asks in John 1:38, of two disciples who are following him just after he is baptized by John: “What are you looking for?”

What are you looking for? In this particular story, the two disciples answer Jesus with, "Where are you staying?" Which of course, isn't an answer, but it does reveal the hope they have: to remain near Jesus, wherever he goes.

What are you looking for? Somehow I think Jesus wasn't as much looking for an answer as he was asking those disciples what matters to them. Of course whenever Jesus talks to the disciples, he's talking to us, too. Which means he's asking us the same question - to consider what we're trying to remain near in our lives; consider what matters most to us.

My prayer for you this week is to have some time and space to ponder. What are you looking for? Whatever is -- Comfort? Love? Security? New energy? Peace? Connection? Joy? -- my prayer is for it to show up for you in any form, large or small. A gift from Spirit, who dances with delight at the mere idea of presenting to you just what you seek.