This ancient “tale of two mothers” concerns far more than theological semantics—it is the difference between a God who sends and a God who comes.
This story points us from our unlikely heroes to the even more unlikely, and joyous, good news that Jesus’ birth for us was just as unlikely and unexpected.
Was Jesus ambitious or unambitious? We have to say that the answer is…yes.

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“It’s funny because it’s true.” —Homer Simpson. The Bible is full of ridiculous stories. Laughable stories. There, I said it. A Red Sea parting, a giant fish swallowing a man, a talking donkey, and the list goes on and on. It’s all a bit ridiculous.
Every single child we raise has a completely unique perspective, personality, strength, and weakness.
Even in our principled disagreements, we continue to pray for the unity of all, and invite the world to taste and see that the Lord is good.
Sacrifice is the beating heart of the Scriptures, but also of our Christian faith.
I’m still laughing now as hard as I laughed back then. And the salve that he gave me in that moment still works some strange magic on me to this day.
Who should we baptize and when? How old does the person have to be? What if we get it wrong? Will something terrible happen to us?
Old Testament narratives foreshadowed the gifts that our Father gives us in baptism.
Have you ever grown despondent from trying so hard to stop behaving in certain destructive ways, but always failing?
Like any language, the liturgy has syntax—a structure that provides order and intelligibly communicates meaning through all that is said.
As the story unfolds we see Luther’s Heidelberg theses on display, even before the Fellowship leaves Rivendell.
What Jesus did and gives on these two Thursdays encapsulates his whole life and mission.
If you want to find God, he’s hiding in plain sight. Christ is in the very things that we would never select as a vessel befitting divinity.