Where Is Jesus?
Why have we stopped sharing the Good News?
Since leaving local church ministry in July of 2025, my Sundays look different.
Instead of planning, executing and preaching through Sunday morning services, I am now a participant, mostly seated and expected to simply receive. I welcome and wrestle with this reality. On good days I am relieved I am no longer in charge of navigating a ship unready to shift. Other days, I find myself searching for something missing…
Most Sundays my soul is refreshed and renewed by the power of what the Holy Spirit can do when we gather in awe and reverence to what God is already doing in the middle of our messy lives. I enjoy meeting faithful, diverse and loving people while experiencing worship in a multitude of new ways I would have never planned. While I welcome the freedom to visit new spaces in my local community, I am repeatedly leaving without one important thing from most services I attend.
From Community Churches to conservative Lutherans, mega multiple services of 300 to rooms of 30, traditional robed leaders to hipster bands in jeans, one thing is missing, over and over again.
It’s not a welcome team. Plenty say hello, while most ignore. It’s not coffee or donuts; even the smallest places have something for me to do with my hands. It’s not Connect Cards, screens for lyrics or up to five announcements. How do you keep up?
It’s not good lighting or full sound. It’s not a follow up call from the pastor or a glossy bulletin printed on expensive paper to ensure I can follow along. It’s not holy scripture or a meaningful message of love, grace and goodness. It’s not clarity on the church’s mission and vision. It’s not even the presence of children and young people.
All of these things are there.
What is overwhelmingly shocking to me, leaving me sad and more hungry then when I arrive is the one thing even the most diverse places promise to agree upon…
It’s Jesus.
In the places I visit for worship scripture is read. Prayers are prayed. God is discussed with awe, reverence and prevailing praise, or fear and agony for those who don’t obey. Honesty is suggested, loyalty underlined and hope offered. Real life illustrations are shared. Jokes are made. People are invited to join a new way, all without the mention of Christ’s holy name.
Good messages of grace, patience and a promise of peace are exhorted. People say amen and nod their heads in agreement. Preachers bring the ancient text to life. Communion is served, prayer warriors are present, and kids are welcomed to overflow with the life they carry. Events are occurring, and everyone has room for more volunteers to serve.
Yet, amidst all the noise and notes, one thing is missing: Jesus
Jesus, the incarnation of God’s love, embodied, poured out of the heavens and moved right into the neighborhood is not mentioned. Jesus, the physical manifestation of God’s character in the middle of our mess is missing.
Jesus, who is a poor, marginalized wanderer refusing to conform to the religious and social norms, instead choosing to go with compassion towards those in need, to see, touch, heal and set them free from the awful lot life has given. This Jesus is missing.
Jesus, who invites the outcast in, allowing mere fishermen to be his first followers rarely gets a mention. Jesus, who sees past the sins and disloyalty of tax collectors, unwed women and those deemed un-redeemable offering real relationship and participation in the kingdom of heaven come is left out of most sermons. Jesus who teaches, preaches, multiplies and sends us out to do even greater things than he… This Jesus is missing.
Jesus, who overcomes the stings of death, proving a borrowed grave is not the end but instead rises up, pushing the stone away and turning his burial plot into a garden of new life and possibilities poured out for all. This Jesus is missing.
Jesus is missing on Sunday morning.
Why?
Why don’t these spaces and places of worship shout about who Jesus is, what he did and how he makes everything new? Why aren’t they going on and on about the miracles, presence and teachings as if they actually change things? Where is the good news about incarnation, communal life and resurrection?
Why does it feel like Jesus is the one locked out of our upper rooms?
Have you noticed this too?
What’s the last Jesus story shared in your worship setting? How often is the life of Jesus discussed within your circles? When’s the last time you mentioned Jesus in a sermon, prayer or conversation?
Why have we let ourselves grow silent on this powerful name?
And where is it leaving us when we do not yet know, forget or refuse to share the glory of God revealed through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?