That word can smack with fear or bring sweet relief. When we speak it to Jesus, it can be loud and bold and hopeful.
With Jesus, there is always more.
His very good friend hunched over his pen and mulled over his hours and months with the Revolutionary. He wrote and wrote. He remembered strange conversations and jaw-dropping miracles. He remembered people and events and words. Chapter after chapter he recorded until his little pen was shaking.
And then, in the very last verse of the very last chapter of his account, he wrote, "Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written."
There was so much more of Jesus.
The night before his big test, Jesus crammed ideas and promises into his followers. But even after two and a half chapters of monologuing, he admitted, "There is so much more I want to tell you." He promised the Holy Spirit would be their next teacher, picking up where he had to leave off.
There was so much more of Jesus' teachings.
Happy happy HAPPY for us! The truth of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus and the insight from Jesus did not stop at the end of John's gospel nor at the end of the Bible.
There is more of Jesus to be had in every millennium, in every generation, in every season.
No generation grasps him completely but every one stands on the shoulders of the previous, discovering new angles and character and going further with the More of Jesus they uncover.
There is more that Jesus wants to tell us. He has not stopped speaking because his ways are not completely clear yet.
If his ways or his words feel overly familiar to you and you wish for something fresh, lean into more.
Where last century's Christianity looks and responds with inadequacy, lean into more.
If the way we as believers have traditionally responded no longer delivers the healing the world seeks, lean into more.
So many who believe in Jesus find themselves disappointed in Christian culture.
So many are disgruntled at the Church for personal or social reasons.
But we, the followers, only see Jesus' ways in fragmentary slices. None of grasp him or his ways to completeness.
Here is the invitation:
Come to Jesus with all of your questions, with all of your anger, with all of your hurt. There is always more to discover. What you know about him in this moment is incomplete; there are pieces still missing in the Jesus story.
Do not let the questions or the anger or the hurt keep you from leaning in.
With Jesus, there is always more to discover.
More grace,
more strategy,
more truth,
more kindness,
more creativity,
more justice.
Isn't that a great word?
More.
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