Welcome to the commons cast. We're glad to have you here. We hope you find something meaningful in our teaching this week. Head to comm.church for more information.

My name is Jeremy. It's great to meet you. If you and I haven't had a chance to talk in person maybe ever or in a very long time, by all means, stop by and say hi after the service. And of course, if you are joining us online today, then welcome. Say hi in the chat.

We're so glad you've made some space to join us here. That said, this current series is actually going to carry through this weekend right through to Easter. We've looked at four of the signs of things to come. Today is number five, which means we have six and seven. That will be Palm Sunday and Good Friday, and that will take us right to Resurrection Sunday.

That said, we usually start every Sunday with a bit of a recap, but I want to look back at the whole series so far. Because even if we didn't realize it, we hit a bit of a turning point last Sunday, And that will be important for today when we begin to talk about our story. In the first sign, Jesus turns water into wine. Famous story and it's this remarkable celebration of ritual and rhythm. And Jesus takes these stone water jars that were used by Jewish people for ceremonial washing and he says, yes.

All of your longing, all of our worship and ritual, everything that we have been waiting for, it is now here in celebration. And John tells us that this was the first sign. Next, Jesus is approached by a royal official, a man with a sick child who asks for some help. And this one is a pretty complex story. And when the man approaches Jesus, Jesus says, without a sign, you people will never believe.

And then he sends the man away without a sign. He tells the man to go with nothing but Jesus' word that the boy will be well. Now upon returning home, the man finds that the son is in fact well, and the man and his family believe, and John tells us that this was the second sign. Except what's the sign here exactly? I mean, it seems hard for me to imagine that Jesus would scold us for wanting signs and wonders, then precisely that would be a sign for us.

And so instead, I think it's actually the whole story that John wants us to notice. A presumably wealthy, certainly very powerful royal official that has learned to trust things, has to learn to trust things without a sign. Without the kind of immediate gratification that he's used to receiving from his position in privilege. And in that, he is met with divine kindness. The sign is perhaps that Jesus is worth trusting even when we don't see what we're used to or what we expect.

Next was the healing at the Pool Of Bethesda. A man has been told that he has to compete for blessing from the gods And that he has to race down against others to be first to be healed. And Jesus says that things like healing and blessing are mysterious, inscrutable even sometimes, but they are never a competition that pits us against each other. You and I, we are not at odds with our neighbor when it comes to God's goodness in the world. And, it's a good story, but this time it's a little more subtle.

John only names signs one and signs two for us. The rest we have to search for. Now, he does often call them a sign in the story, but he stops numbering for them, us, after the first two. And I think there's a couple reasons for this. The first being that when you search for something and find it for yourself, you tend to hold onto it for a little longer.

Right? My son is in grade three right now, and we are doing lots of reading and math at home these days. But when he asks what five times eight is, I can tell him, or we can work it out together. And at a very basic level, think there's something similar going on here in the Gospel. John seeds our imagination by telling us there was a first sign.

He encourages us to keep searching by telling us there was a second sign, and then he pulls back a little bit to see if we will lean in. And when we do, we see that there are in fact seven miraculous moments all through the Gospel of John, and that is just too distinctively Jewish to be unintended. However, there's one more angle here that I think might be important. And we actually kind of touched on this last week in the story about the feeding of the 5,000, but some things are really only evident once we look back on them. And what I mean by this is that there are signs of God in your life that are like fireworks.

Right? They are unavoidable. And you immediately recognize them as divine moments where the graciousness of God is abundantly evident to you unmistakably. That's beautiful. And all of us, we need those moments.

I hope that you experience those crystal clear moments of divine love from time to time in your life. But, there are also moments where we only ever really notice God when we're looking back. Moments where maybe we knew something was important, and so we held onto it, but it was only later. Days or weeks or months or maybe even years later that we truly understood what it was all about. And I think that by inviting us to count the signs, and by seeding the idea in our minds that maybe there is something worth paying attention to here, worth searching for, I think John helps us maybe to recognize that everywhere in our lives.

You see a sign one, you see a sign two, and so you start to pay attention, and you start to count. And it's only once you gather them up, and you get to the end, and you count up all seven, it's only then that you really realize each moment was part of something larger. And I think there's something to that in our own lives, where we learn to give ourselves the space to look back on our lives and learn from the past in new ways that maybe we didn't notice the first time around. I think that kind of invitation to look and then to look again, it can actually serve us well in all kinds of unexpected ways. So, water to wine.

Jesus is the one who turns our commitment into celebration. Healing of a sick child, Jesus is the one who reshapes our imagination of trust in the faithfulness of God. And the pool of Bethesda, Jesus is the one who resets our fascination with competition. Then we reached the feeding of the 5,000. A story about how Jesus redefines our expectations of those with power.

Which brings us to sign five. First though, let's pray and then we'll talk about how last week's story flows into this week's. Creative God who sits behind all of our good stories, Who weaves in and out and through our experiences the world leaving behind hints of your grace and peace everywhere. May we develop eyes to see your presence near us today. And may that motivate us to look back and see where you have been in our past.

Those moments of goodness that encourage and strengthen and point us forward with new courage. May our eyes grow to see your goodness always. May our feet move to bring your goodness to those near us. And if we find ourselves today in need of you for rest, or for work, for friendship, or space, or healing, or kindness, or welcome, or correction. Might we find you today in just the way that we need.

May your healing grace flood around us with the nourishment that we need and the care that we crave so deeply. May all signs point us back to your arms, we pray. In the strong name of the risen Christ. Amen. Okay.

Bit of a long introduction today, but the truth is we're not quite done yet. Because today we want to talk about turning points, no turning back, getting out of boats, and moving forward. But to get there, we have to go back to where we were last week on the side of a hill with a hungry crowd desperate for a champion, and to Jesus who sneaks out the back door. You see, the first three signs in John, all of these stories are about telling us something about Jesus. What he values and how he sees the world.

But more than that, they are leading us slowly to discover who Jesus really is. Or as the crowds came to the realization last week, surely this is the one who is to come. Now, in the Jewish imagination, that's the Messiah who sets right the world. Except last week, we saw that the sign wasn't just about the miracles, and it wasn't even just about the Messiah, it was about how Jesus upends our expectations of a Messiah. The people want to make him king by force if necessary, and that's understandable.

They have been mistreated and ignored and pushed to the margins for generations now. And so one of their own comes with power. And not just with power, but with compassion and empathy and the willingness to use that power for their good. Of course, they want that person in charge. Anything to replace those who rule over them with iron fists.

And yet, as they start calling for regime change, it's Jesus that slips away when no one is looking. He rejects their appeals to power, instead choosing to align himself with the prophets who spoke truth to power. That's the connection that John makes explicit last week by pointing out that it is barley loaves that Jesus uses when he feeds the crowd. In doing that, he's linking Jesus back to a story of the prophet Elisha. Jesus is not a king.

Jesus is a prophetic voice that speaks truth. Now, it's interesting to see the way that Jesus as king has become so deeply embedded in our Christian imagination even though the only time that Jesus is called a king is in jest. Jesus never actually claims that title for himself. There's an exchange in the Easter story when Pilate, just before Jesus is executed, asks him, are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus responds, you have said so.

And some people see this as Jesus claiming the title for himself, but that's not at all a straightforward reading of the text in Mark 15. Jesus probably says something more like, if you say so. The point being that Jesus certainly does not see himself as a king the way that Pilate imagines. And apparently, not in the way that the crowds imagined either. And this is a real turning point in John's Gospel in these signs.

The first three are meant to help us slowly discover Jesus as the Messiah. The fourth is where we, along with the crowd, say surely this is who we've been waiting for. Except, as soon as we do that, the story takes an unexpected turn. Jesus backs away, and the disciples are left to pick up the pieces. So, let's go back and pick up right where we left off last week.

Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. It's what we read last week. Next verse. When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark and Jesus had not yet joined them.

A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water and they were frightened. But he said to them, it is I, don't be afraid. Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading. That's John six verses 15 through to 21.

Now, like we did last week, I want to compare this version of the story to what we find in Matthew. We'll get there soon, but first a couple things here. I'm really intrigued by the transition between last week's story and this week's story. Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum.

By now it was dark and Jesus was still not with them yet. I mean, what do you imagine is going on here in the hours between this big miraculous meal and the disciples finally later that evening when it's dark getting into a boat to go home. See, I think the way that John has structured this, the way it's been set up is meant to suggest the disciples still don't know what's up with Jesus. There's this big miraculous moment. The crowds are wowed and the disciples up close and personal.

They get to see Jesus do something absolutely remarkable. But then, when the crowds get excited and they misread Jesus' intentions, and maybe the disciples did too, I don't know. But when that happens, Jesus slips away out the back, away from the attention, and apparently, from what we read here, away from his friends as well. I can imagine them just sitting around all day, all afternoon talking to each other like, is he coming back? Did we do something wrong here?

Is he mad at us? Am I the problem? That one gluten free disciple and the vegan one are like, look, it's not our fault we didn't eat his meal. We told him about our dietary restrictions. By the way, I'm a vegetarian.

I know how obnoxious we can be. Save your DMs. It's fine. But granted, Jesus is a bit of an enigmatic figure. Still, you've got to imagine that these disciples are left a little confused here.

To go from a miraculous meal and a swelling crowd to being left alone and confused on the side of a hill with no explanation. And so slowly, maybe they decide, I guess we should go home. I mean, what else do you do right now? It's evening by now. They go down to the water.

They get in a boat. They push out into the water. They're probably dog tired from sitting around all afternoon waiting to see if Jesus is going to come back. You know how waiting is somehow the most draining thing you can possibly do? And so they get in a boat, tired and grumpy and upset and confused.

But no sooner have they put out from Shoah and started to row, the wind starts to pick up. And John says that by the point they realize they are in trouble, they are already three or four miles across the lake. Now, you look it up, that puts them smack dab in the middle of the Sea Of Galilee. Which to me, says that John is making a point. This is the point where there is nowhere to go but forward.

You know that spot where turning back is no longer an option? That's this that John is describing. I still remember, you know, the first year of Commons. We had been preparing and planning for months, getting ready to launch this new community. But then there was the 2014, where I had already left my position in the church that I had been working at.

And Commons was launching in the September. And I was excited, but there was that moment where the excitement of starting something new gave way to the realization that I couldn't go back anymore. And depending on your personality, that might sound motivating or terrifying. Take your pick. But there's always those moments in all of our lives where we realize that going back is going to be harder than going forward.

That's the moment John is describing here. So, think about this for a second. You're a disciple of Jesus. You've been following around, listening to him teach. A while back he scored you an invite to a great big wedding party.

And you saw him turn gallons of water into an abundance of wine. And you thought, okay, there is something going on here. But this is more than just a smooth talker. This guy is something special. And then you were there when a royal official came and asked about his son.

And Jesus not only had the audacity to send the man away empty handed. I mean who speaks to a representative of Herod Antipas that way? But then he actually healed the child as well. Compassion and dignity in a way you've never seen demonstrated together. There was the Pool Of Bethesda where Jesus showed up the Roman healing gods.

And then there was that meal today. I mean, that happened. Right? Thousands of people fed with a few scraps. You can't explain it, but you were there.

You saw it. Surely, this man was the Messiah. It wasn't just you. Everyone realized it. The energy was palpable.

It was all going to happen and then it didn't. He just left. And not only that, he didn't come back. And not only that, now you're stuck in a boat that's about to capsize and there's no way back to shore. Except here comes Jesus walking on water.

Now, I want to talk quickly here about the Matthew version of this story because that's honestly the more famous one. In Matthew's telling, the setup is basically the same. Jesus feeds the crowd and then takes some time to himself. The disciples get in a boat and get caught in a storm. And just like in John, here comes Jesus walking in the water but this time it's Peter who calls out.

Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come and I will. And he does. And so Peter gets out of the boat and starts walking on water toward Jesus. It's a pretty famous moment. It's a pretty cool moment.

Although it all turns pretty quickly because Peter starts to panic and doubt a little too much and Jesus has to rescue him before he sinks under the water. And this is where we get that famous line, oh you of little faith, why did you doubt? Now, I want to go back to John's version of the story in a moment, and what I think he's doing with the story. But a quick note here. I don't think the best way to read this is to imagine Jesus scolding Peter for getting a little freaked out in this scenario.

I mean, that kind of fear seems pretty reasonable to me. And if I had the guts to get out of a boat in the middle of a storm to walk on water, I'd say that was a win. But there's something that's worth noting here. The word that Jesus uses for doubt, it's the word in Greek, and it means to doubt. That's a good translation, so no doubts there.

But that word actually comes from the idea of hesitating, or slowing yourself down, or even stopping. And that kind of makes sense. Right? Doubt in our mind is kind of like a stutter step in our pace. You hesitate.

And you can see why in Greek they put these two ideas together. But when you know that in the background, I think this moment can take on a little bit of a different feel. Instead of Peter having the courage to get out of the boat in the middle of a storm to try to walk on water with Jesus and then have Jesus scold him for doubting, you can read it this way. Not Peter, why did you doubt? But Peter, why did you hesitate?

You were doing so well. Please don't stop now. We're just getting started. And I like that a lot better. Because at least in my experience, faith and doubt are not opposite ends of a spectrum.

They are partners for the journey. And over time, I've had to, but I've made peace with the fact that both of them will probably be with me for as long as I travel through this life. So I don't worry about doubt anymore. In fact, I've learned to welcome it. What I worry about is stopping.

What I worry about is not growing anymore. What I worry about is standing still when there is still so much left for me to continue exploring in my faith. And if my doubt can be part of what keeps me moving, then I actually think it's an integral part of my faith. So hold on to that. And let's go back to John for a moment.

Because John gives us the same story, the same boat, the same storm, the same Jesus walking on water, but in John's version of the story, there's no Peter to focus our attention on. There's only Jesus in the spotlight. In fact, we're told that the disciples are afraid, but they don't even get a line here. Only Jesus speaks. And he says, it is I, don't be afraid.

Now, that's a tricky one. Because if you translate this literally, you end up with something like, I am, do not be afraid. But if you know anything about the first half of your bible, you know that I am is a pretty big deal. That's the way that God introduces God's self to Moses. I am that I am.

The divine name, Yahweh, is a form of the verb to be. So literally something like I am. There's even a passage a little later in John eight where Jesus is confronted by some critics and he responds to them by saying, truly I tell you before Abraham was, I am. And at this, the crowds picked up stones to kill him because they knew exactly what he was implying. And so in the commotion, Jesus slipped away from the temple grounds to safety.

The problem here though, is that this construction in Greek can also just simply be a bog standard greeting, hence the translation in the NIV, it is I. And so translators and scholars and preachers debate about what's going on here. Is this Jesus comforting them? Letting them know that he's here to help and not a ghost like they assume in Matthew? Or is this Jesus making a claim to divinity, some declaration of not just his messianic mission, but his identity somehow within God.

That's a fair debate, an interesting one. But I have a slightly different take on this moment. You see, I think when you take the whole scene together and you watch the movement through the signs in John and you understand the turning point that we reached last week. Where the crowds finally come to see Jesus as the one that they've been waiting for. And the disciples finally see proof of what they have been hoping for.

That this man is the Messiah only to have Jesus step back and reject the way they want him to be it. I think this moment here in the middle of the lake is meant to address the fear of them losing what they had expected from Jesus. Think about this from their perspective. I mean, if he's not going to be king, what's the point of all this? What are we doing?

If he's not willing to assume power, what can he possibly accomplish in the world? What's the point? If he's not ready to step up and take charge, even when a crowd of people are at a fevered pitch ready to act on his word, is he really worth following at all? Should we just go home? Is this really the one that we've been waiting for?

And it's at that moment, at the point of no return, when Jesus appears and says, I am. And I know it's scary to believe in something you didn't seem coming, but please don't stop now. We're just getting started. See the whole point of the Easter story, the aim of these signs in John that move us toward Easter, it's not just that God wins. It's that Jesus transforms our imagination of what it means to be victorious.

The power and force and coercion will give way to kindness and grace and welcome. That violence will be undone by sacrifice. That domination will be upended by self giving. And sometimes, the scariest part of believing in Jesus is actually trusting yourself to the way of Jesus. Believing not only that Jesus is Lord, but that his path through the world is the one that is worth taking.

That's what I think this fifth sign is about. It's about Jesus knowing that we desperately want a king. And allowing us to sit with the discomfort when he backs away from that, and then appearing to reassure us that there is in fact something better than all of that. So in whatever moments you find yourself at that point of no return, wondering if it's all worth it in contemplating turning back toward paths that are more familiar or easier. My prayer is that Jesus meet you and reassure you and encourage you not to stop, but to keep going to find the way of peace and to actually walk it.

Because as hard as it is to believe at times, the way to the kingdom of God is always through God's self giving love. And when we embrace the way of peace, the way of love, the way of self gift, it's always going to be scary, but it's the way that leads us back to the divine heart. Let's pray. God who appears to meet us at the point of no return just when we need you. In those moments where we have become aware of your goodness and your grace, but also your majesty and glory and power, and we are infatuated with that.

And we expect you to step in, to take over, to impose yourself on us and those around us, and you back away from that. Leaving us to think and wonder and reflect on what it all means. In those moments of doubt. When it creeps in and we wish you were more about force and military might and not about grace and truth, would your spirit appear to us? To reassure us, to comfort us, to remind us that you are what we have been waiting for even if we didn't see it coming.

And that if we can continue forward on that path, we will find ourselves welcomed into your arms. God, may the way of peace in our lives reflect the heart of Jesus. Peace in our relationships and grace in our transactions, kindness in the way we navigate the world. May we learn to give ourselves away and as scary as that is, may you reassure us that this is the way to your kingdom. In the strong name of the risen Christ we pray.

Amen.