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John 20:1-8
Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
But welcome this morning. If we haven't had a chance to meet, my name is Jeremy, and I'm one of the people who hang out here at Commons Church. But if you are here for the very first time, then you are here on kind of an interesting Sunday for us. Because this is something that we did last year, and I think it was meaningful for us to come out of Easter and to spend a week focusing on what God has been doing in our community this past year. But even more importantly, beginning to orient ourselves around where we think God might be pointing us in this coming year.
Speaker 1:Now Easter is just such a big important moment in the Christian calendar. And so we put a lot work into making that a meaningful experience for the community. I think sometimes coming out of Easter, there's just a sense that we wanna let off the gas a little bit and catch our breath for a moment. I will admit, I felt that a little bit this week. After child dedications and baptisms on Palm Sunday, after the stations of the cross last week, after Good Friday, and then after four Easter celebrations last Sunday, I think everybody has earned at least a little bit of rest.
Speaker 1:But then at the same time, we have just celebrated resurrection. And I think God was very present to us in this season in a really remarkable way over Easter. And so for me at least, even as there is the letdown of Easter, there's also a lot of excitement to begin to listen and to pray and to imagine together where God might be leading us as a church. Resurrection is for what's ahead of us, not for what's behind us. And so that's what we wanna talk about today.
Speaker 1:As we head into a season where we are starting to compile all the ideas and the vision direction that would go into next fall's journal. We want to begin to speak together about where God might be taking us. Now, if you don't have a journal, by all means, grab one off the book table over at the connection center. They are free to you, and we did go back for a second printing earlier this year to make sure that we would have enough for everyone right through to the fall. The journal is a huge part of what we do here.
Speaker 1:Not only does it lay out our teaching from September to August every year, all year, it really captures our agenda for the season. And it is what we felt God's saying to us at this time last year as we prepared. And so if you look in your journal, you will see that we have some really exciting stuff coming up this spring. We've got a weekend university event focusing on First Nation issues in a couple weeks, and then next Sunday, we start a quick two week series focusing on grief, loss, and lamentations. So that's agenda over the next few weeks and our agenda for today as we talk about vision.
Speaker 1:But first, let's pray. Actually, before that, before we pray, let me remind you this as well. We are also in the season of Eastertide right now, and that's the season in the church calendar calendar that lasts until Pentecost. Now our church fathers, they knew that resurrection was just too big for one Sunday, even an Easter Sunday to contain. And so there are actually six weeks in the church calendar where we celebrate the story of resurrection.
Speaker 1:And so you will notice on the sidewall here that we have taken one of the paintings from Palm Sunday and Good Friday and from Easter Sunday, and those are gonna be up hanging here in the sanctuary for the next six weeks as we go through this season that we call Eastertide. And so actually, this morning, after we pray, I wanna go back to a story of resurrection one more time to talk about where God is leading us. But first, let's pray. God of new life, fill your church with the power that flows from Christ's resurrection, and renew your people with the energy that comes from being connected to this marvelous story. A signal in us the beginning of renewed humanity, risen to life in Christ.
Speaker 1:And as you mobilize and empower and give us courage to carry your story out into your world, may we touch your wounds where they bleed in others. Others. May we bring healing words to those who hurt. And may we come to be fully aware of this sacred beauty that exists in all that breathe life in your world. And may we truly celebrate resurrection this season.
Speaker 1:God, as we move into a listening posture today, as we invite you to speak and to give wisdom and to lead by your spirit. Would we, at one time, sing of your greatness at the top of our lungs, and yet also be able to quiet our hearts enough so that we would hear your whisper to us. You have been with us in surprising, remarkable ways this past year. And so in whatever way it looks, whatever form it takes, would we recognize your presence in our future? In the strong name of the risen Christ, we pray.
Speaker 1:Amen. Alright. As I said, I wanna start today by reading a passage of resurrection. And this comes from a passage in the Gospel of John chapter 20. And it says this, starting in verse one.
Speaker 1:Early on the first day of the week while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. And she said, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they have put him. So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
Speaker 1:He bent over over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there, but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head. The cloth was still lying in its place separate from the linen. Finally, the other disciple who had reached the tomb first went also inside.
Speaker 1:He saw and he believed. Believed. This is John 20 verses one to eight. Now, I have talked about this passage before, but this is one of my favorite strange little moments in the gospels. I was actually reading this passage as I prepared for Easter.
Speaker 1:Last week, I read through the resurrection narrative again, and this jumped out at me all over again. And it's funny because I had read this story a thousand times before anything ever caught my attention. And once it did, it was like I just couldn't read this passage the same way again. It jumps out and it makes me laugh every single time I read it. Now, some of you know what I'm talking about, because you heard me talk about this a few years ago.
Speaker 1:Let's look at this story one more time. Let me set the stage here. Mary Magdalene gets up early on Easter morning, and it is still dark outside. And she goes to the tomb to mourn. Remember, her Jesus has died.
Speaker 1:That's all she knows. But when she gets there, the stone has been moved. The tomb is empty. Now this is a big deal. The stones that were used to close tombs in these days were massive.
Speaker 1:So there is no way that a couple simple grave robbers could have easily done this on their own. And so her assumption is that the Roman authorities have come during the night. They have taken Jesus' body. She doesn't know where it's gone, and so she is distraught. Remember, this is mere days after Jesus has been crucified.
Speaker 1:So this is a very dark, somber moment. And yet, this gospel writer usually assigned as John, otherwise known as the disciple Jesus loves, chooses to tell us this strange little anecdote. He says that Mary came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. Now that's John by the way. And that is already kind of strange.
Speaker 1:Let's be honest here. I mean to refer to yourself as the disciple that Jesus loved, I'm not saying that Jesus didn't love John, but do you really need to mention that? That? I mean, I think we kind of assume that Jesus loves you, John. We get it.
Speaker 1:Okay. But he continues. She said, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him. So Peter and the other disciple, that's me, started for the tomb. Both were running.
Speaker 1:The race was on. But the other disciple, remember that's me, the one whom Jesus loved. Did I mention that? I out ran Peter. Honestly, that guy is a slowpoke.
Speaker 1:And so I reached the tomb first. Yeah, that's what would happen if you outran him. We got it. I bent over. I looked in at the strips of linen lying there, but did not go in.
Speaker 1:Then Simon Peter came along behind me. Just to be clear here, Peter slow, me fast. And he went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head. The cloth was still lying in its place separate from the linen.
Speaker 1:Finally, the other disciple, remember that's me, who had reached the tomb first by the way, in case I haven't made my point yet, also went inside. That's when I saw and I believed. Now, no matter how many times I read it, this is just a weird little story. Is it not? I mean, first of all, if this is John writing the gospel, why does he refer to himself in the third person so much?
Speaker 1:Who does he think he is? The rock, the Jewish Dwayne Johnson? I mean, come on. But second, making the point that you can beat Peter in a foot race is strange. Making that same point four times by my count in the span of five verses is bizarre.
Speaker 1:And doing it when you are communicating the climax resurrection of Jesus, this is just absurd. I mean, you read it and you kind of just gloss over it. You keep rolling. Right? But once you notice it, you realize just how strangely out of place this all is.
Speaker 1:And I love it because this for me is what resurrection is about. Those strange, idiosyncratic, awkward moments where resurrection becomes personal anecdote. You see for me, this is perhaps the moment where resurrection became personal for John. Before this. It was his Jesus whom he loved.
Speaker 1:This was his teacher and his friend, his Messiah and Christ and rabbi, but here, now in this moment, This is where John goes from believing in the theoretical identity of Jesus. And somehow, in the context of a foot race with Peter, he experiences Jesus as risen Christ. And so from now on, it's like when John tells this story, there is the Easter story. There are the facts of the day that he wants to communicate about what happened in the majesty at all, but then there is his story. And he can't quite separate them anymore.
Speaker 1:I mean, so it's like he wants to tell Jesus' story, but his story keeps getting in the way and it's beautiful. Have you ever had a friend that tried to tell you a story? But as they did, all of these different unnecessary anecdotes just kept popping into their head. And it was like they just couldn't pass up the opportunity to tell you every little story that crossed their mind. It's as if their story kept going in a million different directions at the same time.
Speaker 1:It was like talking, oh, I don't know to say my wife. Listen, some of you think that Rachel is very quiet and shy. That's because she doesn't want isn't interested in being here up on a stage like I am. It's not because she's shy. It's because she's not a narcissist like I am.
Speaker 1:There's a difference there. But all she needs is just a little bit of time to warm up to you. And once she does, look out. Because the stories will come and I promise you the next one will start before the first one ends. That is John.
Speaker 1:He just can't help but weave his story, his unnecessary yarn, these personal anecdotes into resurrection. And far from a criticism, this is beautiful. In fact, this is really all that I I want from my faith journey. Now, I love study. I deeply appreciate the time that this community affords me to work and to prepare and to build meaningful messages for Sunday.
Speaker 1:Sunday. I would and I do stay in my books and my commentaries and my lexicons for hours every single week and I love it. Now I wanna make sure that we stay true to this vision of being intellectually honest. Now the the complexity of faith is is what pulls me in, not what scares me. But the second half of the language that we use when we describe ourselves, intellectually honest, is also spiritually passionate.
Speaker 1:And this is what that looks like for me. Now passion can be all kinds of different things. Right? Last week, I joked about how we are pretty reserved in worship around here. I am not much of a singer or a dancer, and I like to worship God without embarrassing myself, if that is at all possible.
Speaker 1:So I keep it tame. But passion for you might look like dancing or raised hands or singing at the top of your lungs. But for me, ultimately spiritual passion. When it comes right down to it, this is about that moment when resurrection becomes personal for you. It's about when you talk about Jesus, but now it's your story.
Speaker 1:And I don't mean we confuse ourselves with God. I'm not talking about making every story about story. And and we can't even separate them anymore. That that you might begin to see yourself as the disciple Jesus loved. Not because he doesn't love others, but simply because he does love you.
Speaker 1:And see, this is really what commons is all about. We started this thing a year and a half ago now. Just over eighteen months, if you can believe it. And there are a thousand amazing churches in Calgary. I I don't think any of us got behind the idea of commons just for the sake of another church.
Speaker 1:But there was a sense that there were people in this city who were having a really tough time making that Christian story their story. That that they couldn't find their unnecessary anecdote to speak of resurrection. Maybe the church just wasn't speaking their language. Maybe it didn't resonate with their experience of the world. I think ironically, sometimes the church has spent so much energy trying to be relevant that we miss the fact that we are moving into a post Christian society.
Speaker 1:And so dressing up Christianity with smoke and mirrors just isn't all that meaningful anymore. And so when we started commons, we felt like a serious conversation and a return to liturgy would be compelling for people. Like, bringing back the sacredness of things like the Eucharist and religious symbols and ancient practices would be interesting. Now we felt like if we could reintroduce those those patterns, but this time take time to explain them and make sense of them, to root ourselves in something deeper and more primordial. We felt like this could become beautiful again.
Speaker 1:Like like maybe Christianity didn't need to be updated. Maybe it just needed to be stripped back down enough that we could add our own stories again. And so in the eighteen months since we started this church, we have done everything that they tell you not to do when you plant a church. I don't know if you know this. You can actually take courses and do seminars, and they will tell you how to plant a church guaranteed, and we have done none of that.
Speaker 1:We have never passed an offering plate around in our church. We spent eight weeks in our first year looking at the book of Revelation. We took three months to explore the minor prophets, the most grumpy group of old men you will see this side of a US presidential election. We chose an urban neighborhood with no parking when every other church was fleeing to the suburbs. And we bet on this idea that our city was shifting, and it was changing, and it was ready for something slightly different.
Speaker 1:Where bigger and better houses were becoming less important to us, and more meaningful neighborhoods and communities of friends and local participation was moving to the center of our experience. That maybe the idea of an old church that looks like a church with pews and faux stained glass and granted an espresso bar in the lobby, but still, the idea that a neighborhood church could actually be a draw for people and not a negative. That we could be intellectually honest, unafraid of complexity, and at the same time, spiritually passionate, unapologetically Christian. And that we could take Jesus seriously to become peaceful, spirit filled disciples who are convinced we see the divine most clearly in the person of Jesus. But here's the thing.
Speaker 1:We just didn't expect the response. I mean, we had a vision, and we had a plan, and we worked hard, and we tried to point to where God was asking us to go. But the reality is the sheer number of people who have come alongside us and joined us and began to journey with us in this past year and a half has been surprising. And truthfully, we just haven't always kept up. Our first Sunday, eighteen months ago, we had 300 people show up and that blew us away.
Speaker 1:Our first Easter last year, we set a new record. We had 421 people. This past fall, just before Christmas, 580 people were here in this building on a single day. Last Sunday at Easter, 803 people joined us for resurrection across four services. Now that is incredible and it's exciting, but it's also meant the truth is we've dropped the ball a lot.
Speaker 1:Some of you have not been able to connect with a home church here yet. Some of you are still waiting to hear back from us on opportunities to get involved and serve and volunteer. Some of you are hoping hoping to connect with myself or part of the team for a coffee or a conversation that just hasn't worked in our calendars yet. Some of you, you have older kids and you're excited for when we can add more programs for junior high and high school students so that your family really feels welcomed and a part of thing. Maybe you have just felt lost in the crowd, and I hear that.
Speaker 1:Church is not meant to be about crowds and masses of people. It's meant to be about stories and sharing and stepping into each other's lives. And so we are doing our best. And we're trying to keep it simple. Connect on Sunday, learn in a home church, serve in community, that's it.
Speaker 1:It's all we got. But the simple fact is, we need to continue to make more space. That there is just something about the way that this community has been built. There's something about the people who have gathered and connected to what's happening here that is important for this moment in this city. And bigger is not really the goal.
Speaker 1:In fact, it's not even really an option. I mean, we're not leaving Kensington. And so we're not building anything new that's just not on the agenda. Now, we can add more services. We tried four at Easter.
Speaker 1:It actually went pretty well. And so that's the direction we're looking at for the fall. Last week, we had one team that carried all four services. They they put in an incredible amount of work to make that happen. But going to four every weekend, that means we're gonna need to split some things up.
Speaker 1:Now, listen, I got no problem speaking four times in a day. I love my job. Trust me. So we're good on that side. But realistically, realistically, I I mean, mean, we we are are gonna gonna need to build more worship teams, more coffee teams, more kids volunteers to make this work.
Speaker 1:But ultimately, we are going to need to expand beyond this space as well. There is just only so many people that this space can handle on a Sunday no matter how many services we do. And so we are also beginning to imagine Bridgeland or East Village. Maybe. We imagine Mission and the BeltLine, these being neighborhoods that would really resonate with what Commons Church is all about.
Speaker 1:But that is gonna take a lot of planning and forethought to make it happen. Currently, we only have three full time staff total. And truthfully, that's probably not even enough to manage this location, let alone serve multiple parishes in this city. And so that means it's going to take some growth investment and resources to head to where we think God wants us to go. We figure somewhere in the range of 100,000 to get the first year of a second parish off the ground.
Speaker 1:A year ago, that would sounded really intimidating. And today, with 800 people, it's not all that scary. And that comes down to all of our donors kicking in an extra $50 a month, maybe. I mean, some of us who are newer deciding that this place really is for us and choosing to contribute. So don't worry, there will be no fundraising campaign or pledges to fill out.
Speaker 1:That's not our style. We simply trust that if God is in it and the community is behind it, then the resources and the opportunities will be there for us. But the simple truth is we don't know how to do this. We haven't done it, and that's what's so exciting about this next season. Because we are coming back around to that space where we were eighteen months ago, wondering about what the future holds, and imagining where God could take us, dreaming about whether we could actually pull off the idea.
Speaker 1:And that's an exciting place to be. There's this thing that I learned from a friend that has always stuck with me in these moments. That real personal growth happens in a wide but defined range of opportunities. Now, opportunities where we jump into challenges that are small enough we never bet the farm, but big enough we never have to wonder whether we succeeded. Let me break that down for you for a second here.
Speaker 1:Small enough we never bet the farm. This is about choosing risks that are reasonable. So maybe you are an entrepreneur, and the risk that you take to start something new is bankruptcy. If you do this and it doesn't work, you go under. And that's okay.
Speaker 1:And sometimes that's the risk that you're willing to take. But the question is at risk going to sink your marriage or your kids or your faith? Are you in a place where you can deal with the downside of the opportunity? Because if you're not or if you haven't even considered it, then that's probably not not a risk that's worth taking right now. There are some questions to ask before you jump in.
Speaker 1:And we want to take risks for the kingdom of God in this community, but not unconsidered unconsidered ones. But then there's the second half to this. That we wanna jump on opportunities where we never have to wonder whether we succeeded. See, I think sometimes we can go through life in ways where we settle into patterns where risk almost seems to completely disappear from our lexicon. Now it doesn't really because life is inherently risky, and there's no way you get around that.
Speaker 1:Now my grandma used to revel in telling me that I could drown in a bowl of soup. That was her thing. You you could be swimming in a lake, and in order to communicate that you should be safe out there, she would yell out, be careful. Remember, you can drown in a bowl of soup. I was like, really?
Speaker 1:Like that's the image you wanna use? I'm standing in a large body of water. Chicken noodle is not really the biggest threat I can think of right now. Tiny fish are. Because they're scary when you're in a lake.
Speaker 1:Don't know about you, but that bothers me. But I think I think sometimes we get into a pattern where the riskiest thing that we've done in a really long time was so mundane, we're not even sure what happened. Asking a girl you like out on a date, sure, that's a risk. Glancing at her, but then averting your eyes when she looks up at you, that is not a risk that you took. I mean, did you even get what you wanted out of that?
Speaker 1:I have no idea. So there's gotta be something on the line. Right? We've gotta take some kind of chance for God. We need to be in pursuit of something we believe he has called us to.
Speaker 1:Maybe for you, that's simple as pushing yourself to join a home church. You're not sure what it would be like to open your life that way, and you take a chance. Maybe it's committing to travel with a missions team somewhere to experience something new, to let that into your life. Maybe you are vulnerable with someone about your story for the first time in a very long time. Time.
Speaker 1:But you do it with someone who has demonstrated that they are trustworthy. It's not a shot in the dark. It's got some thought and some purpose and some divine adventure behind it. That's what we want as a church. God has put something together that's incredible here, and that is not going away.
Speaker 1:We have a responsibility, a sacred duty to steward what he has gifted us. But at the same time, we are not going to become boring and complacent and comfortable. We will take risks and sometimes we will fail, but we will pursue kingdom of God with sacred vigor. You see, the resurrection story is not about Commons Church. The kingdom of God is not about commons church.
Speaker 1:We are simply that unnecessary anecdote. But maybe this is our unnecessary anecdote. This this is how we talk about resurrection. This is how we talk about the kingdom. That we are gonna make more space for the people who need to do church this way.
Speaker 1:And it becomes how our personal story becomes so deeply intertwined with kingdom imagination that we begin to see ourselves and our mission, our vision, our community through the eyes of Jesus. And maybe we'll fail. In fact, probably at some point we will. And maybe things won't always be as easy as they have for us. But that's okay too.
Speaker 1:Because there is just as much to be learned in our failures as there are in our successes. Because that's discipleship. And if we can continue to dream with wisdom and to risk with purpose, if we can remain true to that vision and calling that God put in our hearts all the way back a year and a half ago when we started this thing, then maybe we can be part of something incredible all over again. Now, perhaps, today is about your personal story, and it is about that strange little anecdote that that you will add to resurrection when you tell the story. Now may you sense all of the surprising ways that God is present to you this week.
Speaker 1:Those moments that might otherwise drop off the radar. Those moments that maybe no one else would care to record or tell, but for you, this was Christ present to you. Would you sense that and hear that and grab a hold of that and make it yours? May you risk wisely, but adventure extravagantly. Perhaps today, this is about your place in our story, our shared story.
Speaker 1:And you have been watching comments from the edge, maybe even cheering us on. But you have wondered if this is the place for you. Well, I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer that for you. That's really up to you. But I can promise you are welcome here, and there is work that needs to be done.
Speaker 1:And so if our story is becoming your story, then may you sense that you have a role in our future. And would you be ready to step into this divine adventure we call church? Let's pray. God, help us today to read stories of resurrection. Stories in your scriptures of how you interacted, you invaded, you showed up in people's lives and transformed them.
Speaker 1:But would we be sensitive enough and aware enough, empowered by your spirit enough to notice those moments that were just for the participants. For John, as he rushes to the tomb and he beats Peter and it becomes his story. Would we be inspired by the unnecessary anecdotes that you record? Record? And would we then be compelled to look for them in our lives?
Speaker 1:To find the ways that resurrection is invading our space and transforming our lives? Showing up in unexpected ways, in unexpected places, in moments that only stand out to us. And in those moments, empowered by your spirit, would we grab a hold of them and record them and hold them deep and tight and close to our hearts? Because those are the moments that give us courage to continue to move forward, to risk and to adventure and to believe that our best is ahead of us. God, may you sink deep into our bones today that resurrection is for what's ahead, not what's behind.
Speaker 1:You are a great God, and in the strong name of the risen Christ we pray. Amen. Alright. Next week, we begin a quick two week series, and we're gonna change things up slightly here, even in the season of Eastertide, where we celebrating resurrection. And we are gonna talk about grief, loss, and lament, because that is also part of what it means to be alive.
Speaker 1:And so join us for those conversations over the next two weeks. But we will end here, as we always do with this. Love God, love people, tell the story, have a great week, and we'll see you back next Sunday. Thanks everyone.