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Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
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 commons.church for more information.
Scott Wall;:We are starting this year off together with a quick 2 week conversation entitled, Picking up, letting go. And last week, Jeremy took care of the letting go half of that equation, suggesting that sometimes I actually have to take stock of what needs to be relinquished before we can welcome new beginnings. And, you explored this lively riveting moment from a well known story, the story Jacob and Esau, where when we read it Carefully, we saw and we found a compelling example of what happens when we hold on to stories about who we are And who others used to be. Sometimes we hold those things so close, only to find, as Jacob does, That we don't always have to. Like Jacob, we hold on to what people said or how they treated us.
Scott Wall;:And alternatively, we can also keep replaying the awful thing that we did. And we can find it hard to believe That we aren't that mistake we made. And in our holding on, we hold back. We put barriers between ourselves and the arrival of all that might be new, and good, and healing for us. Now, if you missed that conversation, I'm gonna invite you to catch up on YouTube or go to the podcast.
Scott Wall;:It was so good and rich. Because today, we are going to turn our attention to the picking up. We're gonna talk a little bit about what it means to say yes, and where you left off moving on and how to find the trail. But before we do that, I'm gonna invite you to just pause. Why don't we pray together?
Scott Wall;:Join me now. Loving God, present to us always with invitation. Your spirit inspires the changes that we make, the forgiveness that we seek, The reconciliation that we offer, that we find for what was, and, spirit, you also meet us with welcome. In any moment that we set out, where we dream, and we plan, and we trust our deepest intuition, where we choose to be open to what could be. And if we are anxious today, if our hearts and our minds are heavy, if We're unsure.
Scott Wall;:We need direction. We ask that you'd be present to where we are. That you bring peace and clarity for what lies ahead. And we pray simply that you'd be our guide. As we turn now to ancient words, bring them alive in the name of Christ we pray.
Scott Wall;:Amen. Alright. Well, before we go too far, I do need to say That I may have been better suited to teach last week's content, and my primary evidence for this is found in what my teenage Kids like to refer to as one of my catchphrases. It's pretty special, actually, to have leveled up in parenting to the point that, Somewhat frequently, I get slow roasted by the young human beings that I have kept alive and showered with all of my affection for years. And no, I'm not bitter.
Scott Wall;:It's actually pretty fun. Here's the deal. I am a moderately risk averse person. I like things to go, and to operate, and to stay how I like them. And some people might call that controlling.
Scott Wall;:I prefer to think of it, I prefer to think of it as being wise and experienced, because there is, after all, a right way To do most things. And what this means is that invariably, when someone is loading the dishwasher inefficiently, Or if they are picking something up with one hand, it's very fragile. They're not even looking at it. Or perhaps, they are pouring their beverage next to a computer. My computer, in fact.
Scott Wall;:These are all things that have actually happened. I have been known to say, no, no, please don't. And this line is partly responsible for why I am referred to as team no around the house. And I would go so far as to suggest that every house has such a person, regardless of whether it's friends or partners or roommates Living together, and to my tino friends, I say, stay strong. Okay.
Scott Wall;:I only mention this As a way of admitting that I don't always come naturally to the plucky, optimistic, imaginative work that this time of year inspires. I am a stay the course kind of person. I like keeping things simple. I'm more comfortable talking about letting go, and letting Slide and letting it pass. And if you know me well, you know I'm not super likely to be accused of picking up too much, or picking up too soon.
Scott Wall;:Which means that this series has something for me this week. Maybe it has something for some of us here. Even if we don't feel like we're suited, Or even ready to consider what newness we should be open to. And as a pastoral team, we actually trusted that This would be true when we planned this series months ago for this new year moment of transition and adjustment and recalibration. But also, and maybe especially, I trust that there is something here for me, for you, for all of us because this series is situated In a season of Christian timekeeping known as Epiphany, and you may not know much about this.
Scott Wall;:This is just a season that, as one commentator writes, It invites us to consider how Christ's divinity shines from his humanity. Revealing a scope to salvation That's often wider than we imagined. See, each year, on the heels of Christmas, the The season of epiphany comes along, and it invites me. It invites you to assume a posture of ascent. To consider how in Jesus' divine love let Go a measure of its power and its security to pick up and put on humanity.
Scott Wall;:To consider how, in the stories that we have about Jesus, as the gospel unfolds, we see renewal and regeneration spring up simply In the splashing of river water, and in the wine of a wedding feast. Right there in the simple shimmering moments of a human life. And it invites us to consider, to imagine, to believe even That this still happens, and to be ready to say yes when it does. And with this in mind, I want to read the lectionary gospel selection for this 2nd Sunday of epiphany. It's a short episode from the gospel of John.
Scott Wall;:We read at the end of chapter 1 that the next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. And he finds Philip, and he says to Philip. Follow me. Now Philip, like Andrew and Peter, who we met earlier in the chapter if you want to go and read. They're from the town of Bethsaida.
Scott Wall;:And Philip goes and he finds Nathaniel, this other guy. And he tells him, we've found the one that Moses wrote about in the law, And about whom the prophets also wrote. It's Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nazareth? Nathaniel replies.
Scott Wall;:He says, can anything good come from there? And Philip says simply, come and see. When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, He said of him, here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. How do you know me, sir? Says Nathaniel.
Scott Wall;:And Jesus answers him and says, I saw you while you were sitting under the fig tree there, before Philip Called you. Then Nathaniel declared, Rabbi you are the son of God. You are the king of Israel. The long awaited one. And Jesus responds and says, you believe because I told you that I saw you under a fig tree.
Scott Wall;:You're gonna see greater things Then that. And there's a lot of curious things going on here. The beginning of John's gospel, this chapter 1, it grabs a lot of headlines for theologians and commentators, understandably. Because at the beginning, it's got this Poetry and praise for the word there in the beginning that has now become flesh among us. But for me personally, the past couple of years, I've actually been drawn to the end of John chapter 1 to these epiphany texts about how Jesus' earthly ministry actually started up.
Scott Wall;:And this is no exception. This story here, there are so many fun details embedded in the narrative. You've got Jesus. He's far from home. He's down in the South along the Jordan River by Jerusalem.
Scott Wall;:Then in the verses that precede this, we see that some of John the Baptist's crew, they have Been tracking with Jesus. They follow him, actually. It's kind of creepy. And then we see, as I read to you, that Jesus is finding these recruits. We hear some shade thrown at Jesus' hometown.
Scott Wall;:And we observe a revealing of Jesus' mysterious divine knowledge, And understanding and awareness. And in response to that, we see Nathaniel confirm Jesus as God and King. Then we watch as Jesus seems to almost look into the camera with an eyebrow up like doctor Smolder Bravestone, and he says in effect, You thought that was amazing? You haven't seen anything yet. Which isn't to say that I think that Jesus looked like Dwayne The Rock Johnson in Jumanji so much As I think that it's helpful to imagine in the gospels, Jesus looking at the camera and breaking the 4th wall.
Scott Wall;:Anyway, back to the story, and to this part about these followers finding Jesus, and Jesus finding followers. See, it's important in the mix of all that to acknowledge that there was a lot of unease and disorientation as the background To this searching and finding being done by 1st century characters. Not unlike our own world, there was plenty of political and social tension. There was lots of economic pressure and uncertainty. And in that climate, some of these people walking around, no doubt, had had enough Of the religious powers and personalities of their time.
Scott Wall;:Some of them are likely in full on deconstruction mode, and this is why they flocked To hear John the Baptist? This is why now they are turning because they are intrigued by Jesus. Perhaps they're eager To find a version of faith that was rooted in integrity and injustice. Maybe they were just looking for something real And embodied. Perhaps, they wanted some alignment between a faith they could feel changing in themselves, and also this sense, This new sense of who they were becoming, they wanted to feel those things coming together.
Scott Wall;:And I think that that can feel familiar for some of us too. That sense that we have to actually let go of ideas that once felt safe. That sense that maybe, just maybe, The story of Jesus might hold something that we need. And this is why. I love how John presents Jesus appearing in the world.
Scott Wall;:How his arrival actually played out. Because I think it mirrors our experience. I think it hints too at what the future holds for us. Because maybe your journey of faith isn't or maybe it is a lot like the disciples here. It's like a scavenger hunt.
Scott Wall;:Because you've gone out looking. Where out of curiosity, or out of necessity, you have set out searching for something that you can't You can't quite put your finger on, you can just feel it. Or perhaps, you've promised yourself that you will not return to what you've known. Even though not returning has left you lonely. Or conversely, maybe your journey of faith feels a little bit like Phillips Here, like a game of hide and seek that you didn't know you were playing.
Scott Wall;:Right? Where newness, and this trust For whoever and whatever God might be, this new perspective, it feels like it just keeps finding you. Even when you're not looking for it. And what this story offers is a picture of how wherever you are in your relationship to faith, you can pick up Wherever you left off. 2024 is here, offering you another opportunity to search for a faith worth finding.
Scott Wall;:And another chance to be surprised by a faith worth being found by. Now, Let's jump back to a couple points of interest in the text here. The first is right off the top. The niv, which I read to you, it says this, that Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. And what's interesting is that the verb here translated as decided, it's just the Greek word, thelo.
Scott Wall;:It's a verb that implies a little more Then Jesus getting up that day, he sees there's a great forecast. He packs a picnic basket, puts on a quick bag, decides to set out on a whim. No. The verb has more weight than that. It means to wish or to desire or to exercise the will.
Scott Wall;:And saying that he decided to leave, it certainly works in English. But I think it could actually just as easily be read that that day, Jesus determined to leave. You see, we don't know all the circumstances. But we do know that at some point, Having had this ecstatic baptism experience, and having some people come along and affirm his message, Having maybe renegotiated his relationship with his cousin John and realizing the ways that they were different, realizing that the Habab of Jerusalem wasn't really for him. He realized that he needed to chart his own course, and so Jesus determined then that it was time To head north toward home.
Scott Wall;:And I love what this choice reveals about the overarching theme of divine action in scripture, And in the world. That for all the power that created and sustains the universe, that for all the mystery of how spirit breathes and restores and makes new. Jesus shows us the divine intent and creativity and redemption itself. How these Things emerged in the fallout of his human choices. In this text And in the rest of the gospel story, we see a picture of God in Christ discerning direction and figuring things out on the fly And discovering a way forward at times.
Scott Wall;:And that might not seem like a big deal, but a robust theology Of Christ and of Christ's humanity requires that we read the stories of his decisions As a frame for our own decisions, how Jesus, like you and me, had to find out and work out and flesh out The mystery of a life. Picking up and moving on from who and where he'd been. And that, in some small measure, is what epiphany and this series, and what Remains of 2024 ahead of us. They invite us to consider these things. They invite us to consider that moving on isn't optional.
Scott Wall;:Right? Like, your relationships will shift whether you determine to change them or not. And your body will change, I promise you. And your intentions, and your motivations, they We are going to transform whether you are paying attention to them or not. And other peoples are doing the same all around you.
Scott Wall;:We never remain as or where we were. Jesus shows us that in the story. And I think it's worth remembering that in all of your picking up, your determination can have redemptive outcomes too. But, I also think it's so important to notice how Jesus approached this moving on moment. See the text tells us that Jesus finds Philip, invites him to follow.
Scott Wall;:And then we're told what feels like this uninteresting, unimportant, unrelated personal information. Verse 44 says that Philip, like these 2 brothers who have discovered Jesus right before this story, that Philip was from the town of Bethsaida. And then Philip goes and finds this guy named Nathaniel. Nathaniel comes to discover the hype that Jesus is. Is it for real?
Scott Wall;:Then he has this mysterious encounter Where he see he feels seen. He feels known. And then, he has a conversation with this person where he Season knows the divine in a new way, and then he's brought into this little group that's gonna leave the next day. And you might be wondering why any of that matters. And like every social studies class you ever took, the answer Is in the geography.
Scott Wall;:Here's a map. It's a map of where Jesus' ministry unfolds, almost all of it. The story we're in today actually happens below this map, about a 100 kilometers to the south. So here you've got Nazareth, you can see it there. Jesus hometown, that's where he was from up in the mountains.
Scott Wall;:And there is also the Sea of Galilee where so many stories in the gospels happen. And if you look, you can see Bethsaida on the north side of the sea. John tells us that Andrew, and Peter, and Philip, who we've just met, that they're from this town. The scholars generally speculate that these people probably all knew each other. And if you keep looking, you can see this Town called Cana, it's there to the west of the sea.
Scott Wall;:That's the town that's gonna pop up in the next chapter, after these guys have gone north together. And we're gonna see Jesus take a wedding reception to the next level there. This is a town that, a little later in John, we will learn That Nathaniel, who we've just met, is from there. Which just means that if we read this text carefully, We see how Jesus' decision to move on shapes the unfolding redemptive story of scripture, And, we see how Jesus appears to be surrounding himself with people for the place that he intends to go. Look, we don't know why Jesus chose the followers he did.
Scott Wall;:Did he choose Matthew the tax collector because he needed a CFO? Maybe. Did he choose Peter, who was impulsive and confrontational because he knew he was gonna need an honest critic in his life? Did He choose Philip and Nathaniel in this story because they were intimate with the neighborhoods and communities that He knew He'd probably end up in? Or, maybe Jesus just wanted some friends.
Scott Wall;:Whatever it was, it offers you the assurance that it's okay to determine In your heart and mind, where you need to go in all of your moving on this year. And that you are right To discern and choose carefully and strategically who you need to take with you. Now that can sound like a bit of a cliche. Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Wall;:And I don't offer it as that. I think most of us know that deciding where to go in our spiritual and in our emotional and in our professional transformation, this can be so hard. We likely have all had the experience where picking up newness. It's tricky because we can't we can't determine what's best. Or how there are these times when it feels like all we're doing is picking up.
Scott Wall;:We're often left picking up the pieces of what and who and where we thought we'd be. And with all the sincerity I can muster today, I want to assure you, There's no rush. If you feel like your hands and your heart and your schedule are full, Trust me. It won't always be that way. And if you feel like there are too many options and pathways and potentials and pursuits, trust me.
Scott Wall;:Take your time being wise with them. Wherever you find yourself today, there's less an imperative to pick up the right thing, And to pick up and get to the right place, or to pick up the right relationship, or the right resource that's finally gonna break you free from where you Felt stuck. No. There's more an encouragement here to take a posture of ascent To the epiphanies of who God is, and who you are, and what the world is meant to look like. The epiphanies that are all around us.
Scott Wall;:And you might be asking, well, where where do we find these? And to be honest, I can't be sure where you'll find them, and I've actually been pretty deliberate today in not trying to define it for you. But one thing I'm trying to pay attention to this year, is the places where hope, no matter how fleeting, how hope leads me In my search for epiphany. A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a poem by Rosemary Witola Troemar. In which she writes, hope has holes in its pockets.
Scott Wall;:It leaves little crumb trails, so that we, when anxious, Can follow it. And those words got me thinking about how the right way forward for me on team no. How it's so often found in saying yes To life. Even when life confounds me, and even when it's heavy, And even when it surprises me with what I don't want to see, and how the way ahead is often found in paying attention, no matter how difficult to my fragile hope. Those places in my life where hope keeps popping up.
Scott Wall;:And sometimes it does that with determination, Like Jesus in the story, determination to head out to do what I think, you know, is best. Right? And sometimes it appears in the unexpected, like it does for Nathaniel In the story, where light and life emerge from places, or people, or events that I may not have seen for what they are. And what's striking about this? Is that this isn't just something that we practice as individual people here today.
Scott Wall;:It's actually something that we do together as community 2. See, this is our 10th year together, as a church in the city of Calgary. And we've been hopeful, and we've picked up some things For this year, we've brought on new local partnerships. We've experimented with our 7 p. M.
Scott Wall;:Service, which we love. We've committed To continue shaping creative and thoughtful curriculum for commons kids. We've got new courses on themes like masculinity and parenting coming this spring. Those are new. And next month we're saying, yes to this persistent hope we have of being a local embodied community by running a short term pop up down in the south of Calgary.
Scott Wall;:We know that so many people in our city are looking for connection, so we're gonna try something. We're gonna Come together for 4 consecutive Thursday nights in a different neighborhood than West Hillhurst. We're gonna share a meal. We'll make some space for anyone Searching for honest, passionate conversation about who Jesus is. And maybe that's you.
Scott Wall;:Maybe that's Someone listening online or on our podcast, or maybe it's someone that you know. Maybe this is a moment where we can learn together What commons is becoming. And if that sparks your imagination, you can find more info on our website and upcoming events. We'd love To have you at the table. That said, I really wish that we could go around the room, And name the bold and the hesitant, the audacious and the tender hopes that are held here today.
Scott Wall;:And as we close, maybe I can encourage you To let this be the year that you put that long held career aspiration, that you kick it into motion. Or to let this season where you let it be the one where you find the therapist, and the help that you know you need. Maybe to let this be the moment where you choose to read some more scripture, or to write some more poetry, or to cover more kilometers, or to just give more hugs, Or more gifts, or more of your attention. To let this be the year where you prioritize those you love most. And here's another idea.
Scott Wall;:What if we all decided to reach out to that person that we see, or we know, or we've met? Maybe here, maybe out there. And you all know who I'm talking about. It's that person that you've heard or you've seen or you've met, and you thought to yourself, I wonder How they're doing? I wonder if they'd be open to friendship.
Scott Wall;:Can you spot the bread crumbs in that? The bread crumbs of hope? And don't for a second let that be the end Of the list. No. No.
Scott Wall;:No. Go home. Take your journal. Take whatever you write in. And make some notes of the intuition that sprung up, even in these few moments.
Scott Wall;:Knowing that my prayer is that you would be honest, and wise, and tenacious with your limited time, As you choose to pick up the new. And in so doing, that you would follow the trail that hope always Leaves. A path that follows God's good and patient and faithful work in you, all the way home to where grace is always waiting. Let's pray. Loving God, we today, we pause.
Scott Wall;:We hold the mystery of your creative, sustaining presence. And we hold the mystery of our own experience right here, in the middle of this world. And wherever we feel prompted today, so grateful for how spirit comes and it Connects with where we are. It prompts us to say, yes. It prompts us to move on.
Scott Wall;:It prompts us to go looking for a path that's hopeful and rooted in your goodness. And whatever we might need today, maybe our hands are weak, maybe our hearts and minds are tired, Maybe we are worn out. Whatever we might need, we pray for courage and tenacity and grace to receive. Whatever it is that you have already brought, and you are bringing, and you promise to bring to us, Courage and faith to pick it up and move forward. We pray these things.
Scott Wall;:In the name of Christ our hope. Amen.
Jeremy Duncan:Hey. Jeremy here and thanks for listening to our podcast. If If you're intrigued by the work that we're doing here at commons, you can head to our website commons.church for more information. You can find us on all of the socials at commonschurch. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel where we are posting content regularly for the community.
Jeremy Duncan:You can also join our discord server. Head to commons.church/discord for the invite, and there you will find the community having all kinds of conversations about How we can encourage each other to follow the way of Jesus. We would love to hear from you. Anyway, thanks for tuning in. Have a great week.
Jeremy Duncan:We'll talk to
Scott Wall;:you soon.