Sermon for Sunday, May 18, 2025
Sermon for May 18th
‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
Whenever we think of following Jesus, we often think of Jesus going before us, beckoning us forward. We couldn’t do what we are being asked if Jesus was not leading us. We are not strong enough without our saviour guiding us forward. It’s a comfort to know that Jesus is always with us, offering us strength. In fact, there is something compelling about the idea of going where Jesus guides, especially as it means we can be close to Jesus in the process.
Peter’s story acts as an example of this, as he steps off the boat and actually takes two steps on the water. It’s not his own strength that makes this possible. Its his faith and trust in Jesus and his ability to let go and let Jesus carry him forward. He has let his own ego and sense of self go and had placed himself entirely in the care of Jesus and through that, he is able to do the impossible. It’s only when his sense of self, along with all of his doubts and fears, reasserts itself that he begins to sink. He let’s go of Jesus and is trying to do it himself and that causes him to sink. It causes all of us to sink. Without Christ by our side, life closes over us, and we begin to drown. Peter’s story is our story.
This is beautifully portrayed in the movie “The Shack”. Mack, the main character, is rowing a boat across the lake to meet Jesus. But in the middle of the lake, all the shame and fear and guilt that he has been bearing for many long months surfaces. The water around him turns black, the boat cracks open and he begins to go under. But then Jesus arrives and asks Mack to refocus on him. When he finally lets go, the blackness disappears, the boat is restored, and all is well again. Jesus then reaches out his hand and invites Mack onto the water. When he realizes he isn’t going to sink, Mack is overjoyed and races with Jesus to the other side of the lake.
When they set out to return, Mack steps on to the water and his feet immediately sink. When he looks to Jesus, Jesus’ response is, “This works better when we do it together.”
We may not be perfect followers of Jesus, but we recognize, in our more lucid moments, that when we let go and let Jesus guide us, things that seemed impossible are possible. Life, that threatened to swamp us, does not. Our calling, which we thought was beyond us become our life’s passion. It may not be consistent, but when we let go and allow ourselves to be guided by Jesus, then we find joy. That was what the movie portrayed so effectively. Mack was running with pure joy on his face. Any time that we let go and follow Jesus into the path set before us, we find joy we never realized was possible. That’s been my experience with the ministry. I know for those who worked with places like the HUB, there was real joy in walking with the people who accessed those services. There is genuine friendship and community that form in these interactions. When we follow where Jesus leads, it is never easy, but it is life giving and it is our life’s honor to go where our savior leads us.
‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
These words fly in the face of everything we think we know about following Jesus. There is no where that Jesus goes that he does not beckon his disciples to follow. Except here.
‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
Where is Jesus going that we cannot follow? It hurts to think that in the end, Jesus may go somewhere that does not involve us. Why can’t we follow? Why can’t we go everywhere you go, dear Saviour? We want to be close to you and go where you go. Please, don’t bar the way for us to follow.
So where is Jesus going? Some think it is to sit at God’s right hand in glory. Jesus does eventually end up there. But I don’t think that Jesus ever proclaimed this as part of his ministry. This was never named as the end goal of what he was doing.
Rather, I think it was about his journey into the horror of the cross and what he would end up accomplishing by doing this. He was about to break the powers of darkness and suffer something no human could ever endure. He was about to bear the sin of the world, not just for a moment or two in time, but for the rest of time. He was about to do something that only God could accomplish. He was about to set us free.
Its no wonder he told the disciples that they couldn’t follow him. They could never do what he was about to do. In point of fact, it was for their sake that he was going in the first place. They might, in their career as missionaries, suffer for the sake of the Gospel, but they would do so knowing that such suffering was not the last word. The suffering they endured would be for a moment. The connection to God, repaired forever by Christ, would ensure that in the end, the final word would always be God’s word of love. The final reality would be for them to rest in God’s eternal love forever. But none of that would have been possible, for them or for us, if Christ did not first go and do what had to be done. Everything that the disciples did and what subsequent generations have done was made possible by what Christ did. We are able to follow Jesus because Jesus cleared the way and made it possible to follow, as he has called us out to do.
‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
It may sound strange to hear those words from Jesus, who normally calls us forth to face all measure of challenges, but in this situation, Jesus had to go and do this himself. By doing so, he has prepared the way for us to follow. We are able to go out and serve the world, to form relationships with all who cross our path, and we can give praise to God in all we say or do because of what Christ has done. He went where we could not go and set us free. He went where could not go so that for the rest of time, we could follow him and know true life as we did.
Amen