Finding Our Way Together- You Gotta Move
Finding Our Way Together-You Gotta Move
John 5:1-9
Recap
On Sunday we looked at the story of Jesus healing a man who had been unable to move forward for 38 years.
When Jesus finds him lying beside the pool of Bethesda, he asks what initially sounds like a strange question: “Do you want to get well?”
The man's response tells us something about the story he has come to believe. He explains why healing isn't possible for him. He has no one to help him into the water. Someone else always gets there first.
And sometimes explanations of how we got here quietly become stories about why we can never leave.
Jesus doesn't argue with the man. He simply says, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
Jesus makes the healing possible, but the man still has to get up.
That's an important picture of how grace often works in our lives. Grace isn't opposed to effort; grace is opposed to earning. There are things Jesus does for us that we could never do for ourselves—and then there are things Jesus invites us to do with him.
Sometimes we have to make a move.
This year we're going to practice exercising our faith in four directions:
UP — grounding ourselves in the presence and love of God. IN — becoming honest and curious about what's happening inside of us. TOWARD — moving toward relationships where we can know and be known. OUT — allowing the love and grace we've received to move through us toward others.
We don't have to change everything overnight. We just have to make the next move in the right direction.
---Go a Little Deeper
There's an interesting moment in the story that happens after Jesus tells the man to get up. John writes: “At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”
Think about how strange that first movement must have felt after 38 years. The man couldn't know whether his legs would hold him until he tried to stand on them.
That's often how faith works. We sometimes imagine faith as having enough certainty that we're finally willing to move. But throughout Scripture, faith often looks more like moving because we trust the One who called us.
Abraham has to leave before he knows exactly where he's going. Peter has to step out of the boat before he discovers whether the water will hold him. The man at Bethesda has to begin getting up.
Sometimes we want God to give us certainty, confidence, courage, and a detailed map of everything that's going to happen next—and then we'll move. But sometimes those things meet us in the movement.
The conversation brings clarity. The first counseling appointment creates hope. Ten quiet minutes with God begins to reorient us. Showing up for dinner begins a friendship. Serving somebody starts getting us outside of ourselves.
The first move doesn't have to fix everything. It just has to be a move in the right direction.
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Discussion Questions
1. What part of Sunday's message stayed with you the longest?
2. Jesus asks the man, “Do you want to get well?” Why do you think Jesus asks him that question?
3. Have you ever had an explanation for something in your life slowly become a story about why it could never change? What helped—or might help—you begin imagining something different?
4. Which of the four directions feels strongest in your life right now: UP, IN, TOWARD, or OUT? Which one could use some attention?
5. Where in your life are you tempted to wait until you feel completely ready, confident, or certain before making a move?
6. What is one small move in the right direction you sense God inviting you to make?
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Suggested Practice
This week, don't try to change your whole life. Make one move. Choose one of the four directions:
UP: Give God ten intentional minutes. Pray. Read Scripture. Sit quietly. Take a walk and pay attention to God's presence.
IN: Write one honest page. Ask yourself: What am I grateful for? What am I anxious about? What am I learning?
TOWARD: Reach out to someone. Invite them to coffee. Have the conversation you've been avoiding. Tell somebody the truth about how you're actually doing.
OUT: Serve somebody. Give something away. Notice a need and meet it without being asked.
Keep it small. You don't have to cover the entire distance between where you are and where you want to be. Just make a move.
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Closing Prayer
Jesus,
Thank You that Your grace meets us where we are, but doesn't leave us there. Where we've become resigned, renew our hope. Where we don't know what to do, give us wisdom. Where we know exactly what to do but are afraid to do it, give us courage.
Teach us to exercise our faith—to look UP and make our home in Your love, to look IN and become honest about ourselves, to move TOWARD people who can know us and love us, and to move OUT with the love and grace You've given us.
And when the distance between where we are and where we want to be feels overwhelming, help us remember that we don't have to cover it all today. Show us the next move. And give us the courage to make it. Amen.