Howdy. When I was younger, my mom, my sister
and I were driving down a road in the neighborhood
near my school. We're heading along normally
when suddenly my sister says, stop, we need to
turn around. And my mom and I looked at her and
we asked, why? And she points back and she says,
the sign, it says dead end. And we were really
confused. We had driven that road before, and
there wasn't a dead end there. But she was convinced.
No, the sign says dead end. We can't go this
way. So we turn around, drive back to look at
the sign that she saw. And when we got close
enough, we finally saw the dead end sign. clearly
for ourselves in big bold letters saying, road
humps. And that was the day we discovered my
sister needed glasses. What she thought was the
end of the road wasn't the end of the road at
all, it was just something in the road. Sometimes,
the very thing that looks like an obstacle, it's
not the end. Sometimes the thing we think is
blocking the way is actually part of the road
itself. And that happens in life, too. Sometimes
we look at a difficult or devastating situation
and think, this must be a dead end. This must
mean God is not providing. This must mean there's
no way forward. But the Scriptures show us something
surprising. Well, it looks like the obstacle
may be the very place where God is about to give
life. And we see that happen three times in today's
message. In the wilderness, at a well, and at
the cross. The people of Israel once faced a
moment where everything in front of them looked
like a dead end. In the book of Exodus, chapter
17, the people of Israel are traveling through
the wilderness. It actually sits between Egypt
and the promised land, and in many ways, it serves
as a kind of barrier between Israel and the power
that once enslaved them. But traveling through
the wilderness to get to that promised land,
it's not easy. There's dust and heat, and most
importantly, there's no water. So the people
begin to argue with Moses, and they complain.
They accuse him. They even question God, why
did you bring us up out of Egypt? Was it just
so we could die out here? From their perspective,
the situation looks pretty obvious. There's no
water. There's only rock and dry ground and wilderness.
In their minds, they have reached that end. But
God tells Moses to do something strange. He says,
Pass on before the people, taking you some of
the elders of Israel, and strike the rock. Notice
something important. God tells Moses to bring
the elders with him. Don't do it by yourself.
Not everyone, but enough witnesses there. Because
what God is about to do is something they must
see and testify to. So Moses walks up to the
rock with his staff in hand. The same staff God
used to part the Red Sea. The same staff that
God used to strike Egypt. The elders are watching.
The people through them are watching. And nothing
about that rock looks promising. It's just stone.
Hard, dry, lifeless. Then Moses raises the staff.
And he strikes the rock, the sound echoing across
the wilderness. Wood against stone. And maybe,
maybe for a moment, nothing happens. Then suddenly,
the rock cracks and water begins to pour out.
Water spilling down the rock and running across
the ground so the people can drink. The very
thing that looked like an obstacle became the
place where life appeared. And maybe in that
moment, something else cracked open too. Not
just the rock, but the hearts of the people.
Hearts that had been hard with fear, with anger,
with distrust. Because now the elders have seen
it with their own eyes. God had not. Abandon
them. A rock that could hold the waters back,
but easily split with one hit of the staff. The
rock that looked lifeless was exactly where God
had hidden the water. What looked like the obstacle
was the place where God gave life. Centuries
later, another person stood at another place
where water was drawn. The Gospel of John, chapter
4. A Samaritan woman comes to a well in the middle
of the day. They are in Samaria. And that detail
matters, but also the time as well. People usually
come to the well in the cool of the morning or
later in the evening. Coming at noon suggests
that she wants to avoid others. She has a past.
She has a reputation. She has reasons to keep
her distance. And when she arrives, she finds
something unexpected. A man sitting at the well.
A Jewish rabbi, to be precise. And immediately
she feels the obstacles. Jews and Samaritans,
they did not get along. And a man, let alone
a rabbi, normally would not be speaking to a
woman like her. So when Jesus asks her for a
drink, she's surprised, maybe suspicious, maybe
even a little sarcastic, if you will. How is
it that you, a Jew, ask a drink from me, a woman
of Samaria? In her mind, Jesus is probably just
another obstacle in an already difficult life.
Another reminder of the divide between their
peoples? Another voice representing a religious
system that she has not lived up to. But Jesus
says something unexpected as Jesus is wont to
do. Whoever drinks of the water that I will give
him will never be thirsty again. And slowly the
conversation begins to change. Jesus reveals
he knows her life and every man in it. Not to
shame her, not to condemn her, but to show that
he sees her completely. He knows that bad relationships
are not only about making bad choices, every
relationship has been another trip to the same
unsatisfying well. Another hope that this time
she would finally find security, love, worth.
But Jesus still speaks with her. Still offers
her life. And suddenly, as He reveals His true
identity as the Messiah, as the Christ, she realizes
something. The man she thought was the obstacle
is actually the source of the living water that
she has been searching for. Her heart breaks
open, and the hardened woman who came to the
well alone now runs back into town, telling the
people, come see a man who told me everything
I ever did. Could this be the Christ? The isolated
woman becomes the witness, just like the elders
in the wilderness. Because once again, what looked
like the obstacle was the place where God gave
life. In her story, it's not as unique as we
might think. People today still go searching
for life in wells that cannot satisfy. Some people
believe success will finally satisfy them. Another
promotion, another milestone, another accomplishment.
For a moment it feels like water, but the thirst
always returns. Jesus doesn't look at your accomplishments
to determine your worth, though. Your worth is
what you are given because of His grace. Others
believe the right relationship will finally fill
the emptiness. If someone truly loves me, everything
will be okay. But even the best relationship
cannot carry the weight of being someone's ultimate
source of meaning. Eventually the well runs dry
again. Jesus, though, offers something different.
He gives a love that does not collapse under
pressure. And others still, they don't chase
success or romance necessarily, but they do chase
escape. Endless scrolling, constant entertainment,
never allowing silence. But distraction is like
drinking salt water. The more you consume, the
thirstier you become. But Christ offers something
entirely different. A spring of water welling
up to eternal life. That is why Jesus' promise
is so powerful. He doesn't offer another flawed
well. He offers living water. But when Jesus
began preaching and teaching, He was not always
recognized as bringing life. Many people saw
Him as a problem. He challenged their authority.
He exposed their hypocrisy. He didn't fit their
expectations. So they treated him like the obstacle
to what they thought they wanted. And what do
people do with obstacles? They remove them. They
silence them. They get rid of them. And that
is exactly what they did to Jesus. They arrested
him. They condemned him. They nailed him to a
cross. To them, it looked like the end of the
obstacle. The end of the troublemaker. The end
of the disruption. But God had something else
in mind because the Scriptures had already spoken
about this moment. In the book of Psalms, chapter
118, verse 22, we hear these words. The stone
the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
The very stone they rejected, the one they thought
was useless, the one they tried to remove, the
one they broke on the tree. That stone becomes
the cornerstone, the place where the whole building
is built around. And at the cross, something
astonishing happens. The one they thought was
the obstacle becomes the source of salvation.
Whatever they thought they were doing, Jesus
was the one giving Himself. He was laying down
His own life. And through His death comes forgiveness.
Through His suffering comes mercy. Through the
cross comes life for the world. The cross looked
like defeat, but it became the fountain of salvation.
The water mingled with the blood became the living
water for us all. Once again, what looked like
the obstacle was the place where God gave life.
The rock that looked lifeless gave water. The
rabbi at the well offered living water. The cross
that looked like defeat became salvation. Jesus
looked like a stumbling block, but He was a cornerstone.
But yet, we still misread the signs in our lives.
Just like my sister mistook road humps for a
dead end, we sometimes look at our lives and
assume we know what is happening. We see hardship
and think this must mean God has abandoned me.
We see a challenge and think this must be the
end of the road. We encounter something difficult
and assume there is no way forward. When that
happens, something even deeper takes place. We
begin to misread Jesus Himself. Instead of seeing
Him as the source of life, we start to see Him
as the obstacle. When Jesus calls us to forgive
someone who hurt us. When Jesus calls us to humility
instead of pride. When Jesus calls us to trust
God instead of controlling everything ourselves.
When Jesus calls us to faith instead of fear.
Sometimes we look at those things and we think
this is what's getting in the way of the life
I want. Some people look at Jesus and think I'm
doing fine on my own a stable career of financial
security a respected reputation But Jesus says
something unsettling apart from me You can do
nothing Admitting that means admitting we are
not the foundation of our own lives Christ is
not coming to tear down your life He is coming
to be the foundation that can actually hold it
up Others like the idea of spirituality, meaning
and meditation and personal truth. But Jesus
does not simply offer inspiration in a chicken
soup book. He says, I am the way. People want
inspiration, but they don't want a cornerstone
that defines the whole structure. Yet the Gospel
says the structure collapses without Him. And
sometimes a stumbling block is grace itself.
We would rather fix ourselves. Climb the ladder.
Improve enough. Earn our way. But the cross declares
something different. Life does not come from
what we achieve. It comes from what Christ has
done for us. The rock struck in the wilderness
and the Savior struck on the cross? Both say
the same thing. Life comes from what God provides,
not what we achieve. The thing we think is the
obstacle is actually the place where God is giving
life. Israel saw a rock and assumed death, but
the rock released water. The Samaritan woman
saw a rabbi and assumed rejection, but he offered
living water. The world saw a cross and assumed
defeat. but the cross became salvation. And sometimes
the thing we are pushing against the hardest,
the thing we think is in our way is actually
the place where God is calling us to receive
his grace. Because the truth is simple. Jesus
is not the obstacle. Jesus is the way. He is
the one who gives living water. the one who forgives
our sins, the one who opens hardened hearts,
the one who leads us into life. So when life
feels like a dead end, when the road looks blocked,
when the situation feels dry and lifeless, remember
the rock in the wilderness. Israel saw nothing
but stone. But when the rock was struck, water
flowed. Remember the woman at the well. She came
searching for ordinary water, but the man she
met there offered living water. And remember
the cross. The world looked at that cross and
thought it was the end. The end of the troublemaker.
The end of the road. But the cross was not the
end. It was where new life began. It was the
place where forgiveness began to flow. where
mercy began to flow, where living water began
to flow for the world, and that living water
is for you. Forgiveness. Life. Salvation. Given
through Jesus Christ. Because we spend our lives
walking from well to well, hoping the next one
will finally satisfy, but every well runs dry.
until we meet the one who does not just draw
water, he is the living water. Thanks be to God.