CMLC 2026-03-08 Sermon

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

Exodus 17 · chapter mention

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

John 4 · chapter mention

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

Psalms 118:22

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.