Real Rest

Signs point to things. The whole purpose of a sign is to signal or point to something, or to announce that you have arrived perhaps at your destination. Bad things happen when you ignore signs. Teri and I went this past weekend to visit our son, James, in Columbia and to visit Teri’s dad who was in the hospital in Murfreesboro. The plan was for Addison and me to stay in Columbia, while Teri would go on and spend the night in the hospital with her dad. So, we were doing a trip we have done countless times before, time out of mind. It is simple: you point the car towards Nashville and, at about mile marker 150, you head south. Simple. I can do this in my sleep. Who needs signs?Somewhere about twenty miles east of Brownsville, we had to stop for a bathroom break. After all is finished, we pile back in the car and resume our trek. A little while later, Teri puts James’ address in her GPS and says to me, “It is saying we need to turn around.” About this time, I see a familiar sight and am thinking, “Wow, I didn’t know there were two of these on the road to Nashville.” Then it hits me as I see the sign for Brownsville: I was heading back to Memphis! It took 15 miles of mindless driving to realize I had ignored the sign!John’s gospel is organized around the signs of Jesus and the arrival of the long-promised Kingdom. This week we see a strange passage about the healing of a man crippled for 38 years. What is so intriguing about this miracle is the one healed and also the religious leaders’ reaction to this astonishing event. The one healed is not a good candidate, if there is such a thing, and the question the religious leaders ask shows how easy it is to miss the point of the whole thing. I can’t wait to talk about this with you.Also, it is a great day of vow-taking and oath-making. We have a few of our covenant children making professions of faith and also an elder being installed. We don’t just do this for window dressing. We follow the example of our great God who seals his love for us in covenant and vowed a long, long time ago to Abraham that He was so attached to him and his children that, even if they violated it, He – not them – would be torn apart. Yes, even vows are signs! So, what a day to remember, not just vows we make to each other but also the vow God made to us.