Christianity on the Rocks

                 

Psalm 31

Matthew 7:21-29

 

            When I was in high school I did some cross-country ski racing. In those races, contestants begin at 30 second intervals. I was on the starting line, listening to the countdown. 3-2-1, and as I blasted off, I heard and felt a snap.

            As I skied along a short ways, I discovered that the drawstring on my sweatpants had snapped. I hurried into the woods out of site and stopped to retie it.

            SNAP!

            Now the string was totally useless. Helplessly, I skied along for awhile. Downhills were not easy, but when I came to a steep uphill portion of the course, it proved impossible. You can’t ski uphill with one hand holding your pants up.

            I left the course and sheepishly returned to the bus. The coach found me there a while later and asked me if I was feeling okay. I told him, “No.” But it wasn’t until later that I told him what really happened.

            I am going to ask you to hang onto that story for a bit. It really does have something to do with the sermon, but not until later.

 

            Today’s gospel deals with one of the most common metaphors for God in the Bible—the rock. In Psalm 31, the writer praises God with the words, “You are my rock and my fortress.” In Corinthians, Paul declares Jesus to be our spiritual rock.  Jesus’ words in Matthew today, urge us to be like the wise man who builds his house upon the rock, and it is clear that God is that rock.

 

 

 

          

 Metaphors are used so often in the Bible that it’s a good idea to review from time to time what we learned in English class about what a metaphor is and what it does. A metaphor helps to explain something that is elusive or unfamiliar by comparing it to something that is more familiar. It’s tough to get a handle on what God is, but we all know what rocks are. The Bible says there is something about a rock that explains what God is.

            The important thing to remember is that there is a yes and a no to every metaphor.

 

            Example: Up until this past season, Larry Johnson had been a bull on the football field. OK, bulls run on all four legs. So am I saying that Johnson has a unique running style in which he goes on all fours? Am I saying that Johnson has horns and a tail, that he eats grass, that his body is covered with thick hair, or that he reacts strongly to the color red?

            Of course not. That is the “no” to the metaphor.

            Bulls are powerful, ornery creatures. When they get up a head of steam, they are extremely tough to stop. If you get in their way, you’re likely to get trampled. Is that what I’m saying about Larry Johnson? Exactly. That’s the “yes” to the metaphor.

            If I were to describe a soprano as a nightingale, am I saying that she has feathers and wings and eats twice her own weight in food every day? Of course not. That is the “no” to the metaphor.

            Am I saying that she has a hauntingly clear and beautiful voice? Exactly. That’s the “yes” to the metaphor. The key to metaphors is separating the yes from the no.

 

            There has to be a “no” to every metaphor. If I say my neighbor is a six foot tall man, that’s not a metaphor, it’s a statement of fact. It’s silly to say that a liquid is as wet as water. There isn’t a no to that statement. A metaphor brings insight by taking two things that are different in most ways and shining the spotlight on that small part in which they are alike.

 

            One of the biggest mistakes we make in Bible study is looking at metaphors in Scripture as if they were equal signs. In this case, we start thinking of all the things that a rock is and then try to apply that to God. We forget that there has to be a large amount of “no” for any metaphor to work.

            To understand what it means that God is our rock, we start by identifying the no to the metaphor.

            Some of the nos are easy. Rocks can be thrown.You can’t throw God. Rocks are a nuisance if you’re planting a field of corn or digging a ditch. The Bible isn’t saying God is a nuisance. Rocks are lifeless, they can’t move under their own power. We can all recognize that the Bible is not saying that about God. 

            But some of the nos are not quite so obvious. When we think of rocks we think of objects that do not change or respond to us in any way. You look at a large rock like the Rock of Gibraltor or El Capitan at Yosemite Park and the way that rock looked when you were born is exactly how it will still look when you’re gone. There is no way we can change it or move it.

            So when we hear God described as a rock, we often thing of God as utterly unchanging, someone who cannot be moved in any way. God doesn’t grow, doesn’t respond to anything we do. God just is. God is the way God was at the beginning of time and will remain exactly that way until the end of time, and nothing we do will have the least effect on God.

 

            The notion of an unchanging and unchangeable God is part of the no of the rock metaphor. There are many stories in the Old Testament where God listens to what people say and watches what they do, and then responds based what has happened.

            The Bible shows us that God is so full of love that he decided not only to create a world but to share that world. God calls us into relationship with him so that he can share God’s self with other beings. God wants relationship with us. And by definition, relationship is not a one-way street. You cannot have a relationship with me if nothing you ever say or do affects me in any way. It doesn’t mean that I can be right and God can be wrong; it is just part of the mystery of God’s boundless love that God honors us by caring about what we have to say.

 

            So what is the yes to the rock metaphor? The yes is that while God can respond and can change various ways, the core nature of God does not and will not change. God is about love and justice. That is rock solid. It was that way long before you were born; it will be that way long after you die.

            The Biblical metaphor of God as a rock refers to this reliable foundation. Whatever you want to build can be stable only if the foundation is permanent. And so you’re not looking to build on sand, or dirt, or pebbles, or mud. All of those things can shift. When the foundation shifts, your structure shifts with it and collapses. You need to get down to bedrock to be anchored and secure.

            The use of foundations is not restricted to physical structures. All of our hopes and dreams depend on the foundations upon which they are built. If that foundation fails; it all fails.

            A solid foundation is the key to our very lives. With so much at stake, we need a foundation that is utterly reliable. The Bible says that the most reliable foundation upon which to build your life is God. The one thing in this world that you can depend on absolutely is the unchanging core of God’s nature.

 

            Many things about your life will change. You may change your mind, your goals. Because of circumstances, you may find yourself going in a completely opposite direction from what you intended. But if you are anchored in something as solid as a rock, your foundation is always going to be there, supporting you, from your baptism until long after you die.

 

            So the question is, what are our foundations in life? What is it that we rely on? What are the things upon which we depend so heavily that if they go, everything goes?

 

            These are important questions, and if we do not ask them from time to time, we may discover that we have placed a great deal of trust in things that are not reliable. I suspect most of us have. Here’s where the skiing story finally comes in.

            All of what I hoped to accomplish in that ski race for myself and for my team depended upon a rotten piece of string. And I didn’t even know it. I did not realize either than the string was so bad, or that so much was riding on that little drawstring. I took for granted something upon which the entire race depended.

            That sort of thing is even more serious when you are mountain climbing. The most frequent tragedies in mountain climbing occur among relatively inexperienced climbers who are roped together on their climb. They get the feeling that because they are connected with others by a rope, they are safe. They have confidence that if they slip, the others will support them.

            The truth is that according to the laws of physics, another person on the side of a mountain can almost never break your fall. And so, too often, what happens when one person slips is that he pulls the whole party off the mountain. The only thing that can save you if you slip on a mountain is a rope that is firmly embedded in the rock. A smart climber never assumes the rope is anchored to the rock. He or she will test it repeatedly to make sure.

            The Scriptural use of the rock metaphor tells us, “Do not take your foundations for granted. Check your life, your foundation and your connections to that foundation on a regular basis. What is it that you are relying on? In what or whom do you place your trust? What is it that you are basing all of plans on: all of your hopes and dreams? Is your foundation reliable? And are you taking for granted that you have a strong connection with that foundation?”

 

            Upon checking, we may discover that all of our hopes and dreams for the future depend on some notion of personal success, or personal fulfillment, or lifestyle, or financial security, or any of a hundred other things. If we examine them closely we may find that we are basing our lives on something as flimsy as a rotten string.

            And we know how it works with foundations. When it goes, it all goes.

 

            The Gospel acknowledges that there’s a strong temptation to take short cuts. To build the structure of our lives on sand just because, well, it’s easier. If you’ve ever driven a tent stake into the ground, you know that pegs go in very easily in loose sand. The harder the ground, the harder it is to drive in the stake. But a stake driven into loose sand isn’t as secure as a stake driven into hard ground.

            This principle may not seem all that important most of the time. When everything is sheltered and calm and peaceful, stakes don’t need to be connected that well. A shortcut or two won’t get you in trouble.

            But when the weather is bad, that’s when it really makes a difference. In turbulent times, the stronger the connection, the safer you are.

 

            Just as a mountain climber repeatedly tests every connection with the rock, the  Bible recommends we repeatedly test our connections to our rock. Our reading from Deuteronomy suggests we keep a check list of our most important connections in front of us at all times.

            “You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

            Why? So that you and your children will be safe.

 

            I wonder if we should take this more seriously; if we shouldn’t have these things written on the doorposts of the church. Or at least on the walls. The anchor points of our spiritual lives that keep us safe even when we slip on the edge of a cliff.

            Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

            Micah 6:8  What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

            Matthew 22:37 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

            John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

            Romans 8:38  I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

 

            Certainly you can find others, but those five passages connect us solidly to the rock upon which all of our hopes and dreams depend. Life is too important to take these connections for granted. Test those connections; make sure they are anchored in the rock of ages, that they are solid and secure.

            If you do that, you may slip; you may slip often. You may bruise your knee, cut your hand, bump your head, even sprain your ankle. But you won’t ever fall off the mountain. 

            Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

            Be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.