Built On A Rock

Just earlier this week, when I was still unaware that there was an imminent Hurricane threat, I was walking through my new neighborhood and doing something I usually do:  looking around for things I could possibly use for a children's message on Sunday.  I had read a couple of sample children's message books and I was thinking about the Gospel reading, the one where Jesus asks his disciples "Who do people say that I am?" and the disciples give all sorts of answers, and then Jesus asks them, "But who do YOU say that I am?" and Peter jumps up and says, "I know the answer!  You are the MESSIAH!"  And then Jesus calls him the ROCK, just because he said that, and says he's going to build his church on that ROCK.

So, I'm thinking about ROCKS.  I'm thinking, what if I can get a great big ROCK to bring to church on Sunday morning, not just a little stone and not a medium-sized Rock, but a great big mighty ROCK?  (Would that be even practical?  Could I lift it?  Would I be able to pick it up?)

And while I am walking with my dog and thinking these thoughts, I see that there are some big rocks in people's yards.  Not every yard, but a few yards have big rocks in them.  And I think: YES!  That's just what I am thinking about!

Then I look more carefully, and I think:  That Rock isn't going anywhere.  That Rock is deeply embedded in the ground.  It's part of the property.

So, I don't have a huge rock to use as a visual aid for my children's message tomorrow.  In fact, in the way of things, I don't have a children's message and we won't be having worship tomorrow morning.   We are on the edges of Hurricane Harvey and we decided it would be better if everyone worshipped at home tomorrow morning.

And I think about that big immovable rock, and about Peter's confession, "You are the Messiah!" and about how Jesus called him a Rock, or at least his confession is rock-solid.  But I'm thinking about Harvey now, and about all that is uncertain in the world, and all the things that God doesn't guarantee, and the thing that Jesus does promise, in the midst of it:  He is not going anywhere.  He is embedded so firmly in our lives, in the pain and the joy and the suffering and the love, he cannot be moved.

There is so much we can't control in life.  But God will not be uprooted from us.   He will not be moved.  He's in this world.  He's in our lives.  He's in our communities, loving us, dying for us, living in us.