Elizabeth Evans
Hagan, writing this week for the online devotional at www.d365.org invites us to pray, “Remind me
today that I can trust You to be my rock!”
It seems a fitting image as we come to the 6th Sunday After
Pentecost where the alternate Old Testament lesson shares the story of Jacob
who sleeps in the wilderness with a “rock” for a pillow—only to be awakened in
the night to discover that the “rock” is rather uniquely connected to God and a
gateway to heaven.
“A rock for a
pillow” strikes me as a rather bad time in the wilderness! Surely, Jacob had something more tangible
with him that could have better served as a place to lay his head. Jesus, however, was plainly and painfully
forthright telling his disciples, “the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” While Jacob is not the Son of Man these are
still the reminders that there are times when we journey in difficult places
and circumstances. The lesson, as
always, seems to be for us to learn time and again to rely on God; and that
even when we have not sought God out, God manages to seek us out, to find us,
and to reveal for us God’s promises.
It is striking
to me that in the wilderness, with nothing to his name and only a rock for a
pillow, Jacob is found by God. That rock
becomes the keystone—where the ladder appears and the angels are ascending and
descending and where Jacob can see into God’s realm. At some point, God must descend, or at least
God appears beside Jacob—right there in the wilderness, in a time of
uncomfortability and uncertainty. And
maybe more than God’s promises that get laid out again, the reminder—and one of
the most appealing elements of this story—is supposed to be that we are never
abandoned or alone.
God is indeed
our rock!
But this is more
than just comforting words in a harsh moment.
Jacob will go on to bless that spot and that rock as a reminder of who
visited there. And we all should have
places where God has appeared to us giving those places special meaning. But it isn’t just in the places. The Bible reminds us that God appears in all
kinds of situations; and our Sunday School lessons teach us that God is
everywhere. Yet, when we say that God is
our rock… are we not lending ourselves both to something concrete but also less
definitive?
I’m thinking
today about an upcoming family vacation that my family and I are planning. We’re going to be camping, and we’re always
worried about picking camping sites where we literally won’t be using rocks for
pillows. Still, part of the experience
we hope for is to encounter one another and God in new ways—and places. We know that a sunset, a patch of wild
blackberries, wildlife, or scenic spots and opportunities all lend themselves
to the breathtaking promises of God’s abiding with us.
But just beyond
are the reminders of God that change us.
Our Christian culture
seems to be struggling with the idea of a change-less God. For some, the basis of faith is having God “nailed
down” in the Bible’s stories and teachings with the point revealing an un-changeable,
and unchanging God—where God is the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. For others, the Bible’s promises are of a God
that is always doing something new among us, breathing newness and freshness
into our lives. Many, see a God adept at
change, able to fashion God’s love in spite of human foibles, where a
changeless gospel of the good news of God’s love constantly and consistently
invites and cajoles us to be changed by God’s love and where God is changed
because God is in relationship with us.
To say that God
is our rock—isn’t saying that we’re stuck in a sanctuary of unchanging,
immoveable existence; but instead, is to plant ourselves within a journey—where
we’re firmly rooted in God’s faithfulness and loving kindness but always
moving, changing, rediscovering, being moved and cajoled and inspired by a God
who cannot be nailed down!
So in this
season of traveling, journeying, vacationing—in our trips, tours, and treks—may
we be open to laying our heads down upon the rocks of God’s love. May we be kept safe; may we accomplish our
assignments; may we relax and enjoy and be encouraged. And may we also be open to discovering again
God’s presence among us. Let us learn
again that God is with us—no matter our travels or troubles. Let us feel God as our rock and resting
place. And like Jacob, may we go away
inspired to never be the same.
© Rev. David Stipp-Bethune; Teaching Elder and
Pastor, The Presbyterian Church of Llanerch, Havertown, Pennsylvania
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