CHAPTER ONE-STANDING STONES

I am not about to tell you the whole story.  I am guessing, I am hoping that you already know the story.  If you don’t then you need to be reading the book of Exodus from the Bible and not this stuff that I am writing.  But just to catch you up, just to give you the CliffsNotes, I’ll run over some of it.

The Children of Israel were slaves in Egypt.  They had been there for a goodly while and were suffering under the task master’s whips.  They cried out to God to deliver them and God sent a fellow named Moses. 

You see, while Moses was tending sheep on the “backside of the desert” God set a bush on fire to get his attention. God and Moses had a real good conversation there at that bush and Moses got marching orders to precede back to Egypt to Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, with God’s message, “Let my people go”!

Well it took some time and a dozen or so miracles from God but old Pharaoh finally got the message and turned the Children of Israel free.  They headed out on their march to Canaan, the Promised Land.  But that didn’t go so well.  Disobedience, rebellion and bull-headedness got those folks into a mess of trouble.  So much so, that they ended up wondering around in the desert for 40 years. 

Moses died without even entering into the “promised land”.  A fellow named Joshua took over the reins of this nation of pilgrims and by listening to God’s plan and obeying that plan made preparations to cross the Jordan River so that the Israelites could possess the land of Canaan.

Ok, that should catch you up to the beginning of this story.  Did I lose you?  Are you still with me?  Good.

After much preparation and going over all the rules, Joshua has the Priest who carried the Ark of the Covenant step out into the overflowing Jorden River.  Wouldn’t you know it, it dried up just like the Red Sea and that bunch of pilgrims walked across on dry land.  Cool story.

But as much good stuff as there is in this story and as much good stuff as we could talk about, I want to skip to a part that has interested me for some time now.  God told Joshua to have men, one man from each of the twelve tribes, to pick up a big rock out of the middle of the Jordan River (we know it was big because they carried it on their shoulders).  He had them carry those rocks out of the middle of the river and pile them up at the place where they stayed that first night on the Canaan side of Jordan. 

The purpose of the rocks, according to Joshua chapter four was to remind those who would see them later on what had happened in this place.  The stones were a reminder.  The stones were placed there sort of like monuments we have today. 

If we stand before the Washington monument or the Lincoln memorial or Stone Mountain in Georgia we are reminded of the men, or the events that happened there.  They represent something or someone that should be remembered by those who come behind.  

I can just imagine one of the people who crossed over on that day, maybe several years later.  Perhaps, they load up the family camel and take a vacation back to the edge of the Jordan River.  They plan on  spending some time swimming or fishing or just relaxing.  While roaming up and down the beach the children happen to come upon a pile of large rocks. 

“Hey Dad” one of them ask, “Why are all these big ole rocks standing up here”? 

“I’m so glad you asked”, the father replies.  He calls them together and sits them down and tells them the wonderful story of the crossing.

At other times and on other trips to the river, other children ask the same question and the story is told over and over again.  Each time God is glorified and people are reminded of how faithful and good God is to His people.

Now let’s get to the point of all this.  As I look at the congregations of most of our traditional churches today I see a lot of gray heads.  There may be a few children, grandchildren, one or two teens but as a general rule, the majority of our church family is composed of old folks.  Why do you suppose that is?

I believe it has a direct connection to the fact that we don’t set up “standing stones”.  We don’t establish events, times and places that are worth remembering.  Oh, the kids might remember when you went to Disney Land or Six Flags but I mean there are no spiritual standing stones that establish spiritual events. 

Has there been a time in your life when you met Jesus and accepted Him as your savior?  Has there been a time since then that He has touched your life and helped you out of a certain situation?  Of course there have.  If there has been then you should have set up a spiritual standing stone, something that will help you and those who follow you remember that event.

In some of my other writings I have mentioned the time in my life when I walked away from God.  I told God to go away and leave me alone and let me do what I wanted to do.  I messed up my life royally.  And then one day on the side of the Coosa River at a little place called Higgins Ferry I broke down and told God how badly I had messed everything up. (He already knew that.) I admitted my sins to Him and told Him I simply could not fix the problems I had caused. 

On that day, in that place Jesus spoke to me and told me that even thought I could not fix my messes He could as a matter of fact He had already fixed them over 2000 years ago and if I would follow Him, He would make my life whole again. 

I might as well have piled up stones in that place.  Because I have told that story time and time again.  Over and over I have reminded myself and anyone who would listen of the grace that God showed to me there. It is a pile of my spiritual standing stones.

There have been other times as well, I could tell of the time when His Holy Spirit came to live inside of me, I could tell you the exact place when God spoke specific words to me about my life, but I think my point has been made.  The reason our children and grandchildren don’t care anything about our church, our religion or our God is because we haven’t told them the stories.  We haven’t shared the miracles that have happened in our lives with them. They haven’t seen the grace, lived out in our lives.  They have no stones on which to base their Christian heritage. 

I remember with great pleasure and wonder, as a child, sitting in camp meeting services and hearing the anointed singing of those people.  I remember hearing “amen” and “glory to God” shouted across the congregation.  I even remember saints of God actually running the isles of the church. (Yeah, I’m that old.)  I can take you back to the places and tell you the times.  Oh, there are no literal stones there, but the memories are still there after all these years. 

What memories do your children have of your experience with God?  “Oh, my religion is a private thing”.  Well just carry on with that thought and your children and grandchildren will live their lives without ever knowing what God has done for you.  

They will never see you express emotion in a service.  They will never see a tear fall from your eye as a song blesses your heart.  They will never hear your voice crack as you cry out to your Lord.  They will never see your knee bend as you kneel at an altar of prayer.  No hands raised in worship. No joy expressed in praise to Him. If there are no stones there is no memory.

 

So my challenge to you is this; live your Christian life so that others may see, not only your good works, but that others may see how the Lord has blessed you.  Tell someone what God has done for you.  Express your joy.  Express your amazement at the work that has happened in your life.  Memory after memory, pile up those spiritual rocks as high as you can stack them.  Then, perhaps even when you and I are gone, someone will say “Hey, what happened here, why are all these big ole rocks standing here”….and the story will begin again.