Acts 4:8-12

Today we are going to be thinking about stones. And I am next to the first boulder in the prayer garden. In the next two weeks, a path will be built through the garden and this boulder is just to the north of the path. There will be 11 of these boulders when the gifts are complete for the prayer garden. We have used them because a boulder is an image of permanence, one of those things in life that doesn’t change. This boulder is incredibly heavy. Three of us were working on it the other day and still couldn’t get it to move. And the boulder is old. I can’t tell you the age of this stone other than to say that its one of the oldest things on the property.

So much of life changes frantically and we want to build a place for prayer and friendly conversation in an atmosphere of what is permanent and lasting in life, the presence and power of God.

This boulder and the others will be marked with a bronze plate with a verse or sentence of the 23^rd Psalm. The prayer of David is one of the most famous Bible texts. And its famous because its so helpful. As you walk the prayer trail, these boulders will remind us and people in our community that in all the change – God offers unchanging promises for our lives.

I have a stone on the dresser in my bedroom. It’s a common cobble rock, not some geode or gem. A little dirt is still glued on one side. It’s a stone of remembrance because it came from a special place in my life. My stone of remembrance is from church camp. My family used to spend 10 days every summer at a church campground. The Wilson cottage was a one room cottage with no plumbing and only one light used from 1931 until 1970. We had an oil stove that gurgled and belched on a table. I had to carry five gallon water pails and any misstep would send a cup of nature’s coldest down my shoes. Mosquitoes are one of the most religious of animals and they attended every worship service with us.

 What made it all possible was the happy moments. The Children’s Hour that had arts and crafts. The chicken wire near the ceiling when my uncle used to sleep over the porch before I was born. The chance to go to the snack bar after the service each night. Friends of my grandparents where we would walk over to one of the 50 other cabins and sit together on the front porch. These were some of the greatest moments of my life. I was with my family and learning about God.

 The cottage is gone now, but all those camp meetings live on in my life when I see this stone. It keeps those times fresh for me.

 Stones are mentioned in the Bible 175 times. In Genesis 28:18 Jacob makes a decision to follow God. He uses a stone that night for a pillow and when he wakes up the next morning, he pours oil on the stone and says, this will be Bethel, a house of God. [Gen 28:22] and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one tenth to you."

 I think Jacob is a little like me because he does the same thing again in Genesis 31. He has worked for 20 years for Laban and now wants to take his wives, Rachel and Leah and leave. Laban and Jacob have a covenant that he will not mistreat them. And in verse 45, to remember the covenant Jacob finds a stone and sets it up and calls it Galeed.

 The most famous stone in the world is the stone of the ten commandments. [Exo 24:12] The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction." I already mentioned how the modest boulders in the prayer garden cannot be moved by one person. In artwork, you normally see Moses with his arms lifted up and two tablets of stone that he is holding. In real life Moses came down the mountain slipping and sliding. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he found a valley and just dropped the stones and let them slide as far down as possible by themselves.

 And then the children of Israel were on the march through the wilderness. One and a half million people were on migration together and they needed to travel light. They weren’t even carrying food. God delivered the manna each day to lighten their load.

 So to have them carry two tablets of stone was a sign of the importance of the message and how long we should remember it. Even today, we cannot lightly dismiss its words as it reiterates again the importance of human life and the dedicated worship of God.

 My favorite Bible verse about stones is the stone of Ebenezer, set up by Samuel. [1 Sam 7:12] Then Samuel took a stone, and named it Ebenezer; for he said, "Thus far the LORD has helped us."

 When God answers prayer in your life, its very important to remember that it happened. And none of us are all that good at remembering. We are pressed with new problems once the old ones are solved. Our attitude to God quickly becomes, what have you done lately? But our God for who a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years as a day, remembers the blessing you got last year and expects you to trust that another blessing will come. We don’t do that. We cry and sigh in great distress, thinking that God no longer remembers or cares. It is not true. We have to build stones in our life that teach us gratitude. Most of our homes have artwork. Perhaps you collect nice art, or you went on vacation and brought back some statutes from home. In every home, there should also be a stone or more to remind us whenever we walk in the door the stone of Ebenezer, God has helped us.

 The most important stone of the Bible is mentioned in Psalm 118. [Psa 118:22] The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Jesus Christ is referred to as a stone. He came to bring the new covenant in which we all are invited to be part of the new people of God and he was rejected by the builders. But since Jesus came from God and was God, the stone cannot be moved out of the way. Jesus is not only the stone, but the cornerstone of the new people of God.

 All that we have committed as Christians to follow Christ is not in vain. We follow Jesus, who is very God and will bring salvation, bind up the wounds of the suffering, and usher in a new kingdom of justice and peace and wrap this the old tired world of war and illness and pain. He is so resolute to accomplish all that he has promised that he is the cornerstone.

 This first boulder in the garden will soon be marked with a bronze plate that reads,’ the Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want.’ It will be here longer than any of us to assure Jackson Heights that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.