The End Of The Line

I was not the perfect child growing up nor was I a particularly bad kid good growing up, either. I liked to climb trees; ride bike; go for walks; build forts... My parents had strict boundaries set for us and when we crossed them, my father would let us know: "you reached the end of the line, sister." I knew someone was in big trouble when I heard that!

Last winter, my husband watched hours and hours of "The Walking Dead." All of the living were trying to get to Terminus. I could not figure out why they figured any place named Terminus would be a good place to go. Terminus means the end of the line. It means the final point in time or space. So why would anyone go there?

But, then again some people want to do a lot of things that I can't quite fathom why they would do them. They want to get blitzed! Why? Blitzed means to be attacked and defeated. How about getting stoned? Why would anyone want to get stoned? In biblical times getting stoned was not a good thing. It also meant the end of the line. It meant death. Getting wasted also doesn't sound like something to look forward to on a Saturday night. It means physically or psychologically exhausted; debilitated. Again, near the end of the line.

So why would anyone follow a path that leads only to the end of the line; to destruction?  Jesus said to, "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matt 7:13-14) Yup! The road that leads to life can be hard. But, I'm thinking a tough road to eternal life is better than an easy one that leads to eternal destruction.

I had taken some young men from a correctional facility hiking to see a beautiful waterfalls. About half a mile in, I realized that they were very nervous. I asked them why. It turned out that they feared that we were lost and would be attacked by some wild animal or maybe come to the end of the line by falling off a cliff. They were from Detroit and although very street wise; they could not see the path that we were following in the wilderness. Someone has to show the way to those who cannot see the path. Will you show them the way?

May God help us to choose wisely the path that we will follow and guide others on the way.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Isaiah 28 - Jesus As The Cornerstone

"So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;
the one who relies on it
will never be stricken with panic.
I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the plumb line;
hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie,and water will overflow your hiding place." (Isa 28:16-17 NIV)

 

There is so much in today's reading, it is hard to decide where to go. The people are being rebuked. The leadership has made some bad alliances, even deadly alliances, for the people. Alliances that only drunkards could celebrate. This lesson reveals both law and gospel. It reveals the law for those who would make such deadly choices making alliances that will surely lead to death out of their arrogance and drunkenness. Hail will sweep away their refuge and the hiding place will be flooded with water. It also reveals the gospel. It reveals life for those who would rely on the cornerstone rather than trusting in their enemy who promises much and delivers nothing, but death.

 

Verses 16-17 are probably familiar to many of you. It points to Jesus the Christ. He is the "...stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame." (Rom 9:33)

 

The good news is that those who believe in Him will not fall. In fact, through faith, "...you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." (Eph 2:19-22) 

 

And...

"As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—  you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:

"See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

 and,

"A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for." (1 Pet 2:4-8)

(Maybe you've figured out by now that I am trying to send a reminder that scripture supports scripture... Read it! Hear it!)  Jesus is the living cornerstone by which we either fall due to our own arrogance or are raised to be living stones within the house of God. We, along with all who believe, are the temple, within whom (or which) our LORD abides.

God's Peace - Pr. J