Sermon Text 4.20.25 “Rock Solid!”

In the summer of 2000, our family took a road trip to Newfoundland.  Yes, all the way up the east coast.  All the way – past Maine and beyond.  Newfoundland is an island so you have to get there by boat, in our case, a ferry.  On the west coast of Newfoundland is the Gros Morne National Park.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  It is 1805 square kilometers of history.  Four hundred and eighty-five million years of history.  You can see outcroppings of the earth’s mantle that are half a billion years old.  We took a hike with a park ranger who explained much of the geology and history of the park to us.  You can see many layers of rock and these layers tell the story of the formation of the earth as we know it.  I was shocked.  I learned so much about the formation of the earth and its current configuration.  And then came the stunner.  The rock formations with their layers that we were seeing on the west coast of Newfoundland could be matched with rock formations on the west coast of Britain because at one time the land was joined.  Now it has separated due to the movement of the tectonic plates.  These rocks tell the unfolding story of the formation of the earth.  They are history books.  And they cannot lie.  They can only tell the truth.  

This is nature.  It can only tell the truth.  It can only follow its prescribed design.  It can only unfold, emerge, and evolve as it is intended to.  It can only cooperate and fulfill its intended role in the web of life.  It cannot depart from its intended path.  It cannot defy the design of the whole.  

So, a rock is a rock.  When studied, one can ascertain many things from a rock formed along with its surroundings.  Weathering many iterations and climates that influence its characteristics.  A rock tells its truth.  Of the formation of the earth.  And the migration of the waters.  And the passing of the animal species through the eons.  Rocks bear witness to the reality of history.  A rock cannot depart from its destiny.  Nature is always fulfilling the bidding of its design, its author, Creator, the Divine Plan.  It cannot suppress its unfolding.  It cannot thwart the purposes of the whole.  

And so it is with Jesus.  As we see in the story that we remember every year on Palm Sunday.  Despite the trouble and contention that is brewing around Jesus, and he knows it, he publicly heads into Jerusalem.   No hiding in back alleys for him.  No hiding his identity and calling.  He comes in peace.  No virile steed to carry him.  Instead, a donkey.  No minions lined up to march with him.  Just regular folks, throwing their sweaty, tattered dusty cloaks upon the ground to line his path.  Jesus comes as God intends.  He comes in peace.  

Like nature, like rocks, Jesus fulfills his purpose in creation without question.  He is not concerned with fulfilling the desires of the people.  He is concerned with fulfilling the desires of God.  He is committed to expressing the love of God, the praise of God, the purposes of God.  And that alone.  That is his nature. 

The people may shout Hosanna in acclamation.  They may think that the vanquishing of the Roman Empire is at hand.  They may be relishing that finally the Romans will be crushed.  They may cheer in exhilaration.  Later in the week, when their hopes are not coming to fruition, they may cheer, Crucify Him.  They may scatter.  They may abandon Jesus in his hour of need.  All except the women.  

But Jesus stays true.  He joins with creation as a whole in fulfilling his purpose.  The influence of others is inconsequential.  Jesus will do what he will do because he is of God.  He, like all of nature, is an embodiment of Divine Love.  The self disclosure of God.  Jesus will always live praise to God, love of God, and the purposes of God.  Like a donkey.  Or a palm branch.  Or a rock.  

Thirteenth century Mechtild of Magdeburg [c.1212-1282] makes this observation about the nature of things:   

“A fish cannot drown in water.  A bird cannot fall in the air.  Gold is not dissolved in fire – for there is receives its brilliant sheen. This gift is given to everything:  To live with its own nature. How could I oppose who I am?  I am inclined toward God, and must go through all things into God.”

This Palm Sunday story is laden with references from the Hebrew Scriptures.  It did not come out of no where.  It is layered with references from Genesis, First and Second Kings, Isaiah, Zechariah, the Psalms, Habakkuk, and more.  And it echoes the other gospels.  This is to show us that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises of old.  Here is the manifestation of God’s intentions.  He is going through all things into God.

As Jesus heads into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, the feast of liberation, he knows that he is coming to the end of his earthly days.  He knew well the verse from Isaiah:  

“The Most High God helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

Therefore I have set my face like flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

the one who vindicates me is near.”  

“I have set my face like flint.”  Rock.  We are told, if the human voices are suppressed, “the stones would shout.”  Nature will speak its truth.  Will fulfill its destiny.  Will tell its story.  And Jesus, like nature, fulfilled his nature.  The intentions of God are served.   God prevails.   Love triumphs.  

In the movie “Everything Everywhere All At Once” there is a scene in which the mother and daughter, the main characters, are two rocks perched on the top of a cliff overlooking a desolate landscape.  They are looking into the void.  There is no talking in the scene.  Just subtitles.  They are coming to terms with their reality.  Yes, they realize how insignificant they are.  But they are there together.   And the famous take away line is, “Just be a rock.”  

Exactly.  Just be a rock if you are a rock.  Just be a human if you are a human.  Just be who you are.  Be a creature created in the Divine Image with God’s dream laid upon your heart.  

What we must ask ourselves every year as this Holy Week begins, always close to Earth Day:  Will we, with Creation, with Jesus, be true to our nature and live out God’s dream of love for us?  Amen.

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