A Rock is Just a Rock — Or is It?

Guest post by my dad, Paul Willingham

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What comes to mind when you hear the word rock?

A noun? A verb or some other part of speech?  No, this is not a grammar test.
A Rolling Stones Concert?
A boxer named  Balboa or Grazziano?
Elvis, the King?
Alcatraz?
Gibraltar?
Prudential Insurance?
Or if you are a hoops fan, a basketball?

The entrance to Jesus’ tomb?
The grand old hymns Rock of Ages or
My Hope is Built on Nothing Less?
Sandy Patti’s Upon This Rock?
Jesus’ promise to Peter in Matthew 16?
Psalm 18:2?
The wise builder’s foundation?
Jesus himself?

The rock that reminds me of Vic

Scripture is replete with references and comparisons of rocks and their symbol of ageless stability and strength.  I was reminded again of this recently while traveling to South Dakota.

Near the little town of Odessa in western Minnesota is a large granite outcropping that the glaciers missed eons ago.  It is very close to the shoulder of the south bound lane of US Highway 7.

And since teenagers no longer carve their initials and a heart onto desks or into the trunks of trees, in recent years it has become a target for graffiti.  Nowadays, a can of spray paint and any available and visible surface such as an overpass, bridge, viaduct, or large rock provides the canvas for teenage declarations of eternal love and/or their year of graduation.  This huge hunk of granite has seen its share of spray paint over the years.

We drove past it again recently.  It has not lost its attraction for spray paint, some of it fresh. Prior year’s artwork has faded only to be covered by this year’s free form lettering.

However, whenever I drive past that outcropping, I don’t really see the graffiti.  Passing that chunk of granite always reminds me my friend Vic.

Vic was a board member of a diary industry professional organization for many years.  Twenty plus years ago, he had flown back to the Twin Cities after attending a board meeting somewhere in the east.  Driving home to South Dakota Vic fell asleep at the wheel and, around midnight, drove his VW into that outcropping of granite.  He was pronounced dead at the scene.  In the years since, a MNDOT installed guard rail reduces the risk of a high impact crash into that immovable mass of granite.

Vic had come to a personal relationship with Christ through the Navigators while serving in the United States Navy.  He was a student of the Word, had an abiding and unabashed faith in Jesus Christ and a quiet confidence in his salvation.  He even named his dairy farm, “Faith Acres”.

We were newcomers in town, and became acquainted at church a few years before his untimely death.  Vic and I shared teaching responsibilities for one of the adult Sunday school classes.  We spent many a Friday or Saturday evening during the few years that we knew him out at the lake at one of our favorite supper clubs, discussing, among other things, the merits of how much horseradish was enough for the dipping sauce served with steak cubes.

Our times together included food for the soul as we had many serious discussions in the word.

I’ve been blessed with a good memory, so good that family members insist that I remember details and facts of past events so clearly that they loudly and vociferously doubt their veracity.

But I can’t drive past that granite outcropping without my self-described vaunted memory kicking into overdrive as I remember the great times that we had together with Vic and Shirley.

Although those memories are safely digitized in my memory bank, whenever I see that rock, they come rushing to the foreground of my mind as though someone had pushed the ‘play’ button on my mental DVR.

I am so thankful that chunk of granite still juts out of the ground reminding me again of Vic, my friend and brother in the in the Lord.

Rocks as memory hooks

But that rock also has also made me cognizant of the insight and providence of God.  In his infinite wisdom, God knew that his people would need visible and physical reminders or memory hooks.  He foresaw that the daily issues and circumstances of life, not to mention plain old sin, would at times crowd out and distract our thoughts of Him.  He thus inspired visible reminders to sharpen our focus.

He gave Noah and all that have come after him, the rainbow, as his sign that he would never again destroy the earth by water.

Jacob established the rock at Bethel as a reminder of his dream of the angels and ladder to heaven and God’s iteration of his promise to Abraham.

The Israelites celebrated Passover annually to remind each other of God’s protection of their first born and subsequent deliverance from Egyptian slavery.

Peter understood the concept of physical reminders for he wanted to build a tabernacle on the Mount of Transfiguration.

For Christians the cross has become a universal symbol of Christianity and is a visible reminder of Christ’s atoning, sacrificial death.

Some churches/denominations use icons, statues and other physical items to serve as reminders.  When we were in south Texas last winter, we visited the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan Del Ville and attended a “mariachi mass”.  On the spacious grounds surrounding the Basilica, the church authorities have constructed the “Stations of the Cross” to remind the parishioners, and visitors like us, of the Passion of Christ.

One of the bloggers that I read regularly has chosen the letter Y to remind her of Yahweh.  She is teaching her children to look for the letter Y in nature, shadows and other physical things around them to help keep their focus on God.

We do need to be on guard as there is always a risk that we may start to focus on the physical reminder, rather than the one worthy of our worship.

Rocks in church

Christians have Christmas and Easter as days of remembrance and celebration to help us bring more sharply into focus Christ’s coming into the world as man and his return, first to the world and then heaven after his death, burial and resurrection.

We practice baptism, not just because Christ was baptized, but because it presents a visible picture of our own death to sin and resurrection into new life with Christ, as Paul so clearly sets forth in Romans 6.

And we have the Lord’s Supper, which uses simple elements available everywhere, to serve as a visual and physical reminder of Christ’s physical suffering on the cross and the shedding of his sacrificial blood to once and forever cover our sins.

I grew up in a fellowship of churches that historically/traditionally observes the Lord’s Supper every Sunday.  This is not the practice of most evangelical churches today.  Our congregation usually observes communion on the first Sunday of the month.  While Scripture is not Windex clear on the frequency, I personally am convinced from my limited studies that the early church met around the Lord’s Table more frequently than once a month.

“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, this is my body which is given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.  And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:19-20 ESV)

We need to be reminded regularly of Christ’s redeeming, atoning act on the cross just as I am visibly reminded of Vic every time I pass that rock in western Minnesota.  In the hustle and bustle of church life and programming and our busy schedules, it can be easy to neglect Communion.  That shouldn’t happen and we should cherish every opportunity to share with other believers around the Table.

The Apostle Paul confirmed to the early church, Christ’s institution of the ordinance/sacrament when he wrote to the Corinthians,

“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night that he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, this is my body which is for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.  In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.  Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” Emphasis mine. (I Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV)

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My dad is an occasional guest poster here at A Different Story, always challenging me with his reflections. You can read more of his posts here.