14 Pentecost Pr16 C 8/25/13
Sometimes in life the only way to get through something is to just hold on with all your might to whatever gets you through.
My first experience surfing big waves 40 + years ago in Puerto Rico did not start out too well. I went over the falls on my first wave. Going over the falls usually happens when you are in the wrong position and are late catching the wave. The result is that you freefall over with the lip of the wave which slams you into and under the water. That’s part one.
Then because of the circular motion of water inside the breaking wave, after you are first driven down, you are then sucked back up in the upward motion at the back of the wave which pulls you back to the top and then slams you down a second time, thus over the falls. The one good thing about going over the falls is that you get to take a second breath of air before the second slam down.
The point of this story is that when I knew I was in trouble, I determined to hang on to my board with everything I was worth. You see 40 years ago, we did not use leashes; they hadn’t been invented yet!
If I lost the board, I’d have to swim all the way back to the beach to retrieve it, or maybe out to sea if it got caught in a rip current. Bottom line, without the board, I could be is serious trouble.
If I could hold on, I had a flotation device in a dangerous situation. I held on to that board with a death grip and managed to not have it ripped from my arms.
Sometimes all we can do is hang on with all our might till the waves of life pass over us. The question is, are we holding on to something that will get us through? Thankfully 40 years ago the answer was yes.
Each of our readings this AM can be seen in this light of holding on to what is of God to get us through those waves.
In our OT lesson, Israel failed to hold on to what was of God and suffered the consequences.
God said, “I am laying in Zion a foundation stone’ a tested stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: one who trusts will not panic.”
From our perspective as Xns, this is a messianic prophecy fulfilled in Christ. For Israel at that time, it is God and God’s commandments that are the foundation stone, the corner stone. God is the Rock on whom they must build their lives. God is the sure foundation in whom they must put their trust. They needed to hold on to God and God’s Word with all their might.
But Israel did not. Instead Israel made a covenant with death and an agreement with Sheol.
Instead of trusting in their Rock, Israel had made an alliance with Egypt to protect them from
Assyria. Israel had made lies her refuge and falsehood her shelter.
Isaiah has painted a picture with his poetry contrasting a maelstrom of things that cannot be
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trusted as opposed to the Rock, the sure foundation which is God and God’s Word. Israel chose not to hold on to what was of God and eventually suffered the consequence of going into exile.
There are always consequences for rejecting God and God’s Word.
On the other hand, our psalm extols the benefits of holding on to God. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore we will not fear. (Paraphrasing)
Whether there be earthquakes, hurricanes or floods, international crisis and wars, the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our stronghold. The psalmist knows both the necessity and the blessing of holding on to the sure foundation of the Lord.
The Author of Hebrews quotes a portion of the prophet Haggai. The complete quote is, “In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations.” This is a prophecy of The Day of the Lord and the Day of Judgment.
Isaiah too speaks of this day and this shaking, “I will make the heavens tremble and the earth will shake from its place.”
And Jesus quotes Isaiah when he speaks about the end of things, “Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” Is 13:10-13.
There is a day coming when everything that can be shaken will be shaken. But the Author of
Hebrews reminds us that in Christ we have received something that cannot be shaken. Christ is our sure foundation, our cornerstone, our Rock that cannot be shaken. When the shaking comes, we hold on to Christ with all our might.
And it doesn’t have to be the Judgment Day for us to be shaken. Things happen that can shake us: terrorism, stock market volatility, a death in the family or of a close friend, loss of a job, divorce or a child that has chosen the wrong path. When the shaking comes, it’s time to hold on to Christ with all our might.
In the gospel, Jesus tells his questioner the way to salvation is to strive to enter through the narrow door. This striving is also a form of holding on to Christ with all our might. Let me explain.
The word in the text is for strive is agwnizesqe, agonizesthay, literally to agonize, to strain with every ounce of strength as in athletic competition. It means to have total dedication and singleminded determination.
And what is the narrow door through which we strive to enter? Jesus answers that question in
John 10:9 where he says, “I am the door; whoever enters through me will be saved.”
So in saying we must strive to enter through the narrow door, Jesus is telling his questioner and us that we must strain with every ounce of strength to follow him; we must be totally dedicated
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with a single minded determination to follow him; we are to hold on to him with all our might.
I suppose one of the greatest stories in scripture of holding on to God with all one’s might is the story of Jacob wrestling with God. A man came and wrestled with Jacob all night. The man it turned out was a theophany, an OT appearance of God in human form, probably the Angel of the
Lord who mediates God’s presence.
The two wrestled all night until daybreak and Jacob wouldn’t let go. Jacob held on with all his might until the Lord blessed him.
You will remember that the Lord had put Jacob’s hip out of joint as they wrestled. So, in the morning, Jacob walked away with a limp, but because he held on to the Lord with all his might he also walked away with God’s blessing.
There are things in this life that might shake us, and sometimes injure us causing us to limp, but if we hold on to Christ with all our might throughout the night, we may walk away in the morning with a limp but we will also walk away in the morning with God’s blessing.
Or going back to the surfing metaphor, when the waves of life threaten to drown us, if we hold on to Christ with all our might the waves will eventually roll past us and then we can paddle back out and try for another ride, Dude!
O God, I pray esp today for any who are being rolled or shaken by the waves of life , and for all of us when those waves come, that we will have the grace and strength to hold on to Christ with all our might till we surface on the other side with your blessing.
In Christ’s Holy Name We Pray,
AMEN
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