Who Will Tell What These Stones Mean?

“If these walls could talk, what stories would they tell?”  I’d think the walls at your house, or the high school and college you attended could tell some great stories.  But, what about our church?   Perhaps the story of Grandpa and Grandma coming here to see the baptism of their new grandchild.  Maybe it would be the story of the whole family being here for a Christmas Eve service.  Perhaps it is the story of a great victory service because the family gathered here to sing the victory Jesus’ won to take another believer to himself in heaven.   In all these stories there is a common denominator—these are all stories of the Holy Spirit and his gracious work to bring the Word of life and rescue, joy and peace, confidence and comfort. –Stories that go back in this little church to 1995—some 26 years ago.

Nobody ever built a church in order to have a place for God to live.  We believe what Scriptures say, “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands” (Act 17:24).  Yet this church of wood, bricks and concrete is much like a pile of stones gathered at the Jordan riverbank so far away and so long ago.  This building is a living testimony to the power and grace of our living Lord God.  But, it remains a testimony only when there is a message connected with the building.  The question Joshua asked the Children of Israel then is a valid question for us to be asking ourselves today:

Who Will Tell What These Stones Mean?

To Explain a Marvelous Past

I want you to picture the Children of Israel standing on the shores of the Jordan River a second.  Remember, these are the people under Moses who had been wandering in the wilderness for the past 40 years.  There wasn’t much water in the wilderness, let alone time for swimming lessons.   So, here they are standing on the banks of the Jordan looking over to the land flowing with milk and honey.  This was the land where Jacob had demanded he be buried when he moved to Egypt some 450 years ago.  A new generation is standing on the banks of the Jordan who didn’t know what slavery was, or experience the 10 plagues and didn’t walk through the Red Sea on dry ground.  All they knew is what Mom and Dad had told them.  Their entire life’s experience was limited to the wilderness with a daily supply of quail and manna.  Then they came to the Jordan River.  What?  Cross that river?  How?  Swim over?  Yaaaa – NO!

Joshua chapters 3 & 4 tell us how God worked for his people.  “¹⁵ Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, ¹⁶ the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground” (Josh 3:15-17).  Walking across on dry ground, how many of them do you think were remembering the stories Mom and Dad told them about the Red Sea?   How many of them simply walked without thinking about it at all?  And if they had forgotten during the past 40 years, who would remember what they were doing right now 50 or 100 years from now?   No wonder God commanded Joshua to, “set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. ²¹ He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²² tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’”  These stones reminded the people to tell the account of the Almighty God doing the impossible.  They would learn and remember God, “²⁴ did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”  These stone told a wonderful account of a marvelous past!  Future moms and dads, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, grandpas and grandmas were to teach the marvelous past history behind the stones.

So, are there any piles of stones around that remind you of your past?  You know the feeling what you drive past a place where you did something in your youth that you’d rather not talk about today.  How many times have you watched the short films stored in your eyes-cloud showing sins of greed, anger, belittled our spouse, humiliated our children or insulted a friend?  Who would call this a “Marvelous past?”  But, it is when we consider the Lord God’s intervention that may have happened in this very church!  Through faithful preaching of God’s law and gospel generations have been taught to look at the past and look at the Savior.  Right here you have seen new babies and adults baptized.  You have watched children learn the truths of God’s Word in Kingdom Kids, confirmation classes and days of confirmations.  Right here we have seen couples promise faithful love to each other based on Jesus’ love for them.  Right here families have gathered to celebrate victory after victory of Jesus who called our brothers and sisters to their eternal glory.  Look that this pile of stones called Divine Peace that tell a wonderful story of a Marvelous Past of God’s Word and Sacraments blessing God’s people here.  You know these things, but who will teach the next generation of God’s amazing activities, not only at the Jordan River some 3,500 years ago, but Who Will Explain the Amazing Past 25 years that have happened right here?

I know—history isn’t everyone’s favorite subject.  But, I think learning about and remembering the past is going to get tougher and tougher in our “information age.”  Someone recently said that our knowledge doubles about every 18 months.  You retain very little of it, but there is so much information bombarding our heads, how hard will it become to remember the important stuff?  Well, there are certain things that we dare never forget for it so impacts our future!  Look at the walls of this church and remember the same Lord God active in the past has promised to be active in your future!  So, Who Will Tell What These Marvelous Stones Mean

To Exclaim A Confident Future

The Israelites probably had some doubts about moving on.  After all, their parents balked when the spies reported about this land a generation ago.  Only Joshua and Caleb believed that God could do the impossible.  It is our human nature to look at massive walls, strong armies with swords and spears and wonder, “Can I do it?”  I don’t know, how about you ask the people who used to live in Jericho.  If God can plug up a river, don’t you think he can topple over a few stones?  Sure enough!  And the stones on the side of the Jordan River were going to stand as a powerful witness to God’s power.  And the power of the Lord was gaining a reputation in the land: “Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted in fear and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.” (Josh 5:1).  God was at work for his people and the confident future of the people with the Lord was nothing short of miraculous.  Walls would fall.  Sun would stand still.  Hailstones would cut down the enemy.  Those stones piled up on the Jordan River bank were not only a reminder of the past, but also of the future.  For, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:1).  Indeed, the future is so confident for God’s people.

So, what does your future hold?  Satan would have you think that the best is in the past.  Never.  The best is yet to come!  Indeed, thanks to the Holy Spirit, we walk with the Captain of the Lord of Hosts, the Captain of our Salvation—Jesus Christ!  We are on the side of Jesus who crushed Satan’s head and rose from the dead to prove it.  We are on the side of Jesus who said you are forgiven—imagine—the one who is omniscient promises to forget!  We walk with Jesus who has promised to take us to heaven from within the walls of this very church as his Word is proclaimed.  So, what does your future hold?  It holds the promises of Jesus to reveal his power, love and forgiveness through the proclamation of his Word.  Amazingly he does this through weak clay pots…….but where do these clay pots, your called workers, come from?

Who will tell the next generation here at Divine Peace in Garland and Rockwall and the next mission we start?  Who will tell the next generation in 1,235 other WELS congregations in North America?  Who will tell the saving name of Jesus in the 54 countries where we have missions?  These called workers are trained and come from a place called Martin Luther College.  We all know the shortages of pastors and teachers we have in our church body called the WELS.  About 135 churches are without pastors.  Some of these churches have been calling for over two years to try and get a pastor.  There is a shortage of teachers so that some of our schools right here in Texas had to hire emergency teachers until trained teachers can be called to serve.

Well, these walls can’t talk, but you can.  And Martin Luther College has begun a two year campaign entitled, “Equipping Christian Witnesses.”  The 1^st part of this campaign is to recruit future pastors and teachers because enrollment needs to increase by 35% to reach the number of graduates we’ll need to fill the projected pastor/teacher vacancies.  The 2^nd part is increased financial aid for students so they can afford to attend Martin Lutheran College.  The 3^rd part is to build new buildings such as dormitories, sports and student center.  Why?  In order to train the next generation of future pastors and teachers.  Now is the time for us to pray about and generously support the efforts we do together.  Then when the next generation asks, “What do these stones mean?” you can tell them.  Tell them Jesus died to wash away all our sins.  Tell them they can remember Jesus, and then tell others so they remember Jesus, too.  Who will tell what these stones mean?  God grant that you will.  Amen!