August 23, 2026 Text: Isaiah 51:1-6
Dear Friends in Christ,
Let’s think about rocks. Rocks can be bright and shiny like a new piece of jewelry. Rocks can also be an annoyance like when you get a pebble in your shoe. Being compared to a rock is usually not flattery. “Sat there like a rock.” “As smart as a bag full of rocks.” So how should we take it when Scripture pronounces us rocks? How to interpret Isaiah words in our text, “Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.” (v. 1b). Apparently, humanity has a certain geology. It seems sin comes with a terrain, and salvation brings a landscape. So fellow rocks know that . . .
“JESUS IS SHAPING US”
Who knew that rocks were so theological. Babel piles up boulders. The ark settles on Mount Ararat. Abraham offers Isaac on Mount Moriah. Jacob settles for a stone when settling in for the night. Moses receives the Law on rock plates. Israel builds a memorial with twelves smooth stones from the Jordan. David slings one and drops Goliath.
The New Testament knows topography as well. John prophesies about mountains brought low. The devil tempts Jesus from an alpine precipice and offers him the world for one act of submission. His life ends on rocky Calvary. A curtain tears, the earth trembles and minerals are split asunder. The encore opens when the stone is rolled away and Jesus is not there. He has risen.
We come today with a pocket full of rocks. We will leave with the same. In the meantime, what shall we make of them? Rocks can be disrupting. On a road, cascading down a mountain or in the grass when time to mow. “For the heavens vanish like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner.” (v. 6). Yikes! The rocks confirm that everything isn’t ok. Rocks have an honesty, and they confront us.
Run into a rock big enough and you go nowhere. You shouldn’t have scorned authority or endangered your neighbor. You shouldn’t have lusted and deceived and indulged. You shouldn’t have grumbled and slandered. It hurts. It deadens, hard as rock and cold as stone. You are not who you thought you were. The lawful Word of God stops us in our tracks, and we are going nowhere.
Rocks can also mean sculpting. The artisan can chisel and carve. Sand and smooth. You come out with a statue of David or Mount Rushmore. You have faced the honesty. Now feel the hope. Your creator is quite the craftsman. You were shaped and blessed like Abraham. You were dug that you might multiply like Sarah. Through sickness and sorrow, the Holy One holds and molds the remnant into Jesus.
This one suffered punishment for us. Thorns scraped Him. Nails punctured and blades pierced. His body absorbed death. His crucifixion satisfied wrath. It reconciled and atoned and forgave and absolved.
He’s shaping heart and mind. Heavenly blessing. Everlasting kingdom. In every ache and injury, forgiving grace buffers us. The Savior cushions unmet deadlines and unexpected diagnoses. In the nerve-wrecking dangers, the lonely nights and boring mornings, His Word softens the strikes. Christ has put His mine-claim on us in our Baptism.
You’ve faced the honesty and felt the hope. Now have the peace. Portions of the text. “The Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places…I will set my justice for light…and my arms will judge.” This house has been founded on rock. A fortress and refuge. In this house of the Lord, wind and rain may buffet, like it did recently, but it still stands. Our brick and concrete block building is a great place for protection. It reminds us of the safety that surrounds us because of Christ Jesus.
You face the honesty. You feel the hope. You have the peace. Now live the faith. “My salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed.” (v. 6). Jesus has vacated the grave and eviscerated the devil. He has commenced the new heavens and earth. The promised land, our home, shall linger and last as permanent as he himself does.
Leap in relief. Sing healed. God is shaping a mosaic from these rocks of ours. Let your compassion have courage. Let your patience persevere. Let your humility remain resilient. We’ve come here with handfuls of gravel and pockets of pebbles. We leave with the same, but learning to believe differently and delight better in them. May honesty disrupt, hope sculpt, peace protect, and faith persist. These commands and promises will prevail. So shall we and so may you, Christ alone our Rock, shaping us.
Amen.