Pentecost 42 Stone Removal

[HKHaugan]

Pentecost 42 Stone Removal

It was good to get a couple of replies and a note that ‘taking away the stone’ was a personal experience of removing the ‘stone’ of anxious hesitancy enabling witness to someone in real need of salvation. This described one of the stones that are in the heart that may need to be removed in the process of our maturing discipleship.

The ‘stones’ may also be seen as the strongholds we have built up in the course of our adapting to the world from birth. If we liken our sinful hearts to caves with accumulated techniques to cope with what is in the world outside of our hearts, those techniques are attitudes. Those attitudes are stronghold ‘stones,’ the conclusions we made outside of God in order to handle a feared potential consequence. They are the heart protectors that sin piles up at the entrance to our hearts. They are stones that can only be taken away when we choose faith in Jesus instead of fear of what might be. This is why Paul tells us, “The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse [attitudinal stones, strongholds] into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity (2Cor.10:3-6 Message Bible).”

If we can think for a moment about things that might hinder us, one for instance, our expectations of others. Right away the word ‘should’ enters the picture. It is that moment when we think how others ‘should’ think or act differently. “After all, everyone knows…” is an expression that reveals a stone that needs to be taken away. What attitudinal stone are we putting between our heart and the heart of another? And, if the other person we are encountering reads our attitude (which they will) they react with their own defensive attitude and nothing is accomplished but continued separation of hearts. Notice how all this happens in the blink of an eye, in the unseen, in the spiritual dimension.

Now think of Jesus and how He reacted to people. He met every one with only one attitude, one stronghold,--- faith in His Father. What did the Father say to us? “While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud surrounded them. A voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, and I love him. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!" (NIVRV) Jesus’ first thought was always what pleased the Father. For us it means whatever is pleasing to Jesus. That’s what the Spirit is accomplishing in us, responses that please our Father because they first please Jesus.

Take away the stones and let us take them away together. That is what we do in the Body when we worship, when we pray, when we share, when we witness, when we study the Scripture, when we minister to one another. And why? Because our mission is to bring Jesus to those whose lives are closed tight with stones that sin has piled at the entrance of their hearts.

Tomorrow, helping others to see their stones and love them through their removal….stay tuned.