"Look to the Rock"

Isaiah 51.1-6

Pastor Tom Johnson, August 21, 2011

 

“Look to the rock from which you were hewn
and to the quarry from which you were dug.”

The prophet is inviting us on a field trip. He takes us out into the wilderness to a dry, desolate place. The soil is not good for growing crops. Livestock will not find any green thing to eat here. He takes us into the middle of a wasteland where the earth drops. There is a large hole in the ground. And all around this deep pit are the permanent marks of labor cut right into the rock. You can see the chisel marks, the scratches, the cutting of stone out of the earth.

Stone quarries in ancient Israel were never very deep compared to other parts of the world because there was so much good stone near the survace. And after the work was done, bare rock was left behind with the marks of hammers and wedges. This may have been the stone quarry that built Solomon’s glorious temple—the beautiful building sitting up high on a mountain. Maybe God’s people were so taken by the magnificence of the temple, they forgot that it’s humble origins—that it came from a rocky pit.

The prophet points to the abandoned quarry so that we see the remains of decades of stone masonry. And he tells us. “Look at the rock.” “Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug.” “This huge stone pit is your birthplace. This where you come from—the rock and dust of the earth. Look,” the prophet tells us, “look at how God created life out of the dust of the earth—out of the formless, shapeless, and nameless rock. The hands of almighty God labored here. He cut out a life for us to live, and chiseled us in the unique and special people that we are. And after you have taken in the landscape of the quarry and chiseled rock, let it be a lesson. Look to Abraham and Sarah,” he says.

Just like the rock was shapeless and nameless until the hands of God carved it—so Sarah and Abraham were just another couple in the sea of humanity until the hands of God gripped their lives. God chose Abraham our Father. God chose you. He excavated your lives. He cut deep into the earth to make and mold you. You are chosen to be a blessing to all nations, tribes, tongues, and peoples. Everyone is chosen to be a recipient of my blessing and love—but I want it to come through you. Abraham and Sarah were also chosen to be the great great grandpa and great great grandma of Jesus of Nazareth—the Rock of our salvation.

“Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug.” Know your history. Know redemptive history. Know what God has done in the wasteland and the wilderness of this world. One of the greatest privileges I have as a pastor is to hear people’s stories—stories of growing up in a different era—a world far away from computers, cell phones, HD TV, and even the family car.

There are the stories of shut-ins I visited in Kansas who survived the dustbowl years—years of drought where families didn’t know how they would survive—stories of brothers and sisters who died from an outbreak of the flu. I saw the gravestones with my own eyes—rows and rows of buried children who died in 1914 and 1915 in the church cemetery.

There are the stories of the daughters and sons of immigrants who came to the Chicago area—who, although many faced persecution for being of German descent and German speaking—volunteered for both World Wars—stories of mom who, during the depression, sewed rags together so that they could stay warm on their long walk to school.

Then there are the stories of my own family. My mom and dad who had four girls in seven years—long before my brother and I were born. I’ve seen the pictures—four girls lined up like stair steps for a picture—or like the cell phone reception bars—all dressed up in the same Sunday dress—stories of how the third girl, Nancy, died of cancer at age six.

These aren’t just stories—these are the quarries and rock pits of the Lord. These are the opportunities to “Look to the rock from which we are hewn and to the quarry from which we are dug.” It was in these desolate places—these wilderness wastelands of our lives—droughts, war, poverty, unbelief, discouragement, and death—that the hands of God reach down into our lives.

And what greater rock can we look at other than the rock of Calvary—the place of the Skull—that desolate hill outside of Jerusalem. It is the place of Jesus’ suffering, pain, and death—but it is out of that rock that God carved out our salvation. Our forgiveness and eternal life were carved out of that rock and empty stone tomb.

“Look to the Rock.” Know God’s faithfulness in the past. See His formation of you up to the present. Listen to the stories. And take courage that God has carved us out of the Rock because he is building another Temple. And he assures us that this temple will stand for all eternity.