Beach Rocks

Beach Rocks The Dover Church
January 31, 2010 –4th Epiphany
Scripture: Jeremiah 1:4-10, 1 Corinthians 13:1-14:1a


1. When I was a little boy, my grandparents had a place on the beach in Manomet – very cold water and rocky beaches - Ever since I have loved beach rocks –the flat ones – skipped them
2. As I have gotten older, I find that I still enjoy skipping the flat ones but I am drawn to the smooth and rounded rocks. They fascinate me.
3. There are two things I particularly like about beach rocks
a. First, holding them in my hand, rubbing them between my thumb and my palm – as a meditative device – just feel the smoothness, the weight and heft, soft yet hard – very soothing
i. I don’t know why, but they focus attention and clear mind of all the stuff – they center me
ii. There is something…perfect about them
iii. Glimpse of eternity – think of the time it took for this perfect little rock to become what it is – mirror image, if you will, of the Grand Canyon effect
iv. Some have a uniform color – but others have swirls of color which hint at the original from which it has come
v. Some are perfectly oval or round, but others are unfinished, with a jagged edge here or protrusion there – hint at what they once were
vi. Some bear witness to the forces which shaped them, with signs of erosion, little scoops and valleys
b. Second, I love the sound they make in the surf – Whitehorse Beach in Manomet, Singing Beach in Manchester, Cranes Beach in Ipswich, Sandy Beach in Cohasset
i. It’s like a little symphony played to the beat of the surf rolling in, drawing back, and rolling in again – all the individual tunes of each of the little stones as they roll over and over on each other as each new waves picks them up, throws them down, draws them back, deposits them and lets them lie for the next wave
ii. a crescending and descending song of rolling rocks as each wave pushes in and then falls back rolling all those rocks
iii. It’s hypnotic –another glimmer of eternity – dozens of times every hour, day in day out, week in week out, down through the years
4. I remember one particular late afternoon, taking a break from pastoral visitation and fishing for stripers in Cohasset
a. Thinking about fish
b. Also thinking about the church and what God wanted us to be and do
5. beautiful day, quiet, alone, – not much happening with the fishing - two things dawned on me as I was standing there in between casts
a. I suddenly saw the whole genesis of beach rocks
b. Could see the immense granite cliffs and outcroppings the rocks had been broken from
c. Could see the smaller boulders with jagged edges which had fallen, climbed over some, others out in the surf
i. Each gradually being eroded into the beautifully smooth beach rocks I was bending down and picking up in my hand and admiring – I could even see which beach rocks came from which cliff or glacial pile
ii. I suddenly saw the entire long span which brought the one rock from here to there, from that form to this, and all the forces which had been involved – the storms, the winter ice and summer heat, the rain and wind, the glaciers that brought them here in the first place and the tides which have been wearing them away ever since
d. Which drew my attention to the sound of the waves on the rocks – a musical sound, like a wind chime almost of thousands of these rocks being jumbled around and around on each other as each new wave rolled in, scooped them up, spread them out, sucked them back into the water, and then deposited them for the next wave to work on – over and over again, dozens of times an hour, thousands of times a day, week in, week out, year in year out, as these harsh outcroppings of granite are gradually transformed into these wonderful, smooth rocks
e. And all the sharp edges, unevennesses they all began with – they become the sand and silt in which all the smooth beach rocks rest when the tide goes out and leave them high and dry
6. And suddenly it dawned on me, these beach rocks and the waves, the whole process – was a great metaphor for the church
7. it suddenly occurred to me that the church is nothing less than a tool or machine – actually the tool or machine which God thought up for teaching people how to love as God loves – if you don’t like the idea of a tool, try the area between high and low tide on the beach, that area of activity, where we learn about the idea of love and then practice it on others who have the same aspirations and ambitions as we do
8. You can’t do it by yourself on your own – absolutely need other spiky, prickly, jagged broken pieces of humanity to whom you have no initial sense of familial or marital responsibility to practice with
9. Kind of gives you an idea of God’s sense of humor – this was the way God wanted us to learn how to love? By bashing us around against each other? couldn’t God have just given us a magic potion or even a recipe
10. Well, there is a recipe – we just heard the quick bake recipe of St. Paul – the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus are the fuller version
11. When you read Paul on love closely – realize that all of the things he spells out are for us to do to others – and not for us to feel good about ourselves - assume that we will need patience, endurance, trust, accommodation and even a bit of intentional naivete. In other words, God knows exactly what we are really like and this is the way to handle us if we are ever going to get along
12. We hear this lesson often at weddings, but Paul was writing to a church, a church full of rugged individualists in conflict
a. Doctrinal conflicts over communion practice, accommodation with surrounding pagan culture, how to keep human sexuality from unleashing chaos in peoples’ lives
b. conflicts over unity – wealthy and powerful throwing their weight around
c. Personality conflicts over spiritual gifts – whose were the best and most important
d. Conflicts over bad behavior – people showing up drunk for church suppers and at least one illicit affair going on which everyone was apparently aware of
13. And so, the church is where we learn how to love in the way Paul describes – and perhaps more importantly, learn how to be loved – allow ourselves to be loved
a. Hard for us – counter cultural in every way
i. requires that we jump in and don’t bail out – consumer mentality
ii. Honest – who we really are – no pretense
1. In fact, the church won’t work on you if you do pretend – need to have the sharp edges and imperfections exposed so they can be rubbed away
iii. A little pain – taking off all the masks and body armor we have for survival in our lives out there
iv. Relax – this is going to take time
v. Trust – that they won’t just dismiss us or ridicule us
14. Think about beach rocks, whenever you think about the church, this church or just the church in general, whenever you’re thinking about diving in deeper, whenever you’re thinking about running out the door in frustration, whenever someone asks you why a smart person like you would possibly go to church, whenever you wonder what’s in it for you or where God might be