The Second Sunday in Lent – March 12, 2006
Psalm 125
 
            When you would like a casual hike that takes you to a 360 degree view from the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains, you might try Blackrock Summit. It is nice hike and you get a wonderful view. You can even say the view is breath taking. It is.
 
            As you come to the summit you climb rock to get the best view. It is easy climbing. There is another hike along the Parkway that has a rock scramble as part of it and is not an easy hike at all. At “Bear Fence Mountain” you have a rock scramble that is challenging to the average hiker. It has those moments when you step across from one rock formation to another and looking down you see nothing between you and the ground several hundred feet below. If you don’t like heights, you will not like the scramble.
 
            Hiking among the rocky trails of the Blue Ridge comes to mind when you read Psalm 125. The opening verse tells you that the faithful are rock-solid. Those who trust in God are as rock-solid as Mount Zion. And in case you don’t know it, the Psalm explains that Mount Zion cannot be moved, ever. It is the very definition of rock-solid.
 
            But, before we break our arms patting ourselves on our backs as the faithful who trust in God, verse two tells you that your faith, your trust is possible because God is first steadfast, faithful and rock-solid for you. Note how the Psalmist tells you that the hills stand around Jerusalem and protect Jerusalem. In the same way God surrounds you and protects you. Your rock-solid life is possible because God chooses to first love you with a mercy and forgiveness that is rock-solid.
 
            Because of God’s rock-solid love for you, you are a different person. The Psalm calls you a ‘just’ person. That means God through steadfast and unconditional love reconciles you to God and others. Being ‘just,’ you are protected from the wicked so that evil cannot come and dominate your life, cutting you off from God and others. Our rock-solid God sets you free because there is no one or any circumstance that can cut you off from God who with great mercy gives you life, always.
 
            Speaking of mercy, the Psalmist continues by asking God for just that. “Show your goodness, O Lord, to those who are good and to those who are true of heart.” God does show mercy to you, forgiving you that you may be true of heart. God, the rock-solid God gives even himself to grant you mercy.
 
            And you are a different person as a result. There are three particular ways that you are different because your rock-solid God makes possible your trusting faith.
 
            First, you look at the anxieties and insecurities of life differently. When you climb up on the rocks at Blackrock Summit the footing is sure and the drop is not extreme. When you climb the rock scramble at Bear Fence Mountain you want to have very sure footing so that you do not fall. In several places the path leads you such that should you lose your footing, your fall would be far down the mountain side.
 
            When anxiety comes and threats to your security follow, you do not loose footing because God is your rock-solid foundation. Facing the challenges of life, small and great, you stand in God’s steadfast and unconditional love. With faith formed by the love of our rock-solid God you do not fall to the anxieties and insecurities of our age.
 
            A second way you live differently than others around us is how you face pain and suffering. When pain or suffering finds you it seems to be a sign that God has forgotten you. That is a lie. God is with you always, especially in your pain and suffering. It has been said, “The worst does not last.” How true. But even in the midst of the worst life can give, you are sustained by God, who is rock-solid and loves you regardless. All may seem lost, but God stands with you, especially in pain and suffering.
 
            Go with me back to the hiking trail for the third way you are different. Just as we fear falling on some trails and sliding down the side of a mountain you sometimes fear that you will lose faith and fall away from God. The very good news of Psalm 125 is that God is so faithful and steadfast in loving you that even when you fall away God does not. In fact God continues to pursue you so that the moment you turn and seek God you need not go far because God is standing with you.
 
            “Falling from grace” may be a fear for you, but know that God meets you even then. You see God has not made a contract with you; God has made a covenant with you. In this covenant God is the greater party and we the lesser. Thus, God upholds the deal no matter what you do. God will love you regardless. There is nothing you can do that will make God love you any less. That is what grace is all about.
 
            Finally, the way in which the Psalm ends is amazing: “…but peace be upon Israel.” This peace is not simply the absence of war, but it is the peace that allows you to live life to its fullest. It is the peace that only comes from God, your rock-solid God. If you break your arm and have the pain, discomfort and limitations that brings, then you have the ‘peace’ of your life broken also. Even when your life is broken, God is present to you, holding you in faith, so that you know the peace that makes your fullest life possible: the life of serving. Amen.