Rocks
My friend Grady Nutt died in a plane crash in November 1982. Now, almost forty years later, I still think of him and missing him has never stopped. He was the most creative storyteller I have ever known. He made his living as a religious entertainer and was part of the cast on Hee Haw for several years.
Grady did not preach normal sermons, he told Biblical stories in unusual ways that made their meaning come alive.
He was asked to speak in the church where he and his family were members. The week before he was to speak he secretly got the young people there to collect baskets of small rocks.
His story was the incident when the religious leaders threw a woman who was caught in the act of adultery at the feet of Jesus demanding that He say whether or not she should be stoned.
Grady told how Jesus wrote in the sand and there is no account of what He wrote but Grady hoped He had written, “Where is the man?”
Then Grady described how the leader stood over the woman tossing his rock up and catching it as he taunted Jesus with his questions. Grady pictured Jesus grabbing that rock out of the air and holding it under the chin of the leader while saying, “He who has no sin cast the first stone.” The glare in His eye and the intensity of his demeanor resulted in stones being dropped and men slinking away.
At the close of the service Grady announced that there would be a basket of rocks as they left and asked that each person take one home and either carry it with them or place it in a prominent place as a reminder to hopefully keep from judging and criticizing others.
I wish he was here telling that story today. I am so tired of the constant criticism and polarization going on in our world. Every word anyone says becomes analyzed and turned into some big deal. Facebook is a rock fight of accusations and hate. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers” and the need for finding peace and unity is at the critical stage. I don’t have any great story to share but I do have two statements that continue to help me drop my rocks and slink away.
STATEMENT ONE
I remember a line from a play that I think was titled “The Searching Wind” but I am too old to really remember that for sure. The play was about a very corrupt American Ambassador in Europe during the rise of Hitler. One day the Ambassador was railing to his wife about the evils he saw developing there. His wife responded with words I have never forgotten. She said, “Think not that your enmity with the enemy automatically puts you on the other side.” Wow that means my knowing what is wrong and who to blame means nothing unless it results in motivating me to seek solutions instead of slandering others. I must choose whether to be a blamer or a solver. If I don’t have any solutions that demand my sweat equity, I need to hush. Bitching never solved a single problem.
THE SECOND STATEMENT
While serving as pastor in Tulsa a woman said “I am thinking about becoming a Christian, and joining this church, but I have this one question. You say Christ will change me and I believe that is true but my question is What if He doesn’t change me to suit you?”
Talk about a rock dropper, the longer I chewed on that the bigger it became. How many people have I decided were “not spiritual enough” how many people have I pulled away from because they do not see life, religion, or politics the same way I do?
I was raised in the anti-Catholic world of Southern Baptists where we also had doubt about whether or not the Methodist were going to make it to heaven I have spent a lifetime trying to find and drop rocks. I want to be known for who I love, not who I disagree with, reject or hate. One thing I am sure of is when this all is finished and it is my time to face the summation of my life the last thing I want to try to explain or justify to Jesus is why I rejected those He loved because He did not change them to suit me.
If President Lincoln was right when he said, “A house divided cannot stand” then our greatest need right now is for us to drop our rocks and figure out what each of us can do to bring us together.
Dear Lord, help me drop my rocks and open my arms.