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I hope that you are having a great start to 2025.
Before we get too far into the new year, it’s important to reflect on important things.
What kind of person do you want to be in 2025?
Let me share a great vision with you today: Be the rock that others stand on.
Isn’t that a great thing to aspire to? It’s something we can all do.
In 2025, we should strive to be a rock on which others stand.
It brings such a nice image to me. Someone who is solid. Not easily shaken. Someone whom others can stand on.
In Chevrolet truck commercials, they are built like a rock. The most dependable, longest lasting trucks on the road like a rock.
We’re not trucks, but we too should be dependable and lasting like a rock. Maybe good trucks, we can rely on.
It’s so hard to find people like that, isn’t it? Whom can you really rely upon?
But wouldn’t it be so good to have people like a rock? People you can rely upon, depend on.
I think the best kind of person we can be is to be a rock for others.
When times are difficult, when things are turbulent, the best thing you can be is a rock that others can stand on. You will be a great blessing to others if you can be that.
Jesus told Peter that he would be the rock.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)
Jesus said Peter would be the rock. But at that time, he was not the rock.
When Jesus was captured by the authorities, he ran away. He deserted Jesus. He even denied knowing him.
Peter was the most passionate disciple. He spent three years with Jesus. He loved him. He left everything to follow him.
But at Jesus’ most vulnerable moment, he was not the rock he needed.
After Jesus was crucified, Peter was devastated by his flimsiness. He had been exposed for who he was: a coward who lacked courage.
Jesus was gone. Everything he had given up came to nothing. In that moment, it seemed like his failure would haunt him for the rest of his life.
But that didn’t happen. Peter did eventually become the rock. What changed?
After Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to Peter. That encounter was described by John.
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.” (John 21:15-19)
Jesus forgave him. He gave him another chance.
Even though he denied Jesus and ran away, he still believed in him. He still chose Peter to carry on what he started.
That changed Peter. It transformed him. He became the rock of the church.
How can you be the rock?
Be someone who forgives and gives others a second chance.
You’re not blind to the flaws of others. But you can accept them. You don’t define them by their flaws.
You are the rock on which others can stand.
This world is a merciless place. One mistake and the world piles on you. It shuns you. Cancels you. Destroys you.
Can you be the safe rock on which others can stand? When everyone else has condemned them, be the safe harbour that shelters them from the world’s judgment?
Peter says in the passage today:
Like living stones let yourselves be built into a spiritual house… (1 Peter 2:5)
What is a spiritual house?
It is a house of mercy. A house of grace.
A house where people are not judged by their sins but given the chance to become someone new.
A house where people who have been given a second chance gather together.
Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:4-10)
We are God’s people. We are those who have received mercy. That is the church.
Peter became the rock of this church. But the rock that Peter stood on was Jesus Christ.
Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight. (1 Peter 2:4)
Rev. Kim spoke last week about living life based on principle. That is how you be the rock.
The greatest principle is love.
Jesus lived his life with the principle of love.
In all that he did, he loved God and he loved people. He healed others. He taught people.
But the greatest love was shown on the cross.
How?
Through forgiveness.
On the cross, Jesus bore the sins of others and forgave them.
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
On the cross, he forgave them. He forgave us. He gave us a second chance. He still believed in us.
That is the power of the cross. The power to bear the sins of others.
The power to forgive. The power to give a second chance.
When you get hurt and disappointed, that hurt and disappointment can take on a life of their own.
They grow in power. They take control of your thoughts and actions.
Even if you want to be free from those emotions, it is so hard.
The power of the cross releases you from the grip of hurt and disappointment.
Instead of the power of anger or resentment, the cross gives you the power of forgiveness.
Forgiving those who have hurt you, overlooking the sins they’ve inflicted on you, giving these people a second chance: that is the most difficult thing to do.
It takes enormous power to overcome the desire for vengeance. To overcome the negative energy these emotions give you.
Being able to forgive others, to still believe in them and give them another chance: that is the greatest spiritual superpower. That is what Christ showed on the cross.
Jesus was the true human being. The one who reflected the image of God in all its fullness right on that cross.
The blood of Jesus washes away our sins. But it also washes away the sins of others.
It washes away the effect the sins of others leaves on your heart. It heals you from the damage and imprint they leave.
That is the power of the blood of Jesus.
That is the power that changed Peter. That is how become the rock.
I had an old friend from university days. We went through many things together.
A close and loyal friend but I could see some deep flaws. Especially when drinking. I would be the responsible one.
But it got to point where I couldn’t do it anymore. I felt disrespected. So I cut him off.
This is one of my real regrets. I wish I gave him another chance. It would have helped him. It would have blessed me.
Peter asked Jesus this question:
Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if my brother or sister sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. (Matthew 18:21-22)
Be a rock who is not shaken by the sins of others. Be a rock who doesn’t crumble because you get hurt by others. Be a rock who can forgive and give another chance.
You will change lives by being a rock.
God will give you the power to forgive and give others another chance.
In 2025, ask God to make you a rock.
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