Thursday, May 31, 2012

The Rock Parable

I was asked by a friend to find a story that I had shared in a past message…it took me a while, but I found it. In it, Tim Keller quotes a parable that Elizabeth Elliot used to use…it’s in the form of a fictional PARABLE (in other words, it’s not in the Bible): “One day, Jesus asked the disciples to pick up a rock and to follow him on a journey. Peter picks up a pebble, like us, he’s thinking “What is the LEAST burdensome way to fulfill this command?”, and they journey all morning long, Peter is thinking: I nailed this one. Then, Jesus tells them to get their stones out, and he turns them all to bread…tells them: lunchtime! And each disciple’s stone turns to bread, of course Peter had only a small pebble, so that’s all the bread he got for lunch. Peter is a bit put out, and he’s hungry. Then, after lunch, Jesus tells them Pick up another stone, we’re going on another journey. So Peter…I’m gonna be starving by dinnertime, picks up a HUGE rock…boulder. Sweats and staggers under it’s weight all afternoon. Then, Jesus calls them over to the edge of a stream and has them all throw their stones into the river. Again, Peter is put out, sulking, and thinking: “What! No bread!?” Jesus comes to him and gently asks him: Peter, why are you upset? Who were you carrying the rock FOR?” Not once was Peter carrying that rock for Jesus…he was carrying it for himself! His motivation was completely for what he would GET! How can Peter take care of PETER? How often are we exactly like that in our devotion to Jesus? The challenge for all of us is that we do all that we do for Jesus. If He calls us to carry the rock, then we carry the rock for Jesus. We give, we serve, we share, we live for Jesus! We don’t give to manipulate God into giving us something. We give because Jesus models it and tells us to! AND as we give like Jesus, we realize that you can’t outgive God! We don’t serve because of the blessings we’ll receive from serving! We serve because Jesus calls us to serve! And then as we serve, we realize that we are blessed far more than we are a blessing…that’s just how it ends up working in God’s economy! And above all we love, because we are loved, and we are called to love! So love outlandishly today, and love for Jesus!!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for finding and sharing this parable again. It is such a good reminder when we fall into human selfishness.
Your bringing this forward is also a great example of what an answered prayer looks like. For we ask, and the necessary time elapses (even beyond our memory), yet the answer is delivered. Thank you.
-Your inquiring friend

Anonymous said...

Mike,

Awesome story about the rock parable, I carry a stone with me all the time. I am a youth director and carry a stone with me at all times, my youth and the members of my church bring me stones from places they visit, I must admit I have not read the Rock Parable before and it is wonderful to have as a reminder of God's love. Your book Glorious Mess is awesome it has been great for me and my youth.

Stephen said...

I found this parable in a book called The Prodigal God, which is a play on words (sort of a reverse psychology about how we might view God). I've read about 1/2 of it so far, and it might really help some to see deeper insights into it, and themselves.

Unknown said...

What I dont like about the Parable that is not int he real bible is when Beloved Jesus Was tempted Satan tempted Jesus to make stones into bread as a temptation. That parable didnt sit well with me because of the actually truth in the bible.

Anonymous said...

Agree!! We shouldn’t be adding words to the Bible.
It is God’s word and He is the author. This parable leads people to believe it’s the Bible.
Very misleading! I am not sure I want to read Elizabeth Elliot’s book.
I read the devotional and it leads people to believe it is in there.