Concrete Jesus

Concrete Jesus by Rick Edwards

Psalm 116:1-2

Power point available upon request

I love excitement…for the most part I think most people do. Now I know not everyone likes riding motorcycles though for the life of me I can’t figure why they don’t… anyway I recently went on a short trip to Magnolia Arkansas… I had never ridden there before and I was really excited about it… the first part of the ride was very uneventful since a I am all too familiar with the Clarksville Avery part of the trip.

As I continued on Highway 82 about New Boston was kind of a new adventure for me… one of the great things about motorcycling is the up close and personal view you get of things… as I continued on my journey I followed a log truck for a while… you have seen them before it’s a tractor trailer with an expandable log trailer… this particular one had red flags on two of the logs sticking out the back… on one of the red flag were written the words “If you have a problem with logging try some plastic toilet paper” …gave me a whole new appreciation for the logging industry…

So I am just ridding along and enjoying the sights, sounds, and the fresh air…the scent of fresh cut pines, the earthly smell of a freshly plowed field, and the occasional smell of someone cooking or smoking meat over a fire… it was truly an enjoyable ride. I had left early that morning and the sun had not started it job of baking the country side just yet…

All is well with my soul as I am propelled along at a high, unnamed rate of speed… and then I saw Him. Now most of you who know me thought immediately that I was speaking of a highway patrol or some law enforcement officer who task it is to maintain law and order and enforce speed limits… well not this time, this time it was someone much more powerful, much more revered, much more respected… I was concrete Jesus

When I first saw Him I though cool I would like to have Concrete Jesus at my house…after all I was a concrete man for years… what better thing could I possess than Concrete Jesus.

He was standing so majestically, there among the neatly trimmed hedges and well watered flowers, just a few feet from the garden bench that invited a passerby a place to sit while in the presence of Concrete Jesus.

Now would be a good time to explain that I am in no way talking about worship and idol, something man made… See that concrete Jesus can’t save me, it can’t hear my cries for help or phantom my tremendous need for mercy… the Psalmist put it like this

“I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.”- Psalm 116:1-2

Now that is the kind of savior I’m talking about one who loves me and cares what happens to me, One who is concerned about my salvation, only one name in which I must be saved…Peter said it best in face of great adversity

8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! 9If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11He is'the stone you builders rejected,

which has become the capstone. 12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

You know, Concrete Jesus had me thinking …yea at first thought I wanted him, but then my thoughts went on to my Jesus… maybe concrete Jesus was to ridged for me… concrete is very inflexible though extremely strong

Then there was the fact that in all the years of pouring concrete I discovered it was not very forgiving… I never really found any grace there… so now I really got to thinking about my Jesus… so much so that I collaborated with a group of theologians to help me examine the ideas concrete Jesus brought forth in my mind…

Theologians are people who study religion and I think it’s safe to say that the Slacker class was a bit surprised to discover they were theologians but that exactly what we were doing…exploring the Christian faith and God’s relation to the world…So, just so you know, if you went to Sunday school and learned about Jesus or if you opened your Bible today and read a passage and thought about how that scripture was relevant to your life then you too are a theologian… nowhere does it say in scripture that you must write a book or have a degree to do theology, the study about God… as we study we should keep in mind the words of