So, did you feel it? Did you feel the quake? A few weeks ago Pastor John asked us if we felt the quake of Easter in our hearts. If we felt the quake of Christ in our lives. But today, I’m not asking you if you felt the spiritual quake of Easter. But I’m asking if you felt a more earthly kind of quake. Well, I don’t know about you, but on Friday, I sure felt a quake, and I was relieved that I had learned about the New Madrid fault line in the sermon a few weeks ago, or that unexpected quake would have scared me at lot more than it did! But Friday’s quake was a different kind of quake than the one talked about in the sermon a few weeks ago. This earthly quake woke me (and the rest of the state) up at 5:40 am on my day off from work. It shook the walls, knocked a wooden statue off a shelf and caused a picture in my house to end up sideways on the wall. This earthly quake only lasted 45 seconds. If it had been any longer, I would have stood in the doorway, something this Midwestern gal is glad she learned by watching disaster survival shows on TV. Jeff asked me “should we call the police or something?” I said “I think they felt the quake too.” And I thought it was a big, earthly quake. I even went to the website Pastor John mentioned in his sermon and filled out the assessment by the US Geological Survey. Anyone else fill out that form? I checked “moderate” when it asked me “how severe was the quake.” But as I continued to read the form and fill out the “damage report” I realized that while I felt “ the quake” it could have been a lot worse. (there was none to report, but I was having fun filling out the form and wasn’t going back to sleep) The suggested types of damage included concrete structures falling, cracks in the walls, broken water pipes and foundations being split from homes.
Ironically, there was a big quake on the same day as our exciting, little quake. That quake was on April 18, 1906 in San Francisco CA and also struck during the 5:00 am hour. And they felt it. The quake was estimated to be between 7.8 and 8.3 and modern estimates believe the death toll, which first was listed at 700 was more like 3,000-5,000 people. But the quake also ruptured gas and water mains, causing fires to break out and leaving the fire department with no water to fight them. San Francisco, was a tightly compact city with a lot of wooden structures, and it burnt.
The fire lasted nearly four days, and some believe the fire was started in part by arsonist building owners. They wouldn’t receive money if their property was destroyed by an earthquake, but the payout would be greater if damage was due to fire. By the time it was over the heart of San Francisco lay in ruins. In all, 508 city blocks had burned to the ground.
So, these earthly quakes can rock us to the core and break our foundations. And we don’t just have to look to earthquakes to see and feel things that threaten our earthly foundations. Between April 17 and April 20, there are countless anniversaries of brokenness. Let me share a few with you: Columbine, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma City, Waco, Bay of Pigs, and, my personal broken foundation, the Grand Forks/East Grand Forks flood which inundated and burnt my home town in 1997. The earthly quakes that rock our foundations are real, and they hurt and they destroy. What is your earthly quake? Is it an illness? A broken relationship? Fear? Well, you aren’t alone, these quakes destroyed in biblical times as well. In Acts, Stephen is killed with rocks for recognizing and calling out the name of our eternal rock…for sharing the heavenly quake with the earth. People could feel the heavenly quake, but they couldn’t handle it, they covered their ears, yelled out and rushed at him. Stephen believed in the heavenly quake, but never the less, the earth quaked and killed.
But, even with all of these earthly quakes, we seek out a rock to build our foundation on. And that rock began as an unstable and rolling, shifting rock. That rock shifted, and broke, and rolled away from the tomb, to reveal the promised, always stable, never failing rock of our resurrected Savior!!! That rock in front of the tomb, which was to keep our hope locked away, dead, in a tomb, could not be still. The rocks and stones themselves will start to sing as they roll away to reveal the promise of Christ. Jesus speaks in the Gospel: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms…I go and prepare a place for you.” Jesus, who places that heavenly quake in our hearts, is making a home for us, on a solid foundation. In our second reading, we are welcomed to this new home as we hear “come to Him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious. And be like living stones, built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood…” We are welcomed into a new house, one in which the cornerstone, Jesus, was rejected by the earth. Our Psalm tells us that this rock is also “a refuge and a fortress”. And we need it, don’t we? We need refuge from the earthly quakes that seek to destroy us, to destroy believers like Stephen in the book of Acts, to destroy believers like us in Muncie.
Can you feel it? Can you feel the quake and not be afraid of your foundation cracking, not fear a flood destroying, not fear death conquering? Some days, I do feel the earthly quakes, and, even though I know I have Christ as a cornerstone, even though I know my home, my hope and my future are built on the unshakable rock of Christ, I doubt, I fear, I quake. I trouble over the damage done by earthly disasters. 11 years later, I still shake and tremble on the anniversary of a flood that destroyed so much of my community’s foundation. I still remember the smells of sewage water, the sting of smoke from the downtown fires, the tears of those who went home to find the lot, which at one time contained their home, was empty, but with a concrete foundation remaining. Afterwards, even as the earthly quake shook us to the core, we were humbled by the heavenly quake of Christians who aided in the recovery. Church groups from around the country sent resources, volunteers, and donations to people they never met. In the 11 years since my broken foundation, I have met members of this heavenly quake. This community, Holy Trinity, sent donations, prayers and letters to churches in Grand Forks and helped a small town in the Red River Valley sustain and grow and come back. Even when our foundation appeared to be ripped apart due to earthly quakes, the rock of Christian brothers and sisters showed us how strong the foundation of God can be.
The earth will still quake, and rip open holes in the fault lines of our lives. But these gaps will not swallow us up. Because we still have our solid foundation! In the most difficult of times, we have the hope of Christ, and the gift of a foundational community of Christian brothers and sisters. Jesus says “I will go and make a dwelling place for you.” FOR YOU. You don’t have to wait to get to heaven to experience the joy and relief of our Father’s house. The foundation of Christ is felt in the community of believers that surround, encourage and continue God’s mission, even in the midst of our earthly quakes. The heavenly quake can be felt because WE ARE THE FOUNDATION. As individuals, and without Christ, we will fall. But together, we endure the quakes and not fear because nothing can destroy the rock of our foundation. The stone has been forever rolled away, and the new promise will carry us through.
The New Madrid fault is still there and it’s possible that another quake will come again in the future. I’m not too worried, since the last quake of this size hit in 1968. But there will be other quakes, other Columbines, other floods, fires, famines and personal, earth shaking events. We will feel that our earthly foundations are battered to the core. But we will feel a bigger quake, the heavenly quake that grounds us as a Christian community. The quake of our faith will keep us grounded, no matter how shaky life becomes.
A few days after the flood hit Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, a notable public figure came to the GF AFB to speak to the thousands of evacuees who called the base home. After discussing all the details of money and politics, he ended by speaking of faith and community. He said, “well, you’ve had blizzards, you’ve had a flood, you’ve had a fire. But you also have faith and hope. And a blizzard can’t blow that away, a flood can’t wash that away, and a fire can’t burn that away. And if you don’t give it away, your faith will bring you back, stronger than ever.” Did you feel it? Can you feel it? Will you join with me, as we continue to feel it together? AMEN.
I (Jeff) have had some time off this month, having finished Spring teaching and coursework and not yet having started the advising I'll do this summer. So Shahra and I have spent some quality time together.
Every episode, she references her map to figure out there they are going and looks in her backpack for things that will help them on their adventure. The show is interactive, calling on children to participate. If you're at our house, you might see Shahra reaching or jumping into the air or hear her yelling "MAP, MAP!!!" (to help Dora bring out the map) or "PACKPACK, PACKPACK!!!" (to help Dora open her backpack) at ever louder decibels. The show also has a sneaky fox named Swiper who tries to steal things from Dora and Boots. The response kids must call out is "Swiper, no swiping!!" Shahra says this, "Fwiper, no Fwiping," a phrase she'd repeat randomly throughout the day and which confused Tracy and I for months, until I actually sat down to watch the show with her.
Every episode, she references her map to figure out there they are going and looks in her backpack for things that will help them on their adventure. The show is interactive, calling on children to participate. If you're at our house, you might see Shahra reaching or jumping into the air or hear her yelling "MAP, MAP!!!" (to help Dora bring out the map) or "PACKPACK, PACKPACK!!!" (to help Dora open her backpack) at ever louder decibels. The show also has a sneaky fox named Swiper who tries to steal things from Dora and Boots. The response kids must call out is "Swiper, no swiping!!" Shahra says this, "Fwiper, no Fwiping," a phrase she'd repeat randomly throughout the day and which confused Tracy and I for months, until I actually sat down to watch the show with her.
At least once a week, when the sun shines bright (it has rained rather incessantly in Indiana this month), Shahra and I have had "picnics at play park." "Play Park" is one of the locations to which Dora often adventures, so likewise, Shahra and I make a little adventure out of our trip to the playground. We pack sandwiches, veggies, fruit, and lemonade. We talk about the landmarks we have to pass to get to "play park": the post office, the Pizza King, the bridge over the river, the downtown. When we get there, we sit at a picnic table and I cajole Shahra to eat her food as she eyes a particular red swing she loves to ride. 
We spend a good two hours at the park on these days, playing chase and seesaw until Shahra's pace slows down and she seems confused as to what she wants to do next, wandering and wandering without climbing or sliding. At this point, I can tell she's ready for a nap, so I scoop her up, carry her to the car, and listen to her whine in my ear, "I want playground," even as she buries her head into my shoulder and compliantly hops into her carseat. By the time we get home, she's asleep, and I carry her gingerly to her bed.
We're just fine (and waiting for the folks in CA to giggle) but we had an earthquake!!! At 5:40 EST, we woke up to hear wall hangings shake. It continued for about 45 seconds, got stronger and then quit. About 10 minutes later we felt a tiny little shake (we 
