It seems to me that every year we are told that we have more odd things to celebrate. Many of them, including the one I am writing about tonight, are celebratory days I have never even heard of before this year. For example, several days ago, the date was August 11th. Now this may not seem like any particularly spectacular day to celebrate unless it was your birthday or anniversary, but believe it or not, it is, in fact, apparently a day of celebration that most of us probably don’t stop and pay attention to…
So what is so important about August 11th? Well, in numerical form, it is 811… If you don’t recognize this number, it is the universal number to call before you dig a hole! Yep, I’m not kidding… You dial 911 in an emergency and you call 811 if you are in need of someone to check your property before you dig a hole; to put up a fence, add a pool, or make any other sort of modification to your property that might cut underground wires or pipelines. Generally, this must be done about a week before your project begins and there are crews that come out, put up different colored flags and even spray paint on the ground where underground utilities are located.
Not only have we had to use this service in the past, but I have actually been asked to counsel employees who suffered through two tragic suicides of fellow employees at one of the 811 centers here in the U.S. It was a very somber assignment for me. Like other office environments, this facility, the 811 center, was filled with ordinary people living ordinary lives. The difference was that a tragedy occurred when a woman took her own life at home after work one evening… The next day, her best friend, who also worked there, fell into a deep depression and ended her own life that evening as well. This was the only time in all my years of chaplaincy that two employees ended their lives within a day of each other.
Part of my seminary training dealt with grief and how to assist the survivors of these types of tragedies. Unfortunately, we see more and more instances of workplace violence and, thankfully, this incident was not that type of chaplaincy assignment. Both of these deaths occurred after the end of the workday and no other employees were at risk. However, to this day, every time I see an ad about calling 811, or see a row of flags and paint on the ground, I think of the time I tried to assist those people who were traumatized by the loss of their friends.
Today, I had a call with a friend of mine who I have known for about 20 years. We spoke about some of the traumas we have seen in the workplace throughout the years. He is a devout Christian and contemplating his next move after retiring from the corporate world. We spoke about how energized we get by thinking about the Kingdom of God and where we can serve with the greatest benefit. Personally, I find my greatest fulfillment by sharing my faith with those folks who have spent their lives in the corporate world and are looking for something deeper – a stronger foundation from which to govern their lives.
And that brings us to our verse for tonight. The good Dr. Luke tells us about digging and building foundations in his Gospel. Luke reminds us of the words of Jesus Himself in Luke 6:46-49, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
Luke reminds us that it is always in our best interest to build our foundation on solid rock. And that rock is Jesus. Anything else, as the song says, is sinking sand… My encouragement this evening is that Jesus is the way to eternal peace; and a firm foundation for each of us while we are here on earth. My prayer is that we will always turn to the rock, the foundation, of our faith and realize that we can’t lose when we dig deep and invest in a relationship with Jesus Christ. And you know what? You don’t even need to call 811. No permit necessary… You already have a direct invitation from the Creator of everything! Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…