There are some objects around my house that have stories connected to them. On our mantle I have a beautiful brass kaleidoscope sitting on a wooden stand. A friend of the family made the kaleidoscope and gave it to me when I graduated from college. She enclosed a letter where she wrote about her hopes that as I went out into the world, I might see all the variations and beauty contained therein. I loved looking at the kaleidoscope so I asked my dad to make a stand for it so that I could keep it in front of me. I keep the kaleidoscope on the mantle so that it may constantly remind me to see the world in new ways.

Perhaps you have something in your home that has a story behind it. Perhaps it is a piece of furniture or a photograph or something on your mantle. Or perhaps your whole house tells a story of where you have been or influenced you in your life. What are some of the answers you have when you get asked: What do those things mean to you?

I have been in many of your homes and have heard the answers to some of those questions. What are some of your other answers? Who do you share the meaning of these important objects with?

In the scripture passage from Joshua we hear about the next step the Israelites take on their way to the land God has promised them. Moses has died and Joshua is now the appointed leader of the people. One of the first tasks of leadership that Joshua encounters is to get the whole of the Israelites across the Jordan River. When God gives instructions to Joshua, one of the constant reminders from scripture is given. God promises to be with Joshua just as God was with Moses.

After crossing over the Jordan, Joshua instructed the Israelites to gather twelve stones from the river and place them where they camped that evening. With those twelve stones, they made a monument, a place where parents and children would visit in years to come and tell the story. When children asked their parents, "What do these stones mean to you?" It was an opportunity for the parents to share part of the story of their faith.

The stones became a jumping off point for telling the story of how God had lead the people out of Egypt and slavery. It was a way to tell the story about how God is so mighty that just like what happened at the Red Sea, the waters of the Jordan stopped flowing. The waters were cut off and the people crossed into the Promised Land on dry ground.

The stones that the Israelites drew out from the Jordan serve as a memorial for the people. A memorial is a physical reminder of a memory. We set up memorials for various different events so that events and memories will have a physical form. One of the most peaceful and haunting places in Washington, D.C. is the Vietnam memorial. To see all of those names chiseled into stone is a physical reminder of the sacrifices made. To touch the smoothness of the stones and feel its coolness even in the midst of summer is to have a tactile reminder of the events of that war.

The D-Day memorial in Bedford is also a physical reminder of an event in the history of our nation. The layout of the memorial tells the story of the battle. The little guidebook you receive when you enter the memorial only scratches the surface of telling the events of that day. I am sure that if a veteran were to stand at the memorial, he would answer the question, "What do these stones mean to you?" in a different way than I would answer.

The stones from the middle of the Jordan are set up to be a reminder for coming generations about the mighty acts of God. They were to be a memorial – a physical reminder of what God had done. What are our reminders of God’s actions in our own lives? What are the stones that we put up around us to remind us of what God has done in our lives?

Though this church is not literally constructed of stone, its wood and nails tell us something about the acts of God in this community. Not quite two hundred years ago, a group of families came here to establish this church. With donations small and large, they worked to construct a physical building where they could gather to worship. What do these walls mean to you?

We are surrounded here by physical manifestations of captured memories. At this table, hundreds have taken part in Communion. Has there been one communion that spoke to you? At this fount, hundreds of people have been baptized. What does this wooden fount mean to you? Where have you seen God at work in it? Perhaps you remember your own baptism or maybe the baptism of your child or another member of the congregation.

From that piano in the corner, thousands of notes of music have been lifted up to God’s glory. What does that collection of strings, wood, and metal mean to you? All around us we are surrounded by memories just waiting to be shared. All around us are piles of stones, just waiting for the question to be asked: "What do these stones mean to you?"

To tell the story of our faith is the call of every Christian. Tom Long wrote a book entitled Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian. In this book he argues that we are to pass along our Christian faith not just in the things that we do throughout our daily life but in what we say. To tell a story about what God has done in your life is to give testimony about God.

But testimony doesn’t just take place in church. Witnessing to God at work in your life cannot be contained by these four walls. Testimony doesn’t just happen at 11:00 on Sunday morning but it happens at 4:00 on Monday afternoons, 10:30 on Friday nights. Witnessing to Christ cannot be contained within just one or two hours during the week.

In the scripture, the stones that Joshua instructed the people to collect just sat there as a reminder of what God had done. They were simply reminders for coming generations of an event in the life of the people. Lest we think that the church is only a physical reminder of what God has done, I should say something more.

The church as a structure can be a physical manifestation of a memory. It can be a place where we can gather together and share the stories of our faith. But if we let the church simply become a place where we tell the stories of our faith, we are only half of what the church calls us to be. If the church simply becomes a depository for memories then it will be a memorial and nothing else.

However, if we take those same stories, all of the multitude of stories that we share within these walls and among this group of people, and take them out into the world then the church will not be simply a memorial to a dead faith but a living sanctuary. The church may become the place where we gather together, share our faith stories, and don’t stop there but keep going to tell the new stories about what God is doing in your lives right now.

When we aren’t afraid to look at what is going on in our lives through the lens of what God is doing, then our faith can truly become a living and thriving thing. When Joshua had the Israelites collect these stones, the story didn’t end there. When children ask their parents or grandparents, aunts or uncles, "What do these stones mean to you?" my hope is that the story will not end there.

After Joshua and the Israelites crossed over the Jordan, God continued to be among them. After the foundation for this church was established, God continues to be with it. After you were baptized, God continued to be at work in your life. After you are fed at this table, the story goes on as you reach out to feed other people.

There is a hymn, "I Love to Tell the Story." The refrain says, "I love to tell the story, ‘Twill be my theme in glory to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love." May we tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love and not stop there. May we also tell the new and continuing story of God at work in our lives.