March 21, 2010 - Weathering the Storms of Life
Text: Matthew 7: 24-27 Theme: practicing the faith must accompany hearing the faith. For doers are more resilient in weathering the storms of life.
Matthew 7: 24-27
“‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. 26And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!’”
While talking on the phone to my daughter in California recently, she commented on the huge expensive houses that sit on a cliff side or sit literally on the sandy beach ocean side. She continued saying how she couldn’t believe that after mud slides and multi-million dollar homes sliding down the side of a mountain, people continue buying mountain-side land and build big houses on it.
At first the issue seems to be an obvious dichotomy between wisdom and stupidity!
It dates back to Jesus Christ’s teaching “… a wise man who built his house on rock… and the foolish man who built his house on sand.”
And sometimes it seems to just get weird. Like The San Jose Mercury News who included this story in their "News of the Weird" column:
James Kelley is one of a small group at his local Episcopalian church who claims,
"We all love the incense, the stained-glass windows, the organ music, the vestments and all of that. It's drama. It's aesthetics. It's the ritual. That's neat stuff. I don't want to give all that up just because I don't believe in God."
(Sources: Derek Helt, "Go With the Flow," )
He goes to God’s house, yet it is not his spiritual home. Spiritual but not religious, or religious but not spiritual?!
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Now, in Jesus’ parable, at first it seems to be an obvious dichotomy. Yet the two people have several things in common: They’re both men, • They heard the same message. • They both built a house. • They faced the same storms of life. Just because a person claims to be spiritual AND religious, does not mean that they will avoid the storms of life. The main difference is that one of them puts into action the words of Jesus and the other doesn't. The one who did what Jesus said—his house remained strong. The one who heard Jesus but did nothing about it—his house came crashing to the ground. Spiritual belief only, without the spiritual behavior, makes for a big crash when the storms of life hit.
The difference between the two builders was not in the house. When I was kid I must have gotten this story mixed up with the story of the three pigs (since, in that story, the wolf couldn't destroy the house made of brick.) So, when I would sing the song about this parable I would picture the wise man's house as a huge mansion made of stone, and the foolish man's house as a little shack made of sticks. But the difference in this story is not in the houses themselves, but in where they were built. One built on rock, the other built on sand.
Next, the difference is not who hears or reads Jesus’ words. Both people hear his words – Just in the teaching on the Mount, they hear words of faith, hope, love, commitment stewardship of resources, salvation, how to treat others. No, the difference is that only one ACTS on the words of Jesus Christ. He says that if you put my words into practice, you are building your life on a rock. If you ignore my words, you are building your life on sand.
Both people experience terrible unexpected storms of life – yet the difference has everything to do with the foundation on which they build their lives…
The more we put our faith into action, the stronger and more solid the foundation of our life becomes. Therefore, the more capable we become of weathering the storms of life.
This story reminds us of three foundation-building truths...
1. The storms of life are inevitable. Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, [The Father] sends rain the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45) We all experience tragedy in our lives; we all experience sorrow. No one is immune. We see this on a personal level, and we're seeing it on a global level. We all get hit by the storms of life.
The earthquakes in Haiti and Chile did not discriminate on who survived and who did not. The rain, the floods, and the wind are inevitable. Whether or not we endure the storms will be determined by whether we build our lives on the steadfast strength of God or not. The storms hurt, and our Savior can help as we look to him for faith, hope, fortitude, and life.
This story reminds us of a second foundation-building truth: 2. The storms of life remind us of our true foundation. The wise man and the foolish man experienced the same storm, with different results. The wise man's house didn't come crashing to the ground. It stood still, even in the face of the storm. Most of us are concerned about what will happen to the economy? Fearful about a secure future? Worrying about people in other countries that have been devastated by natural disasters. We don't know what the future holds, but we do know this: no storm can decimate the people of God. We can continue to stand, even when the rains come...even when the winds blow. Storms may be inevitable, yet they're not invincible. Storms are not more powerful than our Savior! Amen?
A military family was in the midst of being moved from one post to another. One of the tired kids had laid down on the airport floor with her head propped up on her dad’s duffle bag. A passerby said, “oh poor sweetie, you don’t have a home”. The child sat up and promptly replied, “I do to have a home, I just don’t have a house to put it in!” God is referred to as a “Rock” more than 21 times in the psalms alone! In Psalm 62, it says “God alone is my rock and my salvation, Hundreds of years later Paul writes a letter to the church in Corinth, (1 Cor. 10:4) and all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Where do you get the strength to overcome the storms of life? The answer is found in the words of Jesus... (v. 24) Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice...
That's the third truth this story reminds us of... 3. A third foundation-building truth is… Our life is built on what we DO with the spiritual teaching we hear. It's not built on our good intentions or our deeply-felt emotions. It's built on what we DO.
Jesus models this himself when he is cheered with palms and Hosanna’s by a crowd one day, and jeered by another crowd only days later who are calling “crucify him!”. And through it all: last supper, praying and betrayal in the garden, trial and crucifixion, Jesus remained true to his “mighty rock and refuge, his fortress”. Jesus’ words, actions, and character in the storms of life witnessed his close relationship with God.
The process of building the "house" of our lives is different than the building of a typical house. Usually, one builds the foundation first and builds the house on top of that. In our case, the building of the foundation of our lives is an ongoing process. Every time you put the words of Jesus into practice in your life, you strengthen your foundation. Every time we neglect to do what Jesus teaches, the foundation weakens and becomes more vulnerable to the storms of life. So, as a way of spiritual foundation building, I’m going to share a list of values from Jesus’ teaching on the mount. Hear which one God wants you to put into practice this week:
• realize you are blessed by God. Surrender your life to God. • Strive to be reconciled to those with whom you have conflict. • Keep the promises you make to others. • Treat others as you want them to treat you • Give till it hurts. • Put God at the top of your priority list. • Stop judging others. • Strive to do God's will. May God add his blessing to the hearing and the doing of God’s Word. Amen.
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(Thanks to Steve May for his sermon ideas)
