Red Letters 36 -- "Build Your House on the Solid Rock"
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Proverbs 10: 27-32 English Standard Version (ESV)
27 The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.
28 The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.
29 The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers.
30 The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.
31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.
32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.
James 1:19-25 English Standard Version (ESV)
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
Matthew 7:24-27 English Standard Version (ESV)
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
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After many weeks, we have finally come to the end of Jesus’ sermon on the mount of beatitudes. I would like to remind you, that though we have spent much time unpacking His words, there is still so much for us to learn from them. Though we have been reading through it and while we have together worked at trying to understand what He was saying and what His words are showing and teaching us about Him, about life, and about ourselves… I encourage, to return to His sermon and read through it once again and see what the Spirit is reminding you of, and perhaps uncover some fresh insights. Lean in to the Word of God and ask the Lord to reveal something more of Himself to you. Go back to Matthew 5 and read up to the end of Matthew 7…
Because it is only then we can grasp what Jesus has said today:
Matthew 7:24-27
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Like most children, my boys like playing in the sand. As a child, you are pretty ignorant to how loathsome sand is to a parent, because it gets everywhere. And somehow, there seems to always be sand in all our beds, which is dumbfounding. But seeing them play in the sand reminds me of my time at school or at the beach building sand castles. They were often elaborate, and had gates, and prisons, and flags and bridges, moats and water. I remember building a large castle/prison in elementary school with my friends. It was the most ambitious sand structure we had ever attempted. We created stories of the prisoners that lived there, and there was a particular section in the shape of a skull, where two particularly notorious criminals were imprisoned side by side in its eyes. We made this over recess and it was all I could think about during class, eager to get back to it. But during our next break, when I ran out to the sandbox, I was devastated to see that someone had trampled all over it. I immediately blamed the older kids and their jealousy over our grand creation… Whenever I am near sand after that, I would always remember that day.
However, it is silly isn’t it? To think so much about something built out of sand. To be so invested in the creation of something that is by its very nature brittle, fragile, and temporary. This is what Jesus warns of us today. Many of us, and many people around us, grew up going to church and hearing the stories from the Bible. Many people know who Noah and Moses are and people know who Jesus is and, in some respects what He taught. For those listening to Jesus, many were even experts in the Scriptures. It was normal that a Jewish man would be able to recite pages and pages of them. They memorized and studied the Law and Prophets. But in speaking to the people sitting there at His feet, Jesus divides the people in to two kinds of people. Those who listen to what He says and does it. And those who listen to what He says, and does not do it.
He says the one is like a person who builds their homes on solid rock while the other likes one who builds their homes on sand. One will prevail when the rains, winds and floods come, while the other will sink. Jesus is saying, it is not enough to just hear what He has been saying, knowing the theology of what Jesus has been teaching, regardless of how long and how extensively you may have studied it. Jesus is saying that while it might be great that you can quote scriptures…And talk about loving your neighbours… And giving to the poor and needy… About serving and being obedient to the Lord… Being patient and kind and generous… About having faith and about praying… And worshiping and living in peace… And being righteous and living in purity… etc… You are doing nothing but building your life upon soft, unstable sand, if you are not DOING what you are HEARING from Christ. The Scriptures are not simply there to increase what you KNOW about God and life. It is there for you to LIVE it.
Listening to good preaching, reading the Word of God, doing Bible Study and learning about the faith is all great…! But means very little if we are not living it out and actually putting it into practice.
Have you ever purchased an exercise book, a self-help book or a diet book that was supposed to “change your life”? And yet despite having read through it, and highlighted paragraphs and whole chapters and being amazed at the insight the authors seem to be speaking straight to you… You have not, after looking in the mirror, changed very much? It is because, though we like the idea of it, though we are attracted to the concepts and theories… To actually put something into practice is a whole different story.
But we aren’t talking about some self-help book or some get rich quick plan here. We are talking about the very foundation of your life. The famous preacher Charles Spurgeon is quoted to have said: “Visit many good books, but live in the Bible.” We are to live the Bible. Jesus is talking about the very purpose and design and goal, the call of your life, which is to not just hear the words of Christ, but to do them. And in doing so, being like a wise person, who builds their homes on the solid rock and foundation that is Jesus.
In other words, all that Jesus has been preaching up until this pointHas no eternal significance in our lives… Unless we live it out.
To live any other way, may lead to the building of a life that looks wonderful, is comfortable and convenient, and is even at times joyful and good… But this is a lie that will, when the rains, winds storms and floods come, crumble in what Jesus says would be a “great falling”… Because it was built on a foundation of only listening and not doing. You have to understand that Jesus is talking about eternal implications here. And He is asking of your today “On what, or on whom are you building your lives?”
In Proverbs 9 it says that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. The Fear of the Lord is simply to live in obedience to Him. To recognize Him as truly Lord of our lives, as we spoke about last week. And Jesus says that to hear and do what He teaches is to be like the wise person who builds their homes on solid rock. And the fear of the Lord, to live in obedience to Christ, doing what He tells us to do and living as He calls us to live. This is the only life worth living!
Read once again Proverbs 10:27-32. This is not a small matter, and what is at risk here has everlasting and great significance. There is no middle ground here. As a follower of Christ, you have either built your foundation on the solid rock. Or you have not. And either at the end of this life, or when Christ returns you will be found standing on Christ. Or you will not.
Brothers and Sisters, let us then be not only hearts of the word which is able to save our souls but to be doers of the word. Let us be, as we read in James the ones who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, Knowing that we will be blessed in our doing. While being reminded that it is not the DOING of God’s word that earns us our salvation… But it is in the listening and doing that we make proof that we are building our lives and our faith on the Solid Rock that is Jesus.
It is in our doing that we are revealing that we are building our life on Christ. And so we are given this opportunity to look back now and see for ourselves in how we have been living our lives. Have I been building my life on legalistic living, trying to earn my way to heaven? Have I been living to please others rather than God, building my life on shaky sand? Or Is my life, my faith, built on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ and His words?
The great promise of Christ is that there is not just life, but a life that is overflowing and abundant in Him, when we are moved by the Spirit to live and do as He leads us by His word. Life, true life, is only found in Christ and in the pages of Scripture. And while life may not always go our way and while our time in this life may be fraught with suffering and sorrows, let us build our lives from TODAY upon the solid rock that is Jesus Christ knowing that we will find ourselves in the full blessedness of His presence in eternity.
It is timely that we end the Sermon on the Mount today on Remembrance Day. Because Christ’s call for us is to do more than just listen to His words but to live out in full obedience a life of grace, love, justice and peace. To live in a manner worthy of the lives that were given up for the freedom we know. May we not live taking for granted the lives lost for the peace that we know by living according to our own whims and comforts. But rather live to have God build His kingdom here on Earth in us. And above all, may we not live taking for granted the life of our Saviour who hung in the most shameful way on the Cross to bear the weight of our sin, and our death so that we may live in Eternal peace.
And so today… may we live on the Solid rock that is Jesus and His word. Let us build our lives, not simply upon the knowledge of Christ but living according to His example. Living as His hands and feet. Living, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us build our lives upon the rock that is Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith that sends us forth to be ambassadors of His peace and grace.
For Christ himself says that we must listen to what He says and DO what He says.
Amen.