Built on the Rock
Built on the Rock

The Eighth Sunday after Epiphany
February 27, 2011


GOSPEL LESSON: Matthew 7:15–29
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 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. 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. 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.”
And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Jesus told the parable of the two men who built their houses. The wise man built on the rock and the fool built on sand. When the storm came, the wise man’s house stood firm, and the fool’s house collapsed completely. Jesus means that we must build our lives on the solid foundation of his teaching, the words of the Sermon on the Mount.

Let’s define what wisdom is and what foolishness is. For example, a wise man goes down to the beach and sees a sign that reads “Beware of Sharks,” and he sees a lot of dorsal fins off shore. The wise man stays out of the water and plays Frisbee or volleyball on the beach. But the fool sees the sign, reads it, understands it, sees the dorsal fins, knows they are sharks, and yet decides to go swimming anyway. And he is eaten by the sharks. However, a small child or foreigner goes to the beach, sees the sign but cannot read it. He sees the dorsal fins and thinks they are a bunch of harmless dolphins, and he wants to go swimming and playing with the dolphins, so he jumps in the water and is soon shark supper. This person is not a fool; he just made a bad, unlucky mistake. Then there is the malicious guy who takes down the sign and replaces it with one that says, “Beach Open.” This person Jesus would call a false prophet, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a murderer in a lifeguard’s uniform. In other words, a wise man knows what is right and does it. A fool also knows what is the right thing to do, but does not do it anyway. And then there are other people who innocently listen to the fool and do what the fool says, and the results are disastrous. The house falls in the storm.

Jesus first spoke these words to Jews who knew God. But there were bad teachers, called false prophets, who were not telling the truth about God’s love and God’s plan of salvation. And as a result, people were building their spiritual lives on lies or incorrect interpretations of the Bible. These would be the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Like a house built on sand, people would not be able to survive the storms of life.

Jesus is speaking a parable. The foundation rock of course is Jesus himself and the Word of God. The house is our lives. Building a house is living our lives, it is how we live. This house is always under construction because life is always changing: our life is not a single still photograph, rather it is a constantly changing video. Jesus says that the way to build the house is to live according to the Sermon on the Mount. The things Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount are the concrete, the steel, the boards, the paint, and the nails of our life. The blueprint of our lives is the Word of God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus plans our house this way, being pure in heart (5:8), being salt and light (5:13, 14), not being angry (5:22), being faithful to your spouse (5:27), keeping promises (5:34), loving the enemy (5:44), being generous (6:1), praying the Lord’s Prayer (6:9), not judging (7:1), etc. In this way we are building our lives on Jesus. Our lives look like the foundation. Our lives look like Jesus. And that is why our lives can withstand the storms and typhoons and earthquakes and tsunamis of our lives. We can survive both the weather and pressures and stresses of our lives.

Of course sometimes it looks like we are swimming with the sharks. We are tempted and then do what we know is foolish. Even though we are Christians, we know what sin is and sometimes we choose to do it anyway. Oh of course, there are times when we unintentionally hurt someone and do not realize we are making a mistake. But so often we ignore the warning sings: “Beware of Sharks,” “Beware of Satan.” At that time we need to see another sign, written over the cross, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” Jesus was mocked. The world thinks Jesus was a fool for dying on the cross to forgive a bunch of sinners like us. It looks like foolishness to die and go to hell, to descend into hell, but the wisdom of Christ is that he lived according the Word and Promise of God. This wisdom is resurrection and eternal life. This wisdom is love. It is a love that is always with us, it is with us when the rains and storms come. When worries come, when hardships come, when we are bothered by our sin, when our foolishness catches up to us, when our house falls: at that time Jesus our Savior is there to catch us. We fall into his arms of love and grace. Those were the arms that were stretched out on the cross. He brings all sinners into those arms of grace.

If we build on a foundation other than Jesus Christ, what might happen? For example, if we build on good religious feelings and fun times, when trouble comes and we feel sad, we might think that God no longer loves us, and we might leave the church. Ten years from now, thirty years from now, what will get us through the rough times of life? Will it be the pizza part we had in the youth group, or the Lord’s Supper? Will it be the Sunday School trip to the amusement park and the Ferris wheel that lifts us up, or the Word of God? Will it be our keeping the Ten Commandments and the works we do, or the Work of Jesus Christ? Building on our works is really just building on our selves. And in that case if we sin, our foundation collapses and we have nothing left except defeat, disappointment, and despair. Then we get discouraged and despise ourselves for being weak. But if we build on Jesus Christ, then if we sin or mess up our lives, there is Jesus Christ with his wonderful forgiveness and compassion and comfort and strength and salvation.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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