Sermon on Matthew 7 – What Are You Building On?
“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.”
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”This is the Word of our Lord.
This past Arbor Day I had the opportunity to help our eighth graders dig a hole next to school for the planting of their class tree. Actually, they started it, and somehow Todd Oard and I got Tom Sawyered into finishing the rest. It brought back memories when we struck rock and clay. Hard to believe it’s been five years since our most recent building project! Maybe you can remember all the truckloads of rock and clay that had to be hauled in to level things out from the old to the new to make a good solid foundation on which to build. In our text for today, Jesus emphasizes the importance of building on a good solid foundation by comparing the wise man who built his house on the rock and the foolish man who built his house on the sand. Which best describes you? What Are You Building On?Dear friends in Christ, I. Don’t Be Foolish and Build on the Sand.II. Be Wise and Build on the Rock!
Every summer my family and I try to head over to Michigan to spend some time on the beach. Hearing Jesus’ illustration of the man building his house on the sand makes me think of the sandcastles I’ve built over the years and how tricky they can be. You try to build them close enough to the water so you have the moisture you need but far enough away so that the water doesn’t destroy what you’ve made. How devastating when one rogue wave makes it close enough to wash all your hard work away! But that’s the way it is when you build on the sand. The rains come, the streams rise, the winds blow and beat against those houses and they eventually fall with a mighty crash. No one in their right mind would build their house right on the sand! Yet how many peopleliving in this world are doing just that?
People who look to themselves and the strength of their hands to see them through the rough times. People who find strength in their health and well-being only to find a tumor that turns life upside down. People who banked on their jobs and years of service to the company only to find out they were expendable. These past couple of years have once again reminded us how foolish it can be to build on the sandy foundations of this world. Ask anyone who saw the value of their castle rise only to see the current housing market pull the rug out from underneath them. And how often don’t we get caught up in the sandcastle building of this world? A recent Home Depot commercial encourages you to be the envy of all your neighbors with new patio furniture from their Thomasville collection. Since when is envy a desirable thing? Jesus puts envy on a list with greed, theft, murder, and adultery. Paul puts it on a list with things like hatred, jealousy, discord, selfish ambitions and says that people who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God! Those are pretty harsh words, but exactly the point Jesus makes when he says, “everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.”
Any other words of Jesus we hear and fail to put into practice? What about when he tells us not to worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself?What about when he tells us not to store up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal but rather store up for yourselves treasure in heaven for where your treasure is there your heart will be also?What about when he tells us in the parable of the rich fool that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions? The rich fool who thought it did and wanted to build bigger and better barns to store all his stuff saw his life being demanded from him that very night. Jesus tells us this is how it will be for anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards God. If bigger and better for me is my motto and tough times might mean less for God, I need to ask myself, what am I building on? Am I a wise man building on the rock or am I a foolish man building on the sand? The foundation on which I build not only impacts my life, it impacts my eternity.
That’s why Jesus says,“everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it has it’s foundation on the rock.” Peter and the other disciples left everything to follow Jesus. They left the sandy shore of the Sea of Galilee to build their lives on the rock! When later asked by Jesus if they wanted to leave him as so many others had, Peter replied, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” On another occasion when Peter confessed to Jesus,“You are the Christ the Son of the Living God”Jesus replied, “Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah for this was not revealed to you by man but by my Father in heaven. You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
In the book of I Corinthians, Paul writes,“Each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Fellow builders in and on Christ, be wise and build on the rock. Because building on the rock of Jesus our Savior not only secures our place in heaven, it secures our place here on earth. Building on the rock of Jesus will not only find us standing on the shores of heaven, it will keep us standing through those storms on earth. The storms and waves and trials and tribulations of life. The storms that threaten to shake the very foundation of our faith. Those built on the rock will weather those storms. Those built on the sand will fall with a great crash.
The devil loves it when people build on the sandy foundations of this world. Like the hungry wolf looking at those houses made of sticks and straw, he knows it won’t take much huffing and puffing to blow them down. But the houses built on the rock are the ones he can’t blow down no matter how hard he tries. Because those built on the rock have their faith focused on a cross planted on the rocky hill of Golgotha where all of their sins of selfishness, greed, pride, envy, worry and the like were dropped on Jesus like a ton of bricks. They crushed him but they couldn’t defeat him. Instead with his innocent suffering and death he defeated them, along with death and the devil. And if any doubt remained, Jesus erased that by rising from the dead on Easter Sunday morning to assure us, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” As Jesus himself tells us “Because I live, you also will live.”The familiar Easter hymn tells us, “Jesus Lives, The Victory’s Won!” And that victory is ours. It became ours as the Holy Spirit working through Word and Sacrament created faith in our hearts and planted us on the rock of Jesus our Savior. The rains may come, the streams may rise, the winds may blow and beat against us, but we will not fall, not because we’re such great houses, but because we have our foundation on the rock! Jesus is the reason we can say along with the Apostle Paul, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Falling home prices in this world won’t decrease the value of my home in heaven. Loss of a job here on earth won’t change my status when it comes to heaven’s employ. Depressing stock market returns or dwindling savings can’t touch my treasure in heaven. Poor health here on earth can’t rob me of my spiritual health in Christ. Broken families here on earth can never break me away from God’s family because as the Apostle Peter writes, “as you come to him, the living Stone... you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.”
Hard to believe it’s been five years since our most recent building project! Where will Good Shepherd be five years from now? Only God knows!Physical building projects come and go, but the more important spiritual building project continueshere day after day as God’s people continue growing in the Word and going with the Word. Hearing the Word and putting it into practice. Building on the rock of Jesus and bringing the rock of Jesus into the lives of others. What are you building on? Don’t be foolish and build on the sand. Be wise and build on the rock and come what may, you’ll always find yourself standing strong!
Amen.