‘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.’
Matthew 7:24-27 NIVUK
Before Covid, I had to travel down to London to business every month, and got out of a Tube station close to one of the most iconic (but I have to say, not beautiful) buildings in the city – 20 Fenchurch Street, otherwise known as the ‘Walkie Talkie’, for its strange design.
What I didn’t know is that the design of this building had to be altered after it was built.
You see, its designers did not take into account the effect it would have on local wind currents, or what would happen if the sun would shine on it (understandable: it is in the UK after all). Its glass and steel exterior reflected and magnified the sun’s rays, making them so hot that they could melt a car (and that is not an exaggeration). The wind caused by its unique concave structure caused winds so strong that they could actually blow a shopping cart down the street.
Poor building design can cause huge, and very expensive, problems.
But so can poor construction practices.
I used to live in a former mining town, where houses were built on old mining shafts, which were collapsing and causing the houses to subside.
This final part of the Sermon on the Mount is about something even more serious: it is about the potential for lives to subside.
Firstly, let’s look at these men’s mission. Two men. Two builders. Two men building two houses.
So far, so simple.
But Jesus is not just talking about housebuilding here. Houses in Jesus’ day held within them men, wives, children, possibly grandchildren, all their belongings and even, in some cases, all their animals too. They contained, in essence, their entire life.
Jesus is talking about two men who are building their lives.
So what can we understand from this?
It isn’t wrong to build our lives by having certain ambitions or drives, to look to build savings or a pension pot, to look have a career or move up the property ladder. We are taking what God has given us and using it for His glory. Nothing wrong with that.
But what happens is how we do it.
And that brings us on from the mission to the method.
You see, we often have an incorrect image of this little parable, likely affected by sweet pictures from the children’s songs of our youth. We imagine that one man built his house on the rocky cliff; the other on the shore.
Not so.
They likely both built their house in a similar location.
You see, the topsoil in Israel is dry, sandy and partially made of clay. Not good materials on which to build. But underneath this weak topsoil is bedrock.
Jesus is talking about two men building two foundations. One of them takes the time and the effort, under the baking heat of the Middle Eastern sun, to dig his foundations deep and attach them to the bedrock; the other takes the easier way out of just digging shallow foundations into the sand and clay.
So what is Jesus saying?
He tells us who the wise builder represents: those who hear these words of His (the Sermon on the Mount) and obey them. Like digging deep under the hot sun, this takes effort, hard work and commitment.
The foolish builder represents those who hear Jesus’ words for any other reason than obedience: maybe for entertainment, or gossip or so they could criticise Him later. Or maybe they are caught up in all the hype and fervour of a large crowd, but have no intention of following through with anything they promise or say.
If we wind forward to the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, these people are like the path, the rocky soil and the soil full of weeds. They may have the outer appearance of those who intend to follow Jesus, but it’s all a sham. It’s all for show.
We often use this parable to compare believers with unbelievers; Christians with non-Christians. And that much is true.
But there is a deeper, and much more challenging meaning.
Jesus is talking here about the difference between those who obey and those who do not.
And He has previously stated that those who disobey could even be people who claim to follow Him but do not (Matthew 7:21-23).
Two builders. Two houses. Similar location.
Do you see what Jesus is saying?
It’s the foundation.
And that foundation has to be obedience to God or it is useless.
Now we move on from the mission and the method to see the outcome.
And that outcome is pretty much what you would expect.
Jesus may have been referring here to the sudden storms and flash floods that can affect the Jordan Valley, often in ways that seem utterly inconceivable if you’re ever there during the summer season. It seems as dry as a bone. Then suddenly, almost without forewarning, rain in the mountains north of Israel creates a fast flow down the river, saturated aquifers can’t cope with the flow and the river becomes a raging torrent, bringing rapids to desert valleys.
What we see here is a picture of both discipline and judgement. Discipline, because it is forewarning us and allows us time to rebuild on firmer foundations; judgement – and final judgement at that – because there is no more time to rebuild.
This small parable has a clear message:
We must build our life on obedience to Jesus Christ, otherwise, one day, we might have nothing.
But in the middle of all this, where, you might ask, is grace?
Why does Jesus summon us to obey Him if we are saved only by grace?
There is an extreme opinion that if we are saved by grace, then our actions don’t matter: we can live however we want because we have the eternal insurance policy in our back pocket.
Just imagine for a second what the world would be like if that were true: what violence and anarchy and utter heartlessness would take over.
What kind of a God would allow something like that?
Yet we know at the same time that we are not saved by our deeds (Ephesians 2:8-9). After all, even the best of them is like a filthy rag to God (Isaiah 64:6).
We cannot be saved by them.
So how does this work?
James tells us:
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James 2:26 NIVUK
If we truly have faith in Jesus to save us, if we truly say we are His followers, then that must- absolutely must – have an impact on how we live. We must seek to obey Jesus’ teaching, such as the teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. We must seek to be like Him.
Otherwise our faith is useless and dead. Otherwise we are likely to be exposed as a fake followers of Jesus Christ.
Otherwise it looks like we were never saved at all.
Several years ago, I had trials at work so I called a workplace counsellor. What he said quite amazed me and helped set me straight.
I discussed my work situation and let slip that I was a Christian. He reminded me of all the advantages this gave me: the calm belief in a benevolent God watching over me, a conviction that all things will work out for my eventual good, a strong community around me to encourage me and the belief that my eternity is secure.
All these are beliefs that make us stronger and more resilient.
I would like to add one more: obedience to God.
Taking the effort to dig deep and obey God makes us stronger because it anchors us to the bedrock of His Word and His character. Every one of those teachings in three chapters avoids issues and crises that could undermine us and helps us to rest in the knowledge that we are part of something way bigger than ourselves.
In these verses, Jesus isn’t telling us how to be saved for all eternity. He is telling us how to be saved from life's struggles and difficulties and temptations.
And if we listen and obey, we will be the better for it.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, there is so much in life that seeks to pull me down and destroy me. I realise that the only way to get through life is to trust and obey you. That is what I'll seek to do from now on. Amen.
Questions
1. What would anyone want to build their house on sand? Why is this a bad idea?
2. What extra effort is required for the builder to build his house on rock? What was Jesus trying to show us through this?
3. What does Jesus say is represented by the builder who builds his house in the rock? Why is this important? Are you doing this?
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