The Parables: The Wise and Foolish Builders

Illustration:

So, my son’s really into Legos. And he’s 7, which means, apparently, I’m really into Legos. Because he can’t really follow complex instructions, basically meaning anything beyond two steps. Of course, how many of you are familiar with even the most simple sets of Legos that have fewer than 100,000,000 pieces; so, like I said, apparently, I’m really into building Legos. Now, aside from my frequent desire to go full Will Ferrell and use the “Kragle,” for those of you who live under a rock and haven’t seen any installments of the Lego movie franchise, that’s ‘Krazy Glue.’ And, as often occurs with aluminum squeeze tubes of industrial strength glue, the painted “zy” from ‘Krazy,’ as well as the ‘u,’ from glue, has chipped off, leaving the characters fearing the anthropomorphic “Kragle” that would deliver a prophesized conclusion to the ever-present sharp foot pains in the dark, the loud plasticky sound of barbaric clawing through tubs of once methodically organized, tubs of bricks, accessories, and desecrated polyagonal body parts, and the constant and desperate plea to ‘fix this,’ usually accompanied with either tears or an insistence, sometimes both, that a sibling had purposely wrecked the complex, yet, apparently more fragile than Adrian Peterson, creation.

And that’s today’s soap box with Chaplain Lime. Good afternoon, good evening, and good night.

But really, though, these blueprints are made by master-builders who are legitimate nerds, I mean engineers with master’s degrees. Their plans all outdo one another no matter which order you put them in, and they’re often books with chapters, even for different parts and components included in the set. Now, you have to follow along from the beginning, starting with step 1 and ending with step 52,386—in other words, from the ground up.

Or, if you’re 7, you look at the picture of it completed and throw pieces together so they somewhat resemble the finished product, but from the perspective of a 7-year-old. When done in the latter manner, it’s almost guaranteed to be so destitute that when... not if, but when it falls down, not only do you have to put it back together, but pieces are out of place in the most random spots so it’s, in fact, worse than starting over; first you have to disassemble it because, in the same way, that if you’ve misplaced a piece of a puzzle, when it looks right, but you don’t realize until its nearly complete, and then you have to disassemble to locate the—nearly identical, missing piece. That is, provided the ultimately—less-frustrating scenario, that it is not indeed lost…

Transition:

Applied to our Scripture, ‌Jesus begins his public ministry in Matthew with the Sermon on the Mount. Last week, we examined the message communicated through His use of the parable, the Lamp on the Lampstand, and its connection to the central theme of the ministry of Jesus during His time on Earth. Today, we continue with the Wise and Foolish Builders, the second and final parable in the famous message delivered at the beginning of His public ministry.

That message, again, is kind of like Everlast’s “What It’s Like,” each beatitude declaring how a group of people usually regarded as afflicted are actually blessed. Implying that those blessed don’t have to do anything to attain this blessing, Jesus declares that they have already been blessed simply by finding themselves in an affliction they would likely much rather not have.

Scripture:

Today’s message begins in verse 15 of Matthew, chapter 7:

“Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves. 16 You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’

24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”

The same account recorded in the Gospel according to Luke has the parable sandwiched between the instruction to “not judge and you will not be judged in verse 37… for with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you in 38… the blind guiding the blind in verse 39; look[ing] at the splinter in your brother’s eye, without notice of the beam in your own eye in verse 41…” Followed by the story of the centurion with faith in chapter 7. In Matthew, we see the same account of the centurion, but after an account of a cleansed leper. The association of these stories is undeniably that these people, who are social outsiders in the first-century Jewish community, belong in the Family of God.

Transition:

Now, I could stand here and tell you all about the things we are doing well, how we’re discipleing, how we’re preserving sound biblical teaching, and that’s fine and all; it’s truly a good thing, and I’m happy for you, or, I could offer some critique. Offer insight into areas we can do better, areas in which Jesus provided critique, and even ultimately threatens to remove lamp stands over in Revelation. Because that’s the point of a sermon, right? There should always be a ‘So what.’ This should be something more than tickling your ears. There should be some effect on the congregation. It should encourage, either build up, instruct, call to action, or challenge, right? If you want to be entertained, I’m sure there are better options.

Example:

So, this isn’t rebuke in the classic sense. I don’t plan on calling anyone out, but maybe, in the same way as Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, you’ll be convicted or think differently about this passage of Scripture because, and I’m not calling anyone out, but at least in the faith that I grew up with, I understood this parable differently. Perhaps it was the children’s illustrations or songs or how the parable was portrayed; either way, I never received it as a message of hope to those who are afflicted and dejected, rather, more of a turn or burn, or here, drown, sort of thing. How, if you don’t build your house on ‘right’ belief or doctrine, you’re foolish, or your house will collapse. But that’s not at all what this story is actually about. Like the song “What It’s Like,” Jesus is really saying, “Me forbid,” see what I did there, “you have to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.” “’Cause then you really might know what it’s like…” And the song goes on like that, with a few different examples, and I’ll add the qualification here that this isn’t a Christian song, so don’t hear me advocating for their views on all of their examples, but the chorus repeated after each one, and each end with, “To have to choose… sing the blues,” and finally in the last stanza, “to have to lose.” That’s precisely the context in which this parable is rightly applied. “Then you really might know what it’s like.” Jesus isn’t saying that if you build your faith on the rock, you’ll live prosperously and withstand life’s storms.

Transition:

As we’ll see, this particular excerpt of the sermon, while an essential doctrine and cornerstone of our theology, is actually not as much about us and our own faith as it’s applied to our disciplines, but how we relate to others, how our faith is practiced as an act of reconciliation. How our faith is applied outwardly rather than inwardly.

So, I want to first point out what this Scripture does not mean. I want to do it relatively upfront because I don’t want to end here. As I said, many good and commendable things are going on.

Antipoint–what it doesn’t mean:

Jesus says, in verse 22, “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’” They’re surprised. So, the takeaway is that it’s more surprising that some individuals are included in the Family of God over others who prophesy, drive out demons, and do many miracles, all at least under the banner of the Church.

Unfortunately, many people do understand this passage out of its context, perhaps because of their children’s church songs or whatever, to be talking about us and our own faith as it’s applied to our disciplines. The problem with this understanding is that it carries with it a strong tendency to prefer the letter of the law over people.

And here’s where the rubber meets the road. Did you know that there’s a 150% greater likelihood—that is a chance, 3 times greater that someone who grew up in a strict Christian household, I want to go a step further and even use the “f” word, fundamentalist, will abandon their faith. A chance 3 times greater than people raised fundamentalist leave the faith over more mainstream Christians, even though probably everyone thinks that they’re mainstream; so, I’ll unpack that.

There is an alliance of sorts between Christian fundamentalists and the kind of evangelizing new atheists, not people who are passively atheist, but the people trying to convince other people to be atheist. I said what I said. Christian fundamentalists probably wouldn’t like me saying that, but it’s true. They’re absolutely united in presenting a very narrow view of what Christianity is, and it happened within Judaism, and Jesus confronted it among Jewish elites. Both are factually inaccurate to what Christianity has been throughout its history and are factually inaccurate about the diversity of Christianity in the world today. And it’s intentional, because if Christianity is as simple as both new atheists or fundamentalist Christians try to make us believe it to be—if they can make it so binary— that when it is all or nothing, you have to be one or the other. The reality is you’re welcome to be conservative, you’re welcome to be progressive, and we need both. So, what happens is—what the reality becomes within fundamentalism, is that we end up with a very homogenous-looking church, neither diverse nor resembling the full image of God. And it’s destitute. No criticisms, as I said last week, that probably all but ceases any hope for further revelation or the body to do the work of the church.

And nuanced historical analysis of the Bible is not brand new or radical. It is, in fact, standard training in many Christian denominations. They have been standard in the religious formation of clergy for years, and even that preparation has plenty of supporting precedent in the Bible.

So, please, don’t hear this as an attack. I’m a kindred soul, but hear me; it’s intrinsic of any environment that doesn’t tolerate questioning that tends to have a problem with any type of bend or explanation that doesn’t fit their worldview. Whether it’s out of preservation, or whatever, when there’s a misunderstanding or when their faith rubs against something that is challenging or convicting or contradictory to something that they believe or were told was true, they are 3 times more likely to abandon their faith, than someone who grew up with no faith, or where beliefs weren’t embraced as much as they were enforced.

Let me pause here because I want to clarify for those who may now be wondering: Jesus is the only way to heaven, which is a literal place we go when we die, and if not, you spend eternity in eternal conscious torment. I believe that, ok?

Application:

I’m not attributing fault. Because, hey, by the way, did you know, in certain stages of early human development, you can only teach a kid about things that have a face? You can’t teach a kid about justice. You can only teach a kid about a judge. So, in teaching our kids, we lie a little, right? We give them, sure, perhaps true things, but there’s so much more; we call it ‘age appropriateness,’ right? Levels of truth. But people grab onto a bible story, and unfortunately, later, some feel like they don’t need to go deeper, “they’ve already heard that one.” And their faith stays embedded, and maybe, later, years later, that immature faith rubs against something they’re finding in the world to be true. And I’m not saying any one of you is immature. In the same way, it’s not once reformed, always reformed; it’s a movement. Reformation and deliberating faith aren’t one-time ordeals. It’s a process, and for that reason, it’s not called deliberated theology but deliberative theology. Otherwise, it’s just replacing imbedded theology with new imbedded theology.

So, these people I’m describing built their faith on something that wasn’t sound in the first place. What happens, and maybe it’s a survival mechanism in that environment, we’re all a product of something, but they took that 7-year-old approach to the master builder’s blueprint. They crafted their theology after the picture. And it goes something like this, “Jesus is God because he fulfills prophesy.” The critique of that is simple. Other people fulfill prophecy, so… are they God, too? The Jews have half of our Bible; they view Cyrus, the Persian king who facilitated their return to the promised land, as the subject of much of the Old Testament savior prophesies.

Also, if we believe God is good, and we encounter natural destruction and, well, God made everything, so, and this is called Theodicy, which is the attempt to resolve the problem of evil in the presence of an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient God. Perhaps the “age-appropriate” theological instruction was the only one they internalized, and it was an incomplete truth. It had truth, but there was more, and that 7-year-old faith stands no chance against the knowledge we receive or the world we experience as we grow, and that is challenging or convicting or contradictory. So, those who grow up in households with strict beliefs that don’t encourage questioning are 3 times as likely to abandon their faith.

That’s one direction some people go. Another direction is that people grow up in traditions and get very defensive of their embedded beliefs. Because if Jesus helped me know God, and Scriptures say that Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life,” and there’s no way to the Father but through Jesus, then not only do I feel defensive like I need to protect God, but as I grow, and truth and reality are rubbing or becoming uncomfortable, I feel like God also wants my protection.

This worldview is really more about purity of our beliefs, and it makes it awkward when we sit with atheists, agnostics, Hindus, and Buddhists and like them. Like, ‘Man, you’re so cool… I wish you weren’t going to hell!’ And then they think the same things about us because we’re all navigating our own traditions. That’s where I’ll start. Because that’s how this Parable is usually interpreted right? Like, let’s preserve fundamentalism. No! I mean, yes, some fundamental truths form the basic tenets of our belief, but the context is saying something completely different.

Transition:

The point is that sometimes, we start from a flawed or sandy foundation. Jesus is God, who fulfills, rather than God because he fulfills prophesy.

This is why the Hebrews are rebuked in chapter 5: it’s not healthy to rely on the 7-year-old theology you built in Sunday school. “You should be eating solid food, but you still need milk.”

What I’m saying, and what the Gospel writers or even Jesus is saying, placing this parable between instructions like “Do Not Judge,” and “A Tree and its Fruit,” and “A Centurions Faith,” or “A Man Cleansed,” is that people deconstructing their faith, or people who are ‘spiritual but not religious,’ aren’t trying to bring down the ship, they want it righted. They’re the liberal to the conservative or the socialist to the libertarian, whichever way your particular shoes are fitting. They want to preserve the part of the republic they love.

But, part of the perspective God shows us with the incarnation, becoming someone under the rule of an empire, is precisely what God thinks about human empires.

The Gospel, at some point, needed defending because there were like 11 Christians who didn’t even call themselves Christians. 11 Followers of Jesus. And while we’re always 1 generation away from extinction, God is faithful to His plan. The Spirit convicts, and the Son Judges. I’m not going to stand here and say he’ll preserve THIS Chapel, this pulpit, this church; people have said that. What I am saying is that there is space for error—for a season, but when confronted with THE truth, as the Pharisees were, if you choose to defend yourself rather than to take rebuke; when it becomes a conscious decision to do wrong, that’s when you choose separation from God. That is when you are in sin. It doesn’t happen; that’s what I’m trying to say, it’s chosen.

Transition:

This parable isn’t about preserving truth. It’s about relating to one another.

“Be on your guard against false prophets… (v15)

You’ll recognize them by their fruit… (v16)

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven… (v21)

Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (v24)

Point 1:

The association of this passage and where it occurs is undeniably that these people, who are social outsiders in the first-century Jewish community, belong in the Family of God.

Connection to illustration:

God has a blueprint for everything. The Beatitudes are not conditions of salvation or roadmaps by which one merits entry to God’s kingdom but declarations of God’s grace. It’s not that if I use the ‘Kragle,’ I sin or remove myself from a place of blessing; rather, that I misunderstand or misinterpret the condition I find myself in and the fact that I am a relevant fixture in my child’s life.

‌Jesus is inviting those who belong to each blessed group to experience God’s grace because the Kingdom of Heaven has drawn near.

Exposition:

‌In my experience, it’s tough to encounter God in a meaningful way when I’m not aware of my need for him. If I had followed through on my hopes to use the ‘Kragle,’ I wouldn’t be so frustrated to the point of questioning my motivations for procreation.

‌It was through my frustration that I was made aware of my need. Not my need for control or temptation to carry out an unhinged fantasy. Because it’s a condition of the heart, right? If I cave in here, it will manifest through some other pet peeve. It’s an awareness of our depravity that leads to surrender, not our denial of it.

Transition:

This is the key to understanding this parable in a way other than, hey, let’s keep building the Body up through evangelism and discipleship. Those are good things; don’t hear me wrong. But let’s talk about what it looks like. What is evangelism? Sure, spreading the Word about Jesus. But what was his message? Turn or burn? The Roman’s Road? Man... He fed people, people he said were just along for a miracle or a handout. He kept two guys he knew would betray him in his party, one who he would make the leader of the group afterward and one who would initiate a transaction that ultimately led to his death.

He defended accused and guilty women. He healed on the Sabbath.

Application:

What I’m trying to say is that he knew what was important. It was about reconciliation. Reconciling men to one another and reconciling the image bearers to the image envisioned for them. Restoring creation. Restoring purpose. Therefore, our purpose is, in many ways, evangelism, but you have to have the same endgame, the same blueprint that Jesus had to do it right.

Warning:

There were marginalized and battered people in the time of Jesus, people beaten over the head by religious elites who weaponized the law, and there are marginalized and beaten up people in our time. People we run over by the church bus we’re driving when we judge, harshly correct, rebuke without concern for the root heart issue; that it’s a person, for that matter.

Everlast sings, “We’ve all seen a man at the liquor store beggin’ for your change. The hair on his face is dirty, dread-locked, and full of mange. He asks a man for what he could spare, with shame in his eyes. ‘Get a job, you [explative] slob,’ is all he replies. God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes. ’Cause then you really might know what it’s like to sing the blues.”

When we put our correctness to the letter of the law in front of our witness, our message or hope, the love Jesus is talking about when he says, “Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves…” “You’ll recognize them by their fruit,” he says; that’s when we’re looking at the completed picture of the Lego masterpiece, simply throwing pieces together so they somewhat resemble the finished product from the perspective of a 7-year-old. And when it’s done in the latter manner, it’s guaranteed to be destitute. And that’s why Jesus not only includes this parable but also rebukes the church over this matter in Revelation.

Transition:

So, the first point has to do with the contextualized interpretation, where this passage appears in Scripture, and what the overall conversation is in the text, both before and after; therefore, this is what is trying to be communicated, this is how we can understand this passage, and again, it’s that, people who are social outsiders, belong within the Family of God.

Point 2:

The second point is this: it’s a rebuke to those who are playing a game of musical chairs. He’s saying, plant your flag. Build a foundation; tell me where you stand. Be grounded somewhere. He says, I’m in Matthew, verse 21, “Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” It’s recorded in Luke with a similar sentiment, in verse 46, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say?”

Explanation:

Lord is a title; it means Lordship, that you have given yourself to the authority, instruction, and dominion. It’s a transaction; you give service and obedience, and you get protection and membership within a community. Why are you calling me this but not submitting to my most basic principle? He asks. “I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them,” He says in verse 47. 48 “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.” This is another part of the parable. The rock is both the truth, but also when you build a house, you can’t move your house. You’ve dedicated yourself to the dominion, the Lordship of the rock.

There’s a distinction between knowledge and wisdom. Wisdom is having knowledge, but fleshing it out. There’s no such thing as a wise man that does dumb things. Then he’s just not that wise. Wise people exercise their knowledge. If you’re trivia smart, you know a lot of things, but they’re not always relevant. You will only see the truth if you do it! For Jesus, the truth is to be lived. This was the heresy in Gnosticism. They thought this religion was about attaining secret knowledge. “On that day,” Jesus says in verse 22, “many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’” later in Matthew, he says, “Your hearts are far from me.”

Illustration:

To call him “Lord” and not do what he says is to make the Word Lord meaningless. Years ago, I heard an illustration to this point where people were asked to write two words on a note card. The two words were ‘No’ and ‘Lord.’ The speaker said that those two words could not stand side by side. We would have to cross one of the words out. He said if there is any area of your life where you say ‘No’ to Jesus, then you must cross out the Word, Lord. But if you call him ‘Lord’ of your life, you must forever cross out the word ‘No.’ The only way to serve Jesus as Lord acceptably is to submit to His Word in every area of life.

Point 2:

He’s saying, make a choice and live by it.

Application:

In the end, there are only two ways to live. We either obey the Lord and his instructions, standing on sturdy ground, founded in his Word, or we disobey the Lord and fall in ruin on judgment day. You can play your musical chair games, but he’s not fooled. You’re not wise; you just know a lot of things.

It’s a warning because the consequences are eternal. This is not a temporal consequence kind of thing, nor is Jesus talking about what we so often identify as the ‘storms of life.’ Those storms are real, and they are painful—storms like cancer, divorce, and losing a loved one—and the Bible certainly addresses them.

But here, Jesus is referring to the ultimate, culminating fate and end state of reality. The final storm, which is an utterly devastating fate to this world, one that began at the fall, necessitating and culminating with a new Heaven and new Earth, but in the process, is the final judgment. It may be tonight, or it may be 1,000 or even 10,000 years from now. But it will come, nevertheless, in a much sooner time; perhaps, the end of each of our lives will come. And Jesus reminds us that it doesn’t matter how we’ve propped up our house, or how we’ve fixed it up, or what other people think of it. Only folly can be expected unless that house is founded upon the Rock. You see, everything will be destroyed. Everything passes away; only 2 things are eternal. God and the souls of men. He’s saying build your life on something with worth, something eternal. Make your legacy, store up your riches in something eternal. Become fishers of men. This is why there is such importance and richness in the teaching examples, these parables Jesus used.

Summary:

In response to Jesus’ teaching, if we are followers of Jesus, we obey him. If we follow the instructions or the blueprints set out by our master. He’s the master builder here. It’s hypocritical to call ourselves Christians and not do what Christ says. Worse than that, it is our disobedience that proves we do not, in fact, love him.

Jesus says,

“If you love me, you will keep my commands.” (John 14:15)

“The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.” (John 14:21)

“The one who doesn’t love me will not keep my words.” (John 14:24)

“If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” (John 15:10)

“You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:14)

Obedience to Jesus’s teaching is an essential requirement of Christian discipleship. Not the obedience that we get wrapped around the axle about—the letter of the law, but obedience to His intent, the ultimate big picture. I’m not saying skip steps and look at the picture, but also that no one will obey their way to heaven. God saves sinners by grace alone through faith alone.

But saving faith is never alone; it is accompanied by obedience that comes from faith (Rom 1:5). Obedience, again that isn’t as much about prohibitions and internal spiritual disciplines, but our external relations and attitudes towards others.

Forgiveness and acceptance come only by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And we’ll hear in this series about the other debtors. By what measure of forgiveness do you forgive others?

If our faith is true, then our obedience must be real. Through our obedience, we demonstrate our love for him, we prove ourselves to be friends with him, and his love and the Father’s love rest on us.

When peace, like a river, attendeth your way, it is easy for it to be well with your soul. But is it well, is it well when trouble, when grief, when sorrows, like storm billows blow?

Can you love those that hate you?

Close:

Because the point of His message and ministry on Earth is that it’s not about us. I am literally preaching to the choir. You are the frozen chosen, and that’s cool and all, but our mission is reconciliation. The mission of the church on Earth is reconciliation. Yes, sure, reconciling to the image of God, but also reconciling humanity to itself, all of the pieces of the image of God. All of the image bearers. So, this parable and sermon from which it comes, it’s in a book called Matthew, but it isn’t about Matthew, or us for that matter. It’s about a Roman centurion. It’s about a prostitute. It’s about a bunch of dirty people who, in the first century, it was controversial to believe that they would be included into the family of believers. It’s about us accepting our neighbors. Because if there is to ever be peace on earth, if there is to be a Kingdom of Heaven where God is with us and the tomb is empty, it will only come when the Roman centurion learns to give homage and bend his knee to the Son of Man. And that’s where we come in. Or, that’s where we’re in the way.