Epi Petra

The standard model of modern Christianity is that of the foolish man built on the sand. Jesus is “received” and perhaps admired, but rarely and selectively obeyed. This is dumb. Most of Jesus’ words do not require deep study, they require deep obedience. This is discipleship, all of life for all of life, to ask and discover how Jesus would live our actual lives, and then actually live that way. This is not “earning salvation” (we never can), or “sin slightly less,” this is invitation to life from the Master of life. What would it actually look like for Next Step Church to be “all about” discipleship to Jesus?

A Beautiful Waste of Time

I have built empires. I have researched technology, shaped culture, conquered lands and ruled everything in my world.

That’s right, be impressed. I am very good at video game, a series of video games, called “Civilization.”

I am playing a turn by turn game with Logan, and I noticed this the other day… here’s a picture of the game. Anyone notice how many hours I have played? 1075 hours.

Are you impressed yet? No?

Well… before there was Civilization VI, there was Civilization V.

Can anyone see how many hours I’ve spent there? 3,624. Are you impressed yet?

But before that, there was Civ IV… and III… and there is no record of how many hours I played those games for. So you can’t prove anything!

I could show you end save games where I own nations, armies march at my command, where I have been to the moon, been to Alpha Centauri, ruled the world a dozen times over…

Why aren’t you impressed?

Some few of you might be, well not impressed, but you get it. But I expect that the vast majority of you have the following impression:

“That’s super dumb, and an unbelievable WASTE of time.”

Was my life enriched, was your life enriched, by the time I spent there? The victories and achievements in those games are long gone, most of them bits saved on a hard drive that was thrown away long ago.

And they fundamentally aren’t “real” in any sense. The tiniest argument for the fun I had. The real treasure is the friends I made along the way. But 99% of those hours were all by myself.

“Super dumb. An unbelievable WASTE of time.” I receive your feedback. Thank you.

RECAP

We come to Jesus’ final words in the Sermon on the Mount.

Since bringing us the Golden Rule, Jesus has 4 times given us the choice, to obey and follow and live into all the Kingdom righteousness he has described… or be dumb.

Two choices: the wide easy road, or the narrow gate and difficult path.

Two sheeps: the real Christians and the wolves in sheep’s clothing seeking to devour. Judge by the fruits and Beware!

Two confessions: Jesus is Lord… Jesus absolutely knows his own. If the King says you’re in, you’re in… and ONLY if the King says you’re in.

And here, finally, two builders. And one is a dummy.

Upon the Rock!

Matthew 7:24–27 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.”

There’s a great song for this one. “The rain came down and the flood came up… and the house on the rock stood firm.”

I love this passage, SO MUCH. This metaphor has legs for days. I love it so much I’ve made it my camp theme… twice!

“Epi” means “On” or “Upon”

“Petra” means “rock.”

So, I say “Epi”, you say “Petra” “Epi” “Petra!” “Epi” “Petra!” Welcome to camp. Ridiculous. I love it.

This is a metaphor with POWERFUL practical application in our life. It simplifies so many things, and if we take Jesus seriously… this can frame the rest of your life. (Pun intended).

I suspect it actually needs no explanation. Instead, it requires Great Obedience!

But let’s dive into it anyhow, as an act of reflection on Jesus’ powerful words here.

Upon the Rock - building a “firm foundation.”

Foundation

When this church was built, we had an unexpected bill. The soil had tons of Bentonite, common around here, which can swell up to 20% when you add water… and crush your building foundations. So they dug up and trucked out literal TONS of dirt… and bought and trucked in TONS of more different dirt so that our foundation would be stable. And THEN they poured the foundation, essentially making rock to build the rest of the building on.

And, 13 years later, the building is still here. So far, so good.

It is crucially important where you build, how you prep the soil. So it looks like the builders are doing nothing for FOREVER while they prep the site, but if that part is done poorly (or not at all), the whole rest of the house is garbage. No matter how pretty it may appear.

Dream Houses

What is the house? The house is the life you are building. The treasures, the relationships, the work, the achievements, the ambitions. All of it.

True today, the VAST majority of my treasures, my worldly assets, all wrapped up in 14236 Glencoe St. That’s me. That goes down and my insurance isn’t paid up… I’m in serious trouble.

What does it actually look like to “build on the rock?” To “build” on Jesus’ words?

Let’s take Jesus’ metaphor “stupid” literally. If I were ensuring I was building “on the rock” how would I go about it?

I’d go survey the soil, find the outlines of that rock. Nowadays I can use Ultrasound imaging, but just driving a series of stakes down would do it. Digging a hole would do it. Find the outlines of the rock, put up flags so I don’t build out beyond that. Then, as I am preparing the foundations, I am drilling into that bedrock. I am asking my wife, the architect, to make sure I have enough footings, enough anchors to bear the weight of the house I am building.

So how does that translate? Jesus is clear - the Rock is the Word.

So, we survey His Words. We read them, we hear them, we meditate on His Word. We must know the dimensions, the outline. You can’t build on the rock if you don’t know where the rock is!

Matthew 7:24 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.

Jesus uses the word “Logos” for “word.” So this is not just the sounds coming out of his word, his spoken word (rhema)… or the Scriptures (gramma), but the self-revelation of God, that is Jesus himself. So this is the Living Logos, the Word of God, living and active in your life.

That’s the Rock.

Then, it isn’t enough to know where the rock is, you act on that information by anchoring your life on it. As understanding comes, obedience follows.

It goes like this:

I read a thing Jesus says about sin and struggle in my life. “Oh, I’m not supposed to seek out lust by opening incognito window and going to porn sites.” Jesus sees ALL your search history. It is a call to repentance, to “go and sin no more”… and it comes with the supernatural power to be free of sin. That is discovering a part of my house has been built on sand. I abandon that wing of the house… it’s a lost cause. It doesn’t matter how big a part of my life that was… it’s done. Leave it and start rebuilding on the rock.

I read a thing Jesus says about “loving others.” I am convicted by it, feel called by Jesus to it, and then I am on the lookout for new ways, new opportunities to love on others. This is “Thursday lunch” for our church… opportunity to get out of our “normal” lives and connect with others. God brings folks every week who need love and encouragement. We are there because Jesus led us to be there, to love others. That is Building on the Rock.

But maybe it’s harder with our enemies, and God’s calling you to make amends, to humble yourself, to pray for them and actually, actively, bless them. Building on the Rock.

Jesus talks about “going and making disciples...” and maybe I recognize that isn’t a major part of my life. It’s kind of an accidental part of my life at best. And so I need to start building, this is a HUGE area of life, of home, of TRUE LIVING that Jesus is inviting me into. Inviting us into. And so we start learning how to do that, we start adding on to the house. Big welcoming game room and pool out front, welcoming and inviting folks into our lives and introducing them to Jesus.

An ongoing intention to understand the Word, find the Rock, then build and rebuild my life on what I have learned of His Word. Submitting every aspect and dimension of my actual life:

where I work and how I work

who I am friends with and how I relate to those friends

my romantic life, my sex life, not just in physical expression but in heart and thought, submitted to His Word

my entertainment, what it means to party, to recreate, to celebrate… it’s all submitted and rebuilt on the Word.

Because the rain is coming.

Rain is Coming

The rain is coming.

This is a big deal in Israel. Israel is desert country and Jesus spent his life in a river valley below sea level. Floods and flash floods are a part of life.

This is regular news in Israel in the Negev desert, in the Dead Sea Valley, even last year in Tel Aviv, shut down the city. That’s with modern building techniques. I expect Jesus is speaking to a crowd who have seen houses washed away when “the rain came down and the flood came up.”

The weather pattern is a whole lot like Southern California where I grew up, and my Dad was just telling the story the other day of fighting a flood, putting up sandbags, watching the hillside would wash away… while I raced paper boats down the new rivers in the street with my brother.

What is the rain? In the context of previous passages, this could well be “end of days,” “final judgment” and all that.

But I don’t think that’s all of it.

In the parable of the soils, the rocky soil were those who “had no root” in themselves… and tribulation or persecution sweeps away the growth of the word.

The thorns are cares of the world and “deceitfulness of riches” choking the word out.

The birds are “the evil one” come to snatch away the word sown in the heart.

The rain tearing down the house parallels any and all of these. It is the tribulations of the world, it is the temptations of the world, it is the adversary of the world.

Fundamentally the rain is anything that would take out your house.

Yes, maybe it is adversity and tribulation, making your world fall apart.

Maybe it is comfort and prosperity wooing you onto the shifting sands. Coaxing you to build more and more of your life there.

Maybe it is the enemy, who is out to steal, kill and destroy.

Any of it. All of it.

The rain is coming.

Sure, God is a part of my life, and I go to church and stuff… I get enough of Jesus words in sermons to last me each week. Well, life gets busy, the boss really needs me to work Saturday mornings, and what was a one-time exception becomes a regular rhythm.

Sure, I could find a church on Sunday… or Wednesday night… but that’s like a whole “thing” and this is fine for now. Soon, I can’t remember the last time I thought seriously about Jesus’ words, and I’m to busy fulfilling my responsibilities, social calendar, and having a bit of fun to worry too much about “religious stuff.”

And then the rain comes. I’m in the hospital, or my Mom’s in the hospital… suddenly

So, I’m praying this: God, bring the rain. Bring it on!

If it brings us back to repentance, if it proves what is real and what is not, bring the rain!!! Bring the tribulation and persecution, if that refines us and reshapes us, bring it on!

The Dangers of Bible Study: The Man Who Hears and Does Not Do

This is the foolish man we laugh at… but it is the most common scenario in “Christendom.”

It’s important, here, that we are not talking about salvation necessarily. Scripture talks about people being “saved just barely, as one out of a fire.”

Let’s not be confused, last passage ABSOLUTELY talks about people being rejected as pretenders by Jesus. “Go away, I never knew you.”

But there is a version of “Christian life” that has someone say the sinner’s prayer, possibly get dunked, and then everything else after is optional “bonus stuff.”

Jesus is clear. That’s super dumb.

You thought Civilization was a waste of time? This is a HUGE WASTE of time, and a waste of Jesus’ words. It’s super dumb.

Church, Christianity, is a SUPER DUMB hobby. It is the absolute BEST life possible. Ultimately, the ONLY life available.

Matthew 7:26 MSG

“But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach.

Come and hear a sermon. Or maybe “half” hear a sermon cause your mind is wandering or your playing or reading on your phone.

And for most, that’s your “dose” of Word for the week.

And they don’t change anything about your life, because maybe they don’t seem relevant to your actual life.

Hear Jesus’ words, these are specifically relevant to you: “THAT’S SUPER DUMB!” (That’s not me, speaking, that’s Jesus).

What would it look like to go “all in” on Jesus? To build and rebuild your life, your house, every room, every dimension, all on Jesus.

Where you work, and how you work. How you engage with friends and family. Where you grocery shop, how you drive, how you have fun and relax after work. All of it.

This isn’t a call to “church all the time,” or “endless work for Jesus...” this is

Discovering how Jesus would live your life if he was you… and living that way.

Listening to the living Jesus, the Word, the Logos, and following in his footsteps one Next Step at a time.

Can you imagine if that was what we were all about?

We have pieces of this, we do. But, church, I want to go all in on this discipleship business. All of life, for all of life.

Can you imagine a sign on the front door: “We will help you rebuild your life on Jesus.” … and then that is actually what we did?

Or “We will teach you exactly how to do everything Jesus said to do.”

… and then we actually did that?

Here’s the last bit of our Covenant:

We are on mission: to encourage and equip one another to take the next bold step in being and making disciples of Jesus.

First being - with firm intent, we disciple ourselves to Jesus. Hearing his Word and obeying it daily. Find the word… that’s where we build more life. Find a bit of our life that is outside His foundation? Tear it down and don’t look back.

With firm intent, daily and weekly pursuit, using all of the spiritual disciplines Jesus taught us, we Build on the Rock, disciples of Jesus.

And then, we teach others to do the same. Making disciples isn’t just evangelism… it is engaging people wherever they are, and helping them find and take Next Steps toward Jesus.

On purpose, we do that. With intent.

Epi… Petra!

Epi… Petra!

Epi… Petra!