A Name Is Not Enough

Why Do You Call Me “Lord, Lord?”

A wise person builds his home on solid ground while a foolish person builds their home on sand. What did he mean? Jesus wasn’t talking about personal dwelling places nor was he talking about extreme weather conditions. He was talking about life, specifically how one enters the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus was addressing his disciples and potential disciples. Some were listening and heeding his teachings but others were hesitant, reluctant or holding back. To be a follower of Jesus is not just to go through the motions.

In today’s world there are folks who just pretend to be living on the rock. They follow the rules, they are moral and good citizens and they say the right words. But, their faith is superficial. I doubt if they can hear this teaching since they believe it applies to someone other than themselves. On the other hand there are some who are still learning, those who want to build their lives on a solid foundation but don’t know how.

Jesus’ words amazed his disciples. They were shocked. Why? Because he told them things about the Pharisees that they didn’t expect to hear. Everyone looked to the Pharisees as models of the faith because of their righteous living. But their lives were legalistic, following a prescribed pattern of rules and ritual. “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” Jesus said.

Some folks are awed by religious people, like the Pharisees, who appear to be very religious. Jesus is saying, “Don’t be. Forget them. They mislead you.” They have built their lives on the sand. They will not be able to survive the storms of life. You, on the other hand, can. Build your life on the rock and you can be assured that the kingdom of heaven waits for you.

I believe that to build our lives on solid ground is to do the following. First, it’s to be committed. Commitment to the faith requires sacrifice. It means it is not all about one’s self, it is all about others.

The majority of homes in Israel were constructed with Stone. It is possible the to us in english carpenter would be more relatable as a translated word because we build our houses with wood. Trees where actually very scarce in that region where Jesus grew up.

There was a enormous rock quarry halfway in between Nazareth and Zippori and Zippori was developing at a rapid rate under the reign of Herod Antipas and would eventually be called the Jewel of all Galilee by Jewish Historian Josephus. This huge project would have included all the stone masons in the area including even Joseph and maybe Jesus.

Houses in Ancient Nazareth were made with a rough stone foundation and mud bricks made on the site. This would explain why here in these verses Jesus talks about foundation and in the verse where he talks to Peter and says on this Rock i will build my Church. Jesus understood Rocks.

They each profess Jesus as not only “Lord”, but emphatically proclaim “Lord, Lord”! They are a part of what theologians have called the “visible church”; that is, the church we can see. In contrast, there is an “invisible church”; that is the church consisting in true believers from every generation. In this life, we cannot see this church. None of us knows who is a true Christian or not. It is not without significance that all of the apostates listed in the New Testament were people who were prominent in the church. These are the wolves in sheep clothing that Jesus warns us about.

Consequently, when we look at the visible church, each house (or Christian) looks the same on the surface: on the surface each house looks the same.

Jesus understood the people he was talking to. In this part of the world there are regions where the bedrock is covered by a thick layer of sand. To build a house here was very expensive because the builders would have to dig down far enough to hit the bedrock and a lot of the people couldn’t afford this and because of this, their homes were always in danger of collapsing. But the other homes, the people that could afford to build correctly and build upon the solid ground, their houses looked exactly the same.

Jesus is saying here that there are people that profess to be christian, they look like one, use the words you would expect, try to appear perfect and superior, they would go to the right places and do all the right things you would expect, but their faith isn’t built on anything solid, no foundation, no support and so although they appear to be a christian, they are not. They are only trying to fit into a mold of what they think a Christian should look like while never knowing what Jesus Christ looks like.

What foundation will you lay down or have you laid down? To what will you secure your life? Is it or will it be, a foundation of self-achievements and abilities? A foundation of wealth – a good financial portfolio, perhaps? A foundation of fame – a solid reputation in the community? A career foundation – a good resume and all? Perhaps it will be a foundation of ‘good times’ – sex, drugs, wine and song? We all need and have a foundation upon which we construct our lives, what is or will be yours and will it last?

The parable of Jesus we want to hear of this morning invites us to examine the foundation we have chosen to build our lives upon.

Sermon On The Plain

Jesus was at the very end of a lengthy sermon (Luke 6:20-49), some have called it the Sermon on the Plain for the Bible says that, “He went down with [His disciples] and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea....” (Luke 6:17).

This is a familiar passage you’re heard many times, maybe too many times and because of that we read it casually and miss the major ideas that it teaches to us.

Jesus is trying to teach the disciples which is what he’s doing here and he is telling them that they have got to pay attention to their faith, what they do and the importance of what their mission is. They must pay attention to some spiritual issues because no one is perfect and being a disciple is not a one time commitment to him, but a lifelong process of applying that commitment.

Christian writers are saying, that the problem in America, where 40% of the people say they are evangelical Christians, (and 90% say they believe in God,) is not in making commitment - many people have made that commitment - the problem is in applying the commitment to daily life situations (Chap Clark, Youthworker, Nov./Dec. 2000, 42-43).

following Jesus means putting His words into practice – it means doing the will of the Heavenly Father as revealed in His Son Jesus. It is not enough to offer the Lord token expressions of our allegiance to Him. Tokens like just coming to church or just having your name on the membership roaster. Being a follower of Jesus Christ means taking His words and putting them into action, specifically in this context, the promise of a heavenly reward which we are to proclaim, loving your enemy and forgiving and not condemning others. Jesus Himself said, “You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14).

The New King James Version Chapter 15

14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

Jesus’ point – the wise person will put into practice what Jesus taught and thereby build his faith and life upon a rock-like foundation. By doing so, the storms of this life – trials, temptations, suffering, hardships and so on will not destroy such a person. In addition, the coming Day of Judgment will also not witness his or her destruction. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

The New King James Version Chapter 7

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

The Teacher’s Bible Commentary The Great Sermon (Luke 6:12–49)

Lord” is a title which emphasizes the authority of Jesus (v. 46). Jesus teaches that practice must not contradict profession. Mere words are not enough. The person whose life is shaped by Jesus’ teachings is on a secure foundation. He will be able to stand in the flood, which represents the crisis of God’s judgment.

To understand the profession, we must understand the foundation which is ascribed to Peter in Matthew 16:16, Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus says to Peter that on this rock, the confession, he will build his church and the gates of hell will not be able to overpower it.

So the question is, does our practice contradict our profession? Are you a Christian? You must study this and answer it because you will answer this one day. Now, this doesn’t mean that we’re perfect, always doing and saying the right things, it doesn’t mean we never fail, but it does mean we never stop trying. The life of a Christian is hard, it’s supposed to be hard because it requires something of you, it requires you to give up who you are, give up your wants, it will cost you something.

This belief of merely using words can trap us even when we think we are doing the right things, we’re volunteering, helping others, feeding the hungry, sharing the Gospel, trying to love each other and we can get so caught up in the illusion that we’re saved.

In an effort to get the work of the Lord done, we often lose contact with the Lord of the work.

A. W. Tozer

Yes, we can lose contact with God while sitting here. Worship, ministry in whatever form ins’t passive, we can’t be indifferent or uninvolved rather it must be active and caring, we must be engaged in our faith.

For the those whose faith isn’t built on a solid foundation, when faced with an obstacle, when we’re tried and tested, wounded, or hurt by life or another when faced with any situation that requires us trusting in God completely, forgiving, actually loving God and neighbor, those of that faith crumble, most times instantly. Our faith falls apart, we fall apart because we fell apart from God. We lash out, condemn, try to hurt others who hurt us, we stop relying upon the goodness of God, His mercy, grace and love and we turn into something else, we turn into those apostate leaders, the unbelievers because we only looked like Christian while never being one.

Those moments can be good things because they can show us what we need to work on because the christian life can be messy. What God tells us to do, the enemy tempts us to do the opposite. When God says “wait on me”, the enemy, satan will say, “hey, come over and let me show you something.” When God says to “rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks”, satan will remind you of all the problems you face and tell you that there is no hope for you.

But that faith, built upon the rock, God says to you “you have hope because you have me and I’m all you ever need.”

Yes, life can be busy, doing the work of God is hard, being a christian harder still. The days may be long, the work never ending but when you look at what God is doing with you and through you, you will know,

I am tired in the Lord’s work, but not tired of it.

George Whitefield (Methodist Evangelist)

The Teacher’s Bible Commentary (The Great Sermon (Luke 6:12–49))

What does it mean to be a good Christian? It means that we take the teachings of Jesus seriously as the standard for our lives. A good Christian is a person who depends completely on God, aware of his own spiritual bankruptcy, hungry for God’s presence and blessings. The good Christian loves people who do not like him. The good Christian is not judgmental, harsh, or critical in his attitude to others. In humility he seeks to help his brother with his needs, conscious always that he needs God’s grace more than does his brother. By God’s grace he seeks to develop a good, generous, loving character from which will flow genuinely good deeds. Compare these ideas taught by Jesus to the concepts that we generally have of qualities of good Christians.

Of course, when we allow the teachings of Jesus to speak to us, we are made conscious of our sins. They represent the demand of the gospel, bringing us under the judgment of God. We do not love as we ought; we do not forgive as we ought; we are harshly critical of others. What is the answer to this problem? God loves us more than we deserve to be loved. He forgives us. But his forgiveness and love do not release us from the demand of the gospel. Rather, they make us more responsible to be loving, forgiving, and good.

Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion—it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ.

Billy Graham