The Two Foundations
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Tell two stories:
Tornado on the way back from college
Tornado parties when I was a kid
The only difference between these two stories is my location in them.
Now maybe you didn’t grow up in a place where you can relate to that. So let me give us something that I think we can all relate to.
Do emergency fund bit
I want you to keep those two pictures in mind as we read Jesus’ closing words in the Sermon on the mount.
Here is how Jesus closes out his most famous sermon:
Explain “Therefore” after reading it.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
“The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching;
for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
So Jesus is giving us this parable.
A parable is a word picture relying on the devices of simile, metaphor, and allegory to convey a deep spiritual truth.
The first step in reading a parable correctly is always to define the metaphorical language.
Let’s start with a definition of the word house:
A house is what we give value and virtue to in our lives. It is what we would say is significant. And because we cannot separate a house from its foundation, the foundation upon which we build our lives comes to define what is valuable, virtuous, or significant.
The Bible uses the word house to describe several different things.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
A house refers to us as individuals and is about the things we give value and significance to in our lives.
Here is a quick example:
What do you give value and significance to in your words? Do you value integrity so much that your whole life shows that your word can be trusted to be good and true…or as Jesus says it “that your yeses can be yeses and your no’s can be no’s.” OR…do you value getting your way so much so that you will manipulate the perceptions of others through whatever means necessary (most often through spin, half truths, or outright lies).
“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
2. A house also refers to a family.
That is that Joshua is committing that he, his wife, and his children will run their lives based on the foundation of the teachings of God.
I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
3. A house also refers to the Church.
Do the link between personal house, family house, and church house. That is to say, are we a church…or better yet, a collection of people committed to following the way of Jesus. Or are we concerned with something else? And I can’t get into what the something else there could be because that is a rabbit hole that leads to my soap box that we don’t have time for this morning.
You will also hear a house in reference to the house of Israel.
4. A house can also refer to a nation.
And the grand pinnacle of this is found in:
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
5. A house can refer to God’s kingdom.
So the big takeaway from this is:
Every one of us is building a house.
Explain our words, our relationships, our finances, our parenting, our anger, our attitudes…its everything that Jesus has been talking about in the sermon on the mount.
Ever week he has been offering us a choice…explain that…
Do we allow Jesus and His kingdom economy to determine the virtues, values, and significance and thereby build our house on his foundation? Or do we determine what is valuable, virtuous, and significant for ourselves thereby building our house on a foundation of sand?
Do the flannel graph representation of this story always confused me bit...
Do alluvial soil bit. (composition of clay, silt, and sand. When it hardens in the sun it gets hard as a rock. The problem is the sand makes the ground porous and when the rains come and penetrate the soil and contact the silt, it liquefies the whole clay mixture and becomes unstable).
Do the knocking on the ground bit…nobody intentionally builds their house on a known unstable foundation. . I made a statement a few weeks ago…you always live out your judgment…there is no such thing as acting against your better judgment (explain). And so the question is: What is it that leads the wise man to seek a more stable foundation
I love what the book of Proverbs says about this:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Here is the idea: Talk through fear of the Lord being the person who looks first to God to define what they assign virtue, value, or significance.
Explain that this is what Jesus has been doing for the entire sermon on the mount. This is his life example. In fact, this is the whole Bible...
And this is of utmost importance that we make this decision because…and did you notice this:
Jesus just assumes that the storms are going to come.
You are in one of three places bit…every season brings a new climate capable of producing new and different storms...
As a side note…If there is anyone that tells you that because you are following Jesus, you won’t experience storms and that life goes well, or that somehow, if you just have enough faith, pray hard enough, or read your Bible enough, you will be free from all problems…that person is a false teacher and you should run as fast as you can in the other direction.
Those storms could be:
Relational
Financial
Marital
Parenting
Job
And the problem is that none of those are as simple and unilateral as their name may suggest. Take your job as an example. You aren’t just a worker. Your job is a complex network of human relationships, words, values, and differing ethics. And the values we have of all of those determine how we handle a storm that comes our way at our job. And so all of a sudden that thing that happens in your job that may be the result of some interpersonal conflict doesn’t have to blow into some huge problem that sees one or both of your fired…or causes you to transfer or quit because you operate from a paradigm that forgiveness is your response. And here is the deal…even if that storm at work does cause you to loose your job, its not the end of your story because you operate from the paradigm that you have a loving father who cares for you and knows your needs and will be there for you.
In fact, the best news of all is that
If you have a life built on the foundation of Jesus, not even the storm of death is the end of your story.
That is to say: That you have looked to him for salvation. You have looked to Jesus to define value, virtue, and significance for every aspect of your life and commit to spending the rest of your life growing to live in light of that, not even the storm of death is the end of your story.
And this is where Jesus is going this morning. He is wanting to bring our minds back to everything he has said so far and ask you the question of: Who is defining value, virtue, and the things you hold as significant in your life? You have heard all the ways he defines those things in the sermon on the mount…so what are you going to choose?
The whole sermon on the mount in less than two minutes:
He would teach us the beatitudes and that attitude is everything and our attitude towards God effects our attitude towards our fellow man and that in turn effects every aspect of our life. And so you get to choose if you are going to believe him and allow Him to grow the attitudes has Has defined as valuable and virtuous in your life. Or…are you going to be in control of your attitude. In fact, thats what the very first beatitude is…blessed are the poor in spirit…right…blessed are those who realize they are poor rulers over their own attitude and therefore look to God to be the one to rule that area of their life.
He would teach us that we are salt and light…that is to say we are to be agents of contrast bringing blessing, goodness, and hope to the world around us...and in order for that to happen, we have to be committed to living out the principles of His kingdom as a unified community. Or you can choose to go it alone and only live for yourself without regard for goodness and blessing you can bring to the world around you.
He tells us that if we don’t control our anger, our anger will control us. If we don’t control our lust, it will burn down every relationship that we have. He did not say that he hates divorced people but simply that he hates what divorce does to people. And so we get to choose...
He would teach us about retaliation and that when we turn the other check, people will know that we are disciples of Jesus and be introduced to a better way. There is no more powerful weapon than that kind of love. He would call us to bless (that is to serve with a sacrificial love) our enemies. Or you can choose to take up the same weapons as those who have meant you harm and continue the cycle of violence and hatred…I think we’ve seen where that gets us...
He would tell us to let our yes be yes and our no be no…that we would be people who’s word can be trusted and people who do not use their words to manipulate the hearts and minds of others, taking them captive to our desires. Or we can choose to use our words in a way that ultimately benefits us…even if that means lying.
We are to be giving people…that giving is not something that we simply do with our finances, it is who we are. We are to be generous people sharing all that we have for the wellbeing of others. Or we can adopt a scarcity mindset and hang on to all that we have…one choice makes us rich in the long run and the other only rich for a time.
He would show us this through His teaching on prayer: That I am your loving father, I am king, I am your provider, I am your forgiver, and I am your leader. He would tell us to seek first the kingdom of God and everything else is going to work out. Or we can choose to be all of those things for ourselves and hope that it all works out.
He invites us to not be anxious because we have a loving father who already knows tomorrow. And because He is in ultimate control, he can confidently inviting us to throw our anxiety on Him. Or we can choose to hold on to the fears and anxieties because perhaps I can fix it all. This is opposed to believing the well rounded solution for your anxiety that might include counseling, medication, and proper healthcare and exercise coupled with the belief that you can trust God with your tomorrow.
He would say do not judge others when you are guilty of the same thing because that makes us out to be a hypocrite. In other words, do not demand perfection from people holding them to a standard that they cannot fulfill because nobody, including you, can live up to that. When we do that we categorize people by the sum total of their faults in one area and thereby reduce the entirety of their character down to their flaws. They are incredibly complex human beings created in the image of God with wills, emotions, desires, and motives that we simply do not have the ability to judge accurately from our limited perspective. So…Don’t do it! Or we can do this. Where has that led us just in the last year?
Jesus would then tell us that He is the door to life and as we submit to him and his way, we are able to experience the fullest human experience possible. That decision to follow him doesn’t just have an impact on the here and now though but is a decision that effects our eternity. Or, we can continue to define our own virtues and values justifying our own choices and that is a decision that God will most certainly honor. Hell isn’t a threat from a vengeful God. It is Him honoring your decision to build your house wherever you would like and face the very natural consequences on your own.
Every single week we have been faced with these decisions. Will we choose to believe Jesus’ words about these issues and live in light of them, or will we choose to live out these areas in light of our own wisdom and understanding. And this week, Jesus is inviting us to look around us. To look at the wreckage in the lives of those around us and at the storm damage we have taken in our own life. He is confronting us with the truth that every single one of us is building a house.
The question I want to leave you with then, is:
What is your foundation?
Said another way:
Who defines what is valuable, virtuous, and significant in your life?
Please don’t be mistaken…this isn’t just a question you can answer in your mind. The whole imperative here is that you would DO what Jesus says. You see, both the wise man and the foolish man were in the audience when Jesus gave this sermon and heard everything He said. What separated them wasn’t just in answering that question…it was in DOING what he said.
Because the reality is that you will always live in light of those evaluations.
And so perhaps today:
Give invitation to the saved...
Next step: Do the off track and waypoints conversation
Give invitation to the lost...
Next step: Give the Gospel. You don’t have to suspend all questions or doubt (truck won’t blow up bit). Can you lean in and trust Him enough to begin following Him?
Next steps class invitation.
