24 Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto
a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon
a rock. 26 And every one that
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of
it. (Matt 7:24-27)
The Collect
Second Sunday
after Trinity
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O
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LORD, who never failest to help and govern
those whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love; Keep us, we
beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and make us to have
a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
WHAT we build UPON is even more important than HOW
we build. Even in logic, if the premise is wrong, it matters not the clever
words used in framing our argument. In the construction of any great building
(which our lives must be), the foundation must be laid by wisdom and careful
examination of the ground upon which that foundation will rest. If a marsh lies
many feet below a solid crust, the building will be undermined after its
completion. So the builder must not only lay a strong foundation, but understand
the depth of rock upon which it is built. While living in Persia, I learned of
an undertaking of a previous Shah (King) who enlisted the services of renowned
engineers from Germany to come and rebuild the antiquated bridges that afforded
crossings of the many wadis that divide the desert slopes and dunes of Iran. A
wadi is an intermittent and ephemeral stream that arises with great wrath
following the rare times of rainfall in the high deserts of Persia. Their force
is sudden and of great violence. With the pride of accomplishment and
international esteem, the brilliant German engineers inspected the ancient and
weathered bridges of the land. They were amused and bewildered at the manner in
which some untrained bridge-builders had made the bridges so that there was a
great dip on either end so that the traveler went down into the dip before
going UP onto the bridge. "How crude and silly of them," thought
the professional German engineers. They tore away every crude bridge and built
finely constructed bridges of German ingenuity across the wadis. They were
quite magnificently built of steel and strong cable construction – enough to
make any professional engineer take pride in his work. The Shah, too, was quite
impressed!
The Shah remained impressed through the draught of summer but, in the autumn
when the torrential and seasonal rains deluged the dry streambeds, guess what
happened to the magnificent German bridges? They were all washed away! The
modern German bridges, though well-constructed, allowed for no circuit for the
force of the waters to bypass the bridge. So the bridges could not withstand
the uncanny force of the seasonal wadis. Their foundation was excellent except
for that one consideration. The foundation for our souls rests in our thoughts
and values. Do we serve God, or Mammon? Where is our seat of judgment? It is in
the frontal lobes of our brains. It is there that we make decisions of eternal
import to either obey God, of to follow Satan. Saying, Hurt not the
earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of
our God in their foreheads. (Rev 7:2-3) and And it was
commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any
green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of
God in their foreheads. (Rev 9:4) I realize there are differing
views of what the term `seal' means, but I believe it is either the seal of God
imputed for our righteousness in Christ, or the mark of the Dark Angel for our
allegiance we have never renounced to him. Interestingly, the NIV (per-version)
renders the meaning as `ON' their forehead as if we would be stamped with some
sort of UPC code. This deception has led many into belief of modern fantasies
of tabloid religious journalists. If we are held down and forcibly
stamped with a mark, we are guilty of no bad moral choice, but if we accept the
wrong master in our minds, we are guilty as charged.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which
built his house upon a rock. This parable appears in both
Matthew and in Luke. The introduction in the Gospel of Luke varies slightly
from this first verse in Matthew: And why
call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth
them, I will shew you to whom he is like. (Luke 6:46-47) Here
we have illustrated the path whereby we embark upon the straight and narrow way
that leadeth up to Heaven: 1) we must, first of all, COME to Christ; 2) we must
HEAR and KNOW His Words; and 3) we must OBEY those Words. Simple to outline,
but mysterious in its fulfillment. If we are to be in the family of Christ, we
MUST hear and obey His teachings. Our brothers and sisters in faith are far
more our family than those blood relations that are without faith. Do you
believe this? What saith the Scriptures? How readest thou? While he
yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood
without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold,
thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But
he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is
my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand
toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother
and my brethren! For whosoever
shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and
sister, and mother. (Matt
12:46-50) So, who is YOUR mother, and YOUR brother, and YOUR sister, except
those who share a firm faith in Christ? The ROCK of Christ is sturdy and
immovable. If we build our houses (souls) upon that ROCK, they shall be well
made and eternal.
Christ tells us that such a person is wise and to be likened unto His
illustration: 25 And the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. The solid ROCK
is not found in the valleys, but is more common to the mountain crags. It is
high above the common ground. So is Christ higher than all powers of the
heavens and earth. He is sturdy, solid, and unchangeable. Come the autumn
monsoons of despair, the flood of troubles from every quarter, and the ill-winds
of outrageous gossip and persecution; but the house stands." It shall
be well with our souls," as the treasured hymn says. The sand and silt
that surrounds our Rock may erode and be carried away, but our ROCK stands
immutable above the ruin. The wise builder first must have found the Rock upon
which to build, he then must soundly construct his abode upon that Rock. This
is likened by Christ to the person that comes to Him, hears His Words, and
obeys out of a deep and abiding love of Christ.
26 And every one that heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man,
which built his house upon the sand. The meaning of this verse
is quite clear. It is possible for persons to come to Christ, to know His
teachings, but to fail to obey those teachings from a converted heart. Churches
are full of such people. They build beautifully furnished homes for their
souls. Men look with admiration on them for their presumed faith. But such
unwise ones have built with their hands upon the shifting sands of the valley.
When the hard trials come, their hypocrisy is exposed for all to see. Their
lives were shallow, lacking the Lord of Life and His Balm in their daily
living. Their proud homes are in shambles after the rain. Men look with
amazement at the ruin!
27 And the rain descended, and
the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and
great was the fall of it.
Jesus warns us of this ruin out of a love that surpasses all understanding. Think
of the tragedy of the loss of a human soul. Even evil men have had an innocent
thought at some point in their lives. They likely had mothers and fathers who
doted on them and were proud of SOME achievement that they may have made as a
little child. But their dumb ears were closed to wisdom and mercy, and they
perished as the field mouse at the hands of the hawk – long before they passed
in physical death. Consider the great treasure of history in the minds of the
elderly that is lost at their passing. But, if they have a name, it shall be
written in the Book of Life, and there can be no loss to such Elect of God.
What of your House (SOUL) friend? Did you find a place to build at reduced rate
in the sands, or did you build upon that ROCK of great expense and sacrifice to
Heaven – the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you gone to Him? Have you learned His
teaching? Have you obeyed in love?
