SPECIAL DAY: HONORING OF GRADUATES
TEXT: MATTHEW 7:24-29
TITLE: “DISCOVER HOW TO BUILD YOUR LIFE”
OPEN: A. In just a few short weeks, the Class of 2008 will be graduating
--We’re glad that each of you are here this morning and that we get the opportunity to honor your
accomplishments
1. You have had some wonderful experiences and will have some lasting memories of your time in
high school
2. Just remember: You have only just begun to build your life
a. It’s important for you to know that the building process in nowhere close to being finished
b. You will spend the rest of your time here on earth continuing to build
c. It’s important that you know how to build your life
--These last twelve years and the next several years are extremely important because this is
where you lay the foundation for building your life
3. Know that this message is not just for you
a. No matter how old we are, we’re still building our lives
b. Each one of us needs to hear and implement the principles in the message this morning
B. Mt. 7:24-29 – “ ‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is
like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the
winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish
man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and
beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.’ When Jesus had finished saying these things,
the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as
their teachers of the law.”
C. In 1174, the Italian architect Bonnano Pisano began wok on what would become his most
famous project: a separately standing bell tower for the Cathedral of the city of Pisa. The tower
was to be eight stories high. That’s 185 feet tall.
There was just one “little” problem: the builders quickly discovered that the soil was much
softer than they had anticipated, and the foundation was far too shallow to adequately hod the
structure. And sure enough, before long the whole structure had begun to tilt … and it continued to
tilt … until finally the architect and the builders realized that nothing could be done to make the
Leaning Tower of Pisa straight again.
It took 176 years to build the Tower of Pisa and during that time many things were done to try
and compensate for the tilt. The foundation was shored up. The upper levels were even built at an
angle to try to make the top of the tower look straight. Nothing worked. The tower has stood for
over 800 years but there are definitely problems.
Not too long ago, after having been closed for almost a dozen years, the Leaning Tower of Pisa
was finally reopened to the public. During that 12-year-closure, engineers completed a 25 million
dollar renovation project designed to stabilize the tower. They removed 110 tons of dirt, and
reduced its famous lean by about sixteen inches.
Why was that necessary? Because the tower has been titling further and further away from
vertical for hundreds of years, to the point that the top of the 185 feet tower was seventeen feet
further south than the bottom, and Italian authorities were concerned that if nothing was done, it
would soon collapse.
What was the problem? Was it bad design? Poor workmanship? An inferior grade of marble?
No. The problem was what was underneath. The sandy soil on which the city of Pisa was built
was must not stable enough to support a monument of this size. The problems all stem from the
foundation.
D. Mt. 7:24-29 – “[Jesus says] ‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into
practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose,
and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on
the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a
foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds
blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.’ When Jesus had finished saying
these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority,
and not as their teachers of the law.
E. In the parable from our scripture passage this morning we see that Jesus describes our lives as
though they are houses.
--We all need houses to live in
1. A house is for shelter, security, sufficiency, satisfaction
2. It’s the place where we retreat and become refreshed
3. We all want some sort of house to live in
F. Jesus describes two kinds of house builders:
1. The builders looked very similar outwardly
a. We all look similar as well
--We look so nice and dressed appropriately for church
b. Yet we’re not the same on the inside
2. The builders Jesus spoke about had some other similarities:
a. They had the same purpose
--they were both building a house
b. They built their houses in the same general geographical location
--The storm Jesus spoke about hit both houses so we have to conclude they were in the same
general area
c. They had the same basic plan
--After all, every house has the same basic pattern: four walls, a roof, and a floor
3. We have some similarities with each other
a. We’re all building our own spiritual house
b. We basically have the similar duties during the day:
1). Most of us are working during the day
2). Going to school
3). Raising a family
4). Paying the bills
5). Participating in recreation activities or hobbies every now and then
--and so on
4. But like the builders in Jesus’ story, there is a distinctive difference between all of us
a. The difference can’t be seen because it’s underground
b. The difference is in our foundations
c. The is on what we build our lives
I. THE FATAL FOUNDATION
A. Jesus called the fatal foundation “sand” and the person who built their life on it “foolish”
1. What did Jesus mean be referring to this foundation as “sand”?
--To understand, you have to know something about the geography of Palestine
a. In the summer season, many of the rivers (waddis) dried up altogether and left a sand bed empty of
water
--But just a few moths later when it began to rain, these waddis become raging torrents
b. If you weren’t very familiar with the area and didn’t check the ground carefully, you could build a
house directly in the path of a raging river during the rainy season.
2. Why did this person want to build on sand?
--Calls for some speculation but I believe these speculations are accurate
a. Did not want to dig down deep enough to know the structure of the house was secure
b. It was easier and cheaper to do it that ways
c. One of the problems in the church
--People are looking for an easy way, a lazy way to serve God
B. There are plenty of sand foundations for foolish people to try to build their houses on today:
1. Worldly foundations
a. Philosophy
b. Science
c. Politics
d. Jobs/Careers
e. Family
2. Religious foundations
a. Congregational history
b. Tradition
c. Ritual
d, Man-made creeds and confessions
e. Good works
f. Ask yourself: “Have I confused the building material with the foundation?”
1). Baptism, church membership, and a good moral life are in themselves good building material
but they are not the foundational material
2). Jesus is the only foundational material
C. Jesus said that building your life on any foundation that isn’t stable and secure is “foolish”
1. Ps. 14:1 – “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”
2. Prov. 28:26 – “He who trusts in himself is a fool…”
3. There are admittedly foolish thoughts and behaviors
a. But look at what Jesus calls foolish – hearing but not doing
b. Oh, how many times in my own life have I wished that I’d paid better attention to directions or
advice given to me by people much wiser than myself!
D. Ravi Zachiaras a few years ago: “A few weeks ago, I did a lectureship at the Ohio State University.
As I was being driven to the lecture, we passed the new Wexner Art Center. The driver said, “This is a
new art building for the university. It is a fascination building designed in the post-modernist view of
reality.”
Zacharias described this fascinating building: “The building has no pattern. Staircases go nowhere.
Pillars support nothing. The architect designed the building to reflect life. It went nowhere and was
mindless and senseless.”
Zacharias said, “I turned to the man describing it and asked, ‘Did they do the same thing with the
foundation?’ He laughed [and answered], ‘You can’t do that with a foundation.’”
**That pretty much describes the fatal foundation Jesus described
II. THE FIRM FOUNDATION
A. Jesus says that the person who builds on the firm foundation is “wise”
1. Prov. 4:7 – “Wisdom is supreme, therefore get wisdom. Though it cost you everything you have, get
understanding.”
2. Prov. 9:10 – “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is
understanding.”
B. How does Jesus define the person who is a wise builder?
1. He describes the wise builder as a person who hears the word of God and then is faithful in doing the
word of God
2. There are a great number of ways to become attentive to the word of God:
a. Read it
--Read it like you would any other book
b. Study it
--analyze its message and how it applies to your life
c. Reflect on it
--take some time to work it around your mind and heart
d. Be present and participate in group studies of God’s word
C. Notice that Jesus’ emphasis is not just on reading and studying
--His emphasis is on not just hearing but doing the word of God
1. James 2:26 – “Faith without works is dead…”
2. James 1:22-25 – “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what is says is like a man who looks at his face in a
mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the
man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting
what he has heard, but doing – he will be blessed in what he does.”
**There is a fatal foundation. But there is also a firm foundation. What is it that shows the difference between
the two foundations?
III. FACING THE STORMS
A. For those of you listening this morning, there are those of you who are “sand builders” and others who
are “rock builders”
1. In Jesus’ parable, if you had walked up to these houses, you wouldn’t have been able to tell the
difference between two
2. Do you know what made the difference between the “sand builder” and the “rock builder”?
a. It was the storm
--It’s the storm that reveals the foundation on which we build our lives
b. When the storm came, the house built upon the sand fell and the house built upon the rock stood .
B. Notice how the storm is described
1. Pressure from above
--The rains descended
2. Pressure from below
--The floods came
3. Pressure from all around
--The winds blew
4. Notice also the multiplicity
--“storms”
a. That’s how the storms of life hit us
b. We’re buffeted from all directions
--Seemingly comes from above, from below, and all around
C. Two very crucial concepts from this parable:
1. Following Jesus does not exempt us from life’s storms
a. Jesus isn’t teaching a parable about how to build our houses in protected areas
--There are no “storm-free” zones!
b. The outcome is determined by the foundations on which we’re sitting.
--This is a parable about foundations, not avoiding the weather
2. Our faith will be tested
a. A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted
b. Our faith isn’t tested in the sunshine but in the storms
CLOSE: A. On Oct. 17, 1989, a massive earthquake struck the San Francisco area and the people there
gave a lot of thought to the foundations on which things were built. Buildings built on solid
ground sustained much less damage than those built on “filled-in” areas.
The south pier of the Golden Gate Bridge sits directly on top of the San Andreas fault. Yet, it
was undamaged in that quake because the weight of the bridge rests on the two towers deeply
embedded into the rock beneath the sea.
Many of you may remember that double-decker freeway in Oakland, just across the bay from
San Francisco, that collapsed during the World Series occurring at that same time.
B. You need to answer two questions this morning before building the rest of your life
1. What materials are you building with?
--Are they worldly or heavenly materials?
2. What are you building on?
a. Sand?
b. Rock?
3. 1 Cor. 3:11 – “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already lead, which is
Jesus Christ.”
