3rd Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 4
Lectionary 9
Matthew 7:21-29
Firm Foundation
21 ¶ "Not every one who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to me, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
23 And then will I declare to them, ’I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.’
24 "Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock;
25 and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
26 And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon 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."
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
29 for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. RSV
Grace and peace to you form our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
In December 2001, the "Leaning Tower of Pisa" was finally reopened to the public after having been closed for almost a dozen years. During that time, engineers completed a $25 million renovation project designed to stabilize the tower. They removed 110 tons of dirt, and reduced its famous lean by about sixteen inches. Why was this necessary? Because the tower has been tilting further and further away from vertical for hundreds of years, to the point that the top of the 185-foot 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? 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 just not stable enough to support a monument of this size. The tower had no firm foundation. (1)
The "Leaning Tower of Pisa" leaned because it’s foundation was weak. A firm foundation is important when one is building something. I enjoy watching television shows that show something being built. They show the building of these structures from the beginning to the end. At the beginning they show the foundation of the building. Depending on how tall the building will be, they show how complicated the foundation needs to be. If it is a tall building, they show how pillars or cement is put deep into the ground for the building to rest upon. They show that the building needs a firm foundation so that it might last a long time.
Sometimes they show building or bridges that do not have the right kind of foundation and they collapse. They showed a bridge that was not built correctly so that the wind somehow got the road way of the bridge swaying so much that the bridge collapsed. The foundation of that bridge was not strong enough to support the road way in a high wind.
A firm foundation is important when building anything and as Jesus says in our gospel lesson this morning, a firm foundation is necessary when building a faith life.
As our text says:
24 "Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock;
25 and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
Jesus is telling us we need to build our house of faith on firm footing, on a rock and when we do our faith will last a long time.
Jesus is telling us that we need to build our house of faith on a rock solid footing and that footing is none other that Jesus himself.
We need to build our faith life on Jesus’ teachings and his life ministry.
And that foundation is Jesus Christ and His word.
A story makes us wonder where our foundation is today.
Listen:
Many years ago, a visitor to America stood in the middle of Wall street and said to himself, "Here is the power and greatness of America."
Shortly afterwards, he traveled to Washington D.C.. and stood in the middle of the rotunda of the Capitol and beheld the statues of the country’s greatest statesmen.
He said himself, "Ah, here is the greatness of America."
Later, he found himself in the heartland of Iowa. It was noon as he visited a family farm. The bell was rung on the back porch, the rest of the family, plus the hired man came in from the fields. He watched as they washed up by the pump, then they all gathered around the table piled high with food.
The visitor saw the farmer reach for the large family Bible. He read from Psalm 90, then everyone bowed their head. in prayer as the farmer prayed a simple prayer expressing his love to God his pledge of continuing service, and his gratitude for ail of his blessings.
"Now, II said the stranger to himself, "now, I have seen the true greatness of America."
He was reminded of a verse from his childhood from Deutronomy. where God said,
"You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul; and you shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house"
I wonder if a visitor came into the heartland of America today, if he would be able to say the same thing? Are we still rooted, grounded, and established upon the word of God, the power of redemption as shown through Christ as our forefathers were many years ago?
Are we built on that firm foundation of Jesus in our lives? Or do we build our lives on things that ore here one moment but gone the next. Do we build our lives on success, fame and fortune we can be as fleeting as the sand on a sea shore, here one minute, gone the next.
Do we look to Jesus to be that firm foundation in our lives.
Do we build our lives on the firm foundation of Jesus? Do we build our house on him and with good materials, or are we like the builder in the following:
A parable has been told of a carpenter, who on the verge of retirement, was coaxed into building one last home by a wealthy client. The carpenter was pressed by his own thoughts to put his working days behind him, so he made decisions to cut corners on the project. He used inferior materials and his workmanship was suspect, at best. Clearly his heart was not in the work. Eventually, the carpenter finished the home. It looked good from the outside, yet the carpenter felt guilty, as he knew the quality of the home was not up to his old standards.
On the day that the wealthy client was to take possession of the home, the carpenter received word from the client, saying, “I’m aware of your reputation as a builder. I know how hard you’ve worked for your clients throughout your career. So, I wanted to reward you at your retirement. I’m giving you the house you’ve just built.” The carpenter was shocked! If he had only known beforehand that this was to be his home, he would have built it with the finest materials and workmanship. But, now it was too late.
This parable reminds me that we all build our lives, much like a carpenter builds a house. Our home-building materials are “what” we build our lives with and include characteristics such as faith, love, grace, mercy, forgiveness and kindness (or their opposites). And our workmanship looks at the “how” we build our lives. Are we living purposefully, pursuing excellence, working with all our hearts, in the name of Jesus and for his glory? Or, has shoddy workmanship been the story of our lives? My own confession: Too often I forget that I’m building my own house. How about you?
One day, the house-building project that is our life, will be completed. And, each of us will stand before the Lord and give an account for our workmanship. Don’t be like the carpenter in the parable. Be prepared. Build intentionally. Build it right. Our motivation ought to be to hear the Saviour say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”(2)
What kind of house are you building? One with good workmanship and good materials? Or one with poor workmanship and shoddy materials? Can you hear those words of Jesus saying to you at end of your time on this earth, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
have you built your house on a firm foundation and in the right location. Location is important when building something. If the location is wrong then people won’t buy it. Or if you are selling your house and the house is in the wrong location, no one will buy it.
Jesus is telling the Jewish leaders of his day they were building their house on the wrong location. They were building their house on the Torah and the Law and not on the new foundation that that Jesus himself was building.
Pastor Hoefler in his book, "the Divine Trap" says on pages 10 and 11 about this text, he says, " Jesus says to the Jews with this parable, ’You are doing a good job of building, but your site and location are all wrong. you are building on the Torah and the Law. I have come to give you a new site, a new location to build your lives.’
He came presenting a new teaching. He came to establish a new covenant between man and God. And that new option, new teaching, new covenant was Himself and the message he brought. Jesus is saying, ’hear me and my words. Plant your feet firmly on my teachings and you will build a life that will endure."
Jesus says "Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock;
The Rock is Jesus Christ himself. There is no other.
Luther says in one of his sermons: "He is called a Christian because he clings with his heart to the this Saviour who has ascended to the Father, and he believes that for his sake and through Christ he has God’s grace and everlasting salvation and life."
Have you built on the firm foundation and the right location which is Jesus Christ Himself.
Have you used the right building materials in building on the firm foundation?
Or have you built in the wrong place an on a shaky foundation? How secure is your faith house? How well built is your faith house?
Is your foundation secured upon the rock of Christ? Can you and do you read the bible, study God’s word on your own? Do you pray on your own?
Do you have a firm foundation in Christ to with stand all the tumult of life?
Are you like the man in the following:
In a sermon at Northfield, D.L. Moody once said, "We want more Christians like the Irishman who, when II asked if he hadn’t trembled during a recent severe storm when he was standing out upon a rocky eminence, said, "Yes, my legs sure trembled, but the rock didn’t and because my feet were on the rock I felt safe."
I felt safe because my feet were on the rock? Were are your feet? Are they on the rock of Christ? Have you built in the right location?
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale May 26, 2008
You may freely use this but please give credit. Not for commercial use.
(1)(from Alan Perkins via ) from PreachingNow
(2) [Jim Liebelt posted in HomeWord Devotionals by www.homeword.com.au]
from The Daily Mail List 22 June 2007
