We’ve got some interesting weather going on around the world. Some people believe that it is all due to global warming, others say it’s part of normal cycles of climate change. But whatever you believe is the cause, there’s no doubt that we are more aware of what’s going on around the world than any other time in history.
Last month, heavy rain In New England caused the worst flooding in New England since the 1930s. More than a foot of rain fell across New Hampshire, Massachusetts and southern Maine, with up to 17 inches in some places. Even after the downpour eased, washed out roads and the danger of dam breaks prevented many people from returning to their homes. Gov. Romney said the damage would reach tens of millions of dollars in Massachusetts alone. And more rain was forecast for the weekend.
So far this year, tornados in the US have resulted in 50 deaths and the destruction of thousands of homes. Just Missouri, 19 year old Matt Suter was blown for a record 1307 feet from his disintegrating mobile home to an open field. He was the first person known to have been carried more than 1000 feet and lived to tell about it.
Around the world, flooding in 2005 killed over 50 people across southern China and nearly a half million had to be evacuated. In India, monsoon rains killed over 1000. And of course we’re still cleaning up after Katrina and the other killer hurricanes that hit the US last year. It’s scary to realize that we’re already in the 2006 hurricane season.
Hurricanes happen. Tornadoes happen. Floods happen. And earthquakes happen.
Survival rates depend to a huge extent on how well people are prepared.
One case study contrasting the effects of differing infrastructures covered an earthquake registering 7.6 on the Richter scale which hit California in 1972. One person was killed. A smaller earthquake, registering 6.9, hit Managua Nicaragua that same year, and several thousand were killed. The difference was almost completely due to preparedness and the way building and roads are constructed. The author’s conclusion was short and to the point: “Appropriate infrastructure can provide a sense of security in the face of inevitable natural disasters.”
Jesus makes exactly the same point about your life and mine in today’s story. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say that there won’t be any storms. And he doesn’t advise us to build our house up on a hill where the waters never reach. Being human - being in the world - means living on a flood plain. His assurance to us is that when we build our lives on the foundation he has given us we will make it through the windstorms and rainstorms that are always part of life.
Now, what is that foundation? We’ve spent seven months on it. If this three-chapter sermon in Matthew were all we knew about Jesus, and we took it seriously, we would be safe. We wouldn’t have all the helpful detail, practical application, gripping images and philosophical implications that John and Paul and the other writers give us, but we’d know how to live.
Jesus has told his disciples - which includes us - that we are on the right track if our spirits are needy, if we mourn, if we are meek, if we hunger and thirst to know God and be like him. He tells us we are getting it right we when are merciful and pure in heart, when we try to bring peace and when we are persecuted. God will be with us in those times and places.
Jesus has also told us that we called to be light in a dark world, that we should shine. He’s said we have to be more righteous than the Pharisees: not only are we to keep all of the commandments, but we have to go even farther. If we cherish anger against someone it is the same as murder; if we play with lustful fantasies about someone it is the same as adultery; divorce is only allowed in cases of infidelity; our word should be so good that oaths are unnecessary; we aren’t to get even with those who have wronged us; we are to pray for our enemies and seek their good; we aren’t to make a public display of our religion. We should pray humbly, sincerely and diligently; we shouldn’t put getting rich at the top of our “to-do” list; we shouldn’t worry about the circumstances of our lives but instead trust God to take care of us. He tells us not to judge. He says that if we seek him and ask of him we will have everything we need.
If we build our lives on these principles, according to Jesus, we will be secure. And we can be confident in our security, for one very clear and simple reason. The word of God called the universe and everything in it to life. And so wherever and whenever we depart from the word of God in our lives, we are living contrary to the created order, and the ground starts to slip away from beneath us.
And Jesus is himself the word of God made visible. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” [John 1:1-4, 14] Jesus himself, and the words he gave us, are the only reliable information we have about how to live life that is in harmony with “things as they ought to be.” Everything else that pretends to be guidance for life is mere puffery, illusion.
Listen to what Scripture says about the word of God - and remember as you listen that all of these can be taken as describing Jesus, the Living Word. It is, he is, perfect, reliable, life-giving, pure.
“The law of YHWH is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of YHWH are sure, making wise the simple.” [Ps 19:7] “The word of YHWH is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness." [Ps 33:4] “How can young people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” [Ps 119:9] “He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.” [Ps 107:20] “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." [Ps 119:105] The word of God is permanent. It doesn’t change with the seasons, or with fashion or cultural trends. “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” [Isaiah 40:6-8] “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” [Mt. 24:35]
There are a lot of agents out there, shilling for their own particular development, trying to get us to buy into their territory. But the ground doesn’t compare.
There is the “shifting sand” of the false teachers we looked at a few weeks ago. Bad doctrine has a way of sliding around like loose grains of sand. First it teaches one thing, then it teaches something else. And so one teacher says this, and another says that, and ultimately you are left on you own to decide what is “true for you.” Truth that is not true for all people at all times is no truth at all, but opinion. And opinions, like the polls that track them, aren’t something you want to build an eternal dwelling on. Build the house on shifting opinions and relative truths, and the house will fall.
Another part of the scene is the “shallow sand” of experience. People sometimes ground their faith on a life-changing experience, or on signs and wonders. But in the Bible miracles are never intended to be objects of faith, nor are they things that we boast about before God. Signs and wonders may point to God’s presence, but they come and go, and emotional religious experience is common to all faiths. All experience must be grounded in and proved by the word of God, or it will collapse under pressure.
Permeating the whole landscape is the “quicksand” of self-righteousness, using our own good works and merit as the foundation for our life and as a credential before God. Now remember - there’s nothing wrong with good works. True good works are a sign of a good tree. But they are the fruit of the tree, not the tree itself. And besides - you can never be certain when it comes to your own works. Have you done enough good lately? To everyone you meet? Are you holy as God is holy? Have you been perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect? Works can’t be trusted. If you try to base your life on your own works and holiness, the quicksand will quickly pull you down into despair and doubt. The harder you try to do good in order to please God, the deeper you will sink.
Good works adorn the house that is founded on the solid rock foundation of Jesus Christ. They are the result of the word of Christ dwelling within us, renewing our lives. Good works are the trim and the siding, the paint and the blinds hung in the window. They’re the pictures on the wall, the carpeting, and the perennials along the front walk. They are all the little things that tell your neighbors that you trust the foundation of this house and that you plan to live in this place for a long time to come. You don’t paint a house that you expect to slide down the hillside in the next storm. But at the same time you don’t expect the paint, the siding and carpeting to hold a house together in a hurricane. It’s the foundation that counts for survival.
And the wonderful thing is that the foundation holds even if we are a little behind in the home maintenance department. If we really place our whole trust in Jesus Christ, he will be faithful to complete our salvation even if in our weakness or ignorance we occasionally stumble and fail. “If we are faithless, he remains faithful - for he cannot deny himself.” [2 Tim 2:13] But if we deny him, he will deny us; if we trust in anything else, it will let us down. And our actions show whom - or what - we trust.
The leaning Tower of Pisa was built on a flood-plain. Before it was even completed it started to tilt, because the ground underneath it was soft and waterlogged. It was closed to tourists in 1990, because the tilt was getting bad enough they feared it would actually collapse, and engineers and architects have been working to restore it ever since. They’re nearly done... Although they’re not trying to get it vertical because that would spoil the tourist attraction. You know what they’re doing? They’re not strengthening the walls and roofs. They’re basically digging underneath it and replacing the ground it stands on. They’re putting in a moisture barrier to keep the surrounding water from leaching out the new foundation, and they’re pumping in a compound that will harden enough to support the weight of the tower.
Some of us are solidly grounded, secure and steady on the foundation that is Jesus and his word. But many of us still lean one way or another. If you’re one of those, with much of your life built on sand, there’s still hope. Fill your life with God’s word. Protect yourself from the floods of persuasion and distraction of our culture by surrounding yourself with godly people. And the rock that has been the dwelling place of so many generations will keep you safe, too.
