Scripture: Luke 6: 46-49

February 22, 2004

Reverend John W. Fowler

This morning I would like to share with you from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Luke, beginning at verse 46 where Jesus speaks of the wise and foolish builders:

46"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47 I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48 He is like a man build­ing a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete”

I want you to think for a few moments about what kind of foundation are you building your life on. Is it the type of foundation that will prepare you when you are getting wheeled away to the operating room or when your loved one is being wheeled away into the operating room; when you receive a phone call and it is news that you were dreading; when there is a rejection, or there is some kind of storm that has come into your life, we need a sure foundation. Jesus says it this way, clearly: The storms will come.

I remember in 1988, they were warning that a hurricane would come to Charlotte. We lived in Huntersville. My wife grew up in Miami. She is experienced with hurricanes. She listens to the Weather Channel; she thought we ought to get prepared. I thought she was wrong. Hurricanes don't come to Mecklenburg County. Well, she was right and I was wrong. About one o'clock the trash cans were flying around. She thought I should go out and take care of them. I thought they would be fine if we would just leave them alone. But apparently they can become flying saucers and come into your windows and things like that, and I even had to walk across the street in eighty or ninety mile winds when someone in a double-wide thought it would be in a brick church. Never could get them there before then.

The next day, as we went through the war zone, I stood in line for my two cups of coffee with everybody else. You know, you are not going to face a disaster without coffee, and I thought, you know, maybe hurricanes can come inland. A couple of years later we lived in the mountains and my neighbor - again he watched the Weather Channel more than I did - he came across and tried to warn me, "You know, it looks like this storm may come up through Georgia and come see us." Surely he must be wrong. But during the night we heard this loud crackling noise and it was a tree that we used to have standing and it snapped. Fortunately, it went the other way; it didn't fall on our house. After about a week of camping out in our living room without any power, and finally when the power truck came, I realized, you know, I guess hurricanes can come to the mountains

Sometimes we go through life that way. We think that if we love the Lord nothing bad will hap­pen. Life will just keep on going like it has been - smooth, everything's fine. But it's simply not the case. Jesus is saying that the storms will come. It's not a fatalism; it's Reality 101. But what a difference it makes when we have a sure foundation of faith.

The famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, was given the audacious task of building the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan - a very earthquake prone, Tokyo, Japan. He studied the situation and thought that if he had this sixty foot layer of soft mud and floated the slab on top of it, it would work as a shock absorber and the hotel would be able to withstand an earthquake. And sure enough, as soon as the hotel was built, they had a mighty earthquake. The Imperial Hotel stood. the rest of the buildings around it fell.

It happens today. We need a sure foundation that will help us to stand when the storms of life come our way. I want you to look at this setting that Jesus was talking about. He is talking about wise and foolish builders. Those of you who have had a house built, you understand about wise and foolish builders. Jesus especially was referring to the fact that in Palestine the rivers oftentimes in the summers would dry up and there were some people who thought, "Well, it's OK to build right here; it's easy; it's simple; the cost of the land is low." But people would say, “But the water is coming back after the September rains and in the winter." They would build right here, and sure enough, here would come the flow; here would come the rain and they would lose their home. Jesus was contrasting the wise and foolish builders. What he is describing is the people who are foolish and say, "Lord, Lord, but you do not do what I say."

There is a poem that says it this way:

What is it saying? It is talking about that the wise person hears the words of Jesus and obeys them. Jesus talks about the parable of the sower, the word of God in Luke, Chapter 8:

Think about your faith right now. How is that word being stolen from you? How is that word being like thorns, just choking the Word of God out of your life/ What are those words that are like good soil—that you are growing, you know, this has the truth of God’s love, for example. I am experiencing, I am embracing it?

'Well, I have two assignments for you this Lent. I know we have given you plenty to do, but first of all I want you to read the Sanctuary for Lent Devotional Guide. That's good. We always want you to read The Upper Room. We would love for you to read The Purpose Driven Life. We think that's great. But here are two assignments that, maybe like a teacher, you feel like it is giving you too much but this is not too audacious, I don't think, but I think it will really help your faith foundation.

First of all, once a week would be great, but at least once during this Lenten season, read the en­tire Sermon on the Mount. Read Matthew's version; it is the longer version. It will only take you about fifteen minutes. Read it slowly, but let the words of Jesus, the greatest ethical teacher, sink in. And I believe if you will look at those, you will find two things to give up during Lent. I don't know what you are going to give up during Lent. One of these days the Lord is going to ask me to give up coffee, and you will know it, because I will be so irritable, nobody will be able to stand me. You need to find something though that will really help you draw close to the Lord. But here are two things that I would recommend. First of all, from the Sermon on the Mount, give up not letting our light shine. Jesus said it this way in Matthew, the fifth chapter:

: '7Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

We have a light out in our garage and we have these steps going down into the garage and this morning I had to leave the door open, because it is dangerous to walk down steep steps in the dark. But today, this world is very much in need of the light of Jesus Christ. That is what our Lord wants us to do. He wants us to quit being quite so timid, so bashful, so private about our faith, and let people know the joy, the hope that is within us. When we had our first child, I was­n't bashful about letting people know, "I'm a Daddy!" I told strangers, "I am a Daddy." You know how it is. You grandparents, you have the children; you have the pictures. It is good news. You want to celebrate it. When we got married I wasn't embarrassed about it; I wasn't shy about it. I was glad that I had talked Liz into marrying me. We sent out invitations. We in­vited people to come to a dinner to celebrate it, and then a reception afterwards. Why? Because W~ thought it was good news. We wanted to celebrate it.

The greatest news of all time is that Jesus Christ has come into the world out of His great love for us, and died for us, and He has risen from the dead. That is good news. We have no need to be bashful about it. We need to give up letting our light not shine, and let it shine and people will see it.

Her name is Bethany Hamilton, and I tell you, sometimes I find that it is teenagers and their faith that urge me on to share my faith. Bethany Hamilton was well on her way to become a profes­-

professional surfer, which she still may be. At age thirteen, off the coast of Hawaii, she saw this gray blur in the ocean and this gray blur started shaking her. It was a shark and before she knew it, she had lost her left arm. What's remarkable about Bethany is her Christian faith. She believes God has used this tragic, traumatic experience to use as a platform for her to share about her love for Christ. Her testimony is a powerful one and I think if it were me, there is no way I would go back into the ocean, but she is back in. She is surfing. I think she came in fifth place this past month.. That is inspiring to me. She is letting her light shine in the midst of difficult circum­stances. Give up not letting our light shine.

And also give up worrying. If you don't do anything else this Lenten season, give up worrying. Jesus said it this way in the 6th chapter of Matthew:

25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and

What Jesus is using is just common, everyday experiences - looking at the flowers, looking at the birds; if God cares for them how much more will He care for you.

I got to stay in Callaway Gardens this past week at a very good seminar, but really an inspiring time for me was going back through Atlanta. That might not be inspiring to you, to drive in At­lanta's traffic, but what it does for me is a reminder of twenty-five years ago when I believe my faith was answered to call to preach and go into the Candler School of Theology. I remember God's faithfulness. I remember so many times I was so worried about how I was going to do. I'd worry about the money, the tuition. I'd worry about the Youth Group. I'd worry about lots of things, but God helped me so much to deal with that worry habit. He still does but especially

then, He was faithful. Can you think back to a time when (tape changeover) He was there for you.

Well, give up not letting our light shine and give up worrying, but here are some things to add to your faith foundation. This assignment is a little more daunting, but I you can do it. I want you to read through the Gospel of Luke. That is twenty-four chapters in six weeks. You can do it. Four chapters a week. And as you read through the Gospel of Luke, I believe your faith will be strengthened.

For about three months I was unskilled labor, working on some apartments in Charlotte. The one skill I developed was rebarring. Rebar is the metal they put in there to help get ready for the concrete that comes to strengthen the foundation. These three words can strengthen your faith foundation when you go through the Gospel of Luke:

The first word is incarnation. I love all the Christmas stories, but especially Luke's story. Luke reminds us that He is the promised Messiah. Jesus is not just a good man who lived. He is the

Messiah who was promised. He is the one that Gabriel appears to Zechariah and tells him that he will be the father of John the Baptist. He appears to Mary that she will be the Mother of the Lord. He appears to the angels singing to the shepherds. In the Incarnation, we have the story of the Messiah. When I think of the Incarnation I think of the Lord who loves us, who cares for us, who can identify with us.

And I think of the Cross. And I think of the suffering Savior. His name was Jim Caviezel. Jim Caviezel was chosen for The Passion. When he did the movie, he said he threw his shoulder out and, "from that point it felt like I was struggling to get up the hill everyday."

Caviezel also suffered from the cold while filming the crucifixion and actually was struck by lightning! But the actor who portrayed our suffering Savior has a deeper Christian faith as a result of doing this movie. And as darkness came over the land, about the sixth hour, Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” With that, the Son of God gave His life out of His great love for us.

And I also think of the RESURRECTION. In the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 24, the angels asked the women at the tomb, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen!” Because of the Resurrection we have hope in trying times. When we have a strong faith in the Risen Lord we inspire those around us.

His name was George Washington. The place was Valley Forge. From the book, The Light and the Glory, by Peter Marshall:

Washington himself, throughout his life given to understatement, wrote:

George Washington made no secret of his Christian faith. A Lutheran pastor, Henry Muhlenberg, wrote:

George Washington inspired his men at Valley Forge to look at the Lord as their sure foundation. This Lenten season we all have a great opportunity to build this faith foundation that will stand up and overcome the storms of life.

His parents kept a pub in London and Edward Mote says, “My Sundays were kept in the streets; so ignorant was I that I did not know that there was a God.” But Mote later found the Lord, while working as a cabinet maker and wrote the hymn we will sing.

On Christ the solid rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand,

All other ground is sinking sand.