MAY 9, 2004

Rev. Marietta T. Smith

Scripture: Matthew 7:21-28

The sermon for today is title Wise and Foolish Builders. We see a lot of construction going on all around our city. Various types of building require various kinds of foundations. But they all have one thing in common: They must all have secure foundations.

Dr. Tony Evans told of finding a crack in the plaster in the living room of his home. He called in a repairman to fix the crack, only to have it reappear some time later. He called in the repairman again and had the crack repaired. The crack reappeared and he had the crack repaired again. When the crack reappeared a third time, Dr. Evans said he decided to “get a second opinion.”

The person who gave him the “second opinion” said that the problem was not in the crack. The problem was that the foundation of the house had probably shifted.

If you have ever built a house or watched one built, you will discover the footings support the wall load. They have to be poured to a depth below the frost line — that is the depth to which the ground freezes — so that the footing will not be raised by freezing.

Years ago when the foundations of houses were made of stone, there was a corner stone that had to be set into the corners of the house. It had to be set in very carefully so that the foundation walls would be level and would hold together.

Go to the site of the construction of a very tall building. You will find excavation deep into the earth and steel reinforced concrete footing that can support the structure. Very tall building will actually sway in strong winds but they will hold because the architect has allowed for that in the foundation.

In California, I understand, now they actually build buildings on giant rollers in the foundation so that the buildings can withstand the convulsive movements of the earthquakes that occur there. Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove is an example of this kind of construction. They did not lose a single pane of glass in the earthquakes of 1994.

Most of us have been to the beach many times and watched someone playing in the sand. Or we’ve played in it ourselves. It is interesting that we can go to the beach and play in the sand for hours, but if you came to my home and found me playing in the sand for hours, you might question my mental state.

It’s a tragedy of getting older that we often lose the child-like perspective of things and gain in its place a childish perspective. But our friends at the beach will spend hours meticulously sculpting sand castles, only to have the steady rhythm of the incoming tide erode the sandy foundation until it washes away, and the once magnificent structure is reduced to a pile of wet sand.

Today’s gospel lesson speaks of wise and foolish builders — wise builders who build their houses on solid, deeply laid foundation — and foolish builders who build their houses on sand, only to have the wash away in the rain.

Notice what else Jesus says about the builders: The wise builders are those who not only hear

His words, but put them into practice, translate them into action. The foolish builder is the one who lets them go in one ear and out the other with no stopping in-between.

It is interesting to see that this parable comes just at the end of the Sermon on the Mount to which Jesus refers when He mentions being doers of the Word and not just hearers.

You are the salt of the earth. Salt in food is not obvious to the naked eye but we can taste its flavor. So our lives should reflect the flavor of Christ, and as Paul says, the aroma of Christ to those around us.

You are the light of the world. Let that light shine. Put it on a lamp stand where it can give light to the whole house. In the same way we are to let our lights shine before men that they may see our good deeds and give praise to the Father in heaven. Do your good deeds so that it is the deed itself that gets the attention. Your righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. Jesus called them hypocrites who loved to be seen and known for their much speaking.

Love your enemies. If you love those who love you, what good is that? Even sinners will do that.

If someone smacks you on one cheek, turn the other. Don’t retaliate. Don’t be like the bumper sticker that says, “I don't get mad, I get even.”

Be sure to forgive those who have wronged you so that the free flow of God’s forgiving love can keep coming to you.

If you store up treasures on earth, moths and rust can destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. Lay up treasures in heaven where these things cannot happen. Where your treasure is, your heart will be. Remember the man who gazed proudly at all he possessed and decided to build bigger barns so that he could have more? He died and left it all behind.

Stop worrying about what’s going to happen tomorrow. You have enough to take care of today.

Get the two-by-four out of your own eye before you try to get the speck of dust out of your neighbor’s eye.

Ask, seek, know. Be persistent. Be trusting.

Treat other people the way you want to be treated. In other words, what goes around comes around.

A good tree does not bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. You will be recognized by your fruit.

These sayings of Jesus from this Sermon on the Mount are the stones with which we build the foundation of our Christian faith. But the most important one is the cornerstone — the corner- stone that holds the walls together and makes the foundation secure.

First Peter 2:4-8 speaks about this cornerstone. As you come to Him, the Living Stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him, you also, like living stones, are being built into spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ; for in the scripture it says: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious corner stone, and one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, The stone which the builders rejected has become the capstone, and a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. The stumble because they disobey the message.

This is an obvious reference to Jesus Christ. The cornerstone which determined the design and orientation of the building was the most significant stone in the structure.

The picture Peter creates is of a structure made up of believers — the living stones — the design and orientation of which are all in keeping with Christ, the cornerstone.

Two attitudes towards this cornerstone are evident: Some trust in Him and are safe; others reject Him and, as a result, stumble and fall. They stumble, Peter says, because they do not obey the message.

Our gospel lesson for today contains some stern words of Jesus:

Matthew also says that we must be doers of the words and not just hearers. We must be obedient to Christ’s commands.

Bt the thing that makes the doing real is the fact that the doer trusts Christ for the forgiveness of sins. And the doing is done in response to God’s great love for us in Christ Jesus.

When Jesus asked His disciples, Who do men say that I am? they responded, Some say Elias, some John the Baptist or some prophet.

Then He asked, ‘But who do YOU say that I am?’ Have you answered that question?

Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’

Jesus replied to Peter: ‘Blessed are you, Simon, for flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father which is in heaven.’

Flesh and blood — that is mere intellect — cannot become the cornerstone of our faith. We must make a total commitment of our lives to the person of Jesus Christ and have a daily walk with Him through prayer and Bible study.

This is the solid rock upon which Jesus said He would build His church and the gates of hell have not, and will not, prevail against any faith that is centered on that solid rock.

I like the analogy Jesus uses in this parable — that of building on rocks or sand — or as Luke says, “building without any foundation.”

“The rains came, and the floods came up, and the house on the sand went swish, while the house on the rock stood firm,” as the children's song goes.

Our faith is not in a piece of paper that says we were baptized or confirmed at some special time, or in some special place, or in some special way. Nor is our faith in some emotional experience that gave us chills and goose bumps. Our faith rests in a person who loved us enough to break into our humanity to understand our human frailties, to sympathize with our weaknesses, to stretch himself out on a cross to die for our sins, so that by trusting in Him for forgiveness of our sins, we can be clothed in His righteousness and enabled thereby to have fellowship with Holy, Righteous God.

This is what humankind was created for; this is what Jesus came for; this is what Jesus died for. Not going to hell is a fringe benefit.

It is faith that transcends emotional highs and supports us when all around our soul gives way, and lasts long after the goose bumps are gone. It is faith that is supported by the fact that because Jesus rose again from the dead and ascended into Heaven, He sent us Holy Spirit, just like He promised, to come along side to help us in our weakness, to be His presence with us while He is with the Father in Heaven.

Now we all know that we have to take care of our property. We have to keep a constant check around our homes to keep small repair jobs from becoming large, expensive projects. Sometimes problems such as termites can creep up so silently that we don’t even realize it’s there if we don’t keep a constant check. So we have to keep our spiritual lives in good working order.

To neglect daily Bible reading and prayer is to starve our souls and lose the greatest spiritual warfare we could have.

To become lax in attendance at worship is to lose our compass for the week.

To become indifferent to the needs of our community and our world, is to lose our sense of direction and purpose in life.

To ignore any one of these is to run the very great risk of not having a very strong foundation to carry us through the dark night of the soul.

If we don’t trust God in the light of day, we will find it hard to trust Him in the dark of night. Now is the time to prepare for those moments when life caves in around us. Now is the time to be sure that our faith has found its resting place in Christ Jesus.

If we build on this bedrock foundation and so structure our lives with the foundation stones Jesus talks about, then come hell or high water, our faith will stand firm.

We may sway a bit in the strong winds like the tall building do, but we will stand firm.

On the other had, if we build on the shifting sands of indifference and inconsistency, then we are building sand castles, and we’d better hope it doesn't rain.