Is Your House Built on a Rock?

Jann Martin May 29, 2005

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Matthew 7:21 - 29

Gospel Lesson

²¹ "Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as 'Lord,' but they still won't enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. ²² On judgment day many will tell me, 'Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.' ²³ But I will reply, 'I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized. ²⁴ "Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. ²⁵ Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse, because it is built on rock. ²⁶ But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. ²⁷ When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will fall with a mighty crash."

²⁸ After Jesus finished speaking, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁷ for he taught as one who had real authority-quite unlike the teachers of religious law.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The beginning of the first verse in today's Gospel "Not all people who sound religious are really godly." is a little difficult. When we hear religious leaders preach or people who are very good at sharing words from the Bible, we tend to think that they are very religious. This is not always the case though. The words can be spoken, but if there isn't a faith behind the words, they are meaningless. It would be like an athlete telling how great he or she is and what they can do, but the real proof is can they perform on the field. In our faith, Jesus hears our talk, but He is more concerned with our walk.

Have you ever heard someone talk about his or her church and quote Bible verses frequently in their conversation? It's a wonderful thing to be able to memorize Bible verses and be able to use them in your sharing of your faith. But, what is most important is how you use your faith in your life. Reaching out to someone and helping him or her in a difficult situation is more important than just talking to them. Being a Stephen Minister is a way to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. As a Stephen Minister, you can take what you have learned from the Bible and the experiences you have had in your life and help someone else.

One of my assignments as a Stephen Minister was an older couple from my church. He had had a stroke several years before and wasn't able to get out very much. I would go and visit with them and pray with them. We would talk about many of the different things that have happened in our lives and how our faith got us through the tough times. He always talked about being able to get to the point that he wouldn't need to use his wheel chair any more. The doctors had told him he probably wouldn't be able to walk again. Through prayer and perseverance, he did walk short distances. Our church will never forget the day he walked up to the front of the church from his wheelchair with a cane for communion after his stroke. It was quite a moving experience, and a testimony of his faith and hard work and the grace of God. He would share his faith with those around him, telling them of how God gave him the strength emotionally to keep trying to gain strength physically. So he literally talked the talk and walked the walk.

We each have storms in our lives. How we weather these storms depends on how strong our faith is. A storm that was particularly tough for me was when my mother died from cancer. I was 26 years old and pregnant with our first daughter. She was so excited the day I told her I was pregnant; she looked at me and told me I was carrying a girl. We had many fun conversations about what the future would be like. She started knitting sweaters for her first grandchild and prayed for her as she knit. By the time, I was 5 months pregnant Mom was growing weaker. We had to rush her to the hospital because her breathing was so shallow. After a visit with her one afternoon, I walked down the long hall at the hospital praying to God, asking Him to take her out of her living hell. I went home to rest for a while and had planned to come back after dinner. Two hours later, I received a call that she was gone. I truly believe God waited until I was ready and strong enough to bring her home to Him. I still miss her terribly but know she is waiting for me in heaven, and the faith she helped me to develop has carried me through life's storms.

Our faith can be either like the house that was built on a rock or like the house that was built on sand. The foolish builder that built his house on sand probably refers to the wadi area, or dry riverbed. When it was built, the area was nice and dry, however when the rainy season hit the waters came flooding through the area, and the house collapsed because the sand wasn't strong enough to support it. Our faith can be like that too. There will be times when we think we can do it by ourselves, and we don't pray about the situation. If we continue to try to take care of it on our own, we can fall short and find our world crashing around us. To develop a strong faith takes more than just an hour on Sunday morning. We shouldn't fuss if the service is more than an hour. Just look at how many ways God has blessed each of us. To thank Him for all He does, we need to study His Word, praise and worship Him and, most importantly, we need to share the faith we have with everyone around us.

If however we build our house on a rock or our life on a strong faith we can stand firm. God will give us the strength we need to make it through whatever comes our way. It may not always seem like he is helping us, but just remember the poem Foot Prints in the Sand.

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed
he was walking along the beach with the LORD.

Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene, he noticed two sets of
footprints in the sand: one belonging
to him, and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of
his life there was only one set of footprints.

He also noticed that it happened at the very
lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he
questioned the LORD about it:

"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow
you, you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why when
I needed you most you would leave me."

The LORD replied:
"My son, my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."

God is with us in all we do. He works though His faithful people, such as ministers, lay leaders, Stephen Ministers and other members of His church. Open your heart to Him and see how He can work through you.

Amen.

©Jann Martin 2005