Of Rocks, Sand and Pigs
“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…” While we all identify those words with the release of the biggest summer blockbuster of all time… the movie “Jaws”… in the summer of 1975, they could also apply to these passages from Genesis and Matthew today. In one story, God sweeps all of humanity, with the exception of Noah and his family, from the face of the earth with a huge flood. In the other… a parable of Jesus… the house of the foolish man is destroyed by rain… storms… and flood. Water… the life-giving force of creation and the element through which the Holy Spirit raises us to new life in Christ… can be… and often is… a destructive force.
And it is not as though we are unfamiliar with the power of this destructive force. We have seen the reports of thousands of people killed in the great cyclone that hit Myanmar earlier this year. Most of the deaths occurred in the great tidal surge that flooded the low-lying delta, driven by horrific winds and accompanied by torrents of rain. Today, we watch as earthquake survivors in China are moved to higher ground to avoid the potential catastrophe of an earthquake lake bursting through the temporary barrier that created its existence and sending a wall of water down on an unsuspecting village.
We know what is necessary to create a building that will withstand the power of a storm and the churning floods that may accompany them. We also know… as do the parents of school children who died in the massive quake in China… is that not everyone who builds a building uses appropriate materials or construction techniques in order to minimize or eliminate the danger. Buildings built with inferior materials… weak foundations… or poor construction techniques are likely to crumble with the first serious shift of the ground beneath them… or the first wave of the tidal surge that hits them. Then, the building itself… rather than being a shelter in the storm… can itself become a danger to those within its walls.
It is this analogy that Jesus is using in his parable of the Wise Man and the Foolish Man. Both men knew how to build a building, but only one took the time to find the solid rock that would form a good foundation and was willing to devote the extra time to insure that his building was securely anchored to that rock. The truth is that neither man would have had a problem, if there had been no storm. But, when the storm came, the building that was built upon the inferior foundation collapsed and was swept away.
The story of the wise man and the foolish man and their houses has always reminded me of the story of the three pigs… perhaps because both stories concern the building of houses and the outcome of the story rests upon the quality of the construction of those houses. The three pigs went out to make their way in the world. The first pig built his house of straw. The second made his house of sticks. The third built his house of bricks. Now, you and I both know that straw and sticks are inexpensive… easily acquired… and readily available materials with which to build. However… they are not strong… and can easily be destroyed in a storm. Brick is more expensive… more difficult to find… and brick construction takes longer… and usually involves someone who has been trained to do it right. If not, a brick house can also be unstable and insecure… and easily demolished.
Back in Old Testament times, the Prophet Joel promised the people that in the day of the Lord’s wrath, everyone who called upon the name of the Lord would be saved, Yet in our text today, Jesus tells his disciples that invoking God’s name is not a sure ticket to heaven. In fact, he says, it is not even enough that individuals have prophesied in his name… cast out demons in his name… or done other deeds of power in his name… which all of the disciples did! The only criteria for certain salvation, it seems, is for people to do God’s will. Anything less will result in individuals not being recognized by Jesus Christ, the One who is the judge, but who is also our advocate and mediator in the heavenly court. Wait! How do these words of Jesus fit with our notion that we are saved by grace alone… and not by works? Is Jesus taking the unconditional love of God that we learned in John 3:16 and making it conditional? Was the writer of James right all along… that it is by our works that we are judged… and we must be “doers” to be saved?
No, that is not what Jesus is saying here. Jesus knew that, in the crowds that surrounded him, there were those who truly heard what he was saying… those whose hearts were touched by God and whose lives were transformed by God’s grace. He also knew that there were those who loved to make a show of going to the Temple… of giving alms to the poor… of basically parading their religion so that they would be recognized and honored for their piety. But, while these individuals were saying the “right” things and even doing the “right” things, Jesus knew that their motivations were wrong. The determining factor was the identity of that which was at the center of their lives. Was God at the center of their lives… or were they themselves at the center of their lives, with God in a box that they could show to the world? If their hearts were in the wrong place, it did not really matter what they did or what they said. Even if they called upon the name of the Lord… or did mighty works in God’s name, they were not truly God’s people.
The transformation of a person by God’s grace is not a superficial change. It is not a change on the surface that presents a new image to the world, but leaves the inner self unchanged. The change that comes with God’s grace so transforms a person that it reorganizes the way in which they approach life. When God is at the center, then everything else gives way to that presence. From that, flows the desire to do God’s will… a desire so strong that the individual is compelled to do it. It is not what the person does. At that point… it is who the person is… what the Apostle Paul calls a new creature… wholly transformed by grace.
It was Paul himself who told us the foundation upon which we must build. That foundation is Jesus Christ… the rock of our faith. If Jesus Christ is the rock upon which we build, then who is it that guides the construction of the house? That is the work of the Holy Spirit… the One sent by God to teach and instruct and guide us. And the bricks that we use to build the house are the words of God that are found in scripture… bound together by the mortar of prayer that keeps us in constant communication with God… flowing through the words of God… so that we might discern his will for our lives.
There are times when, despite our best efforts, the storms of life still overwhelm us… and we feel battered by the raging floods. In those times, there are two pictures that I want to leave you with today. The first is the ark. Built by Noah at God’s command, the ark was a moveable house… if you will… that safely carried those within it over the destructive waters to a new place. Yes, the world that they found after the flood was a different world and they were in a different place, but God was still there and they were able to rebuild their lives under the shadow of his wings.
The second image is the image of the rainbow… the sign of God’s promise. Science tells us that dust particles in the air deflect the rays of light that create a rainbow. For that reason, it is only when rain has cleared the dust from the air that a rainbow can be seen. The storms of life often draw us closer to God and remind us of what is truly important… getting rid of the dust of everyday living… the dust that often makes our life in Christ a hazy, haphazard affair. When the storm has ended, we can often find the renewed focus that allows us to see God’s promises and hear God’s voice more clearly.
We can weather the storms of life if we build our faith on the rock that is Jesus Christ. That rock is our shelter, protecting us in every storm and allowing us to live into the promises we have as Christians in the world today. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father in heaven… Everyone then who hears these words and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” As we come to the table today, let us recommit ourselves to go and build such houses… that we might rest on the promises of God’s word. Amen. Matthew 7:21-29