Built On A Rock

Built on a Rock

Sermon on the Mount Series

Matthew 7:24-29

            A few years ago a friend of mine served on a jury in a civil trial. A civil trial means that there were no laws broken, but one party feels the other party was negligent in some way and caused them damages. In this particular trial a couple had just bought some property in a subdivision and built their dream home. They had saved for years to build this home and it cost them around $280,000. Unfortunately, within a few years the foundation of their home began to crack. The couple asked the contractor to fix the problem. The contractor looked at the home, looked over their papers, and blueprints, and felt they had done everything they could have to build that house properly. When a contractor comes in to build on a property they have to bring in so much topsoil and pack it down to a certain depth. Once that has been done they have to drill down and take soil samples to test the quality of the dirt. Once all of that has been done, then they can start pouring the concrete for the foundation.

            Twenty years before this particular house was built, the land was used to dump old wood, and tree stumps and then covered over with dirt. Does anybody know what happens to wood that has been buried for an extended period of time? It disintegrates. Does anybody know what happens to large amounts of wood that has been buried? It creates sinkholes. A sinkhole is when a large mass of something underground disintegrates and the dirt surrounding it falls in on itself causing everything above it to sink. This will make craters on the surface.

            Unfortunately, the contractor and the homeowner did not know this land was used to bury old wood. The jury found that the contractor had indeed done everything that was supposed to be done in order to build that house properly. When trying to decide who was responsible for the damages, they came to the conclusion that the person who owns the property is responsible for knowing what is below their house. It was a sad case because this family had just spent $280,000 on a house that needed $200,000 more to fix. The contractors had done nothing wrong. The homeowners had done nothing wrong. It was just a really expensive case of bad luck.

            But a foundation is everything. The foundation of a house must support the entire weight of the house. That is an immense amount of weight. If you live in a brick house, I want you to find a brick, weigh it, and then get out a flashlight and count how many bricks you have on your house. You do a little multiplication and you have just figured out the weight of only the bricks. Next factor in all of the wood, shingles, windows, doors, and all of your stuff that you keep in your house, like your washer and dryer, refrigerator, things like that. Oh! And if you park your car in your garage factor that in, too. If you ask any contractor what the most important part of a building job is, and they will tell you it is the laying of the foundation.

            There are other kinds of foundations. There is the make-up kind. You start with that and build from there though, right? So it is basically the same. What about math? How many of you all went to first grade and learned about the Pythagorean theorem? No, what happened was your first grade teacher began a foundation of math that the second grade teacher could build on. What about chores around your house? Caleb is 28 months old and he has chores. Does he mow the lawn? No. We have started him out with little tasks and then we build from there. Right now he helps unload the dishes and is a really good sweeper. The other day he saw the broom and said, “I want to swoop!” What about your spiritual lives? Again Caleb is two years old and his Sunday school teacher, Miss Candace, teaches him every week about God, the Bible, and loving others. He comes out of class with finger paintings, bookmarks, drawings, and other pieces of art. Not once have one of those pieces of art depicted transubstantiationism. Caleb hasn’t yet decided if he is pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib. He is having a foundation being built of who Jesus is, and that we should be nice to each other. That’s it.

            Well, today ends a nearly year long study into the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ longest sustained teaching that we have recorded. The sermon covered three chapters, 111 verses, and nearly 2,600 words. This is actually only what we have copied down. Jesus spoke much more during the sermon that could not be recorded despite people writing down as much as they could recall. In all actuality, the sermon probably lasted several hours if not most of the day. But here in this last passage Jesus is winding it down. He had already given His altar call, and now He is kind of giving a warning—the same type of warning any parent would give to their children—“You can take my advice or you can ignore it. See what happens.”

The last passage, Matt 7:24-29, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 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 bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.”

            You can be wise and build your spiritual house on a firm foundation of Jesus’ teachings, or you can ignore them. If you have a good house on a good foundation you can live there for your entire life, and even pass the house on to your children. But if it is not a good house built on a good foundation, the slightest storm will knock the house over. I can tell you stories of people who have built their spiritual house on the firm foundation of Jesus, and when disaster struck, it made them stronger. Unfortunately, I can also tell you stories about people who had a really shallow faith. They may have come to church, maybe even more than the CEO Christians, but they never really took ownership of their own faith. So when disaster struck, their faith was shaken to the core, and they had nowhere to turn.  Remember the story of the three little pigs? The first pig built his house out of straw. When his house was destroyed he was shaken and ran to the one who built his house out of sticks. When his house was destroyed, the first two ran to the one who built his house out of bricks. Do you want to be one who is constantly running to others for help, or do you want to be the one who others run to? Only one of those pigs took ownership and therefore responsibility of their future.

            Remember the story of the cracked foundation we started with? The jury decided that the person responsible for what was under their house was the owner. You are responsible for your spiritual foundation. Not me. Not Brian. Not Rebekah. Not Barbara. Not the other Bryan. It is up to you.