Sermon
of May 29, 2005
Presented by Rev. Julia Williamson
Scripture lesson: Matthew 7:24-29
“House Construction 101”
Many of you know that we just bought a house in Hebron. But before we decided on that house, we looked at a few others, including one more toward the center of Hebron... nice location, near the schools, nice Dunkin’ Donuts right there. The realtor who bought the house and fixed it up had rebuilt it top to bottom... new floors, new roof, all new appliances. The only problem was that he was pricing the house as new construction, and our realtor wasn’t sure if that was valid or not. We didn’t know if the foundation was sturdy, strong and well-built. Were there cracks in it? Was there something about the house we couldn’t see just by looking? Was it a house built on rock or sand? In the end, even though we don’t live in the desert, we turned it down.
The people who first heard Jesus speak these words knew all about those storms in the desert which sweep through and deposit a lot of water at once. Probably like in CA with all the mud slides. If your house is built on sand, you’re in trouble when the storms come. The sand gives way, and there goes your house. But if its built on rock, it can withstand almost anything...
And so Jesus tells us that everyone who hears his words and then acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on a rock. And everyone who hears these words and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. First of all, which words is he talking about? Since he’s at the end of his sermon, he’s probably talking about what he’s already said. Anyone who’s preaching a sermon, including Jesus, likes to think his listeners are paying attention. So when he says, “‘Anyone who hears these words of mine’, he’s assuming we know what words he means. So here’s a homework assignment. How about that? Go home and read the Sermon on the Mount. That’s Matthew chapters 5-7. In my Bible that’s 5 pages, and that includes notes. So it’s probably more like 3 pages in yours. And this brings to mind one of those one-liner church quotes circulating on email this week..., “It is easier to preach 10 sermons than to live one.”
Anyhow, there’s just no getting around what Jesus is saying in this passage. It’s clear as a whistle. The problem with preaching a sermon about it, is that many of us feel like we have a little too much action in our lives. We’re looking for a little less action. We’re doing all we can. We’re giving all we can. We’re spending all those precious moments of our days in the best ways we can. And if we’re not, maybe we’re thinking that we could be doing a little more. We could get more involved. We could give a little more time and treasure. But for some reason we don’t. Something is holding us back. So let me toss out two things for us all to think about and maybe challenge ourselves with this week, whether you’re in the “I’m doing too much” camp, or the “perhaps I could do a little more” camp. Hopefully there’s something here for both. And they both have to do with houses. I have to tell you that I didn’t pick this reading. Just because I’m all wrapped up in house issues right now, doesn’t mean I’d force them on you by picking a reading about houses to preach on. No, this is the regularly scheduled lectionary, (meaning assigned by someone else) reading for this week. Now that’s a serendipitous moment for you!
So, House Construction Challenge # 1. Build on a firm foundation. You want to build on rock, and not on the sand. The problem is that when we are talking about building a life, a lot can go into that foundation which we have no control over. Like take for example, the way we were brought up, the things we learned as children. I’ve heard that it’s true that however our parents and siblings acted toward us when we were children, we take that for “the way the world is”. We internalize our place in the world based on how things were when we were children, and we carry that with us into adulthood. It’s hard to break away from that part of our foundation. For example, I am the youngest of 3 children. I have a sister and brother who are 10 ½ and 12 years older than me. And so what happens is that I catch myself as an adult, assuming that other people know better than I do. I give up my authority to others sometimes too easily because in my family I was the youngest. I didn’t have anyone else to boss around. By the time I was 5, my sister was like an adult to me, so I didn’t get any practice in being the authority. What I can do is to be aware of this dynamic, this part of my foundation, and how it might influence the ways I reach out to others, the ways I take action, the ways I do or don’t follow through on how Jesus wants us to live our lives.
There are other parts of our foundation that we do have control over. When you think about the foundation of a house, you think of it being built all at once. You pour the concrete and then there it is, it’s done. But it’s not so with people. Everyday we make choices. Each of these choices has the potential to become a good and strong, or a weak and ineffective part of our foundation. I’ve had several conversations with parents lately, usually involving kids and activities. A common feeling seems to be that our society has gotten out of control in the number and intensity of the activities our children are involved in today. Specifically organized sports... the number and length of practices and games per week and the seriousness of the commitment involved. People tell me that sports have disrupted not only their church life, but also family dinner time and down time in general. And there’s a feeling that its out of control, of having no choice in the matter, of taking it all too seriously. Jesus tell us to honor parents and grandparents by spending some down time together, and to honor God by coming to church. Maybe it’s time for our whole culture together to act– to relax the standards a little, to reevaluate the message we are sending our kids through organized sports.
I said I’d only give you 2 things to think about. The first is, Build on a firm foundation. Here’s the second. Make sure you have a good roof. Our house is getting a new roof, this week in fact, and so I’ve learned a lot about roofs lately. Now when I take walks around our neighborhood, I look at everybody’s roof. The biggest problem with our old roof was lack of ventilation. I now know that in order for a house to be well-ventilated, there should be some nice clear passageways between the roof rafters and the insulation. If the insulation, all that foamy stuff, is stuck right up against the rafters, it’s probably blocking the soffit vents, where the roof comes down and meets the walls of the house. And if the soffit vents are blocked, then the air’s not getting in. Ideally the air needs to go in the soffit vents, up through the passageway by the rafters, and then out through the ridge vent, up on the very top of the roof.
So here’s why, as God’s people, we need a good roof. We’ve got our foundation, some parts we’ve chosen, others we haven’t. And now we’re out there everyday making choices about how to spend our time, how to spend our money, what’s important, what’s not so important. We’ve got a lot of information coming in and relationships to juggle. We’ve got instant news, all the time, the internet, 100+ TV channels. In other words, we’ve over insulated our lives! Information, like air into a vent, comes into our brains and gets boggled, misinterpreted or trapped. For example, a few years ago I knew a man (not at this church) who stopped coming to church because one day in worship he heard that the church needed some volunteers for the fair. And so afterwards he approached someone and said “I’d like to help with the fair.” And the person said to him, “We’re all set.” He chose to take this as a rebuff, to assume that no one wanted his help, and never volunteered again. Then he stopped attending worship. And no one was really sure why. What happened here? From the man’s point of view, he took the comment personally, maybe because some part of his foundation was sending him the message– why would they want my help anyways? On the other hand, the other person was probably so thrilled that they had filled all the volunteer positions for the fair, that he wasn’t even thinking what his comment might mean to the person volunteering. What would be a better thing to say here? How about, let me show you a list of all the things we could use some help with, or, let’s go talk to this person who knows more than I do about jobs needing to be done. It’s not that we don’t want to take action on what Jesus wants us to do, but that sometimes the circuits get crossed, or a message comes in and gets lost or some other bit of information makes it out the top first and that’s all we can manage for the time-being.
So that’s House Construction 101! Build on a firm foundation. Make sure your roof is well ventilated. And then don’t hesitate to take action. It’s not that we’re ever going to complete the mission Jesus has called us to in this lifetime that is, rather it’s that we will find the peace, joy and wisdom we’re looking for in the midst of our service to others. And that promise is rock-solid. Let us pray...