Jesus is almost done His Sermon on the Mount. He has spoken about everything from a basic understanding of how to live a satisfying life (the beatitudes) to better understanding of the Law of God (murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, revenge & giving). He has given instructions for holy living (prayer, fasting, giving), advice on right living (worry, judging others, seeking God) and warnings (the narrow gate, false prophets). All through His sermon the focus has been on the application, because Jesus knows that what He is saying is both immediately applicable and highly practical. He concludes with the same focus – a pointed analogy about the application of the total, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”
Everyone – whether they realize it or not – builds their life on a philosophy. Some would call it a worldview. It is the largely unconscious substrata of your mind that informs and supports your everyday decisions. Your understanding of what is real, what can be ultimately trusted. That is what Jesus is seeking to change. Jesus is not trying to change the beliefs of His hearers. They are Jews who believe in God and both believe and know their Scripture. Their beliefs are honest, so rather than try to deconstruct and rebuild them, He is trying to change their understanding of what is real, because the reality of God is very different than what they had been taught. That reality will forever change them.
They had been told all their lives by the teachers of the Law that God was most concerned with whether or not they had been completely obedient to everything they interpreted from His Law. The reality is that the Law was there to reflect God’s character to His people, so that His people would and could seek Him in all they did and thought. The human interpretation they had been handed by their teachers was pedantic and small-minded at best. The Law was not there to micro-manage people God already endowed with self-awareness. It was there to spur people toward loving Him. Him who not only made and provided for them, but also chose to reveal Himself in a way they could understand, and in a way that enlightened them to live very differently from the cultures around them. It was there that His people would know God is far above them in thought and act, but loved them as His people and blessed them as His people – all so that they could demonstrate Him to others who did not yet know Him. The reality is so much vaster, more wonderous and more fulfilling then what they had been led to believe. Reality always is.
Jesus’ analogy about a wise builder is a pointed reminder that times will come when what you base your life upon is assailed by that which is completely out of your control. When that happens – and it happens to everyone at some point, as surely and as often as the storm comes in season – then only those who have a philosophy of life based on ultimate reality can stand. The worldviews of others may collapse, but the one who puts into practice what Jesus teaches is secure. Their life is built on on the rock of God – unchangeable, immoveable and forever!
Amen.
The power to change the lives of people comes as the Spirit of God applies the Word of God to the lives of those who listen.
Charles B. Bugg
APPLICATION: Intentionality
Foundation work is difficult, often exhaustive and expensive. But it is necessary and even critical to avoid catastrophic damage. How have you prepared your heart for the coming storm(s)?