Jump Start # 1630

Matthew 7:25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.”

The wise man and the foolish man—it was one of the early songs that many of us sang when we were kids in Bible class. It’s one of those songs that you acted out with hand motions. It’s more than a kids song, it is how the Lord ended the greatest sermon ever preached, the sermon on the mount.

The parable of the wise man and the foolish man is built around contrasts. The wise man heard and did what Jesus said. The foolish man only heard. He did not act upon what Jesus said. The foolish man never really believed. The wise man built his house upon the rock. The foolish man’s house was build upon the sand. The wise man’s house stood during the storms. The foolish man’s house collapsed.

What we forget is that both men had rain, flood and wind. The storms came to both men. The believer and the unbeliever, alike suffered storms. The storms were not the result of disobedience to God, nor punishment for evil doing, nor caused by wrong choices. The righteous wise man endured storms. This bothers us. We tend to think that if we are doing right, following the Lord, then the storms ought to bypass us. We should be exempt from storms because of our faith. That’s not how this story unfolds. The winds slammed against both houses. That doesn’t sound nice at all.

There are certain lessons we connect with here.

1. The choice of foundations is up to us. We don’t see the coming storms. We don’t think much about them. At the moment, the choice is a matter of believing Christ and doing what He says. Why is it that some have a solid foundation and others don’t? It comes down to a matter of choice. Any one can have a solid foundation. It will take dedication, effort and choices. You can have a solid foundation if you want.

2. The solid rock which the wise man built his house upon is Jesus Christ. That rock is unmovable. Later, Jesus would say that “upon this rock I will build my church.” How does one find that foundation? It comes from studying God’s word. It comes from the Bible. Time was spent with God’s word. Time was invested in learning, knowing, and believing what God said. Faith grew. The person changed. His attitude, behavior and thinking was shaped by the word of God. He became a man of the book. God’s word was a constant companion to him.

3. The foundation was built in good weather. That’s the key. One cannot wait until he is in the midst of a storm and then try to decide what he believes. It’s too late to bail water, try to hold the door shut and shore up the foundation. When the storm hits, it’s a matter of what I believe at that moment. This tells us that we need to be building a solid foundation now. The storm is coming. Too many wait until the storm hits and then they fall to pieces. They missed opportunities. They wasted time. They never built during the sunshine. Bible classes, sermons, articles, personal reading—these are all foundation blocks that will help you get that solid foundation. There is not one sermon or one class that will do it all for you. Piece by piece, block by block, a foundation is built. This means that sermons, Bible classes are times for learning. I need to come prepared to learn. Bring a Bible. Bring a pen and paper. Write things down. Go home and think about these things. Learn. Know. My friends who live in hurricane regions do not board up their windows when the hurricane is slamming against the house. It’s too late and too dangerous. The prep time is done before the storm hits. The same is for us spiritually. It’s in the sunshine that we must be growing that faith of ours.

4. Storms come. They always do. Storms come from different directions and with different intensities. Troubles at work. Problems at home. Issues at church. Financial burdens. Health failing. Aging parents. Teenagers. Demands pulling you several directions at once. Storms do not wait in line, they often come several at a time. They did for Job. They might for you. It is during the storms that your trust in God is relied upon. Storms are weathered and even makes us stronger because of our faith in the Lord. Without that faith, our house collapses. We throw the towel in on God and His people. We blame others. We get mad. We lose it. We say things that we shouldn’t. We don’t understand, “Why me?” The collapsed house is useless. No one can live in a collapsed house. The house is one’s soul and heart. He’s crushed by the storms. He didn’t do well because of the storms. He is ruined spiritually. His soul is lost because his faith never existed. The collapsed person is of no help to his family. He lives without direction, purpose or plan. The storms will define him. He will never fully recover unless he turns to the Lord and believes.

I have seen families go through terrible storms. I knew a 16 year-old, that on Sunday morning high-fived me as he walked out the church building. Two hours later he was dead because of a car accident. I’ve known sweet families that lost husbands, moms, sons and daughters, suddenly because of death. I’ve seen men in their 50’s who were counting on a coming retirement, lose their jobs. I’ve known mothers who buried newborn babies. I’ve known parents who had to make the sad and dreaded journey to prisons to visit their incarcerated kid. I’ve known young mothers who discovered that their husband was having an affair. The marriage ends. The young mother must find a new place to live, a job and carry on by herself. Storms.

Storms come. They are not nice. They can tear a place up. The only hope of getting through the storm is having a faith that is built upon Jesus. That comes from the word of God. The cotton-candy theology of today is no hope for the coming storms. The religion of feelings and self is nothing more than a house of cards, that will collapse with the slightest breeze. The solid rock is where we must be. That comes from the word of God.

Open that Bible up. Read it. Know it. Use it. Follow it. Become what God wants. This will not keep the storms away, but it will give you the strength to endure the storms and not be changed by them.

The wise man and the foolish man…more than a children’s song, it’s everyone you see today. Some are in the midst of a storm and they don’t know what to do. You can help them. Others are enjoying life in the sand, never realizing that a storm is coming their way and it will destroy them. Others are quietly laying block after block as they read their Bibles and gain insights, faith and strength in the Lord. They are ready for the storms.

Are you ready?

Roger

Jump Start # 553

Matthew 7:25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.”

Our passage today comes from the parable of the wise and foolish man. Jesus often used that contrast in his parables. Later He would contrast the wise and foolish virgins. In Luke He tells of the foolish farmer. This passage concludes His incredible sermon on the mount. The contrast, conclusion, and comparison are strong. Jesus had been teaching about righteous ways—in our relationship with others, with God and with self. Righteous in our thinking. Righteous in our worship. Be righteous. The principles were put before the people. Now it was up to them. What was the audience going to do with what Jesus had said? That’s the point of his parable. Those that walked away without any change, were the foolish, who were building upon the sand. A storm was coming. With no substance, no faith, no foundation, they could crash in despair, and defeat. Those who heard, but made the change to be righteous, would stand. They would stand with God. They would stand during the trials of life.

The differences are obvious—sand vs. rock. Listening, vs. doing. Crashing vs. standing. Great differences. There is also a great parallel. They both had rain, floods and wind. Both had storms that slammed against them. Heeding what Jesus said, would not keep the storm from coming, it would enable a person from collapsing.

The area I live saw some violent storms Friday afternoon. Tornadoes have crushed towns, taken lives and devastated many communities all around us. Some within our church family lived in those communities. No one suffered injury or even serious damage, but nearly everyone knows someone who has. The stories of heroism and loss are numerous. This morning we awaken to many inches of snow…another form of storms. The shepherds of our church began our worship yesterday with some incredible words of comfort, assurance and prayers. Storms impact us and can have a lasting affect upon us.

Here are some thoughts we shared from our Bible Class period as we discussed storms:

• Storms can come rapidly and be very destructive
• What it takes months and years to build, can be destroyed in minutes
• We are helpless and cannot stop the storms
• Warnings are given in advance. Many ignore them and get in harms way
• Shelter and foundations must be built in the sunshine of life. If one waits until the storm to start, it’s too late
• God loves us, even in storms
• There are lessons learned in storms that I can never see nor learn in the sunshine
• Storms don’t skip over the righteous
• Praying for safety does help and God does listen
• Storms do not come one at a time
• After the storm, the sun comes out

This is true not just with violent tornadoes, but with the storms of the heart and soul. Health problems, family issues, turmoil at work, church problems are some of the storms we face. The late night in the emergency room, the phone call with bad news, the lonely trip to the funeral home are just a few of the storms that passes through most of our lives at one time or another. Some do well. Some don’t. Some seem to pick up, rebuild and carry on. Some seem t0 stop right there. Some understand, some don’t. Some use the storms to get closer to Christ and are comforted, others use the storm to question God, doubt and walk away.

The difference is Jesus. He is the rock. He is what gets us through. Doing what Jesus says, is what will help you, save you, and comfort you. Without Jesus, you are alone. Without Jesus there is no one greater than you to help you. Jesus makes the difference.

Do I listen and do what Jesus says? Do I do that when things are going well? Or, do I ignore Jesus until there is a problem? Has my relationship with Jesus led me to treat Him like a spare tire? I know it’s there. I don’t think about it, until I have a flat. Is that how I treat Jesus? If I can’t lean upon Him and follow Him in the sunshine, how will I during the storms?

One thing our passage shows us is that storms are coming. It’s like the kids game of hide and seek, “Ready or not, here I come.” Ready or not, the storms come. Like it or not, storms come.

Will following Jesus keep tornadoes from hitting my house? Not necessarily. It might. What it will do is give me understanding, help and someone to pull me through. It will help me realize that life and possessions are not the same. It will help me realize that storms and even death is not the worse thing that can happen to me. It will help me realize that escaping storms is not the best thing that can happen to me. It will show that everyday, in sunshine or in storms, a meaningful relationship with Jesus is about trust, forgiveness, obeying and walking with the Lord. Glorying God here and spending forever with Him in Heaven is what everything is all about. Missing those two things, misses everything.

Pray for those in our community who are hurting. Pray for those that hurt from other storms. There is the new widow…there is the family with the prodigal…there is the young couple who lost a baby…there is the man with cancer…the family with a handicapped child…the person who is divorced…the person who lost a job…the person who is afraid…the person who is worried. Hurting people are all around us. Hurting people describes us.

Build that foundation. Make it strong and deep. You do that by spending time in the Bible. You do that by spending time on your knees. You do that by doing what Jesus said. Storms are on the horizon…it’s time to be ready.

Roger

Jump Start # 185 

Matthew 7:25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.”

  The wise man and the foolish man! Many of us first learned of this story when we were children in a Bible class. We sang a song and with our fingers made the rains come down and the floods came up. Then with great excitement we slapped our hands together when the ole’ foolish man’s house went ker-plat! What memories! What a fun song…

  But now we are adults and we don’t go back to that story very often. Let’s do so today. This is how Jesus ended his great sermon on the mount. It ends with a story, a parable. The story is pointed to the audience. They have been listening to Jesus, now what are they going to do? Did the message make a difference to them? Did they believe? For three chapters Jesus has been showing the righteous life that God wants from all of us. His topics have been wide spread. He’s talked about prayer and lust and giving and divorce and worry and influence and beatitudes and judging and now He ends with this story.

  Notice there are some differences in the two men:

One is wise and the other is foolish. One builds upon the rock and the other upon the sand. One house stands and the other house collapses. One man heard and did, that’s rock building. The other man heard and wasn’t changed and did nothing, that’s sand castles. The difference was doing what Jesus said.

  But we must also notice the similarities. It rained on both men. Both men had to deal with the rising flood and the blowing winds. Coming to Christ is not a promise of sunny days and gentle winds. No. The floods rise. You’ll face driving rains and harsh winds. The difference is the foundation. Standing upon Christ you can and you will survive. That is the promise of this passage. We often pray for the storms to cease. But they don’t. We wonder if God hears us or loves us. Instead of keeping us from the storms, he supplies us with all we need to keep the storms from coming within us.

 Foundations. That is a concern to builders in earthquake areas. They must do special things so the structures will stand. Foundations is a concern for those who want to go to Heaven. We must do special things so we can with stand the storms of life.

  What this passage is driving at is the impact that the words of Jesus has upon us. How can we hear Jesus and not be different? Those precious words impact us. They affect us. We change, we build, we alter our life because of those words. And it makes a difference. When the storm comes, we are still standing.

  Sometimes we don’t know what a person is made of until the storm hits. Then you see. Some go to pieces—must be people who used sand to build. Some get angry (sand people). Some become destructive by abusing self, others even take their life. But some keep on going. They still cling to the Lord. They don’t give up. They don’t seem shaken at all. We wonder, “How?” It has to do with what is under them and when we look, we find rock. Not just any rock, but the rock, Jesus Christ. That makes all the difference in the world!

Roger