Matthew 7:21-29

“And the Rains Came Tumblin’ Down”

          The children’s song about the wise and foolish builders comes crowding into my mind each and every time I read this Sabbath morning’s scripture. I am certain that you know it.  Do you want to speak the words or sing along with me?

The wise man built his house upon a rock.

The wise man built his house upon a rock.

The wise man built his house upon a rock and the rains come tumblin’ down.

The rains came down and the floods came up.

The rains came down and the floods came up.

The rains came down and the floods came up and the house on the rock stood fast.

The foolish man built his house upon the sand.

The foolish man built his house upon the sand.

The foolish man built his house upon the sand and the rains come tumblin’ down.

The rains came down and the floods came up.

The rains came down and the floods came up.

The rains came down and the floods came up and the house on the sand went splat.

And I am puzzled as to why someone would build a house on the sand.  Yet we all know that homes are built on the dunes of the Carolina coast, the NJ coast and the reclaimed swamplands of western Florida.  My father-in-law even built on sand near Florence, WI.  He had to put down many extra pilasters along the walls of the basement so it would not be prone to shift.  Somehow most people believe that the risks of natural disaster upon their homes are so minute that they take the chance and build so as to get a great view, or pleasant surroundings.  Who does not feel calmed by the ocean’s waves splashing up against the rocks at the shoreline?  And we understand.

The climatic conditions in Palestine are such that most of the year there is no heavy rain.  Few if any streams have water year-round, there are only seasonal running streams.  Yet in the rainy season sudden torrents rush down from the hills into the valleys and the dry level places become flooded.

Jesus tells this story at the end of his Sermon on the Mount.  He begins by telling his listeners: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock” (v. 24). “And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand” (v.26).  Jesus makes the comparison between those who hear and act and those who hear and do not act.

The wise man was a prudent builder who built his house on solid rock so that it would stand against the sudden floodwaters produced by the spring rains.  The foolish man built his house on the pleasant sandy soil; and when the floodwaters swirled around its base, the house collapsed.

It is a simple story when we think of it, isn’t it?  There are two ways to live: as a wise builder or as a foolish builder.  We can build our “house” – that is, our lives – on a rock or on the sand.  These are the two alternatives.  Like the wisdom literature in the Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus is outlining two ways with a dramatic contrast.  There is the way to life and the way to death.  There is a way to safety and security (or we could say salvation); and the way to disaster and ruin (or we could say judgment).  These are the great orienting choices all persons have to make.  Will we seek the way of wisdom or the way of foolishness?  The choice is ours.  No one can make it for us.  The two alternatives confront us: wise or foolish; safety or disaster; salvation or judgment?

If these are our choices, how do we choose well?  What is it that will ensure we are following the way of wisdom through life, the way of safety and salvation?  The answer is very simple, Jesus says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” This is the key. We are to hear Jesus’ words and act on them.  We are to obey.  This is the way to wisdom and what makes us wise.  We hear and carry out what Jesus teaches.  When we do, we will be obedient to his word. When we do, we will find an ultimate security and safety that is not found in any other place or through any others ways of life.  We obey Jesus’ words; we take up our cross and follow him, using another image that Jesus employs.

When we do, we will find that our lives are grounded in Jesus Christ, “The Solid Rock.”  It is in and through Jesus and his words that our salvation is found.  It is obedience to Jesus’ words that enables our life to be built on the firm foundation that will never fail.  We remember the words of the hymn: “How Firm a Foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in God’s excellent Word!”   God’s word reaches us in the words of Jesus and as his disciples we rise up and follow him.  In our following, we find the way of true wisdom that leads to life and safety and salvation.

This is our only hope, isn’t it?  Both builders in the story faced the same difficulties.  They both faced the same hardships.  For “the rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house” (v 25); yet the results were dramatically different.  The house built on the sand fell, it collapsed, and “great was its fall” (v 27).  But the house built on the rock of Jesus’ life and teachings did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.

All of us face the storms of life.  In some ways we all face the same storms, the common human lot.  Yet we each have our own storms as well, those personalized hardships that threaten to do us in and cause our lives themselves to collapse.

When the storms come, will our foundations be secure?  Will we have the resources we need to endure?  Our help is found in only one place: in Jesus Christ.  Only as we seek to obey him, to live according to his will, and to focus our lives on being his disciples – only then will our lives be built on the firm foundation that will enable us to stand.

The challenging choice is ours: wisdom or foolishness; salvation or destruction; the rock or the sand?  Let us hear Jesus’ words today and let us obey his words in our lives.  Then when the rains come down and the floods come up, our house on the rock will stand fast!

A fanciful fable about a man who arrives in the magnificent mansion of heaven:  He is overwhelmed by heaven’s beauty, but is puzzled to see endless shelves piled high with human ears.  When he asks the meaning of this strange sight, an angel explains. “These belong to the many people who heard God’s word each week, but never did anything about it.  In the end, only their ears got into heaven!”

Reminding his Corinthian friends where they have placed their faith, Paul writes, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). If we place our hopes anywhere but in Christ, we take our stand upon shifting sand.  In the parable, the unreliable ground gives way and the house falls.  A different outcome awaits the life build upon Christ.  Faith does not spare us the floods of life, but the believer still stands after the storm has passed.  Amen!