A flood can be very dramatic. I remember watching the news once when the strong force of a flooding river washed away the ground under a house until the entire house fell into the river and was smashed to pieces. What a shame to lose your house like that. Perhaps he shouldn’t have built his house on that spot, on the sandy land next to a river.
Jesus ended the Sermon on the Mount with this image. Those who listen to his teaching without putting them into practice, are like the stupid man who didn’t build his house on solid ground. We need a good foundation for our life, and we lay this foundation when we put the words of Jesus into practice.
In church this spring we have been going through the Sermon on the Mount, which is found in Matthew chapter 5-7. This is challenging stuff! When you read it, you are constantly tempted to explain it away. “He must be exaggerating; he didn’t really mean it that way; I’m sure it only applies to monks and nuns, but it doesn’t work in real life.” But when we see how quarrelling and infidelity can break up families and destroy lives, we realise that his teaching might be of value after all.
There are many different kinds of storms in our life. It can be sickness and death, it can be moral choices. These storms often come unexpectedly, and when they come, it is important to have a strong foundation. In this sense, I really want us all to be fundamentalists.
Then there is another storm that will face all of us one day. This is the storm of the day of judgement. When your life is over, or when our Lord Jesus Christ returns, there comes a day when the foundations of your life are shaken. On that day it will be evident if you have built your house on the rock or on sand. On that day, will your house stand, or will it fall?
So, Jesus says we need to put his words into practice. What does this mean?
Firstly, we need to repent
If you read the Sermon on the Mount, you realise that God’s standards are so high that we all fall short. Anyone who reads these words and try to take them seriously, will have to realise that we need to repent and ask Jesus to forgive us all our sins. This is because Jesus makes us realise that sin is not only these big, serious things like killing and adultery, it all starts in our heart and in our mind, with the things we think and the things we say. And we need to repent of these things.
Secondly, we need to put our faith in Jesus Christ
We are saved by his grace alone. We can’t earn our way into heaven by doing good deeds. It is only because Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the grave, it is only because of his blood that we can be saved.
But faith is not only receiving forgiveness. Faith is also to believe that Jesus actually is speaking the truth, and to act on this faith.
If I am lost in the middle of a big city, and I ask someone for direction, and he points in this direction, where do I go? If I believe this person, I go in the direction he points me. And if Jesus gives us directions for our life, believing him means to go in the direction he points us.
Thirdly, we need the help of the Holy Spirit
It is a challenging lifestyle Jesus is calling us to when he sits on the hill, teaching his disciples and the crowds who followed him. It is challenging, and indeed impossible humanly speaking. The high standards of his teaching will always lead us to humility and repentance, but we can also trust the Holy Spirit to help us put the words of Jesus into action.
Jesus did not leave us alone like orphans. He has sent his Holy Spirit, and the Spirit of God is full of grace and power, and he will give us the strength we need every day to put the words of Jesus into action. We don’t want to be like the foolish man, who heard his words but did nothing. We want to build a secure future, both for the rest of this life and for the eternal life, and the Holy Spirit will help us build our house on the strong foundation of Jesus Christ – on his forgiveness and on his teaching.
Jesus ended the Sermon on the Mount with this image. Those who listen to his teaching without putting them into practice, are like the stupid man who didn’t build his house on solid ground. We need a good foundation for our life, and we lay this foundation when we put the words of Jesus into practice.
In church this spring we have been going through the Sermon on the Mount, which is found in Matthew chapter 5-7. This is challenging stuff! When you read it, you are constantly tempted to explain it away. “He must be exaggerating; he didn’t really mean it that way; I’m sure it only applies to monks and nuns, but it doesn’t work in real life.” But when we see how quarrelling and infidelity can break up families and destroy lives, we realise that his teaching might be of value after all.
There are many different kinds of storms in our life. It can be sickness and death, it can be moral choices. These storms often come unexpectedly, and when they come, it is important to have a strong foundation. In this sense, I really want us all to be fundamentalists.
Then there is another storm that will face all of us one day. This is the storm of the day of judgement. When your life is over, or when our Lord Jesus Christ returns, there comes a day when the foundations of your life are shaken. On that day it will be evident if you have built your house on the rock or on sand. On that day, will your house stand, or will it fall?
So, Jesus says we need to put his words into practice. What does this mean?
Firstly, we need to repent
If you read the Sermon on the Mount, you realise that God’s standards are so high that we all fall short. Anyone who reads these words and try to take them seriously, will have to realise that we need to repent and ask Jesus to forgive us all our sins. This is because Jesus makes us realise that sin is not only these big, serious things like killing and adultery, it all starts in our heart and in our mind, with the things we think and the things we say. And we need to repent of these things.
Secondly, we need to put our faith in Jesus Christ
We are saved by his grace alone. We can’t earn our way into heaven by doing good deeds. It is only because Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the grave, it is only because of his blood that we can be saved.
But faith is not only receiving forgiveness. Faith is also to believe that Jesus actually is speaking the truth, and to act on this faith.
If I am lost in the middle of a big city, and I ask someone for direction, and he points in this direction, where do I go? If I believe this person, I go in the direction he points me. And if Jesus gives us directions for our life, believing him means to go in the direction he points us.
Thirdly, we need the help of the Holy Spirit
It is a challenging lifestyle Jesus is calling us to when he sits on the hill, teaching his disciples and the crowds who followed him. It is challenging, and indeed impossible humanly speaking. The high standards of his teaching will always lead us to humility and repentance, but we can also trust the Holy Spirit to help us put the words of Jesus into action.
Jesus did not leave us alone like orphans. He has sent his Holy Spirit, and the Spirit of God is full of grace and power, and he will give us the strength we need every day to put the words of Jesus into action. We don’t want to be like the foolish man, who heard his words but did nothing. We want to build a secure future, both for the rest of this life and for the eternal life, and the Holy Spirit will help us build our house on the strong foundation of Jesus Christ – on his forgiveness and on his teaching.
