We Build on the Word of Christ, Our Rock

+ In the Name of Jesus +
We Build on the Word of Christ, Our Rock
Sermon on Matthew 7:24–27
for Christian Education Sunday
September 17, 2023

1. About two miles north of the farm where I grew up there was another farm. It had an old garage, close to the road. Every time we drove past it, it looked like it was leaning a little more. Every day, it leaned a little bit more—until they no longer put cars or equipment in it. Strangely, the farm was owned by a carpenter. I think he was waiting for it to fall down so he could build something else there. For outside buildings like that, they often laid very small foundations, like a curb, six inches high, six inches wide, around the walls of the building. A foundation that thin would be vulnerable to forces below and forces above. If the ground settled beneath it, the foundation would collapse because of lack of support. If there was extra weight from above, say, from a corner post, the foundation would be pushed down and crack. And that’s when the tipping would begin. At my previous church, before we left, they built a new garage. They dug down, made a trench almost two feet wide, and poured a concrete wall on top, almost like a basement wall. With a more substantial foundation and wall, it wouldn’t collapse. It wouldn’t tip.
2. When Jesus told his parable about a house built on rock and a house built on sand, he wasn’t instructing his disciples on building techniques. He was telling them to build their faith, their lives, on him and his words. There are some foundational things we do in Christian education. In our Sunday School, and Lutheran Elementary School we have a schedule of Bible lessons, Old Testament stories one year, New Testament stories the next. In the course of eight years, the kids will hear the same stories three or four times—the more important stories will be heard every year. Then in Catechism class, we review the Commandments, the Creed, Baptism, Lord’s Supper, the Lord’s Prayer—the same material repeated for seventh and eighth grades but with a different workbook. Repetition. We have repetition in our worship—prayers, creeds and songs we sing, week after week. We use a lectionary—a schedule of readings that is read and repeated over three years—readings on major holidays are repeated every year. Why so much repetition in education and worship? We are laying a foundation for faith in peoples’ hearts with the words of Jesus and the words about Jesus in the words we teach, hear, recite, sing (and even chant!). We are fixing these words of God in our hearts and minds.
3. Did you notice, when Jesus talked about the house built on the rock, he said, “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.” That’s his way of telling us in life there are storms, too. A crisis. A loss. A change. What is your foundation then? What will you hold on to? How will you survive?
4. A few years ago, I was visiting people at Charleston House Memory Care, and walked through a commons area. A lady sitting in the room called me over. She saw my cross and asked if I was a minister. I said yes—and asked if she’d like me to tell her a Bible story—so I told her “Jesus stills the storm.” She knew the story so well, she was almost mouthing the words as I spoke them. Then I asked her name. … That she didn’t remember. She remembered Jesus stilling the storm, but she didn’t remember her own name. That’s sad, and tragic, and wonderful at the same time, isn’t it?! Someone laid a solid foundation for her faith. With repetition, she remembered words about Jesus when she had forgotten everything else.
5. We live in a world that is full of distractions—and I’m not just thinking about the things that grab our attention for ten or twenty seconds. I’m thinking about the things we are being told are most important. For some, it is fashion. Shoes. Air Jordans! Best athletic shoes in the world. You’ve gotta have these if you want to be an outstanding athlete. It used to be jeans. Calvin Klein or Levi’s 501s. It’s what all the cool people are wearing. You’ve got to be fashionable. Now there are influencers of all kinds telling us about fashion, cosmetics, gadgets, what we should be wearing or buying. Then there are the things many people talk about: the Badgers, the Packers or the Brewers. They win? Awesome! They lose? It’s the worst thing in the world. Or the more grown-up things—money. In our capitalist culture, money makes the world go around. Work to earn money and save money so that you can spend money.
6. A time is coming when none of those things will matter—the shoes, the jeans, the teams, or all the money in the bank—but the words of Jesus and the words about Jesus will. I think of our ministry to the dying and the words we pastors recite or say. The Lord’s Prayer. Psalm 23. John 10, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me, and no one can pluck them out of my hand.” John 14, “Do not let your heart be troubled. I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, you may be also.” And the Song of Simeon from Luke 2, “Lord, now you let your servant depart in peace.” These are all some of the most repeated scriptures we use—and that’s for a reason—so when the pastor is at your bedside, reading or reciting these things, you are also recalling when you heard, said, or sang these words yourself. And then in your last days or hours, you make them your own spiritual food and drink, you make them your own prayers—clinging to your solid foundation—the words of Jesus, the words about Jesus.
7. What did Jesus say? “Put these words of mine into practice.” This is about a firm foundation when dying—but also a firm foundation for living. The law of God as our guide for living. The gospel of Jesus as our power for living. You’ve seen the T-shirts and posters, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” Jesus gives you some power to back that up. “We love because he first loved us.” Not just kindness but love. Love that comes from the Holy Spirit, renewing the holy image of God within us. We know who we are because we are connected to Jesus—children of God, bought at the price of Jesus’ blood, dearly loved. We are saved from sin and death. We are also saved for something—for reflecting God’s love with love and service to those around us. We have a foundation to stand firm. We have power to live, love, and help—all because we are built on the foundation of Jesus, our rock.

Amen.