What’s Your Foundation?

Psalm 46, Matthew 7:21-29  

Congratulations to all the graduates. We’re happy for you and we’re proud of you. We pray for God to bless you as you move into the next stages of your life as children of God and disciples of Christ.

The lectionary has suggested a "tough love" gospel reading for today, and I have mixed feelings about it. Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." I don’t like the idea that some people will be excluded from "the kingdom of heaven." But that’s what it says here. And I feel threatened that Jesus said, "On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’" These are hard words, challenging words. What do we do with them?

I want you to think about your own life for a moment now. Recall your best teachers and mentors. Have any of these people ever said difficult things to you? Have they ever hurt your feelings? Have they ever demanded more than you wanted to give or thought you could give? But then when you actually listened to their words and responded you grew as you never expected. When you tried your best, you did what had seemed impossible before. And it was possible because a teacher or mentor told you the hard, challenging truth. You see there’s no use in lying to people. We must tell them the truth, even if it’s painful. Jesus told the truth. Are we willing to listen?

When he first spoke these words, Jesus was probably castigating false leaders in the faith community. Apparently, there were some who were doing all sorts of impressive things–prophesying, casting out demons, doing deeds of power–but their motives were all wrong. They were not interested in doing God’s will. They were interested in doing their own will. They were not concerned with discerning God’s will. They were concerned with figuring out what they wanted. They were not occupied with following God’s way. They were occupied with following their own way. So Jesus said, "On judgment day, I’m going to say, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’"

How do we understand these tough words? We take them seriously by examining our own lives and our own commitment or lack of commitment to Christ. But we also take seriously that, as Paul said, we’re saved by grace through faith, not works. We’re saved by grace through faith not by doing good works. But, of course, how can we say we have faith in Christ, if we don’t want to follow Christ as disciples? So we live with the tension Jesus’ words create.

I think U.S. Christians in the 21^st century face a quiet crisis and these words from Jesus paint that crisis in bold colors. You see, many people think being Christian is merely about believing and saying the right things, as if it were a magic formula. "Jesus died for my sins, and I’m forgiven, and now I’m going back to bed. Jesus died for my sins, but I have no responsibility to respond in the church or in my daily life. Jesus died for my sins, but I will not answer him with my grateful life." But Jesus made it very clear here that belief is not just "head knowledge," (as important as that is). Real faith includes concrete actions in response to Jesus Christ as Lord. I’m not talking about moral perfection. But there is a clear trajectory of consequences for those whose faith is fake and for those who have real faith.

Jesus told a story. He said one man built a house on rock and when the storms came, his house stood solid on the rock. Another man built a house on sand, and when the storms came, the foundation was washed away. The house fell and was destroyed.

A couple of weeks ago, Beth and I had some work done on our house. Contractors came and put in new windows, replaced a bathroom vanity, fixed a door, and repaired a gutter. They were working for three days. And now we have a beautiful house and no money. Early one morning, I was looking out the window watching for their vans to arrive. After a few minutes, I did see three vans appear at the end of the street, but they were not the contractors’ vans. In fact, directly behind them was an SUV marked POLICE. All the vehicles stopped at the end of the street. And immediately, a group of about eight or ten men poured out carrying guns. Two of the men wore bullet proof vests and helmets (SWAT team outfits). The others wore police uniforms or street clothes. They began creeping, single-file, through my neighbors’ yards making their way toward us. Now Beth and I live on a cul-de-sac in a quiet neighborhood in Mentor. So this was about like watching Martians land on the front lawn. I called Beth and we both watched everything unfold. Eventually, the men were directly across the street from us. They motioned for our neighbor there to close his door. Then they went to the house right beside our neighbor. One of the officers carried a battering ram. Suddenly, everybody rushed through the door of the house, shouting, "Police! Search warrant! Police! Search warrant!" It was like something on the television or at the movies. After a few minutes, other police cars appeared. And then after a few more minutes, the police brought out the twenty-something-year-old son in handcuffs. They placed him in a police car and drove away. What did he do? I don’t know. Was he guilty? I don’t know. I just know it is so sad. And I know there is a trajectory to every person’s life. What’s our foundation?

Fred Craddock tells about going to the hospital to visit a woman in his church who was going to be having surgery. She’d never been hospitalized and this was major surgery. He says the woman was "a nervous wreck" and crying. She asked him to pray with her and he did. He noticed beside her bed was a collection of junky magazines and books, Hollywood trash. And he says, "It occurred to me, There’s not a calorie in that whole stack to help her through her experience. She had no place to dip down into a reservoir and come up with something–a word, a phrase, a thought, an idea, a memory, a person. Just empty.

"How marvelous is the life of the person who, like a wise homemaker, when the berries and fruits and vegetables are ripe, puts them away in jars and cans in the cellar. Then when the ground is cold, icy, and barren and nothing seems alive, she goes down into the cellar, comes up, and it’s May and June at her family’s table. How blessed is that person." (Fred B. Craddock, Craddock Stories, ed. Mike Graves and Richard F. Ward, 30.)

Jesus asked, "What’s your foundation? Shifting sand or rock? On what are you building your life?

Another preacher writes, "My friend . . . tells the story of worshiping with a black congregation during the Civil Rights struggle. He and others like him, white students who had come from schools in the north, grew impatient with the services of worship that seemed to go on forever.

‘Enough worship,’ they said. ‘Let’s get out of here. Let’s get on with it, with the real thing.’

‘Hold on just a minute,’ said their African-American hosts. ‘We have been at this longer than you have. When you go out there, and they let the dogs loose and open up the fire hoses, you’ll need to know who you are and whose you are. You’ll need to know that you are God’s child, that you are walking with Jesus.’" (Anthony B. Robinson, Transforming Congregational Culture, 49. )

Storms come to every life–sickness, suffering, loss, temptation, failure. What’s your foundation and mine? Shifting sand or solid rock? As novelist Walker Percy put it, it’s possible to make straight A’s in school, but to flunk life. And Jesus said God is not mocked or deceived, and God wants what is best for us–a deep, rich, growing relationship with our Lord. At the end of life each of us will be asked, "Did you do the will of God or not?" And if we think it’s God’s will for us to neglect worship, prayer, study of the Bible, generous stewardship, ethical behavior, forgiveness, and love, then, by all means, neglect it. We shall see what God says. But if we think it’s the will of God for us to do those things and we’re not doing them, then wouldn’t we ask God to empower us to change? We shall see.

I know these tough words from our Lord have convicted me–repentance time. What about you? Talk is cheap. As the Director said, "Action!" Amen.

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