The house built on rock

Pentecost 3 year A Sermon
Matthew 7:21-29

Only the house built on the rock will continue to stand.

People are rattled by Jesus... and you can understand why. Preaching on a mountain like Moses...this young man...
this Jesus is teaching...
with the authority of a great rabbi and prophet...
He’s laying out his yoke...his interpretation of scripture...
his understanding... of God’s will...

Not only is he preaching with inner authority...but in the grand finale...we just heard... of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount... there are warnings... too.
Two of them just before this passage:
Make sure you get through the gate – it’s not very wide.
And watch out for false prophets... because they can lead you off the path... entirely.

The third warning we heard just before... in today’s reading. A warning I’ve always found disturbing and confusing. Wondering if it was about me...when Jesus says

"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.
On that day...on the final Day of Judgment...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.'

Jesus seems to be saying ‘Don’t think because you’ve been tagging along with the crowd or throwing my name around or dealing in spiritual theatrics...
Don’t think these things reserve a seat for you in the in the kingdom of heaven...
because it’s more complicated than that...

Now I’ve always worried about these words...
but as I worked through this sermon...
I realised Jesus isn’t warning us about some random unpredictable mystery of salvation...some riddle we might never solve til it’s too late...
and we’ve already blown it...

No in these words... Jesus is summarising what he’s just been teaching about... in his Sermon on the Mount ...everything we need to know... about how to live as his followers in God’s kingdom ...in the kingdom of heaven... As opposed to other kingdoms we might choose to live in... like Herod’s or Caesar’s....or...
well you name the power...

Remember...in this sermon Jesus taught us to pray...
God’s kingdom come on earth...God’s will be done on earth... And what a relief...when we realise Jesus is referring back to the words of his sermon…
about how to live in the kingdom of heaven…
Blessed are the poor in spirit… for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the peacemakers ...the merciful...

Now at the end of his sermon,,, Jesus is warning...
These aren’t just nice words... this is critical stuff...
your choices matter...if you want to be part of the kingdom of heaven you have to do these words...
you have to do the will of my father. [pause]

Jesus isn’t talking about where we go when we die...
but about God’s dimension in this present moment...
where God is right now... where people steer their earthly lives according to Gods will...revealed in Jesus words.

These are the people who on that day...on the final day of judgment... will be known by Jesus... recognised by Jesus...because they spent their lives... in the kingdom with him...people living day to day...
hour by hour ...moment by moment...
by the standards and purposes of Heaven.

Now if we panic and say... ‘but how do we know what these standards are?’ We ignore what Jesus has just been preaching about...it’s all been laid out... there on the mountain top...
and what’s more... Jesus reassure us... that

Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them... will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.

Now to really understand what Jesus is getting at... we have to hear his words...with the ears of those... first century Jews... sitting around listening to him.

You see...just down the road about 130 K’s
King Herod is busy rebuilding the Temple...
restoring the Temple to its former glory...
as a symbol of Israel’s status as a chosen people.
They talked about it as God’s house... built on real Jerusalem rock... resistant to natural or human storms...

And guess what...when we fast forward through Matthews gospel... Jesus promises...
that Peter’s confession of faith... will form the rock... on which another house will be built... a new Israel...a new community that believes in him... a house that listens to Jesus’ words and...and does his father’s will.


Fast forward even further... to his last sermon in Matthew... and Jesus is predicting...
the Temple built on the rock...will fall...

Biblical Scholar Tom Wright notices... that ‘Once we’re aware of this larger picture... we can see more clearly... what Matthew wants us to understand from his gospel...his version of the good news. It’s a message not simply for those who sat round Jesus on that mountain top...it’s a message for Matthew’s first century readers and for all of us:

When we build our lives on Jesus’ teaching...
we will be part of the house that lasts forever.

"The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it didn’t fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them... will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!"

Forty years later...Roman legions destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem...that house did not survive...

You see in his Sermon on the Mount...Jesus is claiming his authority...and the enduring nature of the house he would establish...a house that does the will of God. We can see this in his choice of words...

"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.

The word Matthew used the word we translate as Lord... is a respectful title in Greek...kurios: meaning... the one in supreme in authority, the controller; the Master.

So to say that Jesus is Lord... is not about speaking a magic charm... that gets us into heaven when we die...

To say that Jesus is Lord... means that for the one who says it...Jesus is the supreme authority...on God’s will. It is his yoke that insists we love our enemies rather than seek revenge...it is his yoke that prescribes a life of shalom making...of peace making...a life of mercy compassion and justice...

And not everyone is willing... to carry this yoke...
not because it’s heavy...but because it’s costly... because something may have to be sacrificed...
if we chose to carry it.

We might have to give up our dreams of...
victory over the Romans and live in peace with them live as though God loves them too...
even if they don’t know it.

You see if Jesus is the supreme authority...
if Jesus is Lord...then he’s the one who has the final say...on what scriptures mean...on how we should live every moment of our lives...he’s the one who is the Master...not just of what we believe...
but what we do.

In the end... all the signs and wonders...all the miracles and acts of power in the world... done in Jesus name... don’t mean we actually know him...

Accessing the spiritual dimension
and driving out demons using Jesus’ name...
doesn’t mean we know him...
unless we acknowledge his authority in all things...
in every moment...every encounter...
every relationship...every decision...

And yes it’s hard...and yes... when we recognise how costly it is... this makes us poor in spirit.
And yes only then...
do we realise we can’t live in the kingdom of heaven without knowing him...without the strength of the Spirit he sends

So in the week ahead can we ask ourselves...
as individuals... as families... and as a Church:

Who is the supreme authority... for our relationships and how we order our lives?

Are we content just to read and hear Jesus’ words...to think how fine they are...
or we willing to do them?

What kind of houses are we building...
as individuals as families and as a church?

It is my prayer that we will choose Jesus’ rock on which to build... for his house... endures forever...