The Rev. Herbert G. Hand

Faith Anglican Church

Cordova, Tennessee

June 1, 2008

Series: God-focused Believers

Title: Like Building Your House on the Rock

Text: Matthew 7:21-27

I.         Church Building Projects

How firm is your foundation?

Over the past six months, I’ve been watching our building project.

Over the past two months, I’ve been walking through our building twice a week to admire our progress.

I can say with confidence that we began well, and we are finishing well.

Every step of the way has been done with thoughtfulness and excellence.

I thank God for our Building Committee and for every one of you who have contributed your time, talent, and treasure to build God’s house.

The truth is, not all church building projects go so well.

A Church in Mississippi

A couple of weeks ago I was speaking with a man who attends a church in Mississippi.

He told me that their new building has been one nightmare after another.

Contrary to their planning, the women’s bathroom dividers ended up being bright orange, and the men’s bathroom dividers end up being a very feminine mauve.

Last winter, when they cranked up the heat, some rooms were freezing and others were sweltering.  Months later it’s still not fixed.

A Church in Cordova

A church in Cordova, did not put in a fire sprinkler system in their new building, thinking it was not required.

The building inspector was not happy.  He required them to tear out their sheetrock ceilings and retrofit the sprinklers.

As you can imagine, the church board and the membership were not happy.

A Church in Montgomery

When we lived in Montgomery, there was a huge rusting steel skeleton of a mega-church on the edge of town.

They ran out of funds.  They ran out of people.

Eventually, they were so disheartened, the church disbanded.

After several years, a wealthy Montgomery family paid to have the eyesore taken down.

How horrible it must have been to invest all that time, effort, and money in a building which is worthless and not fit to inhabit.

Each Stage Builds Upon the Previous One

Each stage in the building process builds upon the previous one.

If the grading isn’t right, the foundation won’t be right.

If the foundation isn’t right, the walls won’t be right.

If the walls aren’t right, the roof won’t be right.

The list goes on and on.

Thanks be to God, in our building project we began with a firm foundation, and have built well upon that foundation.

II.        How Firm is Your Foundation?

The same is true in your relationship with God: those who begin with a firm foundation, can have an ever growing relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

How horrible it must be to invest time, effort, and money in a building a faith which is worthless and not fit for King Jesus.

In our reading from Matthew chapter seven, Jesus spoke of:

Those who built upon the rock, and how they survived the stormy blast.

And He spoke of those who built upon shifting sand, and whose end was ruin.

On the day of judgment, how horrible it must be to hear Jesus say,

²³...’I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

These weren’t those whom you’d expect to end up in hell: drug dealers, corrupt politicians, pornographers, those who take advantage of the poor...

No, these, whom Jesus said he, “never knew,” where those in God’s church, who began poorly, who had a poor foundation.

In your Bible or in this morning’s bulletin, let’s take a look at our reading from Matthew chapter seven, beginning in verse 21.  Jesus said,

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

²²Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

²³Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

²⁴“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Have you built your house on the Rock?

Have you built your faith on the firm foundation of doing the will of our Heavenly Father, of putting the words of Jesus into practice?

Those who will not be ruined on the Day of judgment, those who will stand boldly and fearlessly before their Lord Jesus Christ,

Are not those who have simply said right things, but those who have done the will of God.

Verse 21.   What does it look like to do the “will of [Jesus’] Father who is in heaven”?

Three examples....

Love

Love, self-sacrificial agapē love.  In Luke chapter six Jesus said,

³²“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them.

³³And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that.

³⁴And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full.

³⁵But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Luke 6:32-:35 (NIV)

When you’re loving your friends and family, you are doing the will of God.

When you’re loving your enemies – those who revel in your failure, those who plot against you, those who have wounded your soul – when you’re loving them, you are doing the will of God.

Again, verse 21.   What does it look like to do the “will of [Jesus’] Father who is in heaven”?

Forgive

Forgive – Jesus taught us to pray saying,

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those

who trespass against us.

In Matthew chapter six, Jesus went on to say:

¹⁴For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

Unforgiveness, self-righteousness anger, allowing a root of bitterness to remain, have been the ruin of many a Christian (Hebrews 12:15).

Forgiveness not only frees the forgiven, but even more so, forgiveness frees the forgiver.

Apples Of Gold – The Fruit of Forgiveness

In the early 1900's, in the small village of Podsreda, Croatia, an altar boy named Josip Broz was serving the priest at Sunday mass.

As he was holding the wine cruet, it accidentally dropped and shattered.

The village priest struck the altar boy sharply on the cheek and in a gruff voice shouted: “Leave the altar and don't come back!”

Crushed, Josip left the church and never came back.  By the time he was eighteen, he joined the Croatian Social Democratic Party.

During World War II, Josip changed his name to Marshal Tito and in 1945 Tito became the communist dictator of Yugoslavia.

The fruit of that priest’s unforgiveness brought about the misery of millions.

There was another altar boy in the early 1900's named John who grew up in Illinois.

He too was serving at the Sunday mass, when a wine cruet accidentally fell from his hand.

With a warm twinkle in his eyes the bishop gently whispered: “Someday you will be a priest.”

John not only grew up to become a priest, but as Archbishop John Fulton Sheen, a prolific author and radio preacher.

From an article by Peter Kennedy

The fruit of that bishop’s forgiveness brought salvation to millions.

When you forgive, you are doing the will of God.

Again, Matthew 7:21.   What does it look like to do the “will of [Jesus’] Father who is in heaven”?

Trust Jesus

Believe in Jesus – Jesus said,

⁴⁰For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 6:40 (NIV)

To believe in Jesus is not simply to believe He exists, or to believe He died for your sins, or to believe he is Lord.

James chapter two tells us that

“Even the demons believe—and shudder.”

James 2:19 (NIV)

To believe in Jesus, as we proclaim in our Baptismal Covenant, is to “put your whole trust in his grace and love” (BCP 302).

The Two Mountain Climbers

Once there were two mountain climbers who were ascending a very steep and dangerous mountain.

As they were catching their breath on the side of the mountain, the rocks gave way.

With rocks and dirt and debris, they slid off the side of the mountain, to what they thought would be certain death.

But after only a few seconds, they both landed on a narrow ledge.

They were grateful to be alive.

They looked down into a deep chasm.  There was no way they could descend safely.

They looked up to a sheer cliff with no handholds.  Again, there was no way they ascend safely.

However, on both the right and left sides, there appeared to be a way to the top.

The first climber said, “I am absolutely convinced that the route on the left is the safest way to the top.  I believe we can make it.”

The other climber wasn’t so sure.  He was filled with doubt and fear.

The first climber expressed his faith in his route by stepping out to the left and began to climb.  However, within a few minutes, the rocks gave way and he slid to his death.

The other climber cautiously climbed up the route to the right and safely made it to the top.

The first climber had sincere faith.  However, his faith was sincerely wrong.

Who was saved?

The one who had deep faith?  No.

The one who just a little faith, but in the right way.

It’s not the amount of faith that’s important, it’s the object of your faith that’s important.

Jesus is the Way.  When you believe in Jesus, not only are you are doing the will of God, but you will end up safely in the eternal presence of God.  Jesus will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25).

III.      Conclusion

Is doing the will of your Heavenly Father a top priority in your life?

By the grace of God and with the power of the Holy Spirit, are you:

Truly believing in Jesus?

Loving your enemies?

And forgiving those who have offended you?

Are you doing the will of God in your life?

If you are, you have a firm foundation, a foundation which will uphold you to the very Day of Judgment.

If you are not striving to do the will of your Heavenly Father, if you are not putting the words of Jesus into practice, then your foundation is like shifting sand, and on the Day of Judgment, you will be in danger of Jesus saying, “I never knew you.”

Re-lay your foundation!

Make Jesus your Lord and Master by putting his words into practice.

Then you will stand with confidence before your God, even on the Day of Judgment.