Luke 6; 46 to 49

Luke 6; 46 to 49

In the run up to today’s gospel reading Luke tells us that Jesus has spent the night on a mountainside praying and then he’s selected the 12 apostles.

On his way down from the mountain, Jesus comes to a level place where a great multitude of people have gathered to hear his teaching and to be healed of their diseases.

After healing many people, Jesus delivers what is commonly called his sermon on the plain which he ends with this parable about two men who build houses with different foundations.

Why does he end his sermon with this parable? Well I think Jesus is concerned as to whether people are actually taking on board what he is saying.

Lots of people like coming to see him and to hear his teaching, and no doubt rejoice at being healed.

But how many of these people actually then go away and put his teaching into practice?
In particular some of these people give the outward appearance of acknowledging him as Lord but they do not then actually do what he says.

I think this can be true of people today.

Jesus’ teaching reaches their ears but does not change their hearts because when it comes to it, they are unwilling to repent. Although they may call Jesus Lord, they do not want to allow God to direct their lives and to face the implications of what this might entail.

They’re quite happy listening to his teaching but in reality they want to keep God at arms length in their lives – at a safe distance from the cost of discipleship.

Matthew also records this parable in Chapter 7 of his gospel.

He tells us that immediately before telling this story Jesus says to the crowd of people listening to him; "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.

So initially we can interpret this parable in the context of judgement.
The rock in the story can be seen as Jesus himself. The bible refers to God as a rock in both the 
Old and New Testaments. For example the Psalmist says; “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.”

Thus the first man who hears Jesus’ teaching and acts on it, survives the day of judgement.

He has taken Jesus seriously, repented, and made the effort to put his words into practise. He is able to stand on the day of judgement, because his life is built on a firm foundation, on God himself.

The second man has also heard Jesus teaching but he has failed to act on it or put it into practise.

When judgement comes his life is swept away because it has no foundation.

Jesus words therefore are supremely important because how we respond to them will determine whether we stand or fall on the day of judgement.

What he says is of eternal significance to our lives. We can hear what he says but unless we take his words seriously and put them into practice we are in danger of one day going to hell.

So what did Jesus say?

In short he claimed to be God and said that people could only be saved by repenting and believing in him. He also said that one day he would one return to judge the world.

This is why it is so important for us not only to listen to his words but also to act upon them.

This why Campbell and I encourage you to read your bibles, particularly the gospels, and to study them.

This is why Campbell has produced weekly study notes for us.

Jesus’ words are of vital importance not only for our own eternal destinies but also for the eternal destinies of those we love.

And this is why those who are Christians should make every effort to reach out with Jesus’ words and his love to those around them.

Sadly though many people are so focused on this life and this world, that they fail to understand the significance of eternity.

Our lives in this world are mere flashes in the pan compared to what awaits us in eternity.

Jesus words have the power to save both us and those we love eternally, but only as we take him seriously and do what he tells us to do.

In the same way that we can read about dieting, unless we put the diet into practise, it won’t do us any good.

The person who hears his words but doesn’t act on them is a fool because he fails to recognise the tremendous importance and eternal significance of what he is hearing

However this parable is not just about surviving judgement day. It’s also about surviving the trials and tribulations of life.

As we take on board what Jesus says and apply it to our lives we will be better able to stand the storms that life throws at us.

My old vicar used to say that when he came across people with bibles that were falling apart he generally found that they weren’t.

In his letter, James says; “Do not merely listen to the word ... do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

“But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”

So as we study and put Jesus’ teaching into practice in our lives, we will be blessed. Although we may face all manner of troubles, as we walk in obedience to Christ and to his teaching we will be able to navigate these troubles and survive them.

Christianity is fundamentally about a relationship with Jesus. We come into that relationship by acknowledging his sovereignty in our lives and we continue and grow in that relationship by seeking to live in obedience to what he teaches and asks us to do.

As we seek to walk in obedience to him he blesses us, and as we study and apply his word we get to know him better and come to understand his love for us better.

In life part of the way we get to know people is by the words they speak. The words that come out of their mouths reveal their characters. It’s the same with God.

He’s given us His word in the bible so that we can get to know him better by studying it and doing our best to apply it to our lives.

Of course it’s not easy to do this and we very much need the help of the Holy Spirit to help us to live as God desires.

But the better we get to know him the more secure we feel in his love and the more we are able to trust him with our own lives and the lives of those we love.

King David was able to say; “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for your rod and staff they comfort me.”

As we come to realise how much God loves us and to recognise his faithfulness and goodness we can start to face whatever life throws at us with a tremendous inner confidence.

I was very impressed by a lady vicar I met when I was doing my Reader Training course. She clearly had a vibrant relationship with God and she told us how she’d reacted when she found out her daughter couldn’t have children.

She turned to God and asked him to guide them through this problem and to help them to learn anything that He wanted them to, from it.

Her attitude was that God loved her and her daughter and that he knew all about this problem. She had faith that God was in control of the whole situation and could open her daughter’s womb at any time if He so desired.

She knew from reading her bible that God is an expert at opening the wombs of women who struggle to conceive.

Obviously she and her daughter were upset but this lady’s faith was in God and she was confident that He would see them through it.

I mention this story as when we know that God loves us and that our lives and destinies are secure in His hands, what would sometimes seem insurmountable problems from a worldly perspective, can take on a different light.

God can heal and deliver us, or give us words of promise to see us through situations that without him would seem very bleak indeed.

For the Christian there is also an eternal perspective on the problems life throw at us.

As Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthians, “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

In the context of eternity and one day living with God in heaven, the problems we face in this life are by comparison light and momentary.

Ultimately even when death comes it is the gateway to heaven – a place of perfect peace and happiness.

I remember seeing Roy Castle who was a committed Christian, being interviewed before his death from cancer.

He said that he’d had a wonderful life in this world but he was expecting heaven to be better by far. He wasn’t afraid of death because he’d built his life on Jesus.

So this parable tells us that the wise person builds their life on God and seeks to live in obedience to him. Doing this will not only help us to stand when we face problems in this life but will also ensure that we stand on the Day of Judgment.

The foolish person ignores Jesus teaching and finds that not only may they be overwhelmed by the problems life throws at them, but also when judgment comes their lives will be swept away.

So the final question to ask is, are we wise or foolish?

Do we come here week by week and listen to what Jesus says but then fail to apply it to our lives, or do we take his words seriously and give them the proper attention that they deserve?

We are fortunate to have this parable and others like it as it is a warning to us.

Whether we heed the warning or not is up to us.

God loves us and wants to bless us but this can only happen as we take his words and teaching as recorded in the bible, seriously, and with the help of the Holy Spirit make the effort to apply it to our lives.

In the name of the living God. Amen.