TWO MEN & TWO HOUSES

“TWO MEN, TWO HOUSES” (HOMECOMING 2011)
Matthew 7:24-29
Rev. Grady Davidson 102311

This Homecoming Sunday, the Lord has impressed upon the theme of foundations: We have already sung the great hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation,” (“is Jesus Christ her Lord.”) The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:11 that in regard to the Christian Church, the people of God, that “no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid; Jesus Christ.”
In another place (Eph. 2:19-21) he writes that we are “no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.”
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Church’s one Foundation. What about in your life? What kind of foundation are you building your life upon? Is it a foundation of rock, so that when the rain comes down and the winds blow, and the torrential streams rise, that your house yet stands because it’s foundation is on the rock of Jesus Christ?
Or is your life more like that house built on the sand, so that when the rains come down, and the streams rise and the winds blow, it all breaks apart and comes down around you with a great crash? What is the foundation deeply hidden in the soil of your life?
You ought to notice that today’s scripture text is the conclusion to the Lord Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount.” It’s a Sermon that begins in 5:1 and concludes here. He finishes his message by challenging his hearers to examine their lives; and specifically, to dig down deep and see what kind of foundation is hidden beneath the surface: a foundation of solid rock, or of sand?
Let’s talk about the story itself. The two men have much in common. There are significant similarities between the two men in his story. The visible, evident similarities are rather striking. (I note 3 of them.)
1. They both want a house. They basically want the same things in life. They both want a place to come in out of the cold on a short autumn day like today. They both long for the security and comfort that a home provides. In the ancient world, men built houses specifically so that they could bring home a wife. We can assume that both men desired the joys and comforts of marriage and raising a family. They both wanted a good house in which they could pursue their dreams.
2. We can assume from the story that the two homes they built, from the ground up, were basically identical. To look at the basic floor plan and the placement of doors and windows, they were building the same house from the ground up.
3. Their houses are built in the same neighborhood. They both wanted a house with a nice view of the creek. The water trickled nearby; it was a nice location to hear the tinkling stream. It was a convenient spot for fetching water for daily household use. These apparently identical houses were near to one another.
Please notice with me that one of the chief points of this little parable is that on the surface, everything about the two men and their two houses is exactly the same! Sometimes we think that the visible differences between Christians and non-Christians, believers and unbelievers are obvious differences. Jesus is making the point, rather forcefully in fact, that the differences are not necessarily all that obvious.
It’s helpful at this point to note that the Evangelist Saint Luke, in his gospel writes this same story. Luke notes that the first man in the story “dug down deep” and laid his foundation on solid rock (Luke 6:48). The point regarding the foolish man isn’t so much that he built his house on sand, as if he made a conscious decision to build in and on the sand. Rather the point is that he didn’t bother to dig at all!
So what are the characteristics of this foolish man whom the Lord would have us evaluate ourselves against?
1. He’s in a hurry. Spiritually foolish people are always in a rush. It’s not so much a problem of laziness and sloth, as the fellow in the story is in a hurry. He has a house to build! He has a bride to bring home! He wants to have the joy of dinner on the patio, listening to the trickling of the creek just under the bank. He wants to watch the sunset through the picture window . He’s in a hurry to get on with the job and just finish it.
Alabama, “I’m In a Hurry” (lyrics):
I'm in a hurry to get things done
(oh,) I rush & rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live & die
But, I’m in a hurry & don't know why
Don't know why
I have to drive so fast
My car has nothing to prove
It's not new, but it'll 0-60 in 5.2, oh

(Chorus)
Can't be late
I leave in plenty of time
Shakin' hands with the clock
I can't stop
I'm on a roll & I’m ready to rock oh,
(Chorus)
I hear a voice
It says i'm running behind
I better pick up my pace
It's a race & there ain't no room for someone in 2nd place

I think that if this today we had a window to peer into hell, we’d find much to our surprise that most the people there were not spectacularly wicked. (Some, yes, but not most.) I believe we would discover to our surprise that hell is populated mainly by people who were just too busy for Jesus Christ, too busy for the Word of God. They were so driven to get on with the floor plan and the den and the kitchen and the bedroom, that they didn’t take the time to dig down and build on the Rock.
2. The foolish man isn’t teachable (which is simply an exponent of his being in a hurry). He doesn’t consult with homebuilders who have lived beside the creek for many years. He doesn’t talk to an architect. He doesn’t have need of input from anybody else about the rules (and there are rules!) which govern the construction of a house. He’s not teachable. He flies by the seat of his pants and will build it his way. He needs no consultation or input from anybody else. What do they know about his life?
3. The foolish man doesn’t think things through. He doesn’t take time to consider possibilities and eventualities. Especially with regard to that creek just under the bank, he never ponders the question: “That creek that is so beautiful and pleasant to behold on a summer evening – what might become of that creek in the winter rains?” Let’s say that his neighbor stopped by and said, “Listen, friend, I’ve been 30 years and I’ve witnessed what this creek can do. I’ve seen it spill over the banks. If you don’t dig down and set a foundation on the rock, your house is going to break apart like matchsticks the first time the creek floods!” If the neighbor stopped by with that friendly advice, the foolish man would have said, “I’ve got it under control. My house will be fine!” Because not only is the fool in a rush, and he’s unteachable; he just doesn’t think things through.
4. When the winds and rains and rising creeks of God’s judgment comes against his life, his life collapses in a violent, awful crash.
So let’s make a few spiritual applications (and then we’ll eat, I promise!)
Jesus would have us consider that the Christian and the non-Christian can look the same on the surface. You will find them in the same places. They can sit beside one another in the pew in church. They both want the same things in life (peace, prosperity, happiness).
And Jesus would also have us notice that the time for laying the foundation of our lives on His Word, is in the beginning. When the storm comes it’s too late. The foundation has to be laid beneath all else.
Jesus wants us to be deeply concerned about spiritual foolishness (which is relating to Jesus Christ and his word in only a shallow, superficial manner). Like the fool in the story, the spiritual fool is 1) in a hurry (the tyranny of the urgent always overpowers the truly important issues of life); 2) he isn’t teachable – he has a Bible at home, and he read some in it one time – a great book, he really enjoyed it – but truthfully God’s Word has touched his life in only the most superficial way; 3) he doesn’t think things through… He doesn’t consider that God might sweep his life away and bring him to judgment at any moment. There IS a foundation of his life – it may be money, or career, or family, or sports and recreation, or party and pleasure seeking, or saving up for a carefree retirement—there IS a foundation – Yet he cannot look at it and recognize that it’s sand!
The bottom line for the spiritual fool is that he doesn’t want anything to make him uncomfortable. To dig deeply is just too hard and it causes too much pain. He will tuck tail and run away rather than face any kind of discomfort or pain in life. He might tell you that he admires the words of Jesus Christ, but come to the hard teachings of Jesus – the holiness of God, the awfulness of sin, the awfulness and reality of hell, the awful cost of sin and the absolute necessity that we be born again to new life – the fool will walk away, because it’s too uncomfortable, it’s too painful.
Two comments by way of application:
(1) Don’t be a fool.
(2) Be a wise individual (woman, man, girl or boy)… build your life on the words of Jesus Christ, putting them into practice. Lookout Valley Presbyterian has an awesome foundation in Jesus Christ. Build your life on that same foundation, the very words of Jesus Christ. Look again at vv. 24 & 25 (review). Start building your life today. If you’re within driving distance of LVPC, build here with us. After the New Year, we’ll be offering the Christianity Explored course once again – a careful study of the words of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Mark. There’s no reason that you can’t take ten evenings of your life to do that. If you come a distance, find another church home where the focus is indeed upon the words of Jesus Christ.
(Message to conclude with time of invitation to receive Christ.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lloyd-Jones, David Martyn. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. Leicester: Inter-Varsity, 1976. Print.