Life Aligned to Weather a Pandemic Matthew 7:24-29

At a time in our world when the news is dominated by one thing, a pandemic due to a rather mysterious deadly virus, we have come to a passage in Scripture that speaks directly to how we as Jesus-followers can flourish in times like these. With that said, I want to ask you to focus right now on what Jesus taught at the very end of his Sermon on the Mount, sometimes called the greatest sermon ever preached: Jesus proclaimed, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (End of Jesus’ sermon) When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law (Mt 7:24-29). You may be wondering why I think this passage is relevant to our current pandemic. After all, it’s about a turbulent storm; not about health crisis. So, let me explain a bit about how storms like this were viewed in the ancient world and why Jesus chose to close his sermon with this particular illustration:

The Setting There was nothing that people in Middle Eastern world of Jesus’ day feared more than a violent storm like the one Jesus described. The fierce winds were mysterious as to their origin. Storms like this seemed to come out of nowhere. And, the winds were invisible so people often could not see them coming until the last moment when the fierce winds swept in and caused destruction. And, worst of all, they were uncontrollable. None of the strategies, tools or weapons of their day even addressed this kind of enemy. When the storm occurred on or along the sea like in Jesus’ story, it was even more terrifying. It was not that Middle Eastern people were afraid of water. No, fishing and transportation by boat were huge industries. It was what was under the surface of the water that they feared. They couldn’t see what was down in the water though they knew powerful creatures were there. The people had, of course, seen crocodiles coming out of the water and knew of their strength. Ancient people called the sea monsters they feared “the leviathan.” You can read about them in many places in the Old Testament. So, think about the situation Jesus described in his story. It was about a huge destructive and deadly storm that arose alongside a body of water. So, have you ever been in a situation in which the enemy was:

1. Mysterious – as to its origin and source?
2. Invisible – so you don’t know where it is and how it might attack?
3. Uncontrollable – with current strategies, weapons and medicines proving ineffective? Those are the ways I hear fear-filled people talking about the coronavirus pandemic we are going through.

The Characters It was in that kind of situation that Jesus asked people to envision two different men and what happened to them in a storm. If you had seen these men before the storm, you would have thought they were a lot alike:

• Both men built a house – The word “oikias” that Jesus used for house had a rather broad range of meanings in Jesus’ day. In first respect, it talked about a dwelling place, a home where the family lives. Building a house reflected the universal longing people have to possess a place to live – and not to be homeless.
  But, that same word was often used for the family itself, i.e., the household. We who are human often also have a longing to build a strong marriage and family – and not to have that household broken or hate-filled. And, that same word was sometimes used, in Jesus’ day, for the career or business a person might build, probably because such things were usually family enterprises. All to say – the illustration Jesus used of building a house could have been applied to any two men who are seeking to build their lives. There is nothing wrong with them doing that. Both men had the kinds of hopes and dreams that most human beings have.
• Both men seemed to be Christians Both men were among those who listened the words of Jesus (cf, v.24 and v.26). In this particular story, Jesus wasn’t contrasting Christian and non-Christian. Both would have read Scripture, gone to worship services (maybe, even online if they could have), and listened to sermons. In fact, the story is a part of a sermon they would have listened to.
• Both men went through the storm It was, of course, the storm that proved what these men were like and whether what they were building with their lives had real and lasting substance. Make note of that right now: Going through a storm –or a pandemic – is one of the best ways to see what you are really made of -- or, more accurately, whether your faith is genuine. Don’t allow a storm to sweep through your life without allowing it to reveal what’s at the core of your life.

So, in terms of external things that you could see, these men were very similar – and their houses were too. In fact, I can imagine that the second man’s house might have been much more attractive and embellished on the outside because he probably focused a lot on that part of the house. Do you remember Pastor Jeff’s sermons about prayer and giving earlier in the series of messages. He pointed out that the religious leaders loved to pray long and loud and eloquently -- and they liked to give so that everyone could see how fantastic they were. These were all external things that they did so that people could say, “Wow! What a religious person that person is!” So, what was the real difference between these two men’s houses? It was the foundation. It was what the house was built on. I think we here in Southern CA can understand the role of a foundation in a house’s ability to withstand a storm as well as anyone in the world! We have a lot of houses built on hillsides. Almost each year, after the fire season is over and the rains come, we see houses on hillsides sliding down the hillsides to their ruin.  This point I’m making has very personal application to Chris and me. The house we lived in for most of our time in Pasadena was built on the hillside over by Eaton Canyon.  When we sold the house, the buyer was deeply concerned about mudslides. But, our home was one of the oldest in our area and had been there over 55 years. There was not one crack in its walls or ceiling – and there had been no shifting or misalignment in any of the windows and doors. The reason, I was told, is that the house is built on a natural cut area providing a granite bedrock foundation rather than a man-made fill area. If you live in a hillside area, or if you are considering buying a home in a hillside area, you should be aware that houses built on man-made fill areas have been observed to be more prone to distress from mudslides and earthquakes than houses built on cut areas. Man-made fill materials have more tendencies to settle than natural soils found in cut areas. The house we lived in has withstood countless storms including the storms that came after the famous 1993 Eaton Canyon fire. The key is to a house’s stability in the midst of storms is its foundation. With that in mind, in the story that Jesus told, he was saying that what is true of a house is also true of our lives. When you go through any kind of storm – including a pandemic – the key to you enduring it, even flourishing in the midst of it, is what is at the foundation of your life.

The Viktor Frankl Experiment During my 12 years as your Sr. Pastor, I spoke several times about the research Dr. Viktor Frankl did while he was in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. His work is so relevant to this message that that I want to tell you a bit more about it today than I have in the past. Viktor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and research psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor. While he was held captive in several concentration camps including Auschwitz, he chose to engage in a research project examining how people sought to survive emotionally and mentally when their Nazi captors used every means possible to destroy every part of their beings. After the war was over, Frankl's chronicled his findings in his book, Man's Search for Meaning (German title Trotzdem, Sag Ja Zum Leben, or, In Spite of Everything, Say Yes to Life). Frankl wrote that he observed people trying a number of means to survive in the camps: • Inner fortitude – Some felt they had more tenacity than their captors and decided they could stay strong and resolute through their own internal emotional resources. • Focus on revenge – Some focused on the payback they believed would eventually come to the enemy – and imagined their own participation in that revenge. • Envisioning the good – Some spent time meditating on the beautiful home, family, girlfriend or boyfriend or the career they believed they would return to. Frankl said he watched after one person after another of his fellow captors were worn down by their persecutors and gave in to hopelessness and despair. Then, he said that the few who were able to survive with their emotions in tact were those rare people who had at the core of their lives something that their Nazi persecutors could not take away. Those few, he said, did not experience a disintegration of their personalities and a complete loss of hope. He wrote, “We find strength in grief, suffering and injustice only when we have the hope that the pain or loss we experience is not permanent and purposeless.” The point of this is: As you build your life, you need a foundation that evil enemies cannot tear down, fires cannot burn down, earthquakes cannot shake down, windstorms cannot blow down and – might I add –deadly viruses cannot break down. Jesus is saying at the end of his Sermon on the Mount that he is that foundation that you need to build your life upon.

The Two House-Builders and Us In light of that, let’s go back to those two men in Jesus’ story and see what they have to say to us. The man who built his house on the sand is like the majority of people in our world regardless of age, ethnicity, nationality and culture. It’s the norm for human being to try to build our lives on things that are temporary. Many of those things that are at the foundation of people’s lives are good things: our careers, our homes, our health and fitness, our marriages and families, etc. These are all good things. We want our careers to be thriving, our marriages and families to be strong, our bodies to be healthy and fit. However, let’s face it – none of those things will last. An economic collapse can take away our jobs and businesses. Rejection or rebellion or unfaithfulness can ruin our relationships. Old age takes its toll on our physical bodies and our appearance. And, of course, ultimately death will take all those things away. But, if you don’t know God, what else will you put at the foundation of your life? But, let’s remember that in his story of the two men in the storm, Jesus wasn’t contrasting a Christian with a non-Christian. He talked about two people who, on the surface, looked like Christians. But, one had his life founded on his relationship to Jesus and the other didn’t. So, let’s face the truth – the same is surely true of those of us who attend Lake Avenue Church too! We who claim to follow Jesus live in this world and want to build our homes, our careers and our families too. And, it is so easy for those good things to creep into the foundation. As good as those things are, if they become what you live for, they will soon prove to be sand. Sometimes it takes a storm to open your eyes to what your life is really built upon. When that storm – or when that pandemic – comes, then you will begin to see what it is that is really at the core of your life. So, let me ask you two questions: What is it that you feel you really have to have in order to be content? What is it that, if it is lost or taken away, would absolutely devastate you? Answer those questions and you’ll know what it is that you are are building your life upon. In contrast, Jesus offers himself as the foundation upon which to build your life. He asks you bring him into the core of your life by placing your faith in him. That means that you entrust your former self-directed life and all is failures, flaws and sins asking for and finding his forgiveness and cleansing. And, then, you entrust your life to him. Jesus becomes the one who is the savior from your sins and the Lord of your life. Notice how Jesus speaks of this is his story: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” It’s very important for you to understand this clearly. Jesus was not saying that you have to do a lot of things in order to be a Christian. No, both Jesus and the entire New Testament make it clear that we can never achieve our own salvation by what we do. As my friend and fellow LAC-person, Daniel Fong, says often to me, “In the Christian faith, being always precedes doing.” We first become a Christian by faith. Then, as Pastor Mathew spoke about last week, Jesus gives his Holy Spirit to live within us and, when that happens, our being Christians will flows into doing. Let me also make this clear: The surest way for you to know that you have become a Christian is that you will long to do what he calls you to do. You will want to please this One who loved you and gave his life for you. You will know that Jesus gave his life not to ruin your life but so that you might have life to the full. As Jesus said, you will long to “hear his words and put them into practice.” Jesus being the foundation of your life will flow into a way of life that is aligned with the ways of God. Listen to how the apostle Paul put this in Gal 2:20 -- I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. What does a life like that look like? That’s what this series in the Sermon on the Mount has been about. So, I ask you again and again to go back over Matthew 5-7. You can pull up all Pastor Jeff’s sermons on it and ask Jesus to help you to live in keeping with it. Let me remind you of a life with Jesus at the foundation: • You will long for your inner character traits to be like those of Jesus as found in the beatitudes in Mt 5:1-13 – mourning the evil in this world, being humble toward others, seeking what is right and just. • You will not let anger, hatred, and grudges fester in your heart but will take the initiative to reconcile broken relationships (5:21-26). • You will be faithful in your relationships, especially in your marriages when you are married (5:27-32). • You will be trustworthy and honest in all your words and dealings (5:33-37). • You will develop an inner life of prayer, giving, and fasting not as a religious show but so that your foundation of following Jesus will be so real that it flows out into the way you live (6:1-18). • You will not be worried when a storm comes or a pandemic breaks out because you have not stored up for yourself treasures on earth – no, you know moths, vermin, thieves, recessions, inflation and viruses destroy those things (6:19-34). For you, the one who is the foundation of your life will never leave you or forsake you. He loves you; died for you and, let’s shout it out, he alone defeated even death itself. There is a much-loved song written by Stuart Townend that, each time you sing it, should be a recommitment to Jesus being the one you build your life on. Instead of singing it today, I want you to join me in reading it and declaring that Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the foundation of your life so that, whatever storms arise and however long this pandemic continues, you will have hope. Indeed, you will stand strong:

In Christ alone my hope is found, He is my light, my strength, my song This Cornerstone, this solid Ground Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace When fears are stilled, when strivings cease My Comforter, my All in All Here in the love of Christ I stand.