Two Houses

In case you slipped in late, my name is Steve Craig. I'm the high school pastor, and this weekend is youth takeover weekend. It's amazing. Most of the students that you see up here are part of our junior high and high school programs. Just a reminder, continue to show them the grace and love of Jesus throughout the whole service.

It's my privilege to introduce today's speaker. As the high school pastor, one of the things I get to do is help students transition from their parents' faith to having a faith of their own. Our speaker, Jonathan, this year, he said something that I've stolen as my own. He said, "Christianity is not a hobby. It's a lifestyle that you live seven days a week." So thank you, Jonathan, for that.

Jonathan is an avid hiker. Last year, he hiked Mount Whitney with my son. He's also an amazing photographer. He speaks several languages, plays several instruments on the guitar, and loves Jesus with all his heart. And I'm jealous of everything that he can do that I cannot do. But it's my privilege today to welcome and help introduce our speaker, Jonathan Vaccaro.

Good morning. All right. Well, it's good to see you all. It's definitely the biggest crowd we've had so far this weekend. It's really strange to be up here. Usually at church, I'm over here in my family's kinda pew territory on Saturday nights, or sometimes on Sundays with this awesome crowd. And it's different being up here, but it's awesome to see you guys this morning.

So I'm sure for many of you, this might be a familiar scenario. You hear an amazing sermon here at church. Perhaps it's got immense wisdom. It's deeply inspirational. And you probably have a deep emotional reaction to it. At the end, you might even consider it to be a life-changing sermon. But as soon as you walk out those doors, the reaction starts to fade. You gradually forget that feeling you had. The sense of urgency is gone. You've had your reaction, and now you start to move on with your normal life.

And just like that, what felt like a life-changing moment doesn't really result in any change to your life. This doesn't just happen after a really good sermon. It can happen after a meaningful time of worship, a Bible study, a weekly camp or a retreat, after any significant spiritual moment, really. And though we have this initial reaction, these feelings, we often don't follow up with any lasting action, and it will change to our lives.

And so often as Christians, we're chasing these brief reactions. After all, it's much easier to experience a moment of Christian feelings than to take Christian actions. As long as we get that Jesus-y feeling now and then, we're doing all right, right? Well, there's a lot more to that. And unfortunately, this is something lots of us slip into, something I slip into a lot.

Now, the series we're in this season is "Truth Stories, Parables of Jesus." And the parable we'll be going through today is about this very topic. The difference between hearing and obeying the teachings of the Bible. It's super important to view this parable within its context. Jesus has just delivered the Sermon on the Mount, the most famous and certainly the longest of all his sermons recorded in the Bible. And it gets a reaction, a major reaction.

In Matthew 7:28, it says, "When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teachings." But Jesus' teachings are meant for more than just amazement. God's word is not knowledge to be applauded, collected and stowed away. It's instruction and it's wisdom to be lived by. Jesus communicates the difference between these and the importance of this issue with the following parable.

"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. 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."

So at the very start, Jesus mentions these words of mine. He's referring to the whole proceeding Sermon on the Mount, a big pile of really rich instruction. And this parable is the very conclusion. It's the finale of this massive sermon. You know how lots of academic writing will end with a sort of, now that I've made my points, this is what you do with this information? I think this is exactly what this parable is doing in Jesus' sermon.

He's just delivered this long, long sermon and now he's telling us what to do about it. So the metaphor in the story is definitely very simple but quite effective. We're not building literal houses but lives. And to be like the wise builder, to build on the rock, is to live rooted in obedience to God's words. As Jesus says, to actually put them into practice.

To be like the foolish builder is to hear God's words but not put them into practice or build your foundation on other things instead. When the storms of life come, whether they be loss, temptation, suffering, the life built on God's word endures. I think it's really important to notice that both builders hear the words. It's not knowledge of the words that allows the wise builder to survive the storm.

And this is interesting because you could read the Bible 100 times over, go to church five times a week, study apologetics for decades, all to become the most biblically knowledgeable person in the world and still topple during a storm. Because a firm foundation is not about knowledge. It's not about knowing and hearing. It's about doing. The wise man listens to Jesus and puts his words into practice. The foolish builder hears Jesus but doesn't do anything about it.

And reading this parable, the instructions are pretty clear. Jesus is telling us, obey what I've told you, do this and you'll have a foundation to endure the storms. Have an identity rooted in doing God's will and you'll have a firm foundation to build upon. The options are clear and it's obvious what we should choose, right? We should all be like the wise builder. It would be foolish, illogical to say, no, I wanna build on the sand. That's my role model.

Yet our human selves so regularly build on the sand. We hear, but don't obey. We may have that feeling, but we don't do anything about it. And thinking about this over the past few weeks, it seems to me that there are three main reasons why people so regularly build on the sand. The first one is that building on the sand is simply easier. To build your life on rock is much more difficult than making a one-time decision. It's not just checking a box. It's a lifelong process of choosing obedience over worldly things.

But the sand, the sand is easy. It's pretty evident in the metaphor. Digging down to bedrock is long painstaking work. It sounds hard, but sand is soft and it moves easily. Now I've been working at Cruise Kids over the summer, which is super fun. I see lots of familiar faces from Cruise Kids. Yeah. And every other week we take the kids to the beach, which is really fun.

And I observed something that seems to represent this pretty well. The kids love to dig holes and build sand castles. Oh wow, that's an actual Cruise Kid kid. That's crazy. We've been switching to photos. And before they start digging and building, they have to choose where they're gonna dig and build. Just two weeks ago, one group of campers started digging a hole in the slightly wet sand while the rest settled up in the dry sand.

Now for all of you sand enthusiasts, you'll know that digging in wet sand is a good bit easier than the dry sand because the water helps it hold its position and it's got more firmness. Up in the dry sand, a lot of patience is required. It's hard to work. Every shovel you remove, some sand slides back in. It's much harder work. Now the group in the damp sand made progress much more quickly than their dry sand counterparts. But eventually they learned why the sand was damp as a way of washing over their hole. And when it retreated, their hole was gone. Nothing left of it.

But the holes up in the dry sand, the holes that took so much more work, so much more time, lasted all day. The hard work paid off. The easy option did not. And we always want the easier path. And being like the foolish builder and building on the sand is indeed the easier option. It's so much more comfortable to do nothing than something. Apathy is easier than compassion. Giving into temptation is easier than resisting it. Cowardice is easier than courage.

But ultimately this path leads to the great crash that Jesus describes in the parable. Now a second reason that people might choose to build on the sand is that sometimes we just don't believe that we need a firm foundation. When the storms aren't in sight, when life is going pretty great, we often slip into believing that we don't need the guidance of God's word. That we can handle things by ourselves.

We can fool ourselves into thinking that the extra work, all that extra work of digging down to the rock is unnecessary. If things are going okay now, why put in the extra work? Us humans are ridiculously good at this. And living in Santa Cruz, I think it's possible that we might be misunderstanding something about the foolish builder. When we think of sand, we think of beach sand, right? 'Cause that's what Santa Cruz has.

Well, to build a house on beach sand is a bad idea. An obviously bad idea. If you build a house right there, it wouldn't last very long at all. One storm is gone. Might not even take a storm to be honest. But around Galilee, the region where Jesus gave his sermon on the Mount, the sand Jesus speaks of is more likely kind of a sandy top layer of soil. And during dry months, the sand would be packed down and deceivingly firm. It would seem more trustworthy than it actually is.

And despite being warned against it, the foolish builder might genuinely think, you know, this sand doesn't look too bad. I can probably get away with it. And we do this all the time in life. We think that we're the exception to what God's word teaches. Jesus lays out a path and we think a little bit of deviation won't be too bad. And then a little bit of deviation adds to more. You find yourself on a totally different path.

And this is how it is in our lives. In good times, it seems like nothing bad will come from building on the sand. But the storms do come. We all know that. Many of you have been around for a great deal longer than I have, and you know that. Jesus makes it clear in the parable. He doesn't say if the rains come down. He doesn't say if the streams rise. No, he says the rains came down. The streams rose. Both the builders experienced the storm. Only the wise one knew to prepare for it.

And that packed down sand doesn't look so strong as soon as the floods start. When the rains come, it just flows the sediment in the nearby river. Now, a third camp that people fall into are those who get distracted. Maybe it's their intention to build their life on obedience to God's word, but other things get in the way. And many aspects of life are constantly competing to become your foundation, the base of your identity.

For some, careers, achievements, success. Maybe people or relationships or social status. For some, even passions or hobbies. And lots of these things aren't intrinsically bad. Lots of them are very important things to pursue in your life. But none of them are stable enough to serve as a firm foundation. And it's so critical that we self-examine because we don't always notice when something is becoming more of a foundation in our lives than God's word.

So easy to gradually drift away from it. In the book of Job, a man loses everything he'd amassed in a wildly successful life. The things the world defined him with, his wealth, status, his family were all gone. Yet, he had a firm foundation upon obedience to God. And after immense tragedy, he remained faithful to God. Think to yourself, what if the same happened to you? Would your identity in Christ still be standing through such a tremendous storm?

I know for myself that the answer's probably not. Though I want obedience to God to be the foundation of my life, there's so many other things that I put first. Not intentionally, it just happens. The things that I know I often don't put into practice. And it leads to this really lousy feeling where faith feels more like a spectator sport than being down in the arena and actually doing stuff.

So, what do we do about this? How do we become like the wise builder? This isn't me telling you to try harder. Though of course we should always try to follow the wise builder. By practicing godly ways, we're human and we will inevitably fail on our own. Now, if this sounds all kind of hopeless, I assure you that it's not because there's some very good news.

And that is that God wants you to be like the wise builder. He's not trying to trick you into failing him because being like the wise builder initiates a relationship with God, a real two-sided relationship. God loves us and wants this kind of relationship. Now, have you ever seen a loving relationship that doesn't involve action? No. Relationships rely on action. They lead to action and they can't exist without action.

And here's the cool part about that. Godly actions are a natural result of growing closer with God. When you get closer with another person, the way you act is influenced by them, right? The more you hang out with someone, the more you become like them. The same is true with God. In pursuit of godliness, be with God, read the Bible, pray, meditate on his words.

And more good news, though choosing to build on the rock is indeed the more difficult decision. God arms us with strength and wisdom that's beyond our own. And at the end of the day, living in obedience to God is not about using our strength, but leaning into the strength that God provides for us.

It's so important that you understand that building your foundation on the rock is not a metaphor for developing an iron will, obeying God through sheer strength. No, that's impossible. Your foundation to the rock is a foundation built on God's grace, something infinitely stronger than anything human. And when you struggle with the hard work of building on the rock, or maybe ignorance of the need for a firm foundation, or even distractions, none of these things are beyond the power of God. He can mend all of that.

And living like the wise builder is indeed hard work, but it is what God has designed for us in his perfect plan. And from there, it's all incredibly beautiful. By putting God's word into practice, by leaning into his strength and his grace, we grow closer to him. It's a positive feedback loop. You'll put God's word into practice, and you'll grow closer with God. You'll understand more of what he means and his instructions that he gives us.

And by growing closer to God, you'll put his words into practice more and more. You'll find that you're not just here for the feelings anymore. You're here to learn. And then you take what you learn and you implement it in your life. Your faith will become one of action, something evident to you and the world. And when this becomes the foundation of your life, when you become like the wise builder, you have strength in God, and no storm can match God's foundation.

Let's pray. Dear God, I thank you for the chance to gather here this morning. Help us God to lean into your grace, your strength, so that we can be like the wise builder. Help us to act in your will, to live like you, and to spread your love to the world. Show us opportunities to be your servants and give us the courage to take those opportunities. Protect us from distractions, weariness, ignorance, all the things that might make us want to be like the foolish builder. Help us to grow closer to you. In Jesus' name, amen.