Of Sand and The Rock

Mat 7:24-27 ESV "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25] And the rain fell, and he floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. [26] And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. [27] And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

This is a familiar passage to most readers of the Bible. It is commonly brought up in sermons and Bible classes. And the application seems simple, if we do what Jesus says, we are building our “house” on the rock and we will be safe. After all, we did such a great job picking our foundation that our house will certainly not be knocked down.

The real question posed by this passage, is not which is better, to build on sand or to build on rock, but how to build on the Rock. What does it mean when a man “hears these words of mine and does them?” On first glance, it seem like we simply need to hear the word of God and then do what it says. In the things of this world, we hear our master's command and we then fulfill it. Isn't it same to hear God's command and then fulfill it? Yet, look at the demands placed before this statement. It is the sermon on the mount. To “do” the words of Christ which proceeds this statement means to love your enemy as yourself, do everything possible to help your fellow man no matter who he is, to refrain from retaliation, anger, and lust. We are told to fast cheerfully, and to “not be anxious” but to have perfect faith in God our Father. And that is not even the half of it, and yet every single person reading this has broken each of these word's of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have in fact built out house on the sand.

Looking at it this way, we have built our house on the Law, we see what God commands and have tried to do all we could to keep it and we have failed miserably. The rain and floods of the law have come and crashed into our feebly built house. The winds have knocked it to the ground, because its foundation was not on Christ, but on our own works of the law.

What then does it mean to do the words of Christ. I means nothing else other than to repent and believe on Christ, on the Rock himself. In John 6:29, Jesus tells us that the “work of God” is simply to believe in the one whom God has sent. To do the work of God is to believe in Jesus himself. John repeats this truth in the third chapter of his first epistle. The doing of which Christ speaks is the Faith that is created in us through Baptism and the Word!

When we realize that the Rock is Christ himself (1 Cor 10:4) we realize that it is not our works that keep us strong, but the works of Christ on the Cross and the Holy Spirit in us through the means of Grace. To build on the Rock is to strengthen faith, and faith is only created and strengthened by the Gospel in Word and Sacrament. There is no substitution. Working to fulfill the law does not build on the rock, but builds on the sand of our own works. By receiving the gifts of Christ, our faith is being built on the Solid Rock of Jesus Christ.

SOLI DEO GLORIA