A Sermon
Presented by Rev. Merlin T. Batt,
Intentional Interim Pastor
St. Matthew’s United Church of Christ
Maiden, North Carolina
Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 1, 2008

Scripture Lesson: Matthew 7:21-29
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Maybe you saw the report in the news last week that the leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy is expected to remain standing for another 300 years. A great amount of effort and money have been expended over the centuries to stabilize the tower - a 183 foot, free-standing, white marble bell tower which leans away from the city’s cathedral (fortunately), toward the southeast, at an angle of almost 4 degrees. That means, when you are at the top of the tower, you are positioned about 13 feet farther to the southeast than when you began the climb!
 
The Tower of Pisa began to lean to one side after its builders only completed the third story in the year 1178, five years after construction began. The name of its architect has been lost to history, something for which he should be most grateful, because the architect’s original design was deeply flawed. Later structural engineers determined that the problem is due to the Tower’s inadequate foundation and the soft, sandy soil beneath it. If it weren’t for the fact that engineers have been pumping concrete into the earth around the Tower, it would no longer be leaning. In this case I would be talking today about the once-leaning Tower of Pisa!

The reason I mention this historical curiosity in a sermon is this: it matters a great deal what kind of foundation you lay, not only when constructing a building, but also when constructing a soul. We are meant to build our lives in such a way that they will be, not only attractive and pleasing, but also strong enough to withstand the storms and forces that beat and pull on our lives. Both our Old Testament and Gospel readings today focus upon this business of soul construction, and I invite you to join me in doing the same.

Before centering in on the details of these two texts from Deuteronomy and the Gospel of Matthew, let’s step back a bit to notice the wider picture. There are over 400 references in the Bible to building and construction – a large number of metaphors, parables, and illustrations on this theme. For example, Ecclesiastes 3:3 speaks of a “a time to build.” Yet building by ourselves is considered to be foolish according to the writer of Psalm 127, who says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” The prophet Isaiah in the 48th chapter of his book tells us that God is a builder, too. “My hand laid the foundation of the earth,” says the Lord according to the prophet.

In the New Testament, the church is not only called “the household of God,” but Paul in one of his letters to Corinth refers to his fellow Christians as “God’s building.” The Book of Hebrews continues the theme by asserting that “the builder of all things is God.” Yet it is also clear from many other texts that God has graciously given each of us a hand in the construction of that building which is our soul.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at each of our two texts in turn, first the one from Deuteronomy. When we’re reading this book, it’s as if we are in the 8th century B.C., but it just as well could be the 21st century A.D. Consider. The religion of Israel, based on the revelation of the one, true God to Moses, is having a hard time competing with the sex-saturated, pagan religious world of Canaan. Society is changing rapidly, moving from a society based on agriculture to a money-based, urban society. Families are disintegrating. The small minority of the rich and powerful have corrupted the system and made it impossible for the poor to get justice. This was happening in the time when Deuteronomy was written. It all sounds eerily familiar to us in the 21st century.

Apparently the time had come for God’s Word spoken to Moses centuries earlier to again speak to the people of Israel. So the author of Deuteronomy (which, by the way, means “Second Law”) retells the old story of Moses receiving God’s Law on Mt. Sinai, and of the ethical and ritual requirements of living in covenant with this gracious but demanding God.

Through this anonymous 8th century prophet, the God of Israel speaks to his people, “You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul.” In other words, you shall make my commands the foundation of your life. Embed them in your very being. Construct your soul using them as the building blocks. And don’t just listen to my words, do them, act on them. Put my commandments on your hand; strap them to your forehead; write them on the doorposts of your house; talk about them at home and when you are away; remember them before you go to sleep and when you awaken.

And, whatever you do, be sure to teach them to your children! Help them build a strong foundation for living as mature men and women of God, people of virtue and wisdom and compassion, strong to defend against the ways of the evil one and strong to withstand the storms of life!

Christian parents here today, are you listening? The job of Christian education and formation is your job. The church is here, not to do it for you,  but to help you do it. Think about it - at most, the church has your children in its care 1 to 2 hours a week. You have them in your direct care for as much as 166 hours a week! So don’t make the mistake of leaving your children’s Christian education and character formation to volunteers at the church! The sad result will be young people starting out life with poorly built soul foundations.

Rather, demand of the church that it equip you, resource you, and help you to do your job of constructing the souls of your children for the brief years God has put them in your care. Indeed, God has graciously given to parents a hand in the construction of that building which is the soul of their children. So build well while you are able!

 And, while it should be obvious, also build well the foundation on which your own life is constructed. And that brings us to Jesus’ words in Matthew’s Gospel. They come at the conclusion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in which he has told us, among others things, to turn the other cheek, to go the second mile, to remain faithful in our marriage, to be truthful, to give generously, to forgive others, to love our enemies, to love God and seek his face continually.

These sound so difficult, heroic, even impossible, but Jesus ends his sermon by saying that we shall be held accountable for striving to live this way, in accord with God’s will for us. He says plainly that crying out to him on that coming day of accounting, “Lord, Lord,” will not be an acceptable substitute for having day by day, year by year, in season and out of season, built our lives on the foundation of his word, constructed our souls using the building blocks of his word. Jesus even says that being outwardly, and even spectacularly, religious will be of no value, if it’s just a way of appearing to be his disciple, all the while avoiding the harder work of shaping our thinking and behaving according to the contours of his word.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them,” said Jesus, “will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall!”

I know someone who did not bother to construct his soul from the building blocks of Jesus’ word. Therefore he came to the end of his life in great bitterness and despair. He constantly complained about the way his work career ended prematurely. He laid the blame on others. He withdrew into the confines of his house, and finally into a small room. His world narrowed, as his fears mounted. His anger boiled over. His relationship with his wife and family deteriorated. His physical condition worsened, and when it came time for his life to end, all he had in his heart was bitterness.

Looking back upon his life, I saw that he lacked the moral and spiritual resources to deal with life’s difficulties and disappointments. What happened to him was the consequence of a lifetime of failing to construct his soul with the building blocks of Jesus’ word. He was always busy, so busy he didn’t have time to worship God, didn’t take advantage of opportunities to learn about Jesus, wasn’t serious about hearing and doing what Jesus said, was cynical and dismissive when others spoke of their faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, he had built his house on sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall!”

In contrast, I heard just last week about a woman who suffers terribly  from a severe neurological disorder. Much of the day she is in great pain. Over the years she has endured a dozen surgeries, and yet she maintains a positive disposition. Against great odds, overwhelming odds, she continues the fight, and in the midst of it, she lives with dignity and grace.

Her pastor once asked her how she endures. And she said to him, “It’s like I prepared for this 50 years ago. My mother took me to church every Sunday. We had a difficult time, by most people’s standards. But at home and at church I was told that God loved me, that God had plans for me, that God would stand beside me no matter what. I never really needed to draw on any of that until now. I’m so grateful that, when it came time for me to reach down and show what I was made of, I had something to show for it.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them,” said Jesus, “will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.”

Soul construction goes on as long as we live. Day by day, brick by brick, you and I are constructing our souls. We build them by what we worship, the decisions we make, the people with whom we relate, the activities in which we engage, the goals we pursue, the values we cherish, the habits we keep, and the things with which we fill our minds.

So build well. Build with those things which will endure, so that when the storms come, when the winds blow and the rains beat against your life, you will stand strong. And be able to say with the old hymn refrain, “On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. Amen.”