Matthew 7:21-29. 1/6/08
Words are cheap – where’s the substance???
{21) "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. {22} Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' {23} Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' {24} "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. {25} 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. {26} 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. {27} The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." {28} When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, {29} because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
Again we are severely challenged as God’s people here in this reading. Here once more Jesus sees right into our hearts; and challenges what he sees. Over and over again it would seem that God is not comfortable leaving us to ‘cruise’ through life, blissfully unaware of the serious problems that are ever present in our lives. He is leaving no room for any form of self-righteousness and smugness on our part.
Here again I would say; take very careful note of what Jesus is saying here. The picture that he paints for us is very clear: "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. {25} 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. {26} 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. {27} The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
What is the foundation that we are building on? What is the substance of our lives? Very basic; but very important questions. Without having that right; our lives could very easily come crumbling down around our ears. No, without the right foundation, our lives will come crashing down sooner or later.
Yet that is the danger that Jesus sees in each one of us. He knows very well what is going on in our hearts and minds. He knows that we like to build our lives in much the same way we build our houses: As long as it looks good and impressive: As long as it gives us standing with the people that matter: As long as we gain recognition.
As Christians we take that same attitude with us. Look I attend church regularly: I am involved doing this, that and the other; I talk about grace and Jesus when I need to. Maybe we don’t not prophesy in Jesus name, and name drive out demons and perform many miracles, but we do our best; we even talk about doing what we are doing, for God, and even though we are not perfect we are forgiven, so we are OK. As long as it looks good; as long as we are seen to be doing the right thing; that is all that matters.
Is that so? Is that what Jesus commends here? No, he says; Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Let me say that again: Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. And what is the will of the Father? Jesus says: everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice, is doing the will of the Father.
What are these words that Jesus is talking about? Here I would like to read the whole sermon of Jesus that he gave there on the Mount; but we do not have time, so I would suggest you go home and read it. However I will give you some examples of what he said.
(Mat 5:18-22) I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. {19} Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. {21} "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' {22} But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca, ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
(Mat 5:43-45) "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' {44} But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, {45} that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
(Mat 6:5-8) "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. {6} But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. {7} And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. {8} Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
(Mat 7:1-5) "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. {2} For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. {3} "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? {4} How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? {5} You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
That is the kind of hearing and doing that he is talking about. That is the foundational stuff that he is talking about. That is the tough kind of doing that he expects from us all. Any attempts to do less than that is a problem. Any excuses, that are seeking to avoid having to live by those words is: ‘building on sand.’ Our spiritual lives will come crumbling down.
That radical living is what God expects of you and me. So surely that is what we will seek to hear and do. But is it? It is beyond what we are capable of doing so we make all kinds of excuses: and for us as Christians it is often along the lines of; I believe in Jesus and what he has done for me; so it doesn’t matter. Or I live by grace, so therefore I can make a few mistakes and be a ‘bit of a sod’ and she’ll be right. After all I ‘prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'
Anyway since we can’t live up to those standards that Jesus sets; surely he can’t expect us to. Yet Jesus says only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, will enter the kingdom of heaven. So surely our cause is hopeless; we just can’t measure up. We are doomed to find any way out of our predicament by ourselves.
That leaves us only one option and that is to cling to Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for us. He and his taking our sin on himself to cross so that we might be forgiven is the only hope and the only life that we have. Knowing that we can in no way measure up, means that we now hold Jesus Christ, alone, up as our Saviour and our Lord. He is the one who is now all important for us.
Then, since he is Lord, we will gladly hear his words and set forth with renewed zeal to do his will; we will gladly want to practice what he has told us; not in order to now gain acceptance, but because he has died and risen again for us and for our salvation. He will be our authority on life; not me and myself. He and his every word will be important to us. Then to him will be all glory and honour, forever and ever. AMEN.
Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba
Words are cheap – where’s the substance???
{21) "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. {22} Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' {23} Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' {24} "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. {25} 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. {26} 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. {27} The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." {28} When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, {29} because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
Again we are severely challenged as God’s people here in this reading. Here once more Jesus sees right into our hearts; and challenges what he sees. Over and over again it would seem that God is not comfortable leaving us to ‘cruise’ through life, blissfully unaware of the serious problems that are ever present in our lives. He is leaving no room for any form of self-righteousness and smugness on our part.
Here again I would say; take very careful note of what Jesus is saying here. The picture that he paints for us is very clear: "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. {25} 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. {26} 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. {27} The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
What is the foundation that we are building on? What is the substance of our lives? Very basic; but very important questions. Without having that right; our lives could very easily come crumbling down around our ears. No, without the right foundation, our lives will come crashing down sooner or later.
Yet that is the danger that Jesus sees in each one of us. He knows very well what is going on in our hearts and minds. He knows that we like to build our lives in much the same way we build our houses: As long as it looks good and impressive: As long as it gives us standing with the people that matter: As long as we gain recognition.
As Christians we take that same attitude with us. Look I attend church regularly: I am involved doing this, that and the other; I talk about grace and Jesus when I need to. Maybe we don’t not prophesy in Jesus name, and name drive out demons and perform many miracles, but we do our best; we even talk about doing what we are doing, for God, and even though we are not perfect we are forgiven, so we are OK. As long as it looks good; as long as we are seen to be doing the right thing; that is all that matters.
Is that so? Is that what Jesus commends here? No, he says; Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Let me say that again: Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. And what is the will of the Father? Jesus says: everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice, is doing the will of the Father.
What are these words that Jesus is talking about? Here I would like to read the whole sermon of Jesus that he gave there on the Mount; but we do not have time, so I would suggest you go home and read it. However I will give you some examples of what he said.
(Mat 5:18-22) I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. {19} Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. {21} "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' {22} But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca, ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
(Mat 5:43-45) "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' {44} But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, {45} that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
(Mat 6:5-8) "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. {6} But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. {7} And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. {8} Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
(Mat 7:1-5) "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. {2} For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. {3} "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? {4} How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? {5} You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
That is the kind of hearing and doing that he is talking about. That is the foundational stuff that he is talking about. That is the tough kind of doing that he expects from us all. Any attempts to do less than that is a problem. Any excuses, that are seeking to avoid having to live by those words is: ‘building on sand.’ Our spiritual lives will come crumbling down.
That radical living is what God expects of you and me. So surely that is what we will seek to hear and do. But is it? It is beyond what we are capable of doing so we make all kinds of excuses: and for us as Christians it is often along the lines of; I believe in Jesus and what he has done for me; so it doesn’t matter. Or I live by grace, so therefore I can make a few mistakes and be a ‘bit of a sod’ and she’ll be right. After all I ‘prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'
Anyway since we can’t live up to those standards that Jesus sets; surely he can’t expect us to. Yet Jesus says only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, will enter the kingdom of heaven. So surely our cause is hopeless; we just can’t measure up. We are doomed to find any way out of our predicament by ourselves.
That leaves us only one option and that is to cling to Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for us. He and his taking our sin on himself to cross so that we might be forgiven is the only hope and the only life that we have. Knowing that we can in no way measure up, means that we now hold Jesus Christ, alone, up as our Saviour and our Lord. He is the one who is now all important for us.
Then, since he is Lord, we will gladly hear his words and set forth with renewed zeal to do his will; we will gladly want to practice what he has told us; not in order to now gain acceptance, but because he has died and risen again for us and for our salvation. He will be our authority on life; not me and myself. He and his every word will be important to us. Then to him will be all glory and honour, forever and ever. AMEN.
Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba
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