Dear friends in Christ.
Over the past few weeks the Lord has delivered to us some very powerful, impactful, and important messages through his word. Roughly a month ago, we heard the Apostle Paul proclaiming to us the importance of regularly refreshing ourselves and renewing ourselves with God’s Word. On the last Sunday of August, we heard Jesus himself teaching us just how important it is for us to be regularly feasting on his flesh and blood through our worship and our reading and studying of his Word. Just last week it was Joshua who challenged each and every one of us to dedicate ourselves to the Lord by choosing to serve him with our lives as we follow his Word. Now, today, we will hear a message that will be no less powerful! For this morning it is Jesus himself, who is once again speaking to us and asking us a very poignant and personal question. It is Jesus who is asking us, “What is the foundation of your faith?” Though in some ways this may feel like a very personal question that simply should not be asked from a pulpit, when we get right down to it, it is Jesus, our Savior who is asking us what the foundation of our faith truly is. In short, he is asking us if our faith is founded on him, the Rock of our salvation, or if our faith is founded on the constantly shifting sands of public opinion and worldly ideas. In fact, just listen to the indirect question Jesus poses as he speaks to us today: “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.” (Matthew 7:24-27)
What more powerful words could there be than these words that Jesus is speaking to us! For in just a few simple sentences, our Lord lays everything on the line and tells us that our faith will either be founded on him as the Rock of our salvation, or it will be founded on the sand of human ideas and worldly philosophies! So, what is the foundation of your faith? Well, by the simple fact that you are here today, you are showing that your faith is founded on Christ, your Rock and your Redeemer! By the simple fact that you are here today you are demonstrating that you have believed the message of salvation through faith in Jesus, and you are putting your faith into action by seeking to strengthen the bond between the spiritual house of your faith and the foundation of Jesus Christ your Savior. By your presence here, you are revealing to your spouse, your children, your family, your neighbors, and every one else who is here today, just how important it is for you to have your faith grounded and built up on the foundation of Jesus Christ, your Savior. In fact, by bringing your children to Sunday School this morning and gathering together for worship, especially on this Christian Education Sunday, you are clearly revealing just how important it is for you to maintain and strengthen the connection between yourself and your Savior, which, if you think about it, is exactly what Christian Education is all about!
In fact, if you think about it, Christian Education is all about building a spiritual house of faith upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and maintaining the very connection of that faith which began on the day that we were baptized! For it was on the day of our baptism that our Christian Education officially began as the Holy Spirit entered our hearts and built our faith upon the foundation of Jesus Christ our Rock and our Redeemer! Though it was on that day when our Christian Education officially began, it has not yet come to an end! Rather, it has continued on to this very day. Though we may not remember it all that well, our Christian Education continued as our parents worked to keep our faith connected to the Rock of our Salvation as they sang us songs like, I Am Jesus’ Little Lamb, as they told us Bible Stories of how our God cares for us, loves us and saved us. They continued our education as they taught us to pray before meal time and at bed time. Then, as we grew, they continued our education as they sent us off to Sunday School and vacation Bible School where we continued to learn the precious truths of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. As we grew and reached the age of Confirmation classes, we had the opportunity to delve deeper into the Living Water of the Word and grow in the faith which the Holy Spirit founded on the Rock of Christ our Savior. But even though the day of Confirmation often marks the last day of formal Christian Education, we never graduate from our need to strengthen the connection between the spiritual house of our faith and the solid foundation of Christ our Rock!
Yet sadly, so often it happens that even the strongest of Christians grow tired and weary in the important work of maintaining the connection between the spiritual house of their faith and the solid foundation of Christ their Savior. Sadly, even the strongest of Christians sometimes feel that once they have established their homes on the solid foundation of God’s Word they are free to forget about the work of maintaining and strengthening their connection to that foundation. Though we have been given the very tools we need, how often don’t we simply fail to mix the mortar of God’s Word and apply it when cracks begin to form in the walls of our faith? How often don’t we simply ignore the home improvement courses of worship and Bible Study which teach us first hand how to successfully care for the connection between our faith and its foundation? How often doesn’t it happen that we weaken our own faith by staying away from the Hardware store of Church simply because our personality doesn’t mesh with the presenting pastor, or because the pastor preached a message we didn’t particularly like, or because he preached to forcefully against a specific sin that we didn’t want to be reminded of? How often doesn’t it happen that we claim to know what the Word of God says, yet, never really bother to read it or learn it? Or how often doesn’t it happen that we confess that we believe in Jesus as the Rock and the foundation of our faith while at the same time allowing everything in our lives to confess that our beliefs actually lie else where?
When that happens, we are in danger of allowing the connection between our faith and the solid Rock of Christ to crumble away to nothing more than shifting sand. We are in danger because whether we realize it or not, we have begun to spend too much time at the beach of this world, building philosophical castles in the sand, and scoring numerous points in the volley ball game of the worlds ideas. When things like this begin to happen, we no longer feel the need to climb back up on to the solid foundation of Christ our Rock or even to work at maintaining our connection to him. Rather, as we grow accustomed to trudging through the shifting sands of popular opinion and human ideas, we start to feel comforted by its warmth as it covers our feet and seems to anchor us in place. We start to enjoy the time we spend lying out in the sun of our own personal truth, and before we know it, we are ready to move out of the homes built so inconveniently high up on that Rock of Christ, and we are ready to set up our own little shacks right there on the sandy beach of the world.
Yet, what does our Savior have to say about this? He says, “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.” (Matthew 7:24-27)
So what is the foundation of your faith? Is it the Rock of Christ our Savior? Or is it the shifting sands of human ideas? Have you built the spiritual house of your faith down on the beach where the tides roll in and sweep the sands away? Or have you built it high in the hills securely founded on the unchanging Word of your God? I pray that your foundation is the Rock of Christ our Savior. I pray that you have heard his Words and are ready to put them in to action, for when you put his words into action you are exactly like the wise man who built his home on the rock. When our faith is securely founded on the Rock of Christ, though there may be times when the rain of temptation beats down upon us, the house of our faith will not fail. Though there may be times when the streams of hardship and tribulation rise against us, our faith will not be washed away. Though there may be times when the winds of death blow against us and finally snuff out the flame of our life, we will still continue to sand firm! We will continue to stand firm because when our faith is founded on the Rock of Christ our Savior, we know that there is nothing in all creation that will ever separate us from his love. Even death itself cannot ever separate us from our Savior, because all that death can do is completely unite us our Savior as we move from this life to our eternal life by his side forever. This is why it is so important for us to build our faith upon the foundation of Jesus Christ our Rock and our Redeemer.
So with all this in mind, go out now and continue in your Christian Education. Make the most of every opportunity you have been given to gather for worship and Sunday school, Confirmation class and Bible study. If it is with in your means, seriously consider sending your children to Bell Plaine or to Saint Peter so that they might have the opportunity to sit at Jesus’ feet each and every day in Bible History. If it is within your means, seriously consider sending your children to MVL so that they might continue to grow in their faith and through the daily study of God’s Word they might have the opportunity to strengthen the bond between the house of their faith and the Rock of its foundation. Go out now, and live your lives as a confession of your faith, so that what you believe is clearly affirmed in everything that you say and do. And in all things, give thanks and praise as you seek to serve the Lord in whatever way is pleasing in his sight.
How incredible for us to hear yet another powerful message from Jesus Christ, our Savior! For today, we have once again been reminded just how important it is for us to dedicate ourselves to the Lord, to feast on the flesh and blood of our Savior, and to renew and refresh ourselves with the Word of God. But even more than that, today Jesus himself has revealed to us just how important it is for us to build our faith on him, the Rock and the foundation of our faith and our salvation. Continue to build your faith on him.
Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN
