"Foundations"

  



John 7:32  The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things
concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent
officers to take Him.....

 43  So there was a division among the people because of Him.

44  Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands
on Him.

45  Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees,
who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?"

46  The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"

 The Pharisees were tired of Jesus.  He was more popular than
they were.  The people actually enjoyed listening to Him.  He
healed people, and He taught them.  They smiled and nodded
agreement when He described the nature of the leaders of the
time.  

So the Pharisees sent out the temple guards to bring Jesus in. 
But they came back empty handed.  

This did not help the Scribes and Pharisees attitude at all. 

They railed at the temple guards and demanded an explanation of
their failure.  All they could say is, "No man ever spoke like
this Man!"

Have you ever wondered what they meant?  We may first think that
Jesus spoke so clearly, so understandably--that what He spoke
about was so interesting, hopeful, and loving.  Surely this is
true.

Could it also include the amazing wit and quick cleverness of
Jesus in answering questions--like when He was asked to pay the
temple tax (Mt 17:24-27) and He had Peter get the money out of
the mouth of a fish?  

Isn't it delightful how He speaks to the unspoken thoughts of
the listeners--like when Jesus forgives the man whose friends
had let down through the roof during the meeting, and then heals
him asking which was easier--or when Simon wonders why Jesus
allows Mary to wash his feet--or when the accusers bring a woman
caught in adultery and the condemning ones leave condemned, and
the condemned one hears Jesus say, "Neither do I condemn thee."

Have you given close attention to the conversations of Jesus? 
Somehow they are very penetrating, and even sometimes they leave
His hearers confused.  Nicodemus comes to Jesus (who addresses
the real need of this Jewish leader), and when Nicodemus wants
to know how he is to be part of the kingdom, Jesus talks about
being born from above (not born "again"--born from "above"--same
word used to describe the tearing of the temple veil on the
Friday of the crucifixion--from top to bottom).  You're to be
born from top to bottom. How?  By water and the Spirit--it's
like the wind?  How?  You don't understand?--now you're
beginning to catch on Nicodemus--it's a mystery--love--a gift.

Have you not wondered why the text records that when the
disciples came and asked Jesus why He spoke to the people in
parables, He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the
kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them...  
Though seeing they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear
or understand".... (Mt. 13:10-12,34).  And then even the
disciples would ask Jesus what He meant.

Why parables?  Parables are not simply illustrations of a truth,
they are the truth--they do something to you as you listen.  You
don't get a parable--a parable gets you while you're trying to
figure it out.  Instead of you translating, interpreting, or
explaining the parable, it translates, interprets, and explains
you.  Parables can leave you unsettled.

And we all come away from the story with a slightly different
feeling--it pulls you in like a piece of fine art or music--you
can't quite explain it--you have to experience the feeling. 
Have you ever tried to explain the drama of a beautiful sunset
you saw, or the wonders of a great sermon you heard--and finally
out of frustration (because they aren't as excited as you are),
you exclaim, "You just had to be there!"

Parables are so good, you don't mind hearing them again and
again.  Perhaps it's partly due to their humor--their unique way
of catching you with truth.  You can't shake the story--it goes
on to live with you--having layers of meaning.  And if you think
parables make good sense, you may be missing an important
element of the parables.

Today we begin a year of looking at the parables of Jesus.

But we need to know a few things about parables in order that we
might grasp the importance of them.

First is the understanding of the word itself.  At the risk of
boring you to death, the word parable is an English adaptation
of a Greek work.  Parabolvh.  It means to cast along side of. 
Parable means a putting alongside for purposes of comparison and
new understanding. Parables utilize pictures such as metaphors
or similes and frequently extend them into a brief story to make
a point or disclosure. 

A very important thing to remember about parables, is that the
parable is relevant only as a way of leading to something else. 
A parable is not about itself, it is about something else.  We
will find as we go through the year that if we try to make
parables walk on their own two feet, they will lead us down the
wrong path. 

A parable can be just a phrase, or it can be a story.  If I say,
"Do not cast your pearls before the swine," as Jesus did, I am
not talking about throwing anything, I am not talking about
pearls, and I am not talking about pigs.  

What am I saying when I quote that?  

To me it says, "Do not give anything of value to someone who has
no appreciation for it."

To make it more specific, we could use an example and say, do
not give a Rolls Royce to someone who wants to make a mudbuggy.

Or, don't make a 7 course meal for someone who only likes
McDonald's hamburgers.  Oh well...

So briefly, here are several characteristics of parables that we
need to remember:

1.  A parable is never telling facts, it is illustrating a point.

2.  A parable is not about itself, but is about something else.

3.  A parable does not usually cover any topic extensively, but
usually deals with one point of the subject.

4. Jesus often begins parables by some form of saying, "This is
like, that."  Very often, "The kingdom of heaven is
like........"  

5.  Parables were often told about common everyday things that
people understood, to help them understand a greater truth. 
Jesus talked about yeast, bread, sheep, planting, coins,
building, and so forth.  He never said anything about some of
the things that He could have astounded them with.  He kept
things so that the hearers could relate.

As we continue with a discussion of parables, keep these points
in mind.  

Today we are going to look at one of Jesus' most familiar
parables.  Is familiar if for no other reason than many
Christian children were brought up singing about it, as we have
demonstrated already.

Luke 6:47  "Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does
them, I will show you whom he is like:

48  "He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid
the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream
beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for
it was founded on the rock.

49  "But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a
house on the earth without a foundation, against which the
stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of
that house was great."

Luke is more specific about the events surrounding the stability
of the foundations.  Matthew gets a little more specific about
the people that Jesus is describing in the parable.

Matthew 7:21  "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My
Father in heaven.

22  "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done
many wonders in Your name?'

23  "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

24  "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does
them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the
rock:

25  "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew
and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded
on the rock.

26  "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not
do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the
sand:

27  "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew
and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."

Now with what we have learned today, what is the issue here.

Let me ask you, is the parable about building houses in the
larger sense?

Is the parable about rocks and sand?

Is the parable about weather or floods?

Take just a minute right now, and picture the scenes frame by
frame in your mind.  First the wise man's house.  Pick the
location. Plan it. Build it.  Watch the storm come, and
experience it.  Can you feel the solidity of the house as the
storm rages away?

Now the foolish man's house.  Pick the location. Plan it. Build
it.  Watch the storm come, and experience it.  Can you feel the
house begin to shift as the foundation is washed away. 
Remember, we are not talking of a house made of wood that might
possibly float away.  We are talking of brick or stone.  When
they are undermined, it all tends to come down pretty
dramatically.

Now, you might come to different conclusions than I have as I
look at this parable.  But I am going to share with you what it
says to me.  For one clue, we find that this is the tail end of
the Sermon on the Mount.  Does that say anything to you?  Jesus
has spent a lot of time describing the Christian lifestyle.  He
has made it clear what is expected from the righteous man.  

Look at Matthew 7:21-22.  

21  "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the
kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in
heaven.

22  "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done
many wonders in Your name?'

Here Jesus is saying that there will be those who appear to be
righteous.  They are doing the things that righteous people do. 
They are saying what righteous people say.  They are acting like
righteous people act.  But they are not righteous.

In fact they are so bad that Jesus said.

23  "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

That is pretty strong language.  Those are words that I would
never want to hear.  Would you?

But what is the kernel of truth that we are seeking in this
parable?  What is the ultimate meaning?  

The key is not building.  No doubt in your mind as you watched
this, both houses looked pretty much alike.  The key is not the
storm, though it does reveal truth.  The key is in the
foundation.  

The Rock.  Petra.  A large mass of rock.  Something unmovable
and enduring.  As opposed to Peter, whom Jesus referred to as
petros, a rock that could be easily moved.  

Paul discovered this foundation some time after his conversion. 
On Mars hill he preached an eloquent sermon.  One person
responded.  After that he tells of his determination to get the
foundation right.  He said "I determined to know nothing among
you other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

There are storms coming.  This coming year may be the most
stressful year in the history of our earth. 

As a church we need to ask ourselves, "Why are we here? What is
our purpose in this community?  What is important to us, and
what are our values?"

Then, I must ask you as an individual, you must ask  yourself,
"On what am I building my spiritual house?"  We can be very
religious with out knowing Jesus.  We can look really good, and
still be the whitewashed tombs that Jesus spoke of.  

Where is your foundation?  What is your core value?  What is
your least common denominator? What is your basis of operation? 
What is the one thing that you will not let go of?

Brothers and sisters, I pray that your answer to all of those
questions is Jesus Christ.  I pray that He is your foundation. 
I pray that He is your core value.  I pray that it is from that
rock that you find your base of operation.  I pray that Jesus is
the one thing the one person, that you will never, ever let go
of.

I believe that is the desire of most of you.  I believe that is
why you are here today.  But I want you to remind yourself each
day of that commitment.  We all need to do that.

If this is your desire, please raise your hand, and keep them
raised.

I have for each of you a bookmark.  Something you can leave in
your Bible.  Take it, and if it is your desire to keep Jesus as
your foundation day by day, sign your name to it. Keep it in
your Bible to remind you that He is our Rock and Salvation.  


Laurie DeWitt