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Dear Friends in Christ and especially you, the Confirmation Class of
2008,
I’d
have to say that this has been one of the more interesting years I’ve
had of teaching Confirmation, not because of the impeccable behavior of
the students, nor because of the perfect size of the class, nor because
of the incredible job that everyone did on their memory work each week.
Rather, this has been such an interesting year because one never knew
who was going to win the knockout basketball games that we played before
starting each class. Now in case you don’t know what knockout is, it’s
a fast-paced, high energy game that involves shooting from the free
throw line. With all participants standing in a line, each behind the
other, the first player shoots, immediately followed by the one right
behind him. If the first player makes his shot, he rebounds it and
passes it to the third one in line who then shoots. If the first player
misses his shot and the one behind him makes it, then he is knocked
out. And on and on it goes until there is only one player left. He or
she is then the winner.
Now
I’ve played knockout with a lot of Confirmation classes over the years,
and not wishing to boast, I’ve won my share of games. But not this
year. I don’t know if I’m just getting older or the kids are just
getting better (actually I think it’s a combination of the two). But
there were no guarantees who was going win each game this year, the
talent was so incredible. Consequently, we had a wider variety of
winners than what we’ve ever had before, including, as best as I can
remember, our first girl to ever win a game. And that girl was McKenzie
Magnus, who I might add is only a 6th grader. So we guys are
going to have our work cut out for us the next 2 years.
But
you know, it’s one thing to win at knockout. It’s an entirely different
thing to win at life. And that’s really what I want to spend my time
talking about this morning as we consider the theme “How Solid Is Your
Foundation?” using as the basis of my message a familiar story that
Jesus once told. Interestingly, this story marks the conclusion to his
famous Sermon on the Mount found in the 5th through the 7th
chapters of Matthew’s Gospel. After Jesus had spent his time in that
sermon teaching his listeners some very important and practical lessons
to live by, he ends with these words:
"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. 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."
Now
Jesus was no stranger to building projects. You may recall that his
earthly father Joseph was a carpenter. And since sons back then
typically followed in the footsteps of their father, it’s more likely
than not that Jesus had learned that trade from Joseph and may have
actually had some experience building houses. Therefore he knew the
importance of the foundation. And we do too. I mean, can you imagine
attempting to construct a home without a foundation, just laying some
pieces of plywood on a level plot of ground and trying to build a house
like that? Even the most inexperienced person would know that such a
house would not stand for long because there would be nothing to support
it.
Makes me think of an experience I had way back when I was in college. I
woke up one Saturday morning during my summer break with this bright
idea that I was going to build a set of shelves for my stereo. Now
before I go any further with this story, you need to understand a few
things about me. First of all, I had never built anything by myself up
until that point in time. Secondly, I never took a shop class in high
school. And thirdly, I never learned from my dad how to build anything
because he was not real gifted in that area. Therefore I really didn’t
know what I was doing. But I thought, “How hard could it be?” So I
sketched it out on a piece of paper, figured out how large I wanted it
and how long and wide each piece should be. Then I went to the
lumberyard, purchased all the wood and nails, drove back home and went
to work. And when I finished, let me tell you, I had the weakest,
wobbliest set of stereo shelves ever built. If you just barely touched
them, they would sway back and forth, simply because I had failed to
include in my plans the extra supports that it would need to make it
strong, solid, and stable. To this day, Marilyn will not let me forget
that rather inept attempt at carpentry, but at least it taught me a good
lesson: the importance of building with supports.
Apparently the foolish man in our story didn’t understand that principle
very well either for he chose to build his house on the sand, which
would be about as un-solid and unstable a foundation as you could
possibly find. And Jesus tells us that when the winds and the rains and
the floods came and beat against that house, the inevitable happened.
It simply collapsed and crumbled because it lacked support. It lacked a
firm foundation.
And
it’s sad to say, but there are many people today who are building their
lives upon very sandy foundations – things like alcohol abuse, drug
abuse, sexual immorality both before and during marriage, over-working
to the point where they have no time for their families, an
all-consuming desire to get rich, even if it’s at the expense of other
people. And on and on it goes.
But
my prayer for all of you here today and especially you confirmands is
that you will ignore and avoid those sandy foundations and instead,
follow in the footsteps of the wise man who built his house upon the
rock. And what exactly is meant by the rock? Well, most Christians
would probably answer that question by saying that Jesus is the rock.
And in a sense that’s true, but in a sense it isn’t. Notice how Jesus
puts it in our story. 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 rock then is really the words of Christ and the
principles that he has laid down for us in the Bible on how to live life
his way rather than the world’s way.
I
cannot emphasize enough to you how important it is that you do this, my
friends, because living life the world’s way is one of those sandy
foundations that will give way beneath you sooner or later. And all we
have to do is look at our own country to see a good example of what I’m
talking about. You know, there was a time when we as a nation actually
strived to build on the rock-solid foundation of Christian principles.
Now you’re not going to read that in our history textbooks and you’re
not going to hear that in our public school classrooms anymore. But
it’s true. Just listen for a moment to a few quotes from our founding
fathers. George Washington, the father of our country, once said:
“It is impossible to rightly govern without God and the Bible.”
James Madison, who is called the chief architect of the Constitution,
said: “Before any man can be considered as a member of civil
society, he must first be considered as a subject of the Governor of the
universe – religion is the basis and foundation of government.”
John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, once said:
“Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it
is a duty as well as a privilege and interest of our Christian nation to
select and prefer Christians to be their rulers.” And on and on it
goes. Our founding fathers recognized the importance, the advantage,
and the benefit of building upon the solid foundation of Christ and his
Word.
So
what happened? Well, a little over 40 years ago, back in the early
‘60’s, the Supreme Court began to see things much differently. Terms
like “separation of church and state” and “wall of separation” began to
be bandied about even though such terms are found nowhere in our
Constitution, our Declaration of Independence, or any of our other
founding documents. And thus began the systematic removal of our
nation’s foundation from our government, from our schools, and from
other areas of public life. And what do we have to show for it today?
Well, whereas America was once considered the world’s leader in many
good and honorable ways, we are now the world’s leader in many
less-than-honorable ways – in areas like violent crime, divorce, teen
pregnancy, voluntary abortion, illegal drug use – all because we
abandoned the rock that our founding fathers built this country upon and
have opted instead to build on sand.
I
plead with you confirmands and everyone else here today and those
listening in on the radio. Don’t make the same mistake. Build your
lives upon the solid foundation of Jesus Christ and his Word and his
principles, and I guarantee you will never live to regret it.
But
let’s get a little more specific here. What are some of the rocks that
the Bible says you should build upon? Well, how about the rock of hard
work? Colossians 3:23 says: “Whatever you do, work at it with all
your heart, as working for the Lord.” Understand, especially you
young people here today, that nothing in life ever comes easily if it’s
gotten honestly. So be prepared to pay the high price of hard work for
the rewards that the future holds in store for you.
And
speaking of honesty, that’s another great rock to build on. Right now
it seems as though there is a crisis of honesty in our society. Many
people think nothing at all about lying or cheating, especially if it’s
going to benefit them somehow. But that’s a sandy foundation that will
crumble sooner or later. For the Bible says: “You may be sure that
your sin will find you out.”
And
then one more rock I would encourage you to build on is faithfulness to
God, no matter what. Notice in the story that we’ve been looking at
today, Jesus says that when the wind and the rains and the floods came
and beat against the house that was built on the rock, it stood firm.
The forces of nature that Jesus alludes to there are representative of
the problems that will come your way sooner or later. They may come in
the form of financial problems, family problems, health problems, school
problems, work problems, temptation problems, or in a host of other
ways. When they come, though, the last thing you want to do is give up
your faith for that may be the only thing you have to sustain you. Be
like Job, who in a very short period of time lost just about everything
he had, including his wealth, his children (and he had 10 of them), and
his health. And yet at one point he said, “Though the Lord slay me,
yet will I trust him.” Please understand, my friends, that nowhere
in the Bible does God ever promise us an easy road through life. But he
does promise us his faithfulness, his presence, his strength when the
storms come. And at no other time in the history of this world did he
do a better job of demonstrating that to us than at the cross where he
sacrificed his own Son so that we who are sinful could enjoy eternity in
his sinless presence. So never let go of him and he will never let go
of you.
In closing then, let me share with you a thought that you may have heard
at some time or another, but that speaks so well to all of us, but
especially to you confirmands on this important day of your lives. It
goes like this: “Your life is God’s gift to you; what you do with
that life is your gift to God.” So take that gift and use it for
his glory and for the good of others. Go forth from this place today
more determined than ever to build on the solid foundations we’ve looked
at and to make a positive difference for Christ in an otherwise negative
and hurting world. Amen. |
