Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a
wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the
floods came, and the wind blew and beat on that house, but it did not
fall because it had been founded on the rock. And anyone who hears these
words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built
his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and floods came, and the
winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the
fall of it. Matthew 7:24-27.
Again, the tail-end of the Jesus’ manifesto, the Sermon on the Mount, and he is wrapping up his teaching. Matthew records these as Jesus’ final-final words of his manifesto and so they must be very important. They are not just about how one ought to endure the storms of life but about the greatest “storm” there will ever be, Judgment Day. This we can note from the previous verses that have to do with entering by the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14), the recognition and fate of false prophets (Matthew 7:15-20), and Jesus’ denial of fake miracle workers on Judgment Day (Matthew 7:21-23). Jesus is essentially saying that despite the similar circumstances two people may face, it is how one heeds his words that will make a difference in the greatest storm of Judgment Day and the interim storms of this life. This story reminds us of the inevitability of storms and how to attain stability in the storms in life.
The storm/s is an inevitable part of human existence after the fall of man when sin, death, and sickness entered the world (Genesis 3). We should think of the storm on two levels: the final ultimate storm when God judges all mankind on Judgment Day and the storms or evils in life that come from living in a fallen world of sin, death, sickness, and all sorts of evils. The story has two similar men with two similar houses and faced with two similar storms. These people have the same dreams, aspirations, resources and both decide to build a house. They build similar houses and it will be safe to assume that they use the same materials, designs, and workmanship. They have the same circumstances, a storm that beats heavily on their houses.
On the first-level storm of Judgment Day, this is a reminder that all human beings will face that storm when God will seek an account of our deeds (Romans 2:1-5). On the second-level, this is also a reminder that in this evil fallen world, storms do happen. People get sick and die, economies go belly-up, deadly natural disasters happen, evil people seem to prosper, and honest people barely survive. As a matter of fact, even the created order is longing for redemption from the futility of the fall which redemption will only come when Jesus establishes his everlasting kingdom in the earth at his second coming (Romans 8:18-22; Revelation 21:1-2). That’s why all claims that there is no suffering when one becomes a Christian are not only bogus but evil because they set up people for a very rude awakening from which many stumble and fall. God’s kingdom is not fully here and as long as that’s the case, “in this world you shall have tribulation; but take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b). We will have tribulation but we should know that ultimately Jesus has overcome it which gives us boldness to do what he has called us to do in the earth. For the meantime, we all face storms.
So where does one get the stability to weather the storms? Jesus says it’s the foundation of the house that matters. The man who that built his house on sand lost it while the one who built his house on the rock weathered the storm. The one who built it on sand is “the foolish man” who “hears these words of mine and does not do them”; the one who built it on the rock is the “wise man” who “hears these words of mine and does them”. The key to stability in the storm is not only to hear but to do. In other words, it doesn’t matter what kind of storm one goes through but whether one will stay anchored to Jesus’ words to do them or one goes to one’s default setting.
For the first-level storm of Judgment Day, the one who merely heard the words of Jesus but did not do them will be doomed to eternal destruction, whether or not one shouted “Preach on, pastor!” or fell “under the anointing”, or taught catechism, is irrelevant. Those that simply claim to be Christians but do not live their lives in obedience to Jesus’ command to take the Good News of the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:18-20) will find themselves on sinking sand when this storm comes.
For the second-level storms, those that practice what Jesus preaches will find peace in the midst of the storms of this fallen world as he himself said, “My peace I leave with you” (John 16:33a). No, Jesus does not hand out get-out-of-storms cards. No amount of binding demons, real or imagined, will suffice because storms are ordinary in a fallen world. No anointing oil of any sort and price or guarantees from a man/woman of God will do help because God’s kingdom is not fully here. No “back-to-sender” witchcraft sounding prayers will do either. Like Jesus said, “in this world, you will have tribulation”. He guarantees that he will take you through the storm if you not only hear but heed his words. I heard one preacher, Dr. Sandy Wilson, say that is it beneath the dignity of the Lord Jesus to take you around trouble when he can take you through it. Now is the time to hear the words of Jesus which are encapsulated in the Holy Bible and to do them. He does not promise a storm-free but a storm-proof life.
