My wife and I were with two friends last evening, and when I mentioned what the Gospel reading was for today, she led us in the verses of that old Sunday School Children’s Song which I’m certain many of you remember.  Sing along if you wish!

The wise man built his house upon the rock

The wise man built his house upon the rock

The wise man built his house upon the rock

And the rain came tumbling down.

The song, in it’s childlike simplicity, has both a playful side and a very serious side.  It’s done with hand motions and great enthusiasm.

Oh, the rain came down

And the floods came up

The rain came down

And the floods came up

The rain came down

And the floods came up

And the wise man’s house stood firm.

The song is quite like the Jesus Saying upon which it is built, because that saying (or rather, that group of sayings) is at the same time playful and yet very serious.

The Jesus Sayings that we hear today in the Gospel portion of the story according to Matthew is at the conclusion of what began in the 5^th chapter of Matthew and what we call the Sermon on the Mount – that collection of sayings imparted to his followers which is found only in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke (where it is called the Sermon on the Plain).  And if you have been following biblical scholarship of the last several years may well be part of what is called the Q Source (or Q Document) which may be the earliest collection of the sayings of Jesus, dating even before Mark which is the earliest Gospel of our “New Testament”. 

I am going to offer a small course on the Q Document this coming Fall for those of you who would like to pursue learning about it, but for the moment, let it suffice to say that this story, this Sermon is unique to Matthew and Luke, and we have in the last several weeks been reading the Matthew Version, since this is the year in our Three Year Lectionary Cycle that we read Matthew.

So, these words, these sayings come at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus has been teaching his disciples and other followers just what is at the core of what it means to follow him.  Let me take you on a brief tour of the Sermon itself (I think I have most of it summarized here):

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven … Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted … Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God … You have heard it said, ‘You shall not murder’, but I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment … You have heard it said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’, But I say to you … if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also … You have heard it said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy’, but I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you …Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them … give alms in secret … pray like this:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name … Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth … The eye is the lamp of the body … No one can serve two masters …

(and then from last week’s reading) … Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink or what you will wear … Do not worry about tomorrow …

(and then the verses which this year are unfortunately left out in our weekly reading) … Do not judge, so that you may not be judged … Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? … Ask, and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened … Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? … Enter through the narrow gate … Beware of false prophets … Every good  tree bears good fruit, every bad tree bears bad fruit …

(and then today’s reading, the conclusion) … Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven … Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like the wise man who built his house on rock …

And then as the Children’s Song goes on:

The foolish man built his house upon the sand

The foolish man built his house upon the sand

The foolish man built his house upon the sand

And the rain came tumbling down

Oh, the rain came down

And the floods came up

The rain came down

And the floods came up

The rain came down

And the floods came up

And the foolish man’s house went “splat!”

Playful and yet very serious … both this song that comes from the sayings and the sayings themselves. 

We could spend, I think, a whole year just going over these teachings.  We could spend a year of our church life reading, studying, pondering, praying, meditating upon what it means to be a peacemaker and thus a child of God, what the world be like if we loved our enemies, how life would be if we did not criticize others for the little fault while ignoring our big fault, how we might be if we did not worry … and much more.  I daresay there is enough in that Sermon to keep us busy.  We can see, can we not, that insistence by Jesus that if we are to be holy, to lead a holy life, then indeed what we must do is love God, and love our neighbor as ourselves, and that is what will heal the brokenness of the world.

That theme is spelled out in so many ways in this collection of the Jesus Sayings, the Teachings of Jesus … and you can read them for yourself in the 5^th through 7^th chapter of Matthew … you can take the next week and read it every day as your family  or personal devotion … and plunge yourself into that depth of following Jesus … because that is what it means.  It’s all there.

And finally, it comes down to these concluding verses that we read this morning … it is where we find the whole meaning, the whole thing of discipleship, of faith, of belief … and yes that song comes out of it, but the real test is in the words, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven … Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like the wise man who built his house on rock … And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like the foolish man who built his house on sand …”  There’s a little word in Greek that the author of the Gospel According to Matthew employs … ποιεῖ  (poiei) … it’s a verb, and it means “do” … that is, put into action, perform something, make something happen.

My brothers and sisters … it is in the doing, it is in the action … that the following of Jesus takes place.  It’s not enough to listen.  It’s not enough to know the Bible and be able to quote it extensively.  It’s not enough to offer prayers inside a church.  It’s not enough even to be able to translate these words from the Greek.

Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them … that’s where the Gospel lies.  It is what happens after the words are heard and ingested into one’s soul. 

If nothing comes out of this.  If we keep warring and persecuting and destroying, if we keep oppressing and dominating, if we keep anger in our words and deeds … then we’re building on sand, and the future is certain, the fall will be great.

But if we do what Jesus asks us to do, then we will find ways of loving … as simple as taking a grocery bag home with you today and bringing it back full of food so that our pantry, your pantry, Jesus’ pantry (if you will) can fill up the hungry stomachs of the children and women and men who come to us in need … as simple as working for peace in our time … as simple as seeking to heal the hurts in those we see around us, in our own family, in our neighborhood, in our city, in our state, in our country, in our world.

Everyone who hears these words … and acts upon them …

It is in the acting that we follow Jesus.