Two Houses (Be sure you have a good foundation)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
“Everyone then 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 winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone 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 the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” - Matthew 7:21-27

So, Jesus has talked about roads and trees and now he breaks out telling talking about houses and foundations. But, just before that he‘s telling people they can’t enter a kingdom called heaven unless he knows who they are. And, he renounces them as workers of lawlessness. It’s remarkable to me that Jesus is calling out people that seem to think or maybe even KNOW that they are in good standing with him. He refers to a group of people that call to him maybe even crying out to him saying Lord Lord and he says of that group of people that not all of them will enter the kingdom. He goes on to say that some will even say that they did great works on his behalf (but they won’t necessarily get in). That’s remarkable for this reason; it seems that we make it a lot easier to get to heaven than Jesus does. We’ve taken God’s Amazing Grace and cheapened it such that anybody that labels themselves as a Christian or even just a good person goes to heaven. To paraphrase a statement from a book that I read recently, it is as though we have made heaven the default position when a person dies. But, it seems to me that Jesus is saying quite the opposite. It appears that he’s painting a picture that we’re all bound to spend eternity in a desperate state unless we are given his approval – approval that changes the default from hell.

Getting down to the foundations… Jesus encourages us not to be hearers of his word only but doers. In fact, he sets a clear distinction between those that hear his words and don’t change their actions versus those that do what he says. Jesus is putting the finishing touch on his sermon. I can hear him preparing his closing as he leads us through the progression 1) If you choose the right road, 2) you will bear fruit like a good tree AND 3) you will build your house like a wise man. And, he essentially says that the wise man’s house will last forever. That’s it! Make the right choice. Live the right life (only by God’s grace). And, you’ll have a house that lasts forever, eternal in the heavens. But, if you make the wrong choice (of paths that is) then you’ll be the tree that bears diseased and rotten fruit yielding a life that leads to a house that is destroyed when the true test of houses comes. Jesus is making it ultimate that a storm will come. The rain will fall, and the floods will prevail. Will your house stand the storm?

You see one day, the end will come. We only have one life to live and then the judgment. That bothers me. It bothers me enough that I have to “test [myself] to see whether I am in the faith” because in the end folks, I simply don’t want to be lost. And, if I am lost, as my grandma would say, it’s nobody’s fault but mine. I want to spend eternity celebrating God’s presence and I want you to be there with me.
Much love (and with many tears)!