There’s a
hurricane coming; and it’s a big one! Jesus says that we’re all going to be
caught in the middle of a terrible storm, one that will threaten everything
that we have and everything that we are; so we’d better get ready for it
(Matthew 7:24-27). We don’t get many hurricanes here in Ohio, but we all know
what they’re like. We’ve seen quite a few of them on the Weather Channel
recently. They last a lot longer than the tornadoes that pop up here every summer.
Tornadoes are fast; they can pass by almost before we have time to take cover.
But hurricanes can seem to last forever! First the rain falls. It falls in
buckets, and it drenches you to the bone. Then comes the wind: wind that is so
strong, it’s like a gigantic fist that picks you up and throws you off your
feet. And finally, the storm surge: water that floods in and carries you away
from every security you thought you had. Oh, yes, Jesus says: there’s a
hurricane coming; so we had better get ready for it.
But it’s
easy to ignore his storm warning. “That’s no problem,” we think, “we’ll just
evacuate when the hurricane threatens! We’ll move to higher ground; go visit
our relatives in Tennessee; head for an emergency shelter if we have to. We can
avoid a hurricane easily enough!” But the kind of hurricane that Jesus is
talking about isn’t one that we can outrun. It’s a storm that life sends us
when we are least ready for it. And we usually don’t even see it coming. The
rain starts when you hit a patch of black ice on the roadway; and suddenly
you’ve careened into the guardrail and the front end of your car is torn apart.
The wind starts to howl when your doctor notices a suspicious lump during a
routine checkup; and before you know it, you’re facing a whole slew of medical
tests. And the storm surge? That’s the midnight phone call from the Sheriff’s
department with the chilling message, “I’m so sorry; there’s been an accident.”
Rain, wind, and flood. We’re going to have to deal with them. Jesus was absolutely
right about that.
But if
that’s the bad news that Jesus has for us, he also has good news for us: there
is a solid foundation on which we can build our lives so that we can withstand
even the worst hurricane that life throws at us; and he even tells us what that
foundation is. It’s Jesus’ own words – his teachings about who we are, how we
should live, and how valuable we are to God. “These words of mine,” he says
“all the things that I have just taught you – they are the solid rock that you
can rely on through any storm.” And “these words of mine” are none other than
the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ first great teaching in the gospel of Matthew.
Maybe it
would be a good idea to review what Jesus said in that teaching. He starts by
telling us that everything the world tells us is suspect; and that there’s a
better way to live. Then he says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Although
the proud may be proud now, someday they will find that they have nothing left
to be proud about; but the poor in spirit are a part of God’s kingdom forever.
He goes on to say, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” We shouldn’t rely on violence
to accomplish anything, because it never does; hitting somebody in the eye only
makes him want to hit you back. He even says, “Blessed are the ones who mourn,”
because if you mourn, it means that you care deeply about something; and not
caring about anything is a terrible way to go through life! He tells us not to
hate; because if we do, it will infect our whole lives. He tells us not to run
after what we don’t have; because if we do, we won’t enjoy the things that we
do have. He even tells us to love our enemies, because God loves everyone, even
those folks who don’t love him back.
That last
teaching of Jesus is the most important one of all. God loves everyone; and that means all of us. That is the solid rock on which we can
stand through all the storms that life throws at us. God loves us no matter who
we are or what we do! “Don’t worry,” Jesus says. “You are incredibly important
to God, more important than anything else!” God’s love is the truth on which we
can base our lives. If we base our lives on money, or on status, or even on our
own accomplishments, we’re just like that fool who thought that the beach was a
good place to build his dream house! When the stock market crashes, or the
biopsy comes back positive, or a pink slip is enclosed with the paycheck, all our
plans will be washed away just like the sand on the beach. But the love of God that
we see in Jesus Christ will never be washed away, not by all the troubles that
life throws at us!
Now, I know
that it’s easy to lose sight of that love when the hurricane begins. It’s like
driving down I-75 in a cloudburst. You know that there are trees and billboards
and road signs along the highway; but you can’t see them through the rain.
Sometimes you can’t even see the other cars that are on the highway! But you
know that they’re there; and you know that when the rain slows down, you’ll be
able to see them again. When troubles start raining into your life, the very
same thing happens. You can’t see Jesus’ love through the cloudburst of pain
and grief and fear that’s all around you. But it’s there. It’s there when a
friend holds you while you weep, and listens while you pour out all your
built-up anger and sorrow and fear. It’s there when people around you help you
without your even having to ask for it. And it’s there when, every now and
then, you feel a little bit of the peace that Jesus promises us, even though
the world around you may be lying in ruins. Jesus is the rock on which we can
stand, the certainty on which we can rely, the foundation that cannot be washed
away. When the rain beats down and the wind howls around us and the flood
rushes in, the love of Christ is our solid foundation.
So, where
are you building your house? Of all
the choices that we make in life, that one is the most important. Choose
wisely!
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