Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock

 

 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

 

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rains descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."  

 

- Matthew 7:22-27 

 

In yesterday's reading, the lectionary gave us the following (the final verses of St. Matthew's Gospel) for the Feast of the Ascension:  Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.  When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Amen.  Today we resume reading in the Sermon on the Mount.  Today's reading continues from the verses given in Saturday's reading.

 

  "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"  These verses, together with verse 21, which precedes them, form a threefold testimony to Christ's deity.  He first calls Himself Lord, which is a reference to the divine name "Yahweh" of the Old Testament.  In verse 21, He declares, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."  Thus, He speaks here of the will of My Father, which He fully knows and shares.  He speaks of Himself as judge, which reveals Him as God, for only God can execute judgment.  My study Bible adds that in that day refers to the final judgment.  

 

 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rains descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."   My study Bible comments here that hearing the gospel alone isn't enough, because salvation is not based on hearing alone, and neither on faith alone, but also on doing the things spoken by Christ (see James 2:24).  

 

Jesus says, "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rains descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."  What we have is the emphasis on what it means to be faithful, to have faith,  We "hear His sayings" and "do them."  We live our faith.   We notice that He likens this to building our house on a rock, and we may connect this to another time Jesus uses the image of a rock. That is, when He gives St. Peter the name by which we know him.  Peter is the English form of Πετρος/Petros, meaning "rock" or "stone" in Greek.  We look at the time in specific terms when Jesus gave St. Peter this name, and we find it is upon his confession that Jesus is the Christ.  Jesus first asked the disciples who people say that He is.  After they reply, giving the answers according to popular opinion, He asks them who they say that He is. Then we're told, "Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it' " (see Matthew 16:13-20).  When we consider what this rock is upon which Jesus will build His church, we must conclude that this rock is the rock of faith, that faith by which St. Peter understands -- and is illumined by God the Father according to Jesus' words -- that Jesus is the Christ.  By that we discern the deep connection between St. Peter, now called "Rock" by Jesus, and the rock upon which we build our home in real faith.  Jesus expresses here for us what faith does and is.  It is not about simply subscribing to a belief on intellectual terms, but living our faith.  Quite literally, He gives this to us; He speaks of whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them.  For real faith is about trust.  It is about placing our trust so deeply in Christ that we hear His sayings -- that is, the gospel He has preached in the whole of the Sermon on the Mount -- and we do them, we live them, we make them a part of our lives.  In this way, our faith is not only internal or only external, but it is both.  It is in the depth of the heart, and it is also what we do.  This kind of consistency from the inside to the outside defines what it is to be truly pure in the Christian sense.  Let us build our houses upon this rock, and truly live our faith in Him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock

 

 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall." 

 

- Matthew 7:22-27 

 

Yesterday we read about Christ's Ascension, as in the West it was the celebration the Feast of our Lord's Ascension (next Thursday for the Eastern Churches), which takes place forty days after Christ's Resurrection (Easter or Pascha).  At that time the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.  When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Amen.

 

  "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"  In today's reading, we pick up where we left off in Saturday's reading (the interim readings were preparation and celebration of the Feast of our Lord's Ascension).   We recall that we had been reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7), and today we are given Christ's closing words to that Sermon.  Here, my study Bible comments that Jesus testifies to His own deity:  He calls Himself Lord, which refers to the divine name "Yahweh" of the Old Testament.   His words indicate His authority as judge, and only God can execute true judgment.  In that day refers to the final judgment.  In the verse just previous to these, He taught, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."  To speak of the will of My Father also affirms His deity, as He fully knows and shares the Father's will.  

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall." My study Bible comments that hearing the gospel alone is not enough, for salvation is based not on hearing alone, nor on faith alone, but also on doing the things spoken of by Christ in "these sayings of Mine" (see James 2:24).  

Jesus contrasts "whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them" to "everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them."  The first has the security of a wise person who builds his house on a rock, a solid foundation that does not get shaken by storms, floods, winds, and other natural disasters.  The second is like one who is foolish, and builds a home on sands that shift with rain and flood and wind.  I once found myself in the midst of a very serious earthquake, and I can testify to what happens to homes built on landfill that mostly turned to sand in the shifting, shaking terrain along a coastline.  Jesus' images, as usual, are quite apt, even for modern construction techniques in a known earthquake zone.  Ultimately, what Jesus is saying is borne out throughout the course of our lives.  We might think that one wrong decision or another from time to time won't have much effect.  But decision-making, our patterns of thinking, are built over time.  We tend not necessarily to simply make a bad decision every once in a while, but rather build our lives on patterns.  We go down a road of a way of thinking and choosing, and we don't just stand still, or go backwards and forwards.  We tend to build upon whatever it is we build upon.  We rely on assumptions or decisions of the past to set the pattern, until something prompts us to reconsider, and to turn that thinking around.  This is why Jesus' teachings and sayings are so important, and so profound.  If we are vigilant, and if we recall His words and teachings, we can build our lives on something solid, something -- if one will pardon an oft-used expression -- that civilization, or what we understand of it, is based on.  If we have faith in having compassion for one another, if we have faith and are willing to live that faith in terms of our capacity for building something honestly in our lives, trying to establish righteous relations, then we will find ourselves capable of building up a pattern that leads to a life that gives us what is desirable:  staying away from bad habits, or from taking shortcuts in terms of how we treat others, from not caring about lies or insults in our ways of dealing with others.  Our own integrity becomes essential to us, and a resonance within which we can serve God, a highest good.  We will find that this forms a basis for good and safe choices in terms of what we build with our lives, how we conduct ourselves.  Most of all, I would say that Jesus teachings on prayer, almsgiving, and fasting -- about how God who sees in secret and is in the secret place will reward us openly (see this reading) -- are grounds for eventual outcomes which we can look upon with respect in our lives.  Living His way produces results that we can look back on and describe as things we feel good about, midst whatever tribulation and difficulties we might have through no fault of our own, or even midst our own mistakes we'll inevitably make.  But in Jesus' viewpoint, even those mistakes and even the tribulations become occasions for God's grace, for a learning curve, for prayer and mercy (see, for example, John 9:3; or the healing of one who was possessed by a Legion of demons  and is then sent out as a bearer of good news (Luke 8:38-39).  To hear these sayings and do them is truly to build a good life, despite the problems in our world and the difficulties that may befall us, for this is the way of Christ, and with God we know that all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).  Christ gives us His wisdom; it is the foolish who do not seek to follow it. 

 

 

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock

 

 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'  Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."  And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

 

- Matthew 7:22–29 

 

We have most recently been reading through the Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5 - 7 in Matthew's Gospel.  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.  Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." 

"Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"  As we reach the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus testifies to His own divinity.  If we look at the end of yesterday's reading (just above), we see that He calls Himself Lord, and also refers to "the will of My Father."  In these verses, He expands that, indicating that He is also Judge -- and only God can execute true judgment.  My study Bible tells us that in that day refers to the final judgment.  It is also important to understand that when He speaks of His name, it is also testimony to His union with the Father in will and in being.  But most importantly, let us note that Jesus says that even stupendous acts of nominally spiritual works done in His name -- He cites those who have prophesied in Your name, or cast out demons in Your name, or done many wonders in Your name -- will count as nothing if we fail to seek God's will in what we do and how we live, and to keep that first in our hearts.  This is what it is to be truly close to God, to be a "son of God" by adoption, to be "like God."

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."  And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  My study Bible comments here that hearing the gospel alone is not enough, for salvation is not based on hearing alone, nor on faith alone, but also on doing the things spoken by Christ (see James 2:24).  That Jesus teaches as one having authority is yet another testimony to His divinity.

Jesus says, "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"  This is an extremely powerful statement about judgment.  For He begins by citing acts which seem to manifest tremendous spiritual gifts and favor:  prophesy, casting out demons, working wonders.  And not only that, but these are great works done in His name (my emphasis) to which He's responding negatively in judgment, and calling the practice of lawlessness.  He's making a distinction between nominally spiritual acts of great faith and the practice of truly seeking the will of God the Father and living that.  Is it conceivable there are times when great wonders should not be performed, or demons cast out, or prophesies given?  I would venture to say that perhaps this is so, but we wouldn't know it unless we truly sought God's will for ourselves in humility.  We know there are times when Jesus performed no miracles, and did no cures, and also refused to speak.  Each of these was tied to times of rejection and especially the lack of presence of faith in those who would demand such works.  Everything comes back to this faith, an active love and loyalty in the heart, a true burning desire to seek and to do the will of God the Father.  This requires a living type of communion, an active relationships, a deep participation in the life of Christ, even a deep seeking for true holiness.  He is pronouncing the failure to seek this will the practice of lawlessness.  In Matthew 15:8, Jesus quotes to the scribes and Pharisees from Isaiah 29:13, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips but their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."  Apparently, in Jesus' summing up of His judgment on the Sermon on the Mount, even those who speak prophecies in His name, cast out demons in His name, and even do many wonders in His name might also be those who draw near, but whose heart is far away.  The key is the willingness to pursue the will of the Father in the heart, a depth of relatedness that is ultimately a shared love, and the depth of love, from which we also learn to love.  Even when we might think we're perfect, there will always be more to learn to "be like" Him.  So we open the heart, and follow Him on that journey.  Let us build our house on the rock, and follow His commandments.

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock

Moni Agias Triadas (Holy Trinity Monastery). Meteora, Greece (photo courtesy of creative commons license)

 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell.  And great was its fall."

- Matthew 7:22-27

Yesterday, on the commemoration of Christ's Ascension, we read that the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.  When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Amen.

"Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"  Today's reading continues and completes the Sermon on the Mount, which we were given in the lectionary prior to this week's readings leading to the feast of the Ascension.  These verses continue from Saturday's reading.   In this last section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus testifies to His deity, calling Himself Lord (which refers to the divine name "Yahweh" of the Old Testament.  He speaks of judgment, which can be truly executed only by God.  In that day, my study bible says, refers to the final judgment. 

 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell.  And great was its fall."  Jesus gives us a prescription for building and living our lives, and offers us what is clearly a choice.  My study bible notes that hearing the gospel alone is not enough, for salvation is based not on hearing alone, nor even on faith alone, but also on doing the things spoken by Christ (see James 2:24).

In His conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks of Judgment.  But then He also offers us a picture of our lives, a perspective on the whole of our lives, and not just advice for the moment or whatever decisions or struggles we may be engaged in at the moment.  In this perspective of building a house, He gives us an understanding of the importance of our choices in building the whole of our lives.  What are we living for?  On what principles do we build and live our lives?  What is our foundation?  Recently I read a review of a book by historian Tom Holland.  It's titled Dominion:  How the Christian Revolution Made the World.   What is notable about this book is not just its assertion that Christianity has shaped the Western World, but that the author is an atheist, and as a historian has come to this conclusion -- that Christianity might be necessary for the civilization.  According to the reviews, it's not a book to read to learn about Christianity, but it is noteworthy in its assertion that it is Christian values and convictions that have shaped our modern notions of law and justice, the dignity of all human beings, the evil of slavery, and so much more that we presently take for granted without considering precisely what kinds of choices were involved in shaping this reality.  Jesus' offering to us of His perspective teaches what an atheist historian might conclude given over 2,000 years of evidentiary effects:  that a sense of order and civilization -- particularly at the individual level in our lives -- is founded upon faith, and that it is this He offers to us.   Jesus' Sermon on the Mount offers to us a way of being in the world, a way of righteousness, that stands a Darwinian dog-eat-dog perspective on its head.  It offers to us a choice that determines that we do not merely need to live our lives in a purely materialistic way, but rather teaches us that we have a choice to allow God in as foundation to guide our lives in the world.  That foundation or mediation in our lives gives us alternatives to a life of opportunistic cruelty or coercion:  it offers us a life conditioned on mercy, on a righteousness and beauty that comes from faith, even from observing the beauty of the created world.  Christ releases us from a life based solely on reaction to our fears and anxieties, and offers us the love and care of God.  Mostly He strengthens us within the will of the Father and our own seeking of that will.  The verse that begins today's section (but is not included in today's reading) reads:  "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven" (7:21).   Although Jesus clearly speaks of Judgment, we might be tempted to believe that what He is offering us is merely a perspective on whether or not we receive eternal life, or entrance into this kingdom after our worldly lives.  But that is not what He is teaching with His illustration of building our houses upon a rock, nor in the entirety of the Sermon on the Mount.  What He gives us is a teaching that sets our own lives on a firm foundation of what we might term "civilization" for want of a better word.  The Sermon on the Mount is a teaching for righteousness, in which our lives may build up the world, in which we endure hardship and temptation in order to preserve and care and build up what is good and refrain from what is destructive to life.  We learn to endure in the good, in caring for others, in respecting life, in cherishing what is beautiful, in holding ourselves to a standard of truth that does not lose sight of the dignity and sanctity of life and its value as a gift from God filled with possibilities -- and indeed, struggles which are not meaningless but count for so much.  Let us heed His teachings and start from the beginning to build our lives upon this foundation which He offers, creating through our choice for faith something greater than what we can see right in front of us, lives upon which we may look back and find greater value than the world offers merely through choices of material value alone, or social structures based on currencies that leave God's values out of the equation.  Let us take our house and our foundation seriously.  The storms of life will demolish hopes based on a perspective outside of the strength and the constant steadfast love He offers.

Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock

 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."

And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

- Matthew 7:22-29

We have been reading through the Sermon on the Mount, which began in chapter 5 with the Beatitudes.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught:  "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.  Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"  Here, Jesus is proclaiming Himself Judge, a role that belongs only to God.  He makes it clear -- and this stands all the events of the Gospels in the true light in which we read them -- that doing wonders is not enough for entrance into this Kingdom.  What counts is the righteousness that He teaches -- the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven.  This is the entire theme of the Sermon on the Mount.

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."    We note that Jesus speaks of whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them . . .."   My study bible says that hearing the gospel alone is not enough; salvation isn't based on haring alone nor on faith alone, but also on doing the these sayings of Christ.  The emphasis on both hearing and doing is important. It confers a responsibility that comes with hearing.   Jesus' emphasis on the security of this rock gives us a sense of the confidence we can take in hearing and doing His teachings.  To hear and fail to do what He teaches is foolishly risk everything; this is clearly said in context of Judgment.  But the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven is also something we live, and which blesses us in daily life.  To fail to understand or recognize the quality of those blessings is also foolish.  They sustain us through the rain, floods, and winds of life.

And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  This is something that we read in various places and contexts in the Gospels.  Jesus' authority comes of Himself and His identity, not in citing, for example, other famous rabbis, as do the scribes.  He has His own authority.

What can we say about confidence and assurance, which Jesus gives us in the image of the rock upon which we build our houses?  He is teaching us that we may have security in hearing and doing His teachings.  In a world that seems to be increasingly unstable, or filled with unpredictability, Jesus' words take on a deeper connection to our own needs for true security.   Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with the  blessings of the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven, enumerated for us in The Beatitudes.  These are inward treasures, the blessings of righteousness, and the type of spiritual fruit that He desires for His followers.  He seems to close here with a reminder that these are the things in which we can truly take confidence in our lives.  They are the things that see us through the difficulties and insecurities and uncertainties in life.  Many of His sayings in the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5 through 7 in Matthew's Gospel) teach us about prudence and wisdom, and the importance of discernment.   Many of the teachings involve an active love, a way of living that does not ridicule or belittle others, that does not return violence with vengeance, that refrains from an external focus and the manipulation of hypocrisy.  He emphasizes the inner core of what it means to be a truly and fully living human being, not a person who lives for appearance or the purely material.  (He will later compare the emptiness of religious hypocrites to whited sepulchres.)  It is the values that He teaches in which we can take true security, because they are what persist and endure even when the going is tough.  It is His values that we can trust in, because they are built not only on the authority of God who is love, but on the surety of that which is not shaken when threatened, and which transcends every trend.  We fall back on truth when challenged; we repent toward a better knowledge and understanding and practice of what He teaches when we fall down or stumble.  In Him we can trust, and what a difference that makes to the quality of life itself -- not only for us as individuals but also for our extended communities.

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who has built his house on the rock

"Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a  wise man who has built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."

- Matthew 7:22-27

 We have been reading through the Sermon on the Mount, which began with the Beatitudes, at the start of chapter 5.  (See all subsequent readings for the full Sermon.)   We are now in chapter 7, and today's reading is the final one in the Sermon on the Mount.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus taught, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.  Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"   Jesus has added an apocalyptic note to the Sermon on the Mount, and speaks of the day of Judgment.  He indicates His own identity in the power of Judgment revealed here:  that it is He who will judge.  Even those who show great spiritual gifts will not necessarily be those who enter into His Kingdom:  prophesying and casting out demons -- even performing wonders -- does not preclude the possibility of "practicing lawlessness."  His emphasis in His teachings is on another kind of practice altogether.

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a  wise man who has built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."  These sayings of Mine are the teachings contained in the Sermon on the Mount.  He has taught us about living the life of the Kingdom in the midst of the world, a kind of union that is typified in the words He taught in giving the Lord's Prayer as part of the Sermon:  we pray to Our Father in heaven, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."   Once again, these words allude to Judgment.  He is the rock, His words are the solid building on the strong foundation.  In a sense, He's warning us all about the difficulties that will come in life, the struggles we encounter.  He's not saying there will be none!  Great was its fall indicates He's still speaking of Judgment.

The Sermon on the Mount is a masterpiece, and has always been considered so.  Throughout our readings, we have encountered teachings found elsewhere in the Gospels.  We know that Jesus taught many of the same things under different circumstances and in various contexts.  But this Sermon is a great picture of living the life of the Kingdom even as we live in this world.    With the Beatitudes, right from the beginning, we're given a picture of the blessedness of this life, the "happiness" that lives in us even as we dwell in the world and also carry the Kingdom with us.   And right at the beginning, in the following reading, Jesus tells us that we (His followers who will hear these sayings of Mine, and do them) are the light of the world.  They are those who will let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.    The Lord's Prayer, praying as He teaches us to Our Father in heaven, is a picture of living the life of the Kingdom in this world, and praying for its fullness.  His speaking of Judgment -- present with us even as we live our lives in the here and the now -- gives us an apocalyptic flavor in the Sermon, even in the midst of the present time.  An Orthodox priest writes in a blog post of the true nature and meaning of "apocalyptic"  (see Living the Apocalypse, by Fr. Stephen Freeman).  In the Greek, "apocalypse" comes from a word that means to reveal things that are hidden, to uncover.  And this is a hint of our lives as followers of Christ and recipients of the Spirit, those who pray to Our Father for our "supersubstantial" bread of the Kingdom, for the eternal day of the life of the Kingdom and the daily life we live in the world.  We are held and contained in this place, and we carry it with us:  the light shines in us, and we are the light, He declares.  He who is the light of the world calls us the light of the world in this Sermon, and teaches us how to be that light, how to glorify our Father in heaven.  In the practices of the ancient Church that remain with us in various forms and denominations, we can see this understanding reflected.  For example, in the Churches of the "Eastern world" we see splendid robes for the celebration of the Eucharist, indicating the beauty of heaven here in our presence.  We consider that we are co-celebrating with the angels in heaven even as we worship.  We sing, "Heaven and earth are full of Your glory," reflecting the song of the Seraphim given to us by Isaiah the Prophet, and in the Revelation (Apocalypse) of John (Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 4:8).  Byzantium, with its beautiful architecture and splendid mosaics of the saints, the Lord, and the angels, gave us a picture of the beauty of heaven as it has been revealed (another term for "apocalypse") to us even here in this world -- even the great cloud of witnesses by which we are "surrounded" in the words of St. Paul.  An ancient Easter practice remains in which the light of the Paschal candle is brought home to light a candle before icons.  Nothing is separated; our lives are meant to intersect, just as the Incarnation intersected heaven and earth, the eternal and the temporal.  In this final teaching in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, He tells us exactly how we live such a life:  we hear "these sayings of Mine," and do them.  At the Last Supper, He teaches, "If you love Me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).  This Sermon is the great collection of His commandments we have, given in one public teaching.  Let us re-read, and take them all into consideration.  It is a picture of a blessed life, a prescription for the life of the Kingdom of heaven lived and borne into this world.  In Colossians 3:3, St. Paul teaches that our "life is hidden with Christ in God."  Jesus repeatedly tells us that there is nothing covered or hidden that will not be revealed, nothing secret that will not come to light.  This is the life into which we are baptized, and which we live.  He's also taught us that we must practice discernment.  We would do well to remember that saints are not necessarily those who live "perfect" lives, as seems to be so often thought.  Saints are those who, perfect or imperfect, bear witness to the Kingdom in the world, who have such faith in that life that everything else may be worth giving up for it -- a kind of redemption that changes the reality of the world.  Jesus' Incarnation shows us the way; He is the first of all.