The image Jesus uses is that of a home that will withstand the storms of life, as compared to a home that is destroyed by similar storms. Two men, two lives: one survives and is safe despite what life does to him, and the other who is lost when tragedy hits him. The difference between them is their foundation: rock or sand. The rock foundation is the life application of the words of Jesus - the steady, daily, soaking in the truth of the Gospel so that it builds a secure, consistent and authentic protection against disaster. The sandy foundation is the superficial response to the teaching of Jesus - the hearing of the Gospel without its penetration into the heart or transformation of life. "Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear. Those who hear and don't act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, and what they look like." (James 1:22-24, The Message)

You would think that common sense would convince a person to take the safe route in life. Who would want to invest in a home (a life) which was so vulnerable to danger? Would not everyone who had any sense want to build securely so that they did not have to worry about the future? Yet there are good people, who consider themselves Christians who hear the words of Jesus every Sunday, or whenever they attend worship, who do not work these words of Jesus into their lives.

There are many people who have grown up in the church, who have heard these words, who go on in life and forget what they have heard. When tragedy occurs in their lives, and the storms come, as they surely will, they have no resources to fall back on. Their lives collapse like a house of cards. The children's story of the Three Little Pigs, tells a similar tale to teach delayed gratification, and the value of the work ethic to survive life's challenges. The two pigs who build their houses out of straw and sticks are not safe against the wolf who blows their houses down. They opted for a life of ease and pleasure, and made fun of their brother who worked hard to build his house of bricks. When the wolf comes against him he is able to resist him and eventually overcome him by his wisdom. Bruno Bettelheim comments that the oldest pig is able to "foresee what may happen in the future. He is even able to predict correctly the behavior of the wolf - the enemy, or stranger within, which tries to seduce or trap us; and therefore the third pig is able to defeat powers both stronger and more ferocious than he is." (The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales, 42)

Jesus warns us that we likewise need to foresee what may happen in the future and take steps to survive the storms of life, the devouring wolves that attack us. When we build our house on the rock of Christ, "You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday...If you make the Most High your dwelling - even the Lord, who is my refuge - then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways." (Ps.91:5,6,9-11)

St. Paul puts it this way: "Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation. Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you'll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won't get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn't, your part of the building will be torn out and started over." (1 Cor.3:10-13, The Message)

When Charles Spurgeon preached about the wise and foolish builders he said, "There are tens of thousands to whom the preaching of the gospel is as music in the ears of a corpse. They shut their ears and will not hear. To their own best interests, to their eternal benefit, men are dead. When worldly trouble comes like a storm those persons who will not hear the words of Jesus have no consolation to cheer them; when sickness comes they have no joy of heart to sustain them under its pains; and when death, that most terrible of storms, beats upon them they feel its full fury, but they cannot find a hiding place. They neglect the housing of their souls."

How do we put these words into practice? We do it spiritually when we choose to store up treasures in heaven; when we choose to serve God, not Money; when we choose to enter through the narrow gate on the road that leads to eternal life. We do it personally when we relate to one another as fellow citizens of the kingdom of heaven. We do it politically when we build our community, our state and our nation on the moral foundations that will last.

How can you be sure that you are building on the right foundation with the right materials? There is one who can help you. He is the master builder, the carpenter of Nazareth. I love this prayer: "O Jesus, Master Carpenter of Nazareth, who on the cross through wood and nails did work our whole salvation: Wield well your tools in this your workshop; that we who come to you rough hewn may by your hand be fashioned to a truer beauty and a greater usefulness; for the honor of your holy name."

"The crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law." What is your response to his teaching? Can you say that you are amazed? Do you recognize his unique authority? Are you willing to work his words into your life? Are you building to last? Do you want your life to be secure and safe when the final crisis in your life comes? Will you allow the master builder to work with you and in you to defeat the destructive powers of life? What do you need to do now so that you don't let his words go in one ear and out the other? Act on what you hear. If we do, when the storms come, Jesus stands with us to rescue us and bring us to safety.

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