WITHSTANDING THE STORM
Jesus was an expert … He was a student of Scripture … was steeped and learned in the Old Testament … no doubt … He also knew the wisdom of the Proverbs by King Solomon. It was part of His Bible … King Solomon had said (10:25) “As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.”
When the storm is over, we adjust, regroup and recover. Remember that little song … “So Let the Sunshine in?” You see, the sun will always shine again … if it doesn’t … for us … it’s because we won’t let it …The sunshine is there…..
Jesus was an expert in Scripture … and, being a part of the creative process … being a representative of God on earth … being who he was, He had inside knowledge. Evil was powerful only momentarily … even in the Crucifixion … and in His teaching about it all … He said. “I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in Me” (which means it isn’t a lip service but a belief that issues an action … you know, “be ye doers of the word and not hearers only” (James 1:22).
“He that believeth in Me, even though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26) Never die? No, only change … not the end of the book only the end of a chapter.
Jesus was an expert in God’s Word … Bible …
But He was also an expert in life. All of His Parables He took right out of everyday experience … this building the house on the rock and not the sand…
This is not the illustration of a scholar in His story … it is the illustration of a practical man.
In the land of Judea, Palestine and Galilee (where the teaching takes place) there are many gullies which in summer are pleasant, sandy hollows – but, which in winter becomes a rushing torrent of water (our own Phoenix is such a place … Haden Street becomes a river … retention areas fill with water … otherwise … empty – dry).
One might be looking for a place to build his house … and, finding a dried-up river bed, think it a very suitable place. But, short-sighted he would be … for when the rains came, his house would disintegrate. Even on an ordinary site it would be tempting to build on sand where it was easy … not digging to the bedrock below … the easy way out is often disastrous….
Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:24-28, that a house whose foundations are firm can withstand the storms … and only a life whose foundations are sure can stand the test … Jesus demanded two things-
- Jesus demanded that we listen. William Barclay said that one of the biggest problems in Christianity today is that people who call themselves Christians do not really know what Jesus said and what He taught. I looked in my Concordance… I find that there are literally 100’s of references to hear-hearing-heard- … in both the Old and New Testament – John says several times, “Hear what the Spirit saith to the churches…” The first step to the Christian life is to give Jesus Christ a chance to be heard.
- But more important than listening … which is necessary for hearing directions … more important is the action that follows. Jesus demanded that we “do”. Knowledge only becomes relevant (or as we say, current coin) when it is translated into action. Many a business man knows Christian ethics in detail … who never sets them into action.
Knowledge must become action … theory must become practice … theology must become life. Little point in going to the doctor if one does not do what he hears the doctor say. Remember Jesus saying, as He taught in Luke 6:46, “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
There is a word which sums all of this up … OBEDIENCE … Jesus demands our implicit obedience. If we obeyed our civil laws … just imagine what a difference it would make. Speed laws, stop signs, right-of-way, theft, respect other people’s property, no graffiti, etc. etc.
Now add to that obedience of God’s Laws which Jesus taught…
Good Samaritan story – “go, and do thou likewise” (Luke 10:37)
The Golden Rule – “whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” (Matthew 7:12)
His teaching about prayer… and love … well on and on ……..
OBEDIENCE?
Back in WWII days … a sailor was severely punished for a breach of discipline. Much “to do” was made that it was too severe … a fellow insisted it was not too severe … that obedience was necessary for orderliness and success … and told of an incident that happened years before in the Royal Navy. He was in a launch that was towing a much heavier vessel in rough waters … towing with a heavy wire hawser. Suddenly, in the midst of the storm, the shout came from the officer in charge, “Down”. In a flash everyone flung themselves down … while the broken wire hawser whipped about like a mad snake … most of them would have been killed had they not obeyed without question.
Wise to obey Jesus teaching? It is His claim that “obedience to Him” is the only sure foundation for life, and it is His promise that the life which is founded on obedience to Him is safe…. Here – and hereafter – no matter what storms may come. -LJS
