Coming Home

“To orient your life around Jesus and his teachings positions you to live with greater attentiveness to God’s care and love. What makes us secure is not our circumstances but God’s ever-faithful presence in our lives.”

Rich Villodas

When I was in High School, I took an Introduction to Art class. We dabbled a little in charcoal drawing, painting, and pottery. We also had an assignment to design a floor plan for a dream house. Thinking back, I wonder if any of our plans would have worked. We spent much more time figuring out windows, walls, and doors than the foundation. Would we have been wise builders?

This is how the Sermon on the Mount ends: “Will you be like those intelligent people who build their homes on solid rock, where rain and floods and winds cannot shake them?”(1) Are you living on the rock?

If you recall, the Sermon on the Mount began with people gathered around Jesus. There was something about him that was unlike anyone they had ever known. When Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount, we learn that the crowds were astonished. They were amazed by Jesus.

He started his ministry by proclaiming,” Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Then he asked Peter and Andrew to join him. Then James and John followed as well. Jesus continued, teaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and sickness among the people. Peter, Andrew, James, John, and many others surrendered their old lives and found their home in Jesus.

A mentor of mine said, “We are at the mercy of our ideas.” (2) Jesus offered people a new way to think about themselves and their lives. The crowds grew. He went up to a small mountain and shared what we now call the Sermon on the Mount. He shared that the kingdom of God is available to everyone and showed them what it is like. Living on the rock is about loving and delighting in God and allowing God’s way to become our way.

One thing is clear. It is possible. Jesus said that we can listen to his words and put them into practice. To do this, one thing is necessary—Jesus. You can reorder and reorient your heart so it beats to Christ alone. You can be led by life in Christ rather than striving to achieve the law.

C.S. Lewis tells a parable that helps us understand. He says, “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing, He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing, and so you are not surprised. But presently, he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards, You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage; but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” (3)

As Jesus concludes his message, he offers a series of contrasts: two gates, two trees, two houses. First, living on the rock is the narrow way. You enter it one by one.  You have to go through the gate alone. The wide, broad gate may seem better. But the narrow way leads to life. It is hard because God is rebuilding you into a palace. The process will take you to places where difficult choices will need to be made.

The easy, broad path can tempt you to lose sight of Jesus' vision. It is easier to hate your enemies. It is easier to sue than work toward reconciliation. It is easier to judge than to have humility or compassion. The way of Jesus, the way of the cross, is the narrow way. (4)

Jesus says that there are good trees and bad trees. How do you know the difference? The bad trees (or bad leaders) may look genuine, but are in sheep’s clothing. They may sound genuine, but Jesus does not know them. A good tree, a good leader, is rooted in Christ.

There is a difference between spiritual gifts and spiritual fruit. You can find spiritual gifts in good trees and bad trees. Spiritual gifts are what you do - teaching, serving, helping… Spiritual fruit is who you are - loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, gentle, humble, one with self-control. Spiritual fruit reflects your character. Without character, your spiritual gifts may have the effect of a loud, banging gong without love. Spiritual fruit only grows as you are connected to the vine. The fruit only grows as you remain in the vine, the source of life. Jesus said, “Remain in me, as I remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (Jn 15:4)

And there is something important we need to know. God wants to be in us. Henri Nouwen paraphrases John 15:4: “I have made my home in you so you can make your home in me.” (5)

The importance of our source or foundation comes up again in the last contrast found in the Sermon on the Mount. Will you make your home in me? Will you live on the rock or the sand? The question is not about when storms will come. We all will face storms. Regardless of your circumstances, what is your foundation?

Everyone is building a house. Everyone is building a life. Everyone will face a storm. Living on the rock is not primarily about content. It’s about location. Where are you living? What we focus on - our foundation - shapes how we live. It informs our habits, and our habits shape our lives. Knowledge is not enough. We need more than hearing the Sermon on the Mount. We need to live it. We need to live our lives in and with Jesus, our firm foundation. Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words or mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

The place of God is more than a physical place. It is life with God. Scripture repeatedly tells us: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.” Psalm 18:1 (6) Throughout scripture, there are images of God as our home. The Lord is my house, my dwelling place, my hiding place, my refuge, my home. David says, “The Lord is the place where I want to dwell all the days of my life.” (Ps 27)

Remember the Sermon started with Jesus saying, “.”Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” One way to understand repentance is coming home. There is a longing within us for home: “a place that absolutely fits and suits us, where we can be, or perhaps find, our true selves.” (7) Jesus wants you to come home.

Like the best possible host, he not only welcomes you but also makes you feel at home. Like the best hosts, He knows what you need and provides it. He introduces you to new things. He listens to you and cares about you. Like the best host, He knows what you need even before you do. He is also trustworthy, solid as a rock. You can find your true home in Him.

Let us be wise.

Let us live on the rock.

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1. Dallas Willard's paraphrase of  Mt 7:24-25, The Divine Conspiracy.

2. Dallas Willard, Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God.

3. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

4. This is from Amy-Jill Levine, Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner's Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven

5. Henri Nouwen, Following Jesus: Finding Our Way Home in an Age of Anxiety

6. See also, in the Psalms alone - 18:2,31; 19:14; 27:5; 28:1; 31:2; 40:2; 61:2 ;62:2; 71:3; 28:1,7; 31:2,3; 89:26; 95:1

7. Tim Keller, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith