Many people when they get married look forward to building their dream house. They look at what kind of bricks they want to build with; how many rooms they would like to have; what colour paint matches their personalities, and what flooring they would prefer. These questions although important forget the single most important and most disregarded part of the house; the foundation. But before even the foundation can be laid preparation must be made to ensure the strength of the foundation. This preparation is the difference between a house that lasts a few storms and a house that will not fail. Luke chapter six shows us what Jesus has to say about building our house. “Everyone who comes to me and hears my teaching and does what I say is like the man who before building his house digs deep and lays the foundation on the solid rock; when the flood rises up and the river bank bursts onto the house, it doesn’t even shake it, because the house has been built well.
Dig Deep to the Solid Rock:
Before building a house, you need to lay a foundation. No foundation, no house, it’s that simple. But what happens when you lay the foundation on top of sand??? When the wind blows up and the rains fall down the foundation will sink and slide and possibly crack up because the foundation isn’t secured onto anything.
When Jesus is talking about the solid rock that we need to dig deep to before we can lay the foundation what does he mean? The solid rock is the base that we have, it is the stability for our foundation, it is the most important part of our lives. Our bedrock is Jesus Christ.
When you were baptised God gave you a new life. Our Father dug deep and His Son became the solid rock which you can now rely on for your strength and stability. He became the bedrock on which your foundation is now placed.
Laying the Foundation on the Solid Rock:
The foundation is the layer on which the house is built. Without the foundation there is no house, just a pile of wood and bricks that will topple over without any effort. Jesus in our reading shows us the difference between the person who builds on the foundation placed on the solid rock and the person who builds straight onto the dirt. The one remains standing strong, while the other comes crashing down and destroys both house and home.
But what are the elements of this unshakable foundation? We know that firstly it must be built upon the solid rock as this gives the foundation its strength and stability. But what makes the foundation unshakable?
In this passage Jesus says that those who hear my teachings and do them are like the person who builds his house on the foundation on the solid rock. The foundation is the Hearing of God’s Word.
Where can we find his Words? The answer to this is: in the Bible, and through the Church. The Bible is one of the places where we are given the Holy Spirit. God speaks directly into our lives and into our situations by His Word. God’s words are the concrete that hold the foundation together. God gives us the church to encourage us. The supports which the church gives are huge. The church encourages us to read God’s word. It points us continually to our baptisms, where God dug deep; right down to the solid rock that is his Son. When times get tough the Church helps to remind us who we are, that we are Children of God secure on the rock that is Christ. The church is where we hear Gods word and see it enacted in the service. These things when they are hardened in us become the unshakable foundation on which we can now build our home.
Building our Homes on the Foundation on the Solid Rock:
And so we are finally ready to build the house. But what are we to use to build our houses? Can we know what colour, what texture, or what style to use??? Simply put yes! Jesus tells us that those who hear and do are the builders of the stable house. The architecture and the interior design of the house are given to us by the great architect and designer of the world himself. Today as we are thinking specifically of marriage we ponder Christ’s words about marriage. These are the building supplies that Christ gives us for building a strong and unshakable marriage.
In Matthew Chapter 5 Jesus says “You have heard it said, ‘Do not commit adultery’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery in his heart”. I guess to many here this is a no brainer. Of course if someone was to commit adultery they are placing their marriages on shaky ground. But have you ever thought about what it means when you just take a peek? It means that you are committing adultery and that is a recipe for house destruction.
In Mark Chapter 10 Jesus says: “But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female. And for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh”. This is Jesus telling us that sex is part of a healthy marriage. He designed you male and female. He designed you to move out from your parent’s house and be joined to each other as husband and as wife, as one flesh.
In Matthew Chapter 18 Jesus says: “When two or more come together in my name there I am with them”. What better way is there to strengthen the bonds of marriage, to build our houses; our families, than in prayer to our Father, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is with us when we pray together? He is our solid rock; he is our foundation and he is the crucial part of the building of our homes. To live in Him is to live an unshakeable life.
So build your home upon the foundation which has been secured to the solid rock. At your baptism you’re Father dug deep, He placed Jesus Christ as your solid rock. He gave you His Word, and He gave you the Church as your foundation, and now He gives you each other, along with the blueprint for how to build your home. He has given you all that you need for an unshakable life together, living and serving God as husband and wife.
