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Bible Reading: Matthew Chapter 7 Verses 21 to end
The story
of the wise man who built the house on the rock and the
foolish man who built on the sand.
There’s a
wonderful children’s action song that we sing at Stepping
Stones occasionally. It’s all about today’s Gospel reading.
I’m not
going to sing – you’ll be relieved to know – but the first
verse is: the wise man built his house upon the rock, the
wise man built his house upon the rock, the wise man built
his house upon the rock and the rain came tumbling down. And
the rain came down and the flood came up, the rain came down
and the flood came up, the rain came down and the flood came
up and the house on the rock stood firm.
The
second verse is along the same lines but the words are:- the
foolish man built his house upon the sand with the final
line:- and the house on the sand fell flat!
Of
course, with any building we have to ensure that the
foundations are there, that the foundations are strong
enough to hold the building whatever the weather throws at
it, but that can be extremely difficult to do in some parts
of the world. Elaine is taking Junior Church this morning
and I believe she is talking about the recent earthquakes in
China and Iceland – only this week! But, on the whole, we
build in sensible places that can withstand most weather. Of
course, that is unless you are unfortunate enough to live on
the Norfolk coast at Happisburgh in particular. When the
houses on Beach Road were built many years ago, they were
built in a seemingly sensible place with magnificent sea
views. Perhaps the builders didn’t know anything about
erosion and the fact that the cliffs were made of sand, and
consequently, one by one, the houses are tumbling into the
sea. A mixture of rock and sand was the foundation of those
houses!
In four
weeks time we celebrate our Patronal Festival, we celebrate
Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Remember, Jesus called Peter
‘the rock’ and gave him the name Cephas, or Simon. But more
about that later in the month.
I’d like
to look at some of the verses from the Old Testament that we
heard earlier. Deuteronomy chapter 11. Verses 18 and 19
read: You shall put these words of mine in your heart and
soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and
fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Teach them to your
children, talking about them when you are at home and when
you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.
Those
verses are all about passing on our faith. We cannot expect
children to pick up the faith all by themselves. As in most
situations, children learn by example, they copy what we do.
And we can talk about God and his love for us all in many
situations. In junior Church last week we talked about what
was precious to us and wrote down in a picture of hands
praying, everything that we felt was precious. Ann and I
both joined in and we had some interesting outcomes! We have
to talk to our children about our faith in all situations so
that they realise that it is relevant and valuable, of great
importance for the whole of our lives. But what on earth
does that mean in practice?
It means
that our children will not see God as the firm, secure rock
he is unless they see the adults around them trusting that
rock and building their lives on it. They need to see adults
living their faith every day of the week.
It means
that if our children see the adults in their Christian
community saying they believe in God, coming to church yet
behaving in ways that are selfish, prejudiced, unforgiving
or without loving respect for everyone, they may get the
impression that God is not a strong rock at all, but sand,
and that God is not to be taken seriously. God forbid that
we should lead anyone astray by the total inconsistency of
our life!
It means
that we need to get over our embarrassment in talking about
God, and that can be very hard to do. When I began my
teacher training I was desperate to study history and
actually gained a place on the history course dependent on
passing my A level history with at least an O level pass. I
failed, I never could write a history essay – give me an
oral exam and Roger Dixon said I could do that easily, but I
failed. Thankfully the college offered me a place studying
Religious Studies – I think that I must have Hugh Buckingham
to thank for that – he gave me a reference! But when I first
moved to college and anyone asked what subject I was taking,
I always said – I wanted to take history but due to
circumstances I’m taking Religious Studies. It took me a
good term to realise that, hey, Religious Studies is really
quite interesting, and I actually enjoyed my three years
there.
But we
must get over our embarrassment in talking about God, and
chat to our children and our family and friends just as if
we would talk about all the other things that are important
and excite us. Chris gets excited talking about Daniel
Craig, Elaine, either archery or travel, Adrian his family
and gardening and as for me – don’t get me started on Il
Divo!
Finally
it means that we need to start praying aloud with our
children, and praying daily with them, so they can learn
what it is to talk over everything with the loving God,
sharing both the lovely times and the sad ones with him. I
would like to suggest that our homes need to become places
where it is natural to pray. How else can our children learn
to pray naturally?
Of
course, this is not going to be easy, especially if we live
in a home where only part of the family has a faith, but
then doesn’t that make our church community even more
important. I truly believe that no one can be a Christian
alone, at home, without any Christian input or support and
that is why it is so important that we are told when someone
is ill, or unhappy, or lonely. We need to know when our
support is even more necessary for people and that is where
this wonderful church community works well. We do speak to
each other, and we do let other people know if we have a
particular problem or need. The new Pastoral and Outreach
Committee will work from that rock.
In a
family where one parent is an active Christian while the
other isn’t, the child is able to cope with that fact. What
they can’t cope with is the hypocrisy of conflicting words
and behaviour. That can confuse them!
So let us
watch how we build. When we hear Jesus’ words we must really
start acting on them, changing our behaviour and our habits
to show those words in all we do. At Stepping Stones we are
telling the Christian story to both the children and the
parents and carers. We are nurturing them along the way. We
are caring for them all and they, in turn, are caring for
each other. We have watched the group grow in friendship and
support. That group is firmly built on good foundations.
The wise
man built his house upon the rock and the house on the rock
stood firm.
Amen.
Linda
Frost |
