BUILD YOUR LIFE ON THE ROCK

Psalm 37:25
"I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread."

Martin Luther King, Jr. at Clayborn Temple, in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 3, 1968, the evening before his assassination said: "I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go the the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land...so I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. "

Benjamin Disraeli was much more pessimistic: "Youth is a blunder; manhood a struggle; old age a regret."

Cicero said: "Old age is the crown of life: the final act in the play of life."

Life is like a journey across the ocean. There are some whose fortune it is to hardly leave the shore. Others make it to mid-ocean where they perish because of some disaster -- either caused by an external force, or by themselves. There are others who weather the journey, through storms and high seas, until they see the shore of the intended destination beginning to loam on the horizon. Into a lovely and commodious harbor they sail with flags unfurled. Lining the shore are those familiar ones who completed their journey at earlier times. The journey is not optional - each must make it. How one fares during the journey and how one arrives is a matter of one's own determination. Many are those who spend their time on the SHIP OF FOOLS as depicted by the artist Hieronymous Bosch depicting a group of individuals aboard a small boat. Amidst various activities that suggest indulgence and moral lapse, the occupants appear oblivious to their direction or purpose.

When we are younger we have an excess of answers. The problem is that we usually do not know what the questions are. Jeremiah 12:5 says, "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?" We complain a lot about trivial things; how will we do with great, important issues?

I have noticed a twinkle in the eyes of some of the elderly ladies in this church, faithful ladies in the winter of their life.  I have an idea that they know that each of us must walk through some life experiences just as they have done, and were they to give their testimony I'm sure they would be most positive. But that is their testimony - not yours or mine. To me these ladies convey the impression that they are wonderful and marvelous proofs of the presence, mercy, and grace of our Lord, for I have witnessed a sweet calmness in each of them, probably born during times of adversity.

Have you listened to them when they speak? Their voices never raised, words carefully measured, no rush to speak but reserving time to do a bit of thinking along the way. When one goes to serve one of these ladies, you will invariably come away with a feeling that is they who have done the ministry. It is rather humbling. Now you will begin to notice, especially when they are all together here in the church.

What will you do in times of extreme need? Tragic loss? Shattered dreams? Tested faith? The end of relationships? The death of a child? Disappointment in people you trusted? Loved ones who leave God out of their lives? Profound financial hardship? A wavering and persistent doubt within the church one loves? Accepting the reality of what "is" instead of what one "hoped for?"

The dewy-eyed and excited faith of young people is inspiring. However, it must be grounded solidly upon The Rock, for the winds and storms will surely come. What will be the course and conduct of your life? If Jesus is the rock, what is the sand? Well, as Jesus defines it, it means building your life on anything other than his words. He warns that there are a thousand ways you can build your house - your life - apart from the Word of God; a thousand ways to conduct your life that seem satisfying and fulfilling - but yet not built upon the Rock.

G.K. Chesterton, an English writer and theologian said this: "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." In today's world, we seem to hear much about radical individualism which espouses the belief that every person has the right to set the conditions under which they live their own life.  It is a challenge to live up to Christian ideals in a world largely dominated by individualistic pursuits.  Proverbs 21:2 says, ""Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart." Christian teachings, the "old, old story of Jesus and His love," offer a solid foundation for life.  They are all too often set aside because they demand rigorous adherence and even personal sacrifice, which are at odds with this radical individualism. 

Jesus warns us that there are countless ways to construct our lives away from the teachings of God - a life built on shifting sand. We can choose paths that may seem "right in our own eyes" and offer satisfaction, fulfillment, and stability, especially when we are young and not yet fully tested by the storms of life which invariably come. However, He urges us to build our life upon the solid foundation of the Rock of our Salvation, that is Jesus Christ, ensuring we stand firm against all life's trials and tribulations. The young person who is taught that by their family, Sunday School teachers, from the pulpit, and through other believers that God brings into their lives, and continues to build on that solid foundation, will have stability and resilience when the storms of life come, when the temptations of sin surround them; they will be able to remain standing against trials and tribulations. Then one day, if God gives them long life, they will be as these faithful wise women in our church, and have that twinkle in their eye and a bearing of sweet calmness, and be received into heaven's glory with the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Matthew 7:24-29

"Everyone, then, who hears these words of mine and does them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on the house. But it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them, will be like the foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes."

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God endures forever. Amen.