Building on The Rock

October 6, 2014

Meteoron Monastery, Greece

Luke 6 is Luke’s Sermon on the Plain which is a parallel of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus gives some basic but exceptionally radical instructions to His disciples – Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you, turn the other cheek, give your tunic to the one who takes your cloak, lend without expecting repayment, be merciful, do not judge, do not condemn. This is so different to the world’s way that it is not surprising that very little has really come of it. And yet, it is the way of victory through non-retaliatory action. You stop your enemy in his tracks when you don’t fight back. Love and Mercy win every time. It is the way of the Cross. And like the Cross, you have to follow through right to the end to see the ultimate victory. That’s the hard part. Most of us give up loving our enemies, or showing mercy, before the victory is won. We simply revert to our old ways and lose everything we might have won, perhaps more.

Jesus goes to to speak of the student needing to be like his teacher. He was presenting Himself as the model – the teacher. Don’t look to others i.e. don’t bother about the sawdust in your brother’s eye. Look to Jesus – He is the Tree who bears good fruit. He sets us the example for us. The Way of Jesus is not easy … its about taking up your cross, its about dying to your own selfish desires and ambition. That’s tough. How many of us want to “do it my way”?

Our Lord then presents the well known parable about the two men who each build a house. One builds on the rock and the other on the sand. The one on the rock stays steady when the flood comes. The one on the sand is completely destroyed by the torrent. You might have heard this parable several times in your life – even now the Sunday School song rings in my head; but the question is this .. Is Jesus really your model, your teacher? Are you radical enough to be a follower of Christ?

I look to myself and see a man who fails often – most of the time, in fact. In my heart, I want Jesus to be the foundation, the Rock of my life. But I wage this constant war in myself … I am selfish, I do get angry when things don’t go my way, I judge people all the time. Mercy is not my default.

But Jesus IS my Rock! And I will persevere because He is my Teacher, and in time I will be fully trained. I will call Him Lord and I will constantly seek to do what He says.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.