The Obvious Choice

The Obvious Choice--February 6, 2018

[Jesus said:] "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.  The rains fell, the floods came, and the winds beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.  And everyone who hears these words of mind and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell--and great was its fall!" Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. [Matthew 7:24-29]

Nobody would dispute that a wise person would build their house on rock instead of sand.  That claim doesn't ruffle any feathers--not even among contractors.

The scandalous thing here on Jesus' lips is the idea that Jesus' words and way of life are "wise," because the things Jesus actually said and did were quite often the opposite of the conventional wisdom of the day... and they still are.

And yet, that's really what's at stake here in these words from the end of the Sermon on the Mount.  This is a question of whether Jesus really knows what he is talking about--whether Jesus' way of seeing the world and living in the world really is good and solid and trustworthy, or whether Jesus is a fool.  Jesus forces us to make that kind of stark choice: either Jesus knows what he is talking about (and therefore his words are worthy of staking your life on), or he does not (in which case, go find someone else who will only tell you things you already want to hear).

And that's important for us to hear, because it makes it clear that Jesus does not see himself as giving simply a set of helpful suggestions for how to have your kids do better in school or get your business to grow.  He does not see himself as offering a handful of helpful parenting tips in his weekly blog, or giving some personal suggestions for how to better organize your closet or your calendar that you might consider along with some helpful tidbits from other advice columnists.  Jesus sees himself as articulating a way of life, one that quite often at odds with the way the conventional wisdom says is right... and the question is, really and truly, whether we dare to believe and act like Jesus knows what he is talking about.

In a way, Jesus is really only doing the same thing that the voices of the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament were doing already--contrasting what they saw as "the good path" over against the ways of life that were destructive.  They do that over and over again: take the opening Psalm--the whole poem is a contrast between the happy and blessed way of the righteous (who do things like listen to God's instruction, and who ignore the noise of the wicked and the scoffer), and the way of the wicked, which will crumble under the weight of its own corruption. The Psalm writer is laying out Two Ways of life--one that is grounded in the character of God, and one that is bent in on itself.  It's much the same as what happens at the end of Deuteronomy, too, when Moses says to the people, "See, I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse--choose life!"  It's again a choice between the Two Ways again: the way of life sketched out in God's commandments of justice, mercy, Sabbath rest, and care for the marginalized, on the one hand, and the way of self-centeredness that turns away from God's good vision.  For generations, the God of Israel had been trying to make things as clear as possible--there are two ways, ultimately, in life: the way of self, or the way of God... the way of hoarding and endless wanting, or the way of God's justice that provides enough for all... the way of endless acquisition, or the way that included Sabbath rest and renewal.   Every good Jewish boy or girl in Jesus' day had been taught that there was a choice between two ways of life. That much was old hat by the time Jesus appeared on the scene.

The real scandal here in Matthew's Gospel as Jesus does his own version of the "Two Ways" idea is that Jesus doesn't just say, "The Torah is the Good Way," but rather Jesus inserts his own particular way of life as the way of true wisdom.  Jesus is saying that his way of life is the real key to what existence is all about, even if it butts up against what the world thinks is good or right or wise or "common sense."  Jesus doesn't wave a Bible at people and say, "Bible, good; other books, bad," he actually sharpens, turns, and reframes what the Bible of his day said--and Jesus speaks as though he really does have the authority to do that to the Bible!  

That's why it's so important to remember that this little bit about the wise man building his house on the rock and the foolish man on the sand comes at the end of a major block of Jesus' teaching here in Matthew.  Jesus isn't just saying generically, "Be wise (whatever that means), and do not be foolish (whatever that would mean)." But rather, Jesus is saying, "I know what wisdom looks like--and real wisdom is loving your enemies, forgiving those who have wronged you, and blessing for the brokenhearted and the empty-handed."  Jesus is saying that his teachings about doing good to those who harm us, praying for those who persecute, and the practice of peacemaking and meekness are worth staking your life on.  

Jesus, in other words, intends nothing less than a redefinition of what good looks like, and of what wisdom looks like.  Because for us, conventional "wisdom" says things like, "You have to look out for yourself and people-like-you first..." while Jesus' way of wisdom says, "If you want to be great, put yourself last."  The world's picture of "the good life" is having higher and higher closings on the stock market, bigger houses and newer cars, and a lifestyle to make your friends and neighbors envious, while Jesus' way of living "the good life" has very little interest in piles of stuff that can rust or be stolen, or investments that can disappear in a "market correction" overnight.  Jesus is saying here that our conventional wisdom picture of what is "good" has been inadequate, and that we have all been building our houses on sand.  

The radical thing about Jesus isn't simply that he contrasts a "blessed" or "good" way of living with a destructive way of living--no, even Goofus and Gallant cartoons can do that.  The radical thing about Jesus is that he is willing to challenge what we thought the "good way" of life was all about.  And instead Jesus offers his own way of life--marked by reckless generosity, enemy-embracing love, and blessing on the lowly--as a better picture of a better way of life for us, too.  He doesn't just vaguely gesture at empty symbols like "Mom and baseball and apple pie" to describe what "the good life" looks like, like demagogues do.  Rather, Jesus gives us concrete, specific pictures of what it looks like to walk in his way.

The question, then, for us on this day is simply this: whose way of life will we walk in today?  Or to put it more directly, who will we allow to show us what "the good life" really looks like?

Once you've got your answer to that question, you'll know what to build your life on.

Rabbi Jesus, redefine for us what the good life looks like... and lead us into it.