It is God’s word, it is God’s wisdom which gives us the strength, gives us the courage to become people of love and grace, to live in a way which reflects the Beloved Community in all we do and say.
March 2, 2025
Messages from the Gospel of Luke
“A House Without A Foundation”
Luke 6:39-49
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
Luke 6:39-49
Jesus also told them a riddle. “A blind person can’t lead another blind person, right? Won’t they both fall into a ditch? Disciples aren’t greater than their teacher, but whoever is fully prepared will be like their teacher. Why do you see the splinter in your brother’s or sister’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye? How can you say to your brother or sister, ‘Brother, Sister, let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ when you don’t see the log in your own eye? You deceive yourselves! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s or sister’s eye.
“A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit, nor does a bad tree produce good fruit. Each tree is known by its own fruit. People don’t gather figs from thorny plants, nor do they pick grapes from prickly bushes. A good person produces good from the good treasury of the inner self, while an evil person produces evil from the evil treasury of the inner self. The inner self overflows with words that are spoken.
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and don’t do what I say? I’ll show what it’s like when someone comes to me, hears my words, and puts them into practice. It’s like a person building a house by digging deep and laying the foundation on bedrock. When the flood came, the rising water smashed against that house, but the water couldn’t shake the house because it was well built. But those who don’t put into practice what they hear are like a person who built a house without a foundation. The floodwater smashed against it and it collapsed instantly. It was completely destroyed.”
A House Without A Foundation Luke 6:39-49
This week, we wrap up our conversation with Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain. If this seems like a familiar text…that’s because it is. In some shape or fashion, this text is shared in all four Gospels. Now they may not all be lumped together like they are in the Gospel of Luke. That’s because they were separate sayings which Luke put together in this section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain. He did this because these sayings supported his main theme which is: our integrity as disciples of Christ. Luke knows that there needs to be, that there should be a consistency between who we say we are and what we do as people of faith. Luke is challenging us to really think about whether we are practicing what we preach as disciples of Christ. That is what Luke has been asking us as Jesus’ disciples since the very first verse of his Gospel. From Zechariah who at first didn’t trust the promises of God, to Mary who said yes when called, Luke has been telling us, reminding us, confronting us with the fact that if we don’t take the word of Christ seriously, then we should not expect others to do so either. As followers of Jesus Christ, if we don’t put our trust, our faith, our very being into the promises of God, then how on earth are others going to know, going to experience the power of the Gospel message to transform lives? How on earth are others going to know that these are not just words that we say on Sunday but rather they are promises given to us by our God? They are words of wisdom, words of hope, words of grace, words which guide us, which lead us, which renew us, which strengthen us, words which give us the courage to become light and love for all of God’s people. Luke is reminding us that for us and for the world: it all comes down to our integrity as disciples of Christ.
Please hear me say again that Luke is not expecting us to be perfect and get it right every single time. I mentioned this last week when we read Luke’s instructions to us, calling us to love our enemies. And I’m mentioning it again this week as Luke cautions us against becoming holier than thou in our attitudes and behaviors. Just as they will know we are Christians by our love, they will also know we are Christians by our mercy and grace. Luke is reminding us that being disciples of Christ does not give us permission to judge the rest of the world. It does not give us license to be hall monitors, tattle telling on everyone. Nor does it give us the authority to determine who is living the right way. Only God will do that. What we are called to do is live in ways which reflect the Beloved Community for all people.
Sure, we can speak up, speak out against the injustices we see in our world, but we also need to understand that as disciples of Christ, the rules of authentic relationship, of community, of connection, of living out the values of the Beloved Community apply to us as well.
Just because we embrace Jesus as our Lord and Savior doesn’t mean our work is done. In fact, just the opposite is true. Because we have embraced Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are called to become like him, to embrace his teachings, to follow his example. Or as my spiritual director once told me, “Faith reminds us that we are Beloved Children of God, perfect as we are AND we could use some work on becoming the person God created us and calls us to be.”
To drive this point home, Luke uses a familiar illustration…the image of two houses being built….one which stands strong in the rising water while the other crumbles and falls. Notice the context for this illustration: Jesus says, why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and don’t do what I say? I’ll show what it’s like when someone comes to me, hears my words, and puts them into practice. Let me say that again. Someone comes to Jesus, hears Jesus’ words and puts them into practice. Not picking and choosing what they like. Not deciding which words help them maintain their comfortable lifestyle. Not ignoring the stuff, they don’t like. Jesus tells us as his disciples if we are going to be his disciples, if we are going to follow him, then we need listen to his words, his words about love and grace and put them into practice, put them into practice in all things and through all things.
For Luke, for Luke’s readers, for us some two thousand years later, this image of the houses reminds us to build our faith, to build our understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus on God’s word, on God’s wisdom. Because it has never been about us. It has always been about who God is and what God is doing in our world to bring healing and wholeness to all of God’s people.
It is God’s word, it is God’s wisdom which gives us the strength, gives us the courage to become people of love and grace, to live in a way which reflects the Beloved Community in all we do and say. The foundation of God’s word, God’s wisdom, helps us practice what we preach because time and time again, it reminds us that God is with us no matter what storms, what oppression, what injustice, what …I’ll let you fill in the blank. As people of faith, we build our houses of faith on God’s word and God’s wisdom, grounding ourselves in the knowledge, in the promise that this world will not have the last word.
Because the simple fact of the matter is… we don’t get to choose whether or not we will face storms in our lives. Storms, injustice, and oppressive systems are a part of our world. They have been a part of our world since the beginning of time. We cannot change that fact. But we can choose to ground our faith, to build on our faith, on God’s words and wisdom.
because as disciples of Christ, we know that is the only way we will not only survive but thrive. We can choose to ground our faith, to build our faith, to practice what we preach as followers of Jesus Christ, because we know it is the foundation which gives us the courage to become the people God created and calls us to be. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for Sunday, March 2, 2025 – A House Without A Foundation Luke 6: 39-49.
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