Baccalaureate Service
Sterling High School
Sunday, June 14, 2009

SCRIPTURE READING

I’d like to tell you a story Jesus tells about building a house. But, I’ve got to be honest with you; I don’t know that much about building a house myself. I’ve learned some over time, but it’s been painful. I sheet rocked a bedroom and stepped hard on an old nail; ended up in the doctor’s office getting a tetanus shot. Another time, I was hammering in floor molding around the base of a room and hit a water pipe and water started gushing out. Then, there was the time I figured I knew enough to put in a small bathroom downstairs. Came time to put in the bathroom door, so I measured twice and cut once; I cut it too short. I had to go back to the hardware store to get another door. I measured 6 times and cut once; not great, but good enough. I put it outside to give myself room to work and a gust of wind came up and knocked the door over on the door handle I had yet to install. It punched a hole in the wrong place in the door, so I had to go back to the hardware store for the third time. You can imagine the guy at the hardware store saw me coming for a third time and he just went back and got another door for me. Anything I’ve learned about construction and houses, I learned by hard experience.

Even though I don’t know much about construction and repairs, I can still understand the story Jesus tells about building a house. A person decides to put up a house. But, before he or she starts in, he digs around a bit in different places until he uncovers the right place to build, right on solid rock, thick, deep and strong. Then, around this time of year, when the big storms roll in, and the wind is high and flooding can sweep through, the house remains firm because it’s sitting on solid rock; no sliding, or slipping or cracks. Even the shingles stay on. Jesus tells a story which has a point. See if you can see/hear it as I read Matthew 7:24 – 29. (Read)

Jesus tells a story, not just to tell it, but because he has a point, a life truth he wants to communicate to us. The story comes at the end of a long section of his teachings. You may even have heard of some of them. We might call them “Jesus’ Greatest Hits, Vol. I.”
The point of the story is to build our lives on the truths that Jesus teaches. One of the first truths Jesus says in this section is this:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied.”

Righteousness here means a right relationship with God. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst to have a right relationship with God – to have a connection with God, a personal relationship that is based upon trust – You lead God, and we’ll follow. The result of having a relationship with God is spelled out by Jesus, He says, “for they shall be satisfied” – deeply satisfied. It’s as if Jesus is telling us that there is something more important to living that just what’s in the physical world, what we can taste, touch and see. True satisfaction comes by pursuing a relationship with God.

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You see, up to this point in life, you’ve learned physical facts: biology, history, English (remember grammar and trying to figure out what is a subject and what’s a prepositional phrase and what’s a gerund?) Music, sports, whatever… it all had to do with the physical. Furthermore, the heroes you’ve admired are probably all about the physical world. And, T.V. and the internet and movies you’ve heard that what’s important is always physical: success, money, what you can buy and put in your house or drive down the street, fame, power, sex, winning….

Jesus’ story suggests that there is more to life than merely physical. There is also the spiritual, a relationship with God that leads to a contentment that physical things can not equal. So, are you up for a challenge? I challenge you to open up to the spiritual part of life. Say to God, “God, I‘ll be open to what You bring my way” as you get ready to take on a job, or go to college. “God, I‘ll be open to what You bring my way.”

I told God that when I was getting ready to go to college and landed at the Philadelphia airport with two overstuffed suitcases as a freshman, I wasn’t that religious. But, I said it, “God, I‘ll be open to what You bring my way.” I was opening up a new door in life, a deeply satisfying part of life. Do you have the curiosity and the courage to pray it? If so, it’s a foundational truth upon which we can build our lives.

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