Welcome to Wednesday’s podcast, thank you for joining me again as we travel through Matthew’s gospel together. All this week we’ve been looking at the theme of provision as we’ve been reading Jesus words to the crowd who gathered to hear his words in the Sermon on the Mount. Today I’m going to read the whole passage at the end of the podcast but we’ll be focussing on verse 24 -27 of Chapter 7 which reads;

‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.’

REFLECTION:

I know some people will not be happy with me for mentioning this bit: Christmas is not that far away!

I love giving gifts at Christmas and I spend (probably way too much) time thinking about what present I can give those I love. I hate the idea that I would give a gift that would stay unused months after Christmas. I wonder if you can think of any unused gifts you’ve given or received over the years. Novelty socks, kitchen gadget, coffee table books, scarves, mugs, candles – all items that might turn up in a charity shop come next year! But have you ever rediscovered a gift?

I remember a couple of Christmasses ago when my husband received the slightly random gift of a USB- powered fan. It sat for months in its box, ready to be re-gifted or given away. Then one day we were packing to go to Uganda and on a whim Rich threw the fan into our bag. On that trip we totally rediscovered the joy of that gift. In the sweltering Ugandan heat with a baby who was sweating buckets, we realised how vital that fan was. When we had no power for several days, being able to hook that fan up to a battery pack made our sleep so much better! When Rich unwrapped that gift we had no idea how precious it would become. We’ve since bought fans for family heading off on travels!

We’ve been thinking about provision this week. And in today’s passage Jesus remind us of one of the key ways he provides for us, through his word. This famous passage about the wise and the foolish builders is a reminder that Jesus’ words are a gift, but we get to choose what to do about them. That gift can stay boxed up on the shelf or it can be unwrapped and used to build strong foundations. The Bible is packed full of words to build our lives on. In fact the Sermon on the Mount which concludes with this story is an incredible treasure trove of insight, wisdom and direction about how to live a life worth living. It’s no surprise that Jesus finished his sermon with this short parable which reminds those listening that it’s over to us now. We get to decide how the words we have heard spoken are going to affect our lives.

Over the last two weeks we have heard things like ‘blessed are the meek’, ‘don’t store up riches on earth’, ‘you are the salt of the earth’, ‘don’t worry’ and ‘enter the narrow gate’. But now Jesus says it’s up to us. We get to choose whether we take these words as the gift of provision they are and use them to build a firm foundation or whether we let them wash over us, God’s gift unused and underappreciated.

As a church we often ask the question ‘what is God saying’ and ‘what are we going to do about it’. So maybe at the middle of this week we can pause and ask God to highlight what he has been saying to us. Maybe it’s this week through the podcast, maybe during Sunday’s sermon, maybe through a book we are reading. Let’s bring to mind what God’s been saying and then choose to do something about it, to build our life on those words today.

PRAYER:

Thank you Jesus for the words that you spoke on the Sermon on the Mount. Thank you for the gift of your word, that it’s always alive, that it’s always full of grace, thank you that you always speak to us. Please help us today to respond to the gift of your word. To let it take root in our heart and to put in into practice. Amen.

READING: Matthew 7:15-29

‘Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognise them. Do people pick grapes from thorn-bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognise them.

‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”

‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.’

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.