Matthew 7:24-29
The Rev. Dr. Robert S. Langworthy, preaching
October 20, 2024
Three-year-old Angie was playing on the floor with her toys while her mother was down the hall folding laundry. Mom noticed that Angie’s shirt was dirty and that she needed a new clean one. So she called Angie to come over to her – twice! – but Angie didn’t move either time. So Mom issued the three-name call of command: “Angela Elizabeth Jones, did you hear me?” “Yes, Mama,” Angie replied, “my ears did, but my legs didn’t.”
The ears of many followers of Jesus hear Him, but their legs don’t. They take in His commands, but they don’t put them into action. And what good is that?
For decades the Ad Council has produced thousands of public service announcements for antenna TV. Their “Don’t Almost Give” campaign was particularly powerful. One ad shows a man with crutches failing at climbing some stairs. The narrator says, “This is a man who almost learned to walk at a rehab center that almost got built by people who almost gave money to fund it.” After pausing a moment, the narrator continues, “Almost gave. How good is almost giving? About as good as almost learning to walk.”
Another ad shows a homeless man curled up in a ball on a pile of trash, with one tattered blanket shielding him from the cold. The narrator says, “This is Jack Thomas. Today someone almost brought Jack something to eat. Someone almost brought him to a shelter. And someone else almost brought him a thick blanket.” After pausing a moment, the narrator continues, “And Jack Thomas? Well, he almost made it through the night.”
A third ad shows an elderly woman sitting alone, staring out a window. The narrator says, “This is Sarah Watkins. A lot of people almost helped her. One almost cooked for her. Another almost drove her to the doctor. Still another almost dropped by just to say hello. They almost helped…almost gave of themselves. But almost giving is the same as not giving at all.”
And almost giving is the same as not obeying Jesus at all. Almost obeying Him is hearing His call to give and to help others with our ears but not with our legs. It is failing to follow through with obedience and causing Him to shake His head and lament, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?”
Today we conclude our 20-part series on the Sermon on the Mount. We reflect on Jesus’ last word in it. The word is simple but foundational: Dear disciple, do what I tell you!
Jesus begins this passage, saying, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” This suggests that the right conduct results in the right consequences. Those who do what Jesus tells them gain a good life, built on the rock of their obedience; and that good life endures forever despite all the bad things that assault it, from killer winds to fatal floods.
Note this passage starts with the word “then”. The word “then” refers to what Jesus has said right before this passage. Jesus just said that those who don’t get around to doing His will have no part in His kingdom – for all their calling out, “Lord, Lord” and for all their doing this and that “in the name of Jesus”. Despite their pretense of deferential devotion, great indeed will be the fall of their house in the end! For though what we profess matters, it means nothing unless we believe it and enact it!
Years ago, Darfur – that southern part of the African country, Sudan – was suffering nearly as bad a humanitarian crisis as it now is. Millions of people were displaced in overcrowded camps with inadequate food, water and healthcare and under constant threat of abduction, enslavement, rape and murder.
To rally the world to rise up and help, Facebook set up a Save Darfur page. On it more than 1.7 million folks registered their concern about Darfur and professed a resolve to come to the aid of its suffering people.
Professor Kurt Gray from the University of North Carolina analyzed what was accomplished by this effort. Digging into the digital details of the first 100,000 people to profess their moral outrage on that Facebook page, Dr. Gray’s research team discovered that 99.8% of them gave no money to the cause and that only 72% recruited someone else even to just “like” the page. All that was accomplished was that lots of people got to look great while basically doing nothing.
It’s human nature to emphasize more our putting our righteous judgments and good intentions on display than our putting them into action. That’s why we often fail to live out that to which we give lip service, and often almost give.
What’s to be done? We can repeatedly practice the spiritual disciplines faithful Christians have always practiced to form their character – such as worshipping with others each week, having a time for personal devotion each day, and fulfilling our pledge to give money on a regular basis in support of God’s work in the world. Such habits over time change us and make us people who more consistently put our faith into action.
What we habitually do determines who we become. We are wise then to embed the right habits into our lives. Some habits are universally helpful for followers of Jesus, some are helpful only for certain individuals and most, of both kinds, don’t seem in themselves impressive or important. Yet, even if it’s a habit as modest as singing a happy song at the start of each day or each week telling somehow we love how grateful we are for them or once a month organizing our desk and/or our closet – a habit can work wonders in our life. For a little thing done a long time can have a big impact.
Yet, more crucial than what we do is on whom we decide to most depend for the improvement of our character and conduct. We must choose whether it will be ourselves or the gracious Savior behind the Sermon on the Mount who promises to make those who follow Him “blessed”.
Though Jesus began the Sermon when alone with His disciples, by the time He finished it, “crowds” had gathered around Him. What struck them most was that Jesus “taught as one having authority, and not as their scribes.” While the scribes commanded people’s adherence to their message by citing authorities, Jesus commanded it by simply saying, “I say to you…” – as if His very Person settled the issue as to whether His words should be obeyed and no more validation were needed. Jesus spoke, not by authority, but with authority. He was the authority in His human and humane divinity.
Jesus cast Himself as the key character in our spiritual development. He made Himself the issue. He presented Himself as both the source of truth and the power to live it out.
Thus, while it’s all about our doing it, it’s ultimately about our doing it in a relationship with Him, so that it’s really His doing it, in and through us. Let us pray.
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