The Way We Build

 The Way We Build

A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Randy Hammer, September 5, 2021

Matthew 7:24-27; “Song of the Builders” by Mary Oliver 

A week ago yesterday, we were in West Tennessee on the Tennessee River celebrating our grandson Josiah’s 15^th birthday.  But when asked how he wanted to celebrate his birthday, Josiah said he wanted everyone in his family to spend the day with him on the Tennessee River on his other grandfather’s pontoon boat and swimming and tubing in the river.  So, that is what we did.

Josiah’s other grandfather lives at Sugar Tree, Tennessee, in a riverside community where everyone owns some kind of boat or jet ski.  So, there were eight of us altogether.  Around noontime we loaded onto the pontoon boat and sailed up the river.  A few put on life vests and rode the waves on a big, pull-behind, inflatable raft, and we ate a picnic lunch while enjoying the scenery along the riverbanks.  We docked at a sandy beach, and most everyone hit the water to cool off.

We were amazed by some of the beautiful houses that have been built along the river’s edge.  And when I say edge, I mean edge.  Some of them are built right on top of the limestone bluffs, which makes you wonder how they were able to lay a level foundation on those uneven rocks.

But here is the point of my story: As I looked at those beautiful houses on the riverbank, I pointed to one in particular and said, “Now there’s an example of a house built upon the rock.”  Since everyone in the boat was biblically literate, my comment – making reference to Jesus’s parable – needed no explanation.  But the image of those houses along the river built on the solid rock hasn’t left me.

Indeed, Jesus’ parable about the two men who built a house—one on unstable sands and the other on solid rock—is also a striking image that is hard to forget. To build successfully, according to the context of the parable in Matthew’s gospel, is to live our lives according to Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapters 5-7.  This parable closes out—it is the concluding word—for the Sermon on the Mount.  What Matthew was trying to say by constructing his gospel the way he did is to build our lives successfully is to live according to the teachings of Jesus in the preceding three chapters. If we do so, we will have built our lives well.  But if not, well, according to the parable, we face an uncertain future.

I’ve said it before about a few other biblical passages, but we could say it about this passage as well: If we had no other Christian writings to give us guidance about how to live a good, moral life, the Sermon on the Mount would be enough.  Such would be an apt foundation upon which to ground our faith and build our lives. But what are these teachings in a nutshell?  In summary, the Sermon on the Mount focuses upon being humble, being committed to justice, showing mercy, being a peacemaker, controlling our anger, loving our neighbor as we love ourselves, donating to charity, being compassionate, praying or meditating as a spiritual practice, forgiving others, withholding judgment of others, and doing to others as we would have them do unto us.  As I said, a pretty good foundation upon which to build our lives.

There is an interesting story about a building contractor who worked for a large construction company.  When it came time to retire, he was completing a new development in a plush neighborhood.  The contractor said, "This is the last house I'm ever going to build, and it's going to be the best."  The contractor annoyed the architects with his demands for perfection.  He called in only the best subcontractors and spared no expense on materials, with more insulation, better wiring, superior paint, and the best plumbing.  He finished it off with the best roofing materials and first-class landscaping.  At his retirement dinner, the contractor's coworkers honored him with stories and praise for his good work and achievements.  The president of the company was the last one to speak, and he, too, spoke of the quality of the contractor's work and his loyalty to the company.  "Now as a parting gift," the company president said, "for thirty years of service to the company, we award you the keys to the last house you built for us.  Enjoy your final home."¹  Can you imagine the look on the contractor’s face?  But isn’t there a lesson hidden in the story?  The idea that what we put forth in life will in some way come back to us.

Each of us, in a sense, is building our life by the philosophy we adopt, the principles we live by, and the way we relate to others.  To put it another way, in large measure we are building our own destiny by the decisions we make, by the words we speak, by the actions we demonstrate, and by the service we render to others each day. The Apostle Paul, you know, also used this building metaphor in his first letter to the Corinthians.  Paul says, "we must each be careful how we build" (1 Corinthians 3:10 CEV).  Buddhists might call it Karma—what you put forth in life is what in some way will come back to you.

Well, poet Mary Oliver looks at the idea of building from yet another angle; looking through a wide-angle lens we might say.  In Oliver’s view, each of us has a responsibility in helping build the universe.  While watching an insect going about moving grains of sand or dirt, Oliver was inspired to write,

Let us hope

It will always be like this,

Each of us going on

In our inexplicable ways

Building the universe.

Not only are we to be careful about how we are building our own personal lives.  We have a responsibility, a duty, to help build a better world.  To help make the world a better place for all concerned.  This we can do by helping protect and preserve that which is beautiful and good (such as working to protect our environment and standing in opposition to bills or legislation that further harm our earth).  By showing compassion and helping to alleviate human suffering (such as supporting those who have been affected by covid-19 or recent natural disasters).  And by working for human justice on behalf of all (such as advocating for the most vulnerable of our society and doing anything we can to stand up for those whose rights are trampled).  These are just a few examples.   Each of us, in his or her own way, can do something to help build a better world.

In the metaphorical words of that great hymn that we will sing momentarily,

“We would be building; temples still undone

………………………………………………………………….

Waiting till love can raise the broken stone,

And hearts creative bridge the human rift,

………………………………………………………………………

Teach us to build; upon the solid rock

We set the dream that hardens into deed

Teach us to build; O Maker, lend us sight

To see the towers gleaming in the light.

………………………………………………………….

We build with you; O grant enduring worth

Until your promised realm shall come on earth.”

Well, whether it is Jesus, poet Mary Oliver, or the Evangelical and Reformed pastor who wrote the hymn “We Would Be Building,” there is a common theme throughout—each of us is in some way to be about building our lives on solid principles and also helping to build a better world.  Taking time to consider how we are using the lives we have been given, and what we are building in the metaphorical sense of the term, is not such a bad thing to do every now and then.  And perhaps there is no better time than Labor Day weekend to take time to ponder the way we are building.  May it be so. Amen. 

¹David Beavers, Ministers Manual for 2000, pp. 171-172.