They are like a man building a house, who dug
deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst
against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. Luke 6:48
It’s easy when we are in times of uncertainty to let
our worst selves take over. People get
snappish, grumpy, judgemental, knit-picky and angry. They release their tension in the ways that
they have done before, only there’s more tension in the air. Even folks who think that this is an
overblown hoax are likely to be more easily erupting into anger and
irritability. This little set of
parables has so much challenge in it for just that reason. It is very human to judge, it is very human
to ignore my own problems and focus on fixing everyone else. Especially when we are living in historic
times. It reminds me of the old saying
from China: “May you live in Interesting Times”. That, by the way, is not a blessing, but
actually seen as a curse!
The story of the two housebuilders is a teaching
Jesus gave us so that when the interesting times came, we would not be
overwhelmed. It is not about what other
people around us do, he wants to focus on what I can do. Steven Covey’s famous 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People start with self-mastery.
Stop fretting about that sliver of sawdust in your neighbor’s or your
family member’s eye and start working on the fencepost sticking out of your own
eye! It’s as true as when Covey wrote it
in 1989 as when Jesus first spoke to a bunch of poor folks working to
desperately feed their families from one day to the next.
My favorite role model of someone
who lived this well was my father in law.
In 1953, Bob Rosborough, a young 26-year-old phys. ed teacher with three
sons under 6 years old, woke up one morning and found he was paralyzed from the
neck down. He ended up being one of the
few adults in the polio ward in Edmonton, a time where all the pools had been
closed and many children impacted hard by this brutal disease. And one of the last to be impacted as vaccines
were just becoming available. At one
point the doctors doubted that he would ever walk again.
He, like many of the baby boomers
of his generation, had drifted away from the United Church, but the principles
they taught, the character traits they promoted, were deeply ingrained in
him. Principles that the bible calls the
fruits of the spirit, love, hope, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Every single one of them became hugely important in his recovery
process. Without hope he wouldn’t have
kept pushing through the pain of rehabilitation, without kindness, his students
wouldn’t have rallied around him and his wife, babysitting the boys so she
could visit her husband.
He had to dig deep and figure out
how to parent rambunctious boys in different ways because he couldn’t run after
them and grab them when they did something wrong. He had to find patience as the family worked
together to build his dream cabin at the lake.
And he had to find a new way to inspire students because he could no
longer be a gym teacher at school. He
became a guidance counsellor instead, helping children for decades navigate
that scary transition from student to adult.
It's time for us to once again
dig deep into our souls. What is the
foundation upon which we have built our lives?
Have we built on strong rocks or loose sand? Are we being shaken by the storm or do we
have the ability to stay centered? It’s
never too late to build again, to dig down, to rebuild. And it’s not about perfection – even Jesus had
a moment of doubt when he was dying on the cross and cried, “My God, My God,
why have you forsaken me?” It’s about taking
one moment at a time, and reminding ourselves that we are not alone in this
situation, God is with us.