July 16, 2001-- AM
STORM PROOFING THE HOUSE
Matthew 7:24-27
INTRODUCTION:
(1) During a thunder storm in the midwest, my parents turned on the TV to watch for tornado warnings. Just as the screen flashed a warning, a limb crashed outside the living room window. Mom bolted toward a safer spot in the dining room, but a terrific lightning strike stopped her in the doorway.
Wringing her hands, she shouted to Dad above the storm, "Where are we going?"
"I guess," he said calmly, "it depends on how we’ve lived." -- Martha Vancise, Ft. Pierce, Florida. Christian Reader, "Lite Fare."
(2) In 1938 a hurricane threatened the New England coast. People feared that the railroad bridge at White River Junction would be destroyed. The danger was averted when some thoughtful person backed a line of loaded freight cars onto the bridge. The bridge withstood the force of the winds because of the weight that it bore. The weight of your responsibilities may rest heavily upon you, but that weight may be the very thing that keeps you from being swept away by the storm of sin. -- Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
(3) What though my joys and comforts die? The Lord my Savior liveth;
What though the darkness gather round? Songs in the night he giveth;
No storm can shake my inmost calm, while to that refuge clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing? Robert Lowry
PROPOSITION: A LIFE IS ONLY AS STRONG AS THAT ON WHICH IT RESTS.
TRANS. Q: How does the strength of a house become affected by what it rests on?
TRANS. S: Here are four implications of a life¡¦s foundation.
I. TO BE WISE, HEAR AND DO THESE SAYINGS (7:24)
A. With wisdom, there is an important connection between hearing the sayings of Christ and doing them. This is key: that one who hears also does the sayings of Christ (James 1:22-25). These sayings are Christ¡¦s and therefore are worthy of the highest respect. There is wisdom in heeding Christ¡¦s words. A wise man is one who characterizes his actions by well-applied knowledge and yields results accordingly. He makes good decisions and choices. The wise man¡¦s wisdom shows in his building activity. Something as needful and valuable as a house ought to be trusted only to that which is able to hold it.
B. ¡§These sayings¡¨ to which Christ refers are the items preceding verse 24. The immediate context reaches back into chapter five of Matthew. We read that He saw the multitudes and taught them the very important truths of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:2). A summary of these teachings reveals the activities of a well-founded or storm-proofed life. These are the things to do if your house is on the right foundation.
1. The storm-proofed house is constructed with consideration for the blessings of Heaven (Matthew 5:2-12). The foundation is not on the shifting circumstances of earth but on the unchangeable promises of Heaven. Therefore, the storms of life here do not rattle the security a believer draws from there. This life does not anchor the believer¡¦s rewards.
2. The storm-proofed household replenishes its supply of usable salt (Matthew 5:13). As a seasoning and a preservative, the believer functions to present the Gospel and prevent moral decay. He offers a taste of Heaven to the earthbound.
3. The storm-proofed house will glow with light (Matthew 5:14-16). With no attempt to hide, the well-founded believer or collection of believers radiates the Word of God and attracts people to the household. Everyone within the household has ability to see and do good works.
4. The storm-proofed house lives by the rules of Christ (Matthew 5:17-48). It is a household rule to do and teach the commandments Christ describes. This includes respecting the Law Jesus came to fulfill. This results in a house filled with excellent righteousness (20). The members of the dwelling clear up matters of anger quickly because the certain but often unexpected arrival of the storm will make harmony necessary for survival (21-26). Drastic measures remove and prevent repetitious sin because the distraction of such tolerated urges will be hazardous if pursued at the onset of a storm (27-30). The household protects marriage from frivolous divorce so that storm does not advance on unsuspecting couples whose hearts are torn by unnecessary disagreement (31-32). Words and expressions are carefully guarded and truthful so they are dependable in time of crisis or catastrophe (33-37). The house discourages retaliation and encourages helping the undeserving making this a more likely occurrence in the face of needs created by storm (38-42). It reflects the perfection of our Father in Heaven (43-48).
5. The storm-proofed house cultivates sincere giving (NKJV= charitable deeds -- Matthew 6:1-4).
6. The storm-proofed house practices genuine prayer (Matthew 6:5-13). The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear. It is the storm within which endangers him, not the storm without. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
7. The storm-proofed house frees itself with forgiveness (Matthew 6:14-15).
8. The storm-proofed house goes without at times in order to strengthen the spirit (Matthew 6:16-18). A strong spirit, fortified by sacrifice, makes greater efforts to survive storms because it trains through fasting to depend on and draw close to the Lord.
9. The storm-proofed house places its treasure in the right place. Affection and attention follow treasure (Matthew 6:19-24). If the treasure is secure (as in Heaven), then fear of its loss is minimized in the storm.
10. The storm-proofed house forbids worry (Matthew 6:25-34). Worry clouds the eyes and dulls the senses when acumen is needed. Worry wastes energy, a vital resource in the face of a storm.
11. The storm-proofed house avoids hypocrisy (Matthew 7:1-6). Judgment, or the declaration of a condemnatory ruling, is beyond the scope of authority for humans. This is God¡¦s realm. We are not allowed to condemn someone to Hell. It is hypocrisy to declare our own opinions as though they are God¡¦s. Speaking in the name of God requires knowing the Word and mind of God. Hypocrisy says one thing and lives another. In areas that require forgiveness, hypocrisy instead condemns. In a storm hypocrisy blames, slanders, criticizes, and condemns by many other means of judgment. It lashes out when it should be reaching out to rescue or accept rescue. It protects self-interest when it should protect sacred things. The storm-savvy believer avoids being hypocritical and avoids putting sacred things into the injurious path of hypocrites (6).
12. The storm-proofed house asks, seeks, and knocks to find the provisions of providence (Matthew 7:7-11).
13. The storm-proofed house lives by the golden rule (Matthew 7:12). This helps those in the storm.
14. The storm-proofed house marks the escape route to the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14). The path is familiar enough to follow and remain on when the storm makes travel difficult.
15. The storm-proofed house is aware of other dangers that increase their lethality in the desperations of storm (Matthew 7:15-20). Particularly we refer to wolves and poison fruit.
16. The storm-proofed house realizes the importance of being known by the Master of Heaven¡¦s security (Matthew 7:21-23). Much activity can be confused with storm-proofing, when in reality it amounts to establishing the household on sand.
C. The right connections or combinations are often so important for getting the desired results.
II. TO WITHSTAND LIFE¡¦S STORMS, BUILD ON THE ROCK (7:25)
A. The Rock of Christ is life¡¦s best foundation against its storms.
1. ¡§The¡¨ rain fell; it sounds as if this was a typical occurrence in a normal season. Floods come quickly after rain and with them come danger. Apparently the setting here is near a river. There seems to be a certainty that the storm will come. The ¡§house¡¨ receives a challenge in the storm.
2. Note qualities of the Rock:
a. Stationary - You know where it is. The house was strong on the rock and withstood the storm. A house cannot be stronger than its foundation.
b. Strong - It can hold you. The Rock had withstood storms before. It was there before the house and will be there after the house is gone.
c. Stable - It won¡¦t be shaky. Christ is the Rock (OT passages; I Cor. 3:10-15; Matt. 16:18; I Cor. 10:4 - An immovable rock which follows them and is Christ). ƒnƒÀƒÕƒäƒâƒÑ is a large rock¡¨, ¡§cliff,¡¨ or ¡§rocky mountain chain.¡¨ Figuratively it suggests firmness, immovability, and hardness. (ƒÀƒÕƒäƒâƒßƒÆ indicates smaller rocks, stones, or pebbles - see Matt. 16:18 for comparison). -TDNT
B. Whatever we build in life is best built on ¡§the¡¨ Rock:
1. Adulthood (Maturity)
2. Marriage
3. Family
4. Career
5. Social Life
6. Church
III. TO BE FOOLISH, HEAR THESE SAYINGS AND FAIL TO DO THEM (7:26)
A. A great deal of a man¡¦s foolishness is found in neglecting the words of Christ. For whatever reason, not doing them is foolishness. There is no inclination to wisdom. As the wise man, the foolish man also expended energy, effort, and expense in building a house. The main difference was the choice of foundation. ƒn
B. ƒ½ƒßƒâƒßƒÆ and its cognates denote deficiency, e.g., physical sloth, but more especially mental dullness -- Classical Greek use. ¡VTDNT. Webster¡¦s Dictionary etymologically traces our word ¡§moron¡¨ to the Greek word ƒÝƒßƒâƒßƒÆ. We use the term loosely to describe, ¡§a very stupid person.¡¨ What a man fails to do in response to the words of Christ he has heard, indicates the greatness of his foolishness.
IV. TO EXPERIENCE A GREAT FALL, BUILD ON THE SAND (7:27)
A. The foolish man placed his household (belongings, family, and dwelling) directly upon the sand. Sand is far different from a Rock. Note the qualities of the sand:
1. Shifting - Easily displaced. This is characteristic of the World according 1 John 2:17. It is passing away. A house built on sand cannot stand when the sand washes away.
2. Sliding - Following force such as H2O.
3. Sinking - Eroding and following gravity.
B. The situation which overtakes the foolish man is the same as that which confronts the wise man. The rain falls on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). The difference is in the foundation. The foolish man¡¦s house collapsed, crumbled and went the way of the sand. The fall was great. The collapse was a devastating tragedy resulting in nearly complete loss. The collapse was notable and noticeable. There was no house anymore.
C. The Lord¡¦s words would be particularly graphic and picturesque here. Each mind would envision a large house on the shifting sand. The rapid and dangerous floods would undermine the house with all its internal and external beauties, and bring it down with tremendous impact. The greater the size of the house, the greater the danger it would be as it fell. The bigger it was, the harder it would fall. Poor preparation leads to loss in the storm.
D. Building one’s life on a foundation of gold is just like building a house on foundations of sand. Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906)
CONCLUSION:
(1) The fall of the house in Matthew 7 was a ¡§Mega¡¨ fall. We can catch just an inkling of the reality of this fall in judgment when we reflect on the strange account of St. Jean Vianney, a small town in Quebec, Canada. The reading is almost out of the Twilight Zone.
THE TOWN THAT DISAPPEARED: Saint-JeanVianney was a proud, prosperous little village. Then one night the earth opened up¡X and it began to melt away. The dogs of Saint-Jean-Vian-ney were the first to recog-nize the signs of oncoming disaster.
Eleven-year-old Marcel Riverin had never seen his pet in such a frantic state ¡X scurrying about, bark-ing, yelping. Mrs. Jacques Trem-blay¡¦s toy Pomeranian was also unusually nervous. ¡§He yapped to go out and yapped to come in,¡¨ she recalls. ¡§Finally I slapped him.¡¨
Laval Blackburn, building super-intendent at the local college, fol-lowed his father¡¦s dog outside and watched him dash around in circles, sniffing the ground. Blackburn was baffled. He returned to the TV (most of the men that night were absorbed in the Stanley Cup hockey play-off between Montreal and Chi-cago). But the dog drowned out the announcer s voice.
No one in town realized what the dogs were trying to say.
Saint-Jean-Vianney was a well-kept, suburban-like community of 1308, located 135 miles north of the city of Quebec. Once farmland, the town had bloomed with houses in the last decade. Most of the men worked as skilled laborers or techni-cians for the nearby aluminum plant or the paper mill. Their homes were impeccably maintained, and both husbands and wives spent much of their leisure time making improve-ments. It was a young town, and a proud one. ¡§A good place in which to live and raise children,¡¨ Harold Simard remarked.
No one knew¡Xand the knowl-edge probably would not have dis-turbed anyone¡Xthat the town had been built on the site of a gigantic landslide that occurred some 500 years ago. That slide didn¡¦t pour down the side of a mountain. It hap-pened on relatively flat land. Be-neath the crust of topsoil, the earth in this part of the Province of Que-bec is generally composed of clay with pockets of sand. The particular quality of this clay, which runs about 100 feet deep, frequently causes slides. When the sand pockets become over-saturated with mois-ture, the pressure against the clay causes it to dissolve and simply flow away.
Several things occurred in Saint- Jean-Vianney before the disaster that might, collectively, have represent-ed a warning. A few cracks ap-peared in the asphalt of two streets. Two driveways settled about five inches. One man painted the ex-posed portion of his house founda-tion; the following spring the earth around the foundation settled about eight inches and neighbors kidded him about the unpainted margin. And sometimes the power pole out-side the house of Gilles Bourgeois swayed when there was no wind.
On the night of last April 23, many residents heard a loud thump that seemed to come from under their houses. People checked their basements and peered out windows, but could detect nothing. On the following day Pitre Blackburn drove out to the far eastern corner of his farm to work. At that location stood a 40-foot hill that blocked Saint-Jean-Vianney¡¦s view of the big town of Chicoutimi, six miles away. ¡§When I drove around the hill I saw that the back half of it had disap-peared,¡¨ Blackburn said. ¡§In its place was a great hole, a V-shaped thing, maybe 80 feet deep, 200 feet wide and 500 feet long. Many peo-ple from town came to look at it.¡¨
A week later Mrs. Robert Pa-quette (not her real name) was visit-ing her neighbor, Mrs. Patrick Gagnon. ¡§I don¡¦t know what¡¦s happening around here,¡¨ she com-plained. ¡§I hear water flowing Un-der our house, but my husband tells me I¡¦m crazy.
Since the rains had been heavy during April, and an abrupt rise in temperature was producing a fast thaw, Mrs. Gagnon thought it might just be a natural spring phenome-non. No one realized that all the rain was not running off, that it was seeping slowly into the soil, and slowly liquefying the sub-stratum of clay.
THE CLAY began moving on Tues-day evening, May 4, a gray, rainy day. At 10:45, Mrs. Paul Laval (not her real name) telephoned her close friend, Marcelline Fillion, six houses away. ¡§Something strange is going on,¡¨ she announced, her voice tight. ¡§The Blackburn hill is no longer there. I can see the lights of Chicoutimi.¡¨ Then she hung up.
Mrs. Fillion turned to her hus-band and said, ¡§It¡¦s getting scary around here.¡¨ He nodded absently, his eyes riveted to the television screen. A few minutes later the lights flashed out and the screen went black. ¡§A car must have hit a power pole,¡¨ he remarked.
Fillion told his wife to light can-dles and went outside to investigate. He heard shouting on the east edge of town. In the street he could make out a bus, headlights burning, an-gled into a hole. Beyond that he could see only a black void where the Laval house had stood. He sprinted back inside. ¡§Marcelline!¡¨ he shout-ed, ¡§the Laval house is gone! Get our boy. We must leave. NOW!¡¨
The slide had begun at or near the Blackburn hill and swiftly moved westward toward the homes on the east side of town. The earth simply dissolved to a depth of nearly 100 feet; in the canyon thus formed, a river of liquefied clay ¡Xsometimes as deep as 6o feet¡Xflowed at a rate of 16 miles per hour toward the Saguenay River, two miles away. At its widest, the canyon was a half mile across, and it extended for ap-proximately one mile.
When the slide reached the Laval house, everything¡Xhouse, car, tri-cycles ¡X plunged like a fast-moving elevator into the river of clay. Laval, his wife and three young children found themselves on a large cake of slippery clay. Waves of melted clay battered them. The children disap-peared, one by one. Then Mrs. Laval went down. Laval himself was smashed against the roots of a stand-ing tree. He grabbed them and pulled himself to solid ground.
Stripped of all clothing, shocked, dazed and unbelieving, he staggered along the edge of the crater until the police found him and rushed him to a hospital.
Next door to the Lavals, Robert Paquette was in his basement play-room when the lights went out. He walked to the street to find out about the trouble. His wife and five children remained in the house.
He heard excited voices up the street, so he quickly walked about 200 feet to join the group. As he reached them, Patrick Gagnon gasped, ¡§Look!¡¨ Paquette turned toward his house. He saw it swivel a little, tilt, then slide from sight. He began running toward the hole, but Gagnon grabbed him. ¡§I don¡¦t understand,¡¨ Paquette sobbed. ¡§I don¡¦t understand.¡¨
Huguette Couture lived next to the Paquette¡¦s. About 11 that eve-ning she heard a cracking noise and felt the house shake. Alone with her three children (her husband worked the 4 p.m. to midnight shift at the aluminum plant), she was terrified. From the kitchen window she saw a nearby house, lights still on, dis-appear from view. She ran to pick up three-year-old Benoit, screaming to her girls, ¡§Let¡¦s get out! It¡¦s the end of the world!¡¨
She jerked open the front door, but saw only blackness. The con-crete steps had disappeared. She ran back to the kitchen door. It was jammed. She flung open the win-dow. Martine, 13, clambered out. She shoved her younger daughter, 11 -year-old Kathleen, through the win-dow just as a five-foot crack opened alongside the house. The girl fell into it, then scrambled out. The house moved and Martine yelled, ¡§The foundation is going! The hole is getting bigger!¡¨
Mrs. Couture pressed the boy to her breast, sat on the window and fell backwards into the hole. Hold-ing the boy with one arm, she raised the other for help. Martine, with a strength beyond herself, pulled her mother and brother out of the hole. As they raced up Stanley Street to safety, Benoit, who was facing the rear in his mother¡¦s arms, said, ¡§Mommy, our house has melted.¡¨
Jules Girard, who operated a bus service for employees at the alumi-num plant, was driving his bus across a crack in the road when the front end of the vehicle sank into the earth. Through his windshield he saw the whole road ahead sink-ing. ¡§Everybody out the back door!¡¨ he shouted. ¡§Quick!¡¨
The last man out, Girard fell into a hole and clawed his way up. He and several passengers ran up the street, throwing stones at houses and yelling warnings. When he looked back, he could see only the red roof lights of his bus. For a few seconds he watched in horror as a car came racing down Harvey Street on the far side of the crater. Then the head-lights disappeared into the hole.
As the alarm spread, Georges Vatcher grabbed his high-powered battery lantern and cautiously ap-proached the crater. Several men joined him. ¡§The beam of light showed only the edge of the hole,¡¨ he described. ¡§It couldn¡¦t penetrate enough to show the size or depth. I heard screams for help from below. There was a kind of muffled, liq-uidy, sucking noise from the hole. Then the cries grew fainter and stopped, as if they were coming from a boat moving down the river.
Throughout the east side of town the slide caused panic, shock and disbelief. People didn¡¦t know which way to run or drive. In fleeing their homes, several women took only their wigs. An 18-year-old girl couldn¡¦t make up her mind what was most precious to her, so she grabbed a worn doll from her child-hood. One man, leaving his sinking house, told his wife, ¡§I forgot to lock the door.¡¨ ¡§You can do it later,¡¨ she answered.
By midnight the sliding and liq-uefying of earth had stopped. Thirty-one men, women and chil-dren had perished; 38 houses had disappeared from the town. The sur-rounding communities and the Que-bec provincial government reacted quickly to the emergency. A relief mission was established at the Kenogami Memorial Hall, and the gov-ernment began moving 131 mobile homes into the area.
Six days after the slide Mrs. Jacques Tremblay and her family climbed down into the crater to look at their house. It was one of the last to sink. Except for the foundation, the house was intact. The glassware was unbroken. The little turtle still crawled around in its bowl. Mrs. Tremblay spent two hours in the house that she knew the government would have to burn. She dusted about, made up the beds and wept.
Twenty-three days after the slide the Quebec government declared Saint-Jean-Vianney unsafe for habi-tation. Before the year was out, it would be evacuated, totally.
The survivors examined several sites for a new community, 90 per-cent of them eventually choosing a tract of land in nearby Arvida. The government is replacing the homes destroyed by the slide and moving the undamaged homes to the new community. A fund of $850,000, privately contributed by Canadians, will enable families to replace the loss of all household effects. ¡§None of us will lose a dime,¡¨ Jean-Joseph Larouche said. ¡§We¡¦ll even have our old neighbors near us on the streets in the new community.¡¨
Saint-Jean-Vianney soon will be empty and desolate. In time, weeds and wild undergrowth will camou-flage the house foundations. The curious will come to stare at the enormous crater, which will grow shallower year by year as the rains carry earth into it. The name of the town, deleted from atlases and road maps, will live on only in the mem-ories of those who resided there.
What happened seemed unreal to most families on that terrible night and it is even more unreal today. ¡§Sometimes it all seems like a dream,¡¨ said Leo Bourgeois, who lost his son, his pregnant daughter-in-law and his grandchild. ¡§I find myself asking, ¡¥Did the earth really open up and swallow those people? Did that actually happen?¡¦¡¨
(2) The absence of solid trust in God ¡V that He is present and concerned for you, His child ¡V produces no more stability than water whipped by wind. The Christian needs more than a backbone like water (James 1:6).
