Rain
Tarrytown United Methodist Church
Reverend Ann Beaty
June 1, 2008
Text: Matthew 7:24-29
I have always loved the beach. My grandparents lived in Florida on the gulf coast and we would travel every year – usually at Christmas or Easter – to visit them. I loved playing in the sand and even today, I still love the breeze in the air, the smell of the salt water and the way the sand feels under my feet.
My grandparents kept the beach supplies at their house and they always came out of the closet when we would arrive – the bucket and shovel and other supplies for the beach. I remember sitting in the sand for hours building what seemed like elaborate kingdoms with castles, roads and cities; forts, moats and gates.
And then, I remember the crash. The storm came in the form of my little sister who was no more than 3 years old. Before I could react or stop her or knock her out, she came up and poured her bucket of water over the whole thing. I remember that there was some screaming and crying probably from both of us. I was devastated. All that hard work! My whole home made kingdom gone with one toddler and a bucket of water.
Well, the reality is, sand castles don’t last. The storms do come. If we want a structure to withhold the strength of the storms in life, we build it on something more solid, something with more depth, with more structure, with more substance.
In our Scripture today Jesus is at the close of the Sermon on the Mount, at the very end of Matthew 5, 6, and 7, where he has just finished his many teachings about the beatitudes…teachings on prayer and forgiveness, not judging others; and a whole variety of spiritual guidelines for living the Christian life.
At the very end of these teachings, he tells a parable, and this concluding parable reflects on the differences of building a house on the foundation of rock and building a house on the foundation of sand. Jesus said: “The person who hears these words and teachings of mine and does them, puts them into practice, is like a wise man who builds his house on rock. And so when the rains fall and flood waters come and the wind blows and beats against that house, it will not fall.”
On the other hand, the person who hears these words and teachings of mine and does not do them is like the foolish man who builds his house upon the sand. And so when the rains fall and floods come and winds blow and beat on that house, it will fall. Why? Because it’s foundation is on the sand.
Now, we know Jesus isn’t talking about actual houses although this is some good advice for contractors and architects as well. Jesus is talking about our lives. Our lives are like houses. If we build our life upon a good foundation, when the storms of life come, our lives will not be obliterated into nothingness. If, on the other hand, we build our life on a poor foundation, when the storms of life inevitably come, our life will be shattered into ruins. Why? Because the foundation was weak and couldn’t support the strength of the storm.
The Tarrytown 20’s Young Adult Group used a great series this spring developed by Rev. Rob Bell. Rob is the pastor of a large non-denominational church in the mid-west. I’d like to share his story with you today. It’s called “Rain”.
“A couple of years ago, I was with my family and we were spending some time in a cabin in the woods on the edge of a remote lake. One morning, my son Trace and I set out to take a walk around the lake. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the birds were singing and my son Trace was about a year old at the time. I have him in one of those hiking backpacks and as I walk along I can hear him making all of his happy one-year old boy noises behind me.
We head out through the woods to walk around the lake. And we get to the other side of the lake and we’re exactly at the half way point and I notice there are clouds and it starts to rain. It always rains, doesn’t it?
It’s interesting because the scriptures say all sorts of things about rain and storms. When Jesus is teaching about what it means to live in the fullness of life in his kingdom he speaks of 2 different people. He speaks about a person who builds their house on sand –someone who chooses to reject his teaching. And he speaks about someone who chooses to build their life, their house, on rock – who builds their life on his teachings.
And the metaphor he uses is that of a storm that comes and the person whose house is on sand is just destroyed and the house on rock stands. And the reality is, the storms do come in our lives – a lot.
At first as Trace and I start to head back through the woods to the cabin, there is a drop here and a drop there so I put Trace’s hood over his head, but what I didn’t know is that he pulled it off and so gradually the drops get bigger and bigger and they fall faster and faster and in no time, it is pouring. The kind of rain that just soaks you and plasters your hair against your head and drenches your clothing.
At first with the thunder and lightning, Chase is okay, but as it picks up and it gets louder and louder and it gets more intense and the trees start to shake he becomes more and more agitated. I can feel him on my back. At first he starts to whimper. And then a little shout here and there, but in no time, Trace is shrieking at the top of his lungs. The wind is blowing. It’s thundering and lightning, we are just getting plastered with this heavy rain. Trace, from deep in his being, starts to yell and cry so loudly and with such passion and terror in his voice.
It’s interesting because if you look up the word cry and search the scriptures, you find that the word comes up over and over again. And, God says these amazing things, like he says, when you cry out to me I listen. He even says I cannot ignore the cry of somebody who is afflicted. God says if you are hurting, confused, soaking wet, conflicted, scared, broken-hearted, cry out to me and I will hear you.
You see, there is this false twisted idea out there among some religious people that you’ve got have it all together to have a relationship with God. Like somehow, God is only looking for people who have no problems, who have it all together all the time. And yet the scriptures speak directly against this kind of thinking. Jesus says, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden . The essence of salvation is crying out to God and admitting I don’t have it altogether. It’s admitting I am lost. I am hurting and I can’t hold all this alone.
It’s interesting if you think about the storm from Trace’s perspective. For Trace, the storm IS his reality. He sees nothing else. The lightning, and the trees swaying and the water dripping off of him, it’s all he knows. He sees no reality beyond the storm. What Trace doesn’t realize is that as his dad, I would do anything to get him home.
So, at this point, Trace is shrieking at the top of his lungs in stereo right behind my head and I stop and I kneel down and I take him out of the pack and I pull him close to my chest and I wrap my arms around him. And I hold him so tightly up against my heart. And for the last mile of our walk, the entire time, I bend over and I whisper into his ear over and over again, “I love you buddy. We’re gonna make it. Dad knows the way home. We’re gonna make it. I love you buddy.” And over and over and over again, through the storm, I carry him home clutched tightly to my chest, I whisper to him, “I love you buddy. We’re gonna make it.”
Now, imagine, it’s years later, Trace is in therapy and he drags up this repressed memory of “THE WALK”. And he comes to me and says, “Dad why did you let me go through all of that? I’ve got all this junk inside of me. I thought you loved me. How could you have exposed me to something as horrible as that storm? I thought you loved me.
I would be crushed because for me, that walk was one of my deepest most intimate memories of my life with my son. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. Now, I wouldn’t wish for my son to be frightened or in any situation of danger. But, as we learn in Matthew’s gospel, the storms do come. I wouldn’t trade the experience of being able to hold and comfort him and assure him I have all he needs to get through it.
If you are bitter and have all this anger inside of you because of some things you’ve been through, some storms in your life, and you are thinking if God really was there he wouldn’t have let you go through it, maybe God is saying don’t you understand, I got to hold you tight. I got to remind you over and over again, “I love you buddy.” (end of story)
When we look at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel, there are so many directions we can go in reflecting on it’s meaning for our lives. What Rob’s story so beautifully reminds me is that none of it works – there is nothing of substance to build or stand on, if we don’t remember that God loves us and is carrying us through all of the storms of life. It is that solid foundation that holds me up and gives me the strength and courage I need to be a disciple of Jesus Christ in the world. It is what gives me the strength to follow the teachings Jesus has laid out in the Sermon on the Mount.
I hope that if you aren’t that familiar with chapters 5-7 in Matthew’s gospel you will go to them because they do indeed give us so many practical and specific ways to deepen AND practice our faith.
But let us be reminded first, it seems to simple…that God loves us. We have the opportunity today, through the Sacrament of Holy Communion, to say “yes” again to God’s love at work in our lives. We have the opportunity to come and allow this meal to feed us and strengthen us so that we will have courage to come with all we are before God. We don’t come to the table because we are perfect. We come to the table because we need God. God is calling us here and longing to feed us in loving relationship with all that we are and bring.
The DVD of Rob’s story ends with this benediction and I offer it to you as you prepare to come to the table:
May you, when you’re soaking wet, lost, hurting, and confused,
May you cry out and may the creator of the universe take you out of your pack,
May he hold you tight up against his chest, may he wrap his eternal loving arms around you, and may you hear him whisper…
I love you buddy.
We’re gonna make it.
Dad knows the way home.
We’re gonna make it.
I love you.
Amen.
The story and title for this sermon has been borrowed from Rev. Rob Bell and the NOOMA Series 001 “Rain”. 2005/Zondervan Press |