Hear, Believe, Do

Matthew 7:24-29

²⁴Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

²⁵And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

²⁶And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

²⁷And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

²⁸And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,

²⁹for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

We live in a house that is completely open on two sides – no surrounding buildings; just open fields. It’s great. I love being able to see for a ways rather into someone’s backyard. But it comes as a price. There’s nothing to stop the wind when a storm comes through. Sometimes I just lie in bed at night when it’s stormy and listen to the shingles being ripped off the house. So far, though, the house still stands.

[My thanks must go to Dr. Jeffery Gibbs, who talks about this next section regarding the work of Kingsbury in his commentary on Matthew.] Jesus wraps up His Sermon on the Mount with a dire warning; listen to, believe, and act upon these words. His parable about home building reinforces His all of the principles He has been sharing with the disciples. Unless you want to live in the pile of sticks that were once your house, you must heed His message. Presbyterian theologian Jack Dean Kingsbury has labeled hearing, appropriating, and responding to the Gospel as “the rhetoric of comprehension.” He says that there is a three step process by which we interact with the Scriptures.

   1. Physical hearing
   2. The response of understanding and belief
   3. Actions that follow our belief

All three phases are empowered and made possible by the work of the Spirit. We do not walk through these steps of our own volition. Throughout the book of Matthew, Jesus continually says “he who has ears let him hear.” That is step one. But in that hearing, Jesus encourages belief and the actions that logically follow such belief. Now, at the end of His sermon, we are given an illustration that exemplifies what it means to put the Words of Jesus into practice. To ignore Him comes at a price. We stand on shaky ground.

The Sermon on the Mount is a fascinating bit of Scripture. We do well to read it often, for though the Words are familiar to us all and could almost be called “common sense”, a good reminder now and then is to our benefit. Next, we move onto some miracles and those are always great conversation.