The Wise and Foolish Builders
Luke 6:43-49
Key verse 48
“They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.”
Last week, we learned that Jesus’ disciples should love even their enemies as the children of God because God is kind and merciful to sinners. Jesus concludes his sermon on the plain with two parables. Jesus wants his disciples to bear good fruit by becoming good men who have good heart. Jesus also taught them to be wise builders who put Jesus’ teachings into practice. May we learn how to lay a solid spiritual foundation on Jesus through this passage.
I. The tree and its fruit (43-45)
Look at verses 43,44. “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.” Jesus was like a science teacher who led a group of children to a botanical garden and explained the basics of plant life. God created plants on the third day in Genesis. God said to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:29 “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.”
Fruit-bearing trees produce their unique fruits like apple, pear, mango, banana, avocado, coconut, orange and so on. So we enjoy eating all kinds of fruits since God created them according to their various kinds. In harvest season, fruit picking is popular in the orchard. One tree produces one kind of fruit, not two. Not many of us can tell what kind of tree it is only by looking at the tree itself. We can tell what tree it is by looking at its fruit. Figs come from the fig tree, not from thornbushes. Grapes come from vine, not briers. Although we wait for many years, we cannot pick figs from thornbushes. In order to pick figs we have to pull out the thornbushes and plant a fig tree first.
Look at verse 45. “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.” Jesus compares man to a tree. Man is like a tree and the words and actions are fruit according to the nature of a man. All these either good or evil things come out of the heart. Man’s heart is like a storehouse. KJV translates the words ‘stored up’ as ‘treasure’. Heart is like a treasure box. If complaint, hatred, anger, bitterness, and lust are stored in the heart, they will explode one day. If love and grace are stored up they will overflow naturally.
So, what is stored in our heart is important. How can we store good things in our heart? First, we need our heart cleansing through God’s word. John 15:3 says, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” Jesus prayed for his disciples, “Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth.” God’s word is a pruning tool to purify our heart. Jesus also said in the parable of the sower, “The seed is the word of God.” Storing God’s word in one’s heart is like planting seeds in soil. Memorizing, meditating, reading and studying God’s word are the ways of storing spiritual seeds in heart. These seeds will geminate, grow and bear fruits of godly characteristics one day. Taking one word of God through Bible studies is like picking up one seed and planting it. Let us practice it patiently as farmers do expecting a great harvest in due time.
And we need to let the Holy Spirit dwell in our hearts and bear the fruits. Christ’s image is formed in our hearts as the Spirit engraves his characteristics in our heart tablet. Galatians 5:22 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” The fruits of the Spirit are the characteristics of our Lord Jesus. One who is led by the Spirit becomes like a fruitful spiritual tree which yields good spiritual fruits. This person will be a man or a woman of good influence whose presence makes the difference. A good tree means a man with Christ’s image. One who produces the fruit of kindness and gentleness, will show Jesus’ kindness and gentleness to others around him. People around him will enjoy taking the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Verse 45b says, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Words from the mouth are the fruits of our heart. Jesus said in Luke 19:22, “I will judge you by your own words.” Good words come from good heart. Jesus’ point is to become a good man. A good man is one whose heart is right with God. If Jesus dwells in one’s heart, then Christ-like words will come from his heart. Jesus’ concern is who we are, not what we say. It is to transform our inner character, our fundamental change in heart. God’s word stored in our heart and the presence of the Holy Spirit would make a person a good tree that will naturally bear good fruits. Let us focus on our fundamental change first before looking for juicy fruits. As the nature proves, this is also spiritual principle: good tree first, and then fruits second. May God transform us daily through His word and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
II. The wise and foolish builders (46-49)
Look at verse 46. “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ do not do what I say?” There were a lot of people hanging around Jesus, and they called him, ‘Lord, Lord,” but did not do what he said. Jesus cannot be fooled. Jesus tells a parable about two builders: a wise builder and a foolish builder.
First, a wise builder. Look at verses 47-48. “As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.” Jesus says all Christians are like house builders.
We need some basic knowledge from civil engineering about how to build a house. All the buildings and houses have a foundation although it is invisible. Foundation means the basis or groundwork of anything. The foundation holds the building up and keeps it from falling apart and collapsing. Without foundation, a building may collapse even by wind, rain and storms. Although it is unseen under the ground, it is pivotal. Basics in any field are important. For example, those who didn’t complete basic level math cannot understand an advanced level calculus because their foundation in math is weak.
Without foundation, no one builds high rise buildings. The skyscrapers of New York City are almost all situated in Manhattan for instance, the Empire State building, One world trade center, Chrysler building, Rockefeller Center, the New York Times building and so forth. Why? The bedrock underlying much of Manhattan is a mica schist. It is a strong, competent metamorphic rock created when Pangaea formed. It is well suited for the foundation of tall buildings. The depth to the bedrock was the primary reason for the clustering of skyscrapers in Manhattan.
What does the foundation on rock mean spiritually? The rock is Jesus Christ. We Christians should build our lives on Jesus our Rock, the solid foundation.1Corinthians 3:11 says, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Jesus came as the precious living stone to build the work of salvation. However, the builders rejected the Stone. But God chose Him as the cornerstone for salvation. Those who trust in him will be saved. Jesus became an atoning sacrifice for sinners and redeemed us from the power of sin and death. He will lead his people to eternal home in God’s kingdom.
Hymn #436 “The solid rock” describes Jesus the Rock. “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.”
When Noah got ‘an ark building project’ from God in the torrent of sinful world, he responded to God with obedience holding hammers in his hand and drawings from God. He carried out the holy project for 120 years with much perspiration, even though he didn’t know anything about ship-building engineering. He looked foolish, but rain came down, the ark withstood flood and safely landed on the dry land after the judgment while all sinful people were drowned. The Noah’s ark was the way of salvation shadowing Jesus, the Savior. If Noah said ‘Lord, Lord’ ‘Yes, sir’ and didn’t build the ark, he could not be saved. God has given each of us a lifelong project to build a spiritual house. We as pilgrims build our eternal house in heaven.
Second, a foolish builder. Look at verse 49. “But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.” The foolish builder neglected the foundation, working only on the part of the house that one can see. The house built without foundation looked the same outwardly as the one built on the foundation. Surely, it cost less and there was a lot less work involved. The foolish builder finished his house early and relaxed on his deck enjoying life. In his dictionary, there was no word ‘struggle’ whatsoever.
What happened to the foolish builder’s house? Look at verse 49b. “The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” His house collapsed quickly and was swept away by the torrent. It resulted in disaster. Here, the flood and torrents refer to trials in life and the final judgment of God. As rains and storms come, trials and God’s judgment surely come.
Our CBF children sing this song in their worship service ‘The wise and foolish man’ with joyful singspiration. “The wise man built his house on the rock, the wise man built his house on the rock and the rains came tumbling down. The rains came down and the flood came up, the rains came down and the floods came up, and the house on the rock stood firm. The foolish man built his house on the sand, the house on the sand came flat. Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ. Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ and the blessings will come down.” The song ends with this phrase, “Hey, don’t be a foolish man! Build your house on the Lord!”
How can we be wise builders? We need to dig deep down to lay a foundation. Digging down deep requires endless shovelling to take away useless dirt. Digging requires lots of sweat, perseverance, and painstaking effort. Once I and my wife worked in our backyard digging out to take away useless wood frames and metals. It caused my back pain for many days. Digging is not easy. But the depth of foundation is proportional to the height of actual buildings as if tall trees have deep roots.
In earthquake-prone areas, building codes require imbedded bolts and metal tiedowns anchored in concrete to fasten the structure to the foundation. Even when magnitude 6.5-7.0 earthquake ripples down the zone, the buildings withstand. Likewise, building on the Rock Jesus is safe and secure. Building on the rock Jesus means to spend much time with Jesus. It needs one’s spiritual struggle including hidden prayer, meditating on His words, Bible study with prayerful heart, worshipping God with reverence, repenting of our sins, walking with Jesus through the Holy Spirit and so on. These are the shovels of obedience. These will help us to dig deep down until we reach the Rock Jesus daily. Digging deep down means one’s spiritual struggle to obey one word of Jesus. We need to keep digging until we firmly anchor our life to the Rock Jesus. Every individual, house, and community must be built on Jesus the Rock.
Are you a wise builder or a foolish builder? Let us be doers of God’s word. Let us love Jesus, obey His word and be wise builders. May God bless our church and all members in it to lay a firm foundation on Jesus the Rock of salvation.