Matthew 7: What Are You Building Your Life On?

Introduction

"What am I building on?" That is the question that opens Foundations, a four-episode series from Christian Fellowship Church on the Sermon on the Mount. Each episode takes up a passage where Jesus speaks about the foundations on which we build our lives.

This first episode is not a traditional sermon but a conversation. Ryan hosts it with Charlotte, who will join him throughout the series. Their guest is Carl, a church pastor and a longtime friend of both. The starting text is Matthew 7:24-27, the parable of the two builders, one on the rock, the other on the sand.

Ryan admits it is a Sunday school story, the one his son sings before falling asleep. But it comes at the end of the Sermon on the Mount and sums up all of its teaching. Its reach, he says, is "enormous."

Message Outline

1. Two Identical Houses, Two Different Foundations

• Ryan first notes that Jesus presents us as builders. Putting into practice what he says is an active process: we are building something.
• The two houses are alike. Nothing sets them apart to the naked eye. Both builders hear the words of Jesus; one puts them into practice, the other does not.
• The difference lies not in the house but in the foundations. And it only shows when the storm arrives.
• "The storm seems to reveal what our lives are built on," says Ryan: have we put into practice what Jesus said, yes or no?

2. We All Share Responsibility

• Charlotte points out that this parable closes a very hard teaching. From reading it so often, it slides right past us. But taken seriously, it is "very confronting" and runs against the grain of how we live.
• Everyone builds, whether they know Jesus or not. We have the capacity to act. Since the beginning of history, God has placed things in humanity's hands and entrusted it with stewardship.
• God gives us the essentials of life, then we choose what we do with the pieces we received: "as if someone handed us a brick here, some mortar there, and we decided what we were going to do with those bricks."
• That does not mean God is absent from the building site or indifferent to it. But our choices are real, and they truly matter.

3. Hearing Is Not Enough: The Meaning of the Word Shema

• Everyone hears the words of Jesus. No one can say they did not know. But there is a difference between hearing and listening.
• In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word shema means to hear and to do. "Hear, Israel" (Deuteronomy 6:4) is not talking about mere auditory perception.
• "You haven't really heard until you have done what you heard." This idea is deeply rooted in Scripture.
• Many hear the same things, but only a few truly receive them. They are the ones who, faced with a difficult teaching, decide that Christ is the solid rock and that his words are worth building on, even when they do not understand everything and even when the path looks harder.

4. The Crowds and the Disciples

• Charlotte notes that the Sermon on the Mount opens and closes with a mention of the audience. At the beginning, Jesus sees the crowds, goes up the mountain, and his disciples come to him so that he can teach them (Matthew 5:1-2).
• At the end, though, "the multitudes were astonished at his teaching" (Matthew 7:28). So Jesus did not take his disciples aside: everyone was listening.
• But Jesus knew he was truly teaching only his disciples. Many in the crowd would hear him without being taught, because they were not going to be changed. That day, crowds and disciples formed a living picture of the parable.
• Everyone hears Jesus say: forgive your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, do not judge others. Some are amazed by it and then, at the moment of truth, do what they want.
• "Jesus is not looking to gather a crowd. He is looking to make disciples." That is also the work of the Church. Every Sunday, there is a crowd, and there are disciples within that crowd.
• Amazement is not action. Charlotte goes further: it is even dangerous, because you are no longer ignorant. You can no longer say "I didn't know." You can only say "I didn't do it." To be truly taught is to be changed.

5. Saying "Lord" or Truly Following Him

• Ryan points out a tension: it is Jesus who saves us and the Spirit who gives life, and yet there is something to do. What will you do with what you have heard?
• For Charlotte, if we don't put it into practice, we are not following him. Just before the parable, Jesus says: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 7:21).
• You can say "Lord, Lord" until you are out of breath: he is not your Lord if he does not decide what you do.
• If we obey him only when we already agree, it is not obedience. "It just so happens that I was walking in the same direction as Jesus that day. That is not following him."
• Following him is when Jesus goes one way, you want to go the other, toward the sand, and you choose his direction anyway because he is the rock and it is the only way to build a solid life.

6. Building on the Rock Takes More Effort

• Ryan notes that this passage looks to the future: the storm is not here yet. It would be easy to tell ourselves it does not concern us now.
• Charlotte observes that many are not prepared for the difficulty of the Christian walk. Digging foundations in sand goes quickly. Digging them in rock is hard labor.
• When you are struggling on the rock and you see a friend building on the sand, the temptation is strong. He has a house too, a good life. No one says otherwise.
• But for Charlotte, the storm does not refer only to the trials of life. At the end of all things, there is an ultimate storm that tests everything we have built. Everything goes through the fire, including what we said we were doing for Jesus (see 1 Corinthians 3:13).
• Only what was true obedience stands: "He said it, I did it." And we only know at the end.
• In the middle of the job, when the sweat is pouring and the fingers are worn raw, the easy option is appealing. But what is the point of building a house that will not stand? "As a Christian, you must always keep your eyes on the long-term victory."

7. Assessing Your Foundations: Spiritual Practices and Spiritual Friendship

• Carl sums up what he desires: to always choose the direction Jesus points, to walk in step with him.
• Day to day, that starts with knowing the Scriptures. If the Word is not hidden in our heart, it is much harder to discern the steps the Lord asks us to take. He will never ask us anything contrary to the values of the kingdom that Scripture lays out.
• Then comes listening to the Lord's voice as often as possible and responding to what he asks. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes everything seems silent. Carl sees that as a time of training: the Lord taught him again and again, and now leaves him a measure of freedom to choose what honors him.
• He speaks of a real tension: living a life of sacrifice for Jesus without neglecting the good things God has given and wants us to enjoy. "Honestly, I'm finding it out day by day."
• To assess our foundations, Carl insists on spiritual practices. He prefers the word "practice" to "discipline," because many things do not come naturally to us: they have to be worked at, like a muscle that grows stronger.
• After reading the Scriptures, the practice that has shaped him most is silence and solitude. There he asks the Lord how to walk with him this week and where he has strayed. For a season, it was walks with the Lord. Today, more easily distracted outdoors, he tidies his living room and sits there with him to listen.
• Charlotte admires his ability not to get stuck in a practice simply because it has always worked: the Lord does new things. She herself started a month ago a ten-minute confession every evening, because she felt the Lord inviting her to it. She falls asleep in peace.
• Carl adds walking in community. For about ten years, he has seen a spiritual director who simply asks him how things are between him and Jesus, and what Jesus is inviting him to. "I'm not going to figure all this out on my own."
• Charlotte distinguishes friendship between Christians from spiritual friendship, where Jesus is not on the margins of the conversation but at its heart. If you do not have one, ask the Lord to turn your Christian friendships into spiritual friendships, or to give you people who are seeking the same depth.
• Carl feels the Lord shifting his attention toward these friendships today, which makes him a little nervous: he loves his one-on-one time with the Lord. "But if this is what you want, Lord, it is obedience."
• Charlotte concludes: Jesus is the foundation, the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20), but he is also the head architect. If we want, he will tell us how to build and put the right tool in our hands, rather than a hammer when we need a screwdriver. "You don't build alone. You don't just build on him, you build with him."

Key Takeaways

• Everyone builds. The houses look alike; only the storm reveals the foundations.
• To hear Jesus, in the biblical sense, is to do what he says. Amazement without action leaves us without excuse.
• Jesus is not your Lord if he only decides when you already agree with him.
• Building on the rock costs more in the moment, but it is the only construction that will stand when everything is tested.
• Spiritual practices and spiritual friendship let you examine your foundations before the storm, with Jesus as architect.

Personal Application

1. In what area do you hear the words of Jesus without putting them into practice?
2. When Jesus goes in one direction and you in another, what do you usually choose?
3. Which "easier" option is tempting you right now, the one that looks like building on the sand?
4. Which spiritual practice is the Lord inviting you to begin or change: silence and solitude, reading the Scriptures, an evening confession?
5. Who can you talk with about your relationship with Jesus, not just on the margins but at the heart of the conversation?

Verses Cited

• Matthew 7:24-27
• Matthew 5:1-2
• Matthew 7:28
• Matthew 7:21
• Deuteronomy 6:4
• Matthew 5:44
• Matthew 7:1
• 1 Corinthians 3:13
• Ephesians 2:20

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the parable of the two builders in Matthew 7 mean?

Both builders hear the words of Jesus, and their houses look alike. The difference lies in the foundations: one puts into practice what he heard, the other does not. Only the storm reveals what each has built on. This parable concludes the whole Sermon on the Mount.

What is the difference between hearing and listening in the Bible?

In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word shema means to hear and to do. "Hear, Israel" is not aimed only at the ear. According to Charlotte, we have not truly heard until we have done what we heard. The crowds heard Jesus, but only those who let themselves be changed were truly taught.

How can you assess the foundations of your life before the storm?

Carl speaks of spiritual practices: knowing and reading the Scriptures, setting aside times of silence and solitude to listen to the Lord, and walking in community. Charlotte added a ten-minute confession every evening. Both stress spiritual friendship: you do not build alone.