We had a wild evening last night!  Some people were coming for dinner. About 5 minutes before they were due to arrive we had a sudden, severe thunderstorm. There were high winds together with a massive hailstorm. Golf ball sized hail pounded our house and yard, inside it sounded like machine guns being fired. When it was all over about 15 minutes later there were mounds of hailstones lying around and our garden was completely shredded; the lovely plants and shrubs that we had been admiring just before were beaten down and devastated, but inside we were safe and sound.

This experience spoke to me of our gospel passage today where Jesus speaks of how we can have abiding security, being immune from all the storms that may unexpectedly come our way.

 Shortly after arriving at St. Stephens we needed to buy a house. With the help of a realtor from the congregation we found a house which we liked a lot (and could afford) in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis. We wanted to make an offer but our realtor would not allow us to do that until she brought in an expert engineer on that area. Why? we asked. Because that area originally was a peat bog and houses constructed there had to be built on pilings-some builders cut corners, to save money and did not bother. We paid for the inspection and were assured that this house did have pilings. After living there about two years the house at the end of our block was sold, the new owners began to move in, then stopped and instead ripped off an attached garage which had a noticeable lean. Then a specialized engineering firm arrived, jacked up the entire house using huge steel girders and then drove pilings deep into the ground, rebuilt the basement walls and finally lowered the house onto the new foundation. This process took months and I'm sure the cost was astronomical. I spoke to the owner who told me that they had no choice. If they did not do this the entire house was sinking due to the lack of foundation. 

 At the end of Jesus most famous and sustained piece of teaching-which we know of as "The Sermon on the Mount", he concludes with a parable. Two men, he says start to build houses. One goes for ease and has a foundation of sand, the other goes to the trouble and expense of using rock as his foundation. Both houses look good but the test comes with severe rains. The house built on sand is swept away, by the rising waters; the house built on rock survives. Now says Jesus if you only listen to what I say and teach without responding by action- you are building your life on sand.  In contrast if you both listen to what I say and then do it then you are building on rock. The question today is, "What foundation are we building our lives upon?  Is it a good, solid foundation or are you cutting corners and doing it on the cheap?"  

We all want security. The temptation we face is that of trying to get it on the cheap. We often say "you get what you pay for". This true not only in our material lives but in our spiritual lives also.

In the letter of James the writer makes the same point using a different metaphor; that of  a person checking themselves out in a mirror . The mirror shows us what we need to correct in our appearance -maybe our hair need combing, perhaps our face needs washing or maybe we need a shave-the mirror reveals all. In the same way, says James, if we listen to God and his word to us it becomes clear what changes we need to make in our lives. But just as looking in the mirror does not make anything happen-our hair is still untidy, our face dirty or unshaven, so not to respond to what God says to us by taking action means nothing is changed. We have to act on what we see.

The concern of the writer of James was that many members of his church community were into appearance without inner depth, words without substance. Oh they attended church regularly, listened attentively to the scripture readings, prayed the prayers and shared eucharist- but their conduct, lives and behaviors were unaffected by all of this.

Why is this so important? Two reasons; firstly the ?faith' of such a person is very vulnerable. When hardships, disappointments or pains flood their lives, their faith is revealed to be inadequate.

Secondly in Mark 4 Jesus teaches the Parable of the Sower. He ends by saying "unto him(or her) who has-more will be given; Unto him who has not will be taken away even that which he has". We think that is both unfair and impossible! How can you take away what a person does not have? And would it not be unfair to take away the little that the individual has? What Jesus is saying is that our ability to hear and recognize the word of God is not infinite or permanent. It can be lost through failure to respond to it.

A couple of questions for us to ponder.

Do we come to worship Sunday by Sunday expecting God to speak to us?

When God does speak to us -how do we respond?

Lest we feel condemned or fearful that we have lost the little we had by ignoring God in the past lets remember that God's love for us is real and deep. He longs for each of us to be doers of his word and not simply hearers; to translate understanding of what God is saying into action. In his grace he calls and speaks to us not once or twice but many, many times. No one should fear that God has given up on them. The mere fact that we are here today demonstrates our longing for God. So let us celebrate God's care and love for us by responding with action when he speaks to us.

 Amen