Building your life on nothing isn’t really a problem, as long as the skies are sunny.

As a carpenter’s son, Jesus probably spent a lot of time thinking about the way things are built. Whenever we go to the trouble of building something, we’d like to think it that it will last long enough to serve its intended purpose. Good craftsmanship and proper materials surely take us a long way there. But when it comes to building a house, none of that matters if we don’t have the right foundation. Jesus points this out in a portion of his famous Sermon on the Mount:

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And 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. And 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. And 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. —Matthew 7:24-27

These words of Jesus are widely known, but what profound wisdom is here. This, in itself, teaches us a lesson with potential to change our lives:

We do not prosper from hearing the truth; only from heeding it.

Jesus draws a sharp contrast between two kinds of people: the wise and the foolish. The final outcome for the wise is quite different from the final outcome for the foolish, and obviously that is the central teaching: We should be wise. But we can learn a great deal about what it means to be wise by considering all the ways that the wise and the foolish are the same. Jesus structures his teaching in a way that invites us to do this. He speaks first of everyone who hears these words of mine…and does them. He next speaks of everyone who hears these words of mine…and does not do them.

The wise are not distinguished from the foolish because they have been made privy to some secret wisdom that the foolish are denied. Jesus preached his sermon openly, for all to hear. His words are recorded plainly in scripture for all to read. The wise are not those who attend the right schools or live in the right neighborhoods. They are not those who have an inside angle or know the right people. The wise person, Jesus says, is one who hears these words. But the foolish person is one who hears them as well. The wise are not distinguished by their access to the truth; they are distinguished by their response to it. The truth that prospers the wise is the very truth that brings ruin to the foolish. But the foolish do not fall because they have not heard the words; they fall because they refuse to obey them.

Jesus says the wise person builds a house that will be rained on from above, threatened by flood waters from beneath, and assailed by the winds on all sides. The foolish person builds a house that faces precisely the same perils. Jesus lists them all again to make his meaning clear.

When the rain falls on us, it is not because we are foolish. And when the sky is sunny, that is not because we are wise. When the flood waters threaten and the winds assail, it is not because we are foolish. And when all is calm, that is not because we are wise. All these circumstances befall the wise and the foolish alike. We should not fault ourselves when troubles come, for they surely will. And we should not take pride when all is calm, for God blesses the foolish with peacetime as much as the wise. We cannot distinguish the wise from the foolish by the circumstances that befall them.

We note, also, that the wise person builds a house, and the foolish person builds one as well. The wise one does not build a fortress, while the foolish one builds a lean-to. Each simply builds a house. We are all living in the same world, and we all build a house by the life we lead. We go to school, we go to work, we go to bed. Sometimes we feel lonely, and sometimes we know the warmth of friendship. Sometimes we feel confident, and at other times we doubt. The essential structure of life is the same for both the wise and the foolish. But still, there is a difference between the two. The difference lies not in what is built, but in the foundation upon which it is built.

The wise person builds their life upon the rock. In the case of actual construction, this would require us to choose the right location. But of course, Jesus is speaking figuratively.  The one who heeds his words is like a wise builder. The one who ignores them is like a foolish one. When we wish to build our life upon the rock, it isn’t a matter of location; it’s a matter of authority. 

The words we hear and heed (or not) are the words of Jesus. He speaks of those who hear these words of mine. The wise builder does not build their house upon a rock; they found it upon the rock. That rock is Jesus. He is the rock upon which we may build, if only we will. The house itself may look like any other. It is not preserved because of its great beauty or strength. It is preserved because it has been built on that rock that is immovably trustworthy and unshakably true. In the end, it doesn’t come down to what we have based our life on; it comes down to who.

In times of peace and prosperity, the houses of the wise and the foolish are likely to look the same. It is only when troubles come that the strength of a foundation is revealed. On a sunny day, the foolish may mock the wise for their extra care. “What have you gained for all your concern over Christ?” they may ask. “What do you have to show for it? See, your house is no better than mine.” But when the day of trouble arrives, the foolish voice will be silenced. And when morning breaks, the wise will never need say, “I told you so.” None but the wise will remain.

The house of the wise will not fall, and Jesus gives the reason why. It will stand because it has been founded on the rock. But when he speaks of the fall of the foolish, no reason is mentioned at all. There is no reason a fool should fall. The foolish have heard the same words as the wise, and they have built the same houses. But for reasons inexplicable, they have ignored the words of Christ, to build a life on what is finally nothing. They have not chosen an alternative foundation; they have elected to have none.

And great will be the fall.