A good many thousand sermons have been preached on the parable of the
houses built on sand and on rock, probably nearly all of them with the
intent to prove that the way to build the life on a rock foundation is
to pass through the experience known as conversion, obtain saving faith
and join the church. This is typical of a popular way of interpreting
the scriptures: First, determine what you wish them to mean and then
make them mean that. The purpose being to persuade people to join the
church, then by hook or crook that duty must be discovered in every
divine precept.
But this is simply to ignore the plain words of the great Teacher. It
would be impossible to clarify His statement: "If any man hears and
does the things I have been teaching he is like one who builds on a
rock." One thing marks the rock founded life, the doing of Christly
deeds. The course of conduct, the kind of character He has just
outlined in the sermon on the mount gives the established staple
character.
The enduring life is not built on dreams. Many people think that their
lives are rock founded because they have a nebulous admiration for the
moral teachings of Jesus. On the whole they admire the sermon on the
mount; having taken the trouble to say as much as this they sit back
with the comfortable feeling that they have set themselves right with
the universe, that the Almighty will be delighted with their
indorsement.
One of the most dangerous hypocrites is the easy-going, thoughtless
being who fancies that the indorsement of a duty is equivalent to the
doing of it. He evaporates his convictions into compliments instead of
crystallizing them into conduct. So far from being built on a rock he
floats around like a wisp of hay in a high wind. A butterfly might
better hope to drill and quarry out a foundation than he. Besides
this, his hypocritical praise of right precepts makes them only
offensive to those who might desire to practice them.
Others imagine that an intellectual assent to certain statements
concerning the church or the Bible or Jesus is sufficient to fix the
life in stability. But the great Teacher does not place the emphasis
so much on what men may think of His character or mission, nor even on
their honest opinions on the theories of the past and the future, which
have delighted mental gymnasts since the world was young, to Him the
great differentiating fact touches those dynamic convictions that are
determining your conduct this day.
He places conduct before creed. He long ago took that method of
teaching which modern pedagogy approves. He taught religion by the
manual method. Instead of saying, as theologians do, first comprehend
these doctrines and then you will be able to do them, He says, first do
these things, practice My precepts, and they will ere long become plain
to you. Men learn religion by doing. Begin to do the right and you
will get the reason; get the rule through the example. Deeds are the
solvents of doctrines.
The house of life is built differently from any other; we get the plans
by erecting the structure. In the realm of character it is houses
rather than architecture we need. Build but one hour's conduct
squarely on the plain, cogent teachings of the man of Nazareth and you
will serve the world better than if you gave a lifetime to the
explanation of His words.
Doctrines are but teachings intended to be done into deeds. Doing them
you gain a larger peace of mind and sense of stability of life than in
any other way. If you want the equilibrium of faith you will find it
by simply laying life's daily details on the plain foundation of His
principles. Nothing could be plainer; there are no hair-splitting
metaphysics, no subtle questions of policy here; do these things and
the heart finds calm, the life certitude, the soul satisfaction.
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