Weatherproofing Your Home
Matthew 7:24-27
 
Well our Extreme Home Makeover: Family Edition is coming right along.  So far we’ve been following the blue prints and building on the right foundation.  The framing is in place, and we are now ready to “put it in the dry”.  That means we’ll get the roof on and the outside materials.  It might be brick or rock.  Or we could choose siding. We have to make decisions about insulation and efficiency.  The windows and doors we select are important. 
 
But let’s just sum all that up and use the term weatherproofing.  We want to make certain that our house is air-tight and water proof. 
 
Did you know that likewise, weatherproofing your home is something that Jesus was greatly concerned about?
 
At the conclusion of the greatest sermon ever preached in the history of the world, The Sermon On The Mount, Jesus closes with a parable; it is a story of two home builders.
 
Listen to Matthew 7:24-27
 
Now in this parable Jesus tells the short story of two men who each built a house.  One house withstood the weather; the other didn’t. Jesus said one man is a wise man and the other man is a foolish man. 
 
And it was the storm that revealed the difference. 
 
Now watch this:   Upon both houses, the rain falls, the floods come, the wind blows and the storm batters each one.  When the storm is over, one of the houses is standing and one of the houses fall.
 
Just before that storm, if you had walked by both of those houses just looking at them from the outside, you couldn't have told any difference in either house. 
 
In the neighborhood where you live you can't tell much of a difference from one house to the next.  In a typical neighborhood most of the houses have an exterior finish.  They have a roof over the building.  They have doors and windows.  From the outside they all look the same.
 
But we know that on the inside, those homes can be very, very different.  Some have families that win and some have families that lose.  Some have families that survive and some have families that collapse.   Some have families that love each other and some have families that hate each other.
 
So what makes the difference?  How do we weatherproof our home?  Let me point out three things from this parable:
 
1.  Storms Will Hit Your Home
 
I find that a very interesting bit of information in this story.  Both houses were hit with a storm.  Even though one builder was a wise godly person and the other was a foolish worldly person it made no difference.  That means that every home will face problems and pressures. 
 
Notice Jesus mentions three external forces in the parable:
 
The rain fell, the wind blew and the floods came, and they came on both houses. 
 
That means we should be prepared for three types of attacks on our homes. 
 
First of all there is the rain.  "
 
“Rains" represent the surrounding culture you live in.
 
Let me ask you:  Is the home under attack by the culture today?  Does our society work for or against the family and staying together?  The pressures are far greater today than they’ve ever been to do the wrong thing in regard to marriage and sex and family and children. 
 
We now have “alternative lifestyles” and efforts to redefine the family.  I’m going to say more about that next week when we examine God’s Building Codes.  But suffice it to say, there is a storm that is raging and the cultural “rains” are falling.
 
By the way, how do we deal with the rains?  We must develop convictions based upon the word of God.  The only thing that will withstand the rains is the unchanging Word of God.
 
Now what happens if you get too much rain?  All up and down the Mississippi River they are experiencing  
 
"Floods"   The floods represent the crises you will go through.
Someone has suggested the Top 12 Crises a Marriage can Experience are:
 
 1. The death of a child
 2. A jail sentence
 3. An unfaithful spouse
 4. Major financial difficulties, bankruptcy
 5. Business failure
 6. Being fired
 7. Miscarriage
 8. Being sued
 9. Unwanted pregnancy
 10. A major illness, heart disease or cancer
 11. Unemployed for over one month
 12. Death of a close friend
 
I am no prophet, but I am a pretty good student of history and I will tell you with absolute certainty, ever one of us in this room will at some point or the other will experience a crisis in our family.  And it may be sooner rather than later. 
 
They will come and suddenly and with no warning!
 
What do you do when the floods of crisis are sweeping your home away? 
 
Isaiah 43:2  when you pass through the waters, i will be with you;   and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over  you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 
 
The key to coping with crises is commitment.  The key to the success or failure of your marriage or home is your commitment to the vows you made.
 
I recently spoke with a woman, a friend, whose husband has developed Alzheimer’s, and I was asking about her and him.  And she very tearfully began to tell me about the daily struggles and strains and pressures.  And I said to her, Very seldom do we think in those terms when at the marriage altar we say, “for better or worse, and sickness and in health”, but we must always go back to those vows.  She said, there are days when that’s all I have. 
 
The commitment  of going through it together!
 
When two people in crisis face it together trusting God they will make it!
 
Commitment is what carries you through marriage and family crisis!
 
The rain represents the culture, the floods represent the crisis, then Jesus mentioned the
 
"Winds"
 
The winds indicate the changes you’ll have to deal with.
 
Changes are inevitable! There are seasons to any marriage!  Did you ever think about that?
 
First we have the honeymoon.  Then we are a childless couple, followed by the first baby and raising preschoolers.  Then comes grade school and teenagers.  College and the empty nest, middle age, retirement, and even the death of our loved ones.
 
Your life and mine is constantly changing. Neither of you are the person you used to be! You will change! And either you will adapt and grow together or the winds of change will blow you apart!
 
Now the key to dealing with the changes is contentment.  Listen to Paul’s testimony in Philippians 4:11-13:
 
“I don't say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 13 I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.
 
Now, all that to say, whether you are a family that follows Christ or not, whether you are a home that is surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ or not, storms and stresses of life are going to come on your home.  You are going to have tensions in your relationships.  Spouses are not always going to get along with each other and parents are not always going to get along with children. 
 
The insight is not that serving the Lord protects you from the storm; the truth is when the storms come, and come they will, you will have resources to see you through the storm.
 
There was a man who lived in Long Island in 1938, and it was the year that barometers were first being sold in stores. 
 
This man went to a store and bought a barometer; brought it home and unwrapped it. 
 
As he was hanging it on his wall he happened to look at the needle on the barometer and it said that a hurricane was coming.
 
He looked outside, the weather was as clear a bell.  Well, he shook it, beat it, patted it and thought to himself, Just my luck.  I buy a barometer and the thing doesn’t even work.
 
He took that barometer back to the store, insisted on a refund, took his money and drove back to his home.  When he got back to his home his house had been blown away by a mini hurricane that had come through his neighborhood. 
 
You see, the barometer was right.  There was a storm coming.  The problem was not the barometer did not tell the truth; the problem was the man didn’t believe it, and didn’t obey it.
 
The Bible is God’s barometer, and it tells us that every life has storms.  What we need to do with the Bible is not shake it, beat on it, or take it back to the store; we need to believe it and obey it and do what it tells us to do, so that we can weather the storms that will come.
 
So first of all, Jesus reminds us Storms will come.  Here’s the second thing:
 
II.  Storms Can Hurt You
 
These two houses were basically made of the
same structure, with the same design, built out of the same materials.  Again, there was only one difference, but it was a big difference and that was the foundation. 
The first home was built on a solid foundation, the second home was built on a sandy foundation, and the result was disastrous.
 
Now what does this house with a faulty foundation represent?  Well, I believe it represents people who come to church, bring their Bibles, listen to sermons, take notes, and they hear the word of God, but they don’t heed the word of God.  They walk out the same way they walk in.  Nothing they hear makes one bit of difference in the way they live.  They treat the word of God just like they would treat a good movie; they enjoy it, but they never let affect the way they live.
 
Do you know anybody like that?  Can I let you in on a little secret?  The church is full of people like this.  They are fair-weather followers. These are the people who come to church, listen to sermons, sing hymns, say amens as long as the sun is shining, the breeze is gentle, and the rain is soft.  But when the clouds turn black, and the breeze becomes a gale, and the mist becomes a monsoon, their lives are blown away.
 
You see, the foundation here is more than just the word of God.  The home was provided protection from the weather because of how it’s builder applied what he knew.  He knew the strength was in the foundation so he built on the solid rock.  The weather-proofing came from applying the truth. 
 
The same is true for your home.  The protection for your home is not found in attending church or being a member of the Sunday School of listening to the sermon. 
 
The protection is provided when you take what is given in the Bible and applying it to what you do and how you act and how you respond. 
 
Now you must hear the word of God, and that is why is so important to hear the Word from the pulpit and to read the Word yourself, because every time you do, you’re laying another rock in your foundation. 
 
But it’s not enough just to hear it.  That won’t weatherproof your home.  You must heed it.  Jesus said the wise man was the one who hears these sayings of Mine, and does them. (v.24) 
 
Everyone in this room has heard of Madonna.  She had a baby a few years ago and a reporter asked her what type of religious training she was going to give that little baby, and here’s what Madonna said:
 
“I am baptizing her Catholic.  There are things about Catholicism that I disagree with, but there are a lot of things I’m still intrigued by.  I still go to church and light candles.  The church provides a kind of sanctuary and a sense of community.
 
I’ll teach her about Catholicism, but also about all religions, especially Buddhism, Judaism, and the
Kabbala (ancient Jewish lore).  My own religion combines all those.  I would rather present the Bible to my daughter as some very interesting stories you could learn from, rather than this is the rule.”    
 
 Now did you hear carefully what Madonna said? 
She is going to teach her child to do the very thing
Jesus warned against doing.  That is, hearing the
Bible, but not heeding the Bible. 
 
And the result?  Her life, and the life of her child, will be built on a faulty foundation, because when the storms of human trouble hit, her life will fall; and when the storm of God’s wrath hits, the fall will be great.
 
So storms will come, and they can hurt you, but here’s the third thing: 
 
III.  Storms Don’t Have to Harm You
 
Now the difference between the two houses is very simple.  The house that sank was built on a sandy foundation, but the house that stood was built on a solid foundation. 
       
vv. 24-25
 
Now the difference between these two men and these two houses may seem minor, but it is really major.  You see, both men heard God’s word, but it was the wise man that heeded God’s word. 
 
Now let me tell you why Jesus called this man wise. 
 
First of all, HE BELIEVED THE WORD OF GOD AND LIVED IT.   We’ve already talked about that one. 
 
There is something else I notice about this wise man.  He not only believed the Word of God and lived it,  HE BELONGED TO THE SON OF GOD AND LOVED HIM. 
 
And I know what you are saying:  the text doesn’t say anything about him loving Jesus.
 
No, but listen to 1 John 2:3-5
The real foundation of the home is not material, nor is it financial, but it is spiritual.  You are wasting your time trying to build a home apart from God and God's Word.  Eventually, either the storms of life or the storms of death will blow your home away. 
 
The message about weatherproofing your home is really about securing the foundation.  The Supreme Court of the United States told us why over a 100 years ago.  In 1885, the court stated in the case of Murphy v. Ramsey, "Certainly, no legislation can be supposed more wholesome and necessary in the founding of a free, self-governing commonwealth...than that which seeks to establish it on the basis of the idea of the family as consisting in and springing from the union for life of one man and one woman in the holiest state of matrimony; [The family is] the sure foundation of all that is stable and noble in our civilization."
 
Listen to what the Supreme Court said, "The foundation of a nation is the home."  Jesus said, "The foundation of a home is the Word of God."  The foundation of the Word of God is the Son of God and that is why any home built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ is weatherproof and can withstand any storm.
 
Storms are going to come, and the question is:  Have you built your hone on the solid rock of the Lord Jesus Christ, or have you built your home on the shifting sand of anything this world has to offer?
 
Isn’t the possibility of the destruction of your family too great a risk to take on anything less than the Word of God?