https://app.dropwave.io/episode/047d92f4-8630-4db4-8c4e-1a4df20583ee/trinity-21-ad-2025.mp3

++ JESU JUVA ++

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Two men built houses, one on the rock, one on the sand (Lk 6, Mt 7). When the flood came, the house on the sand had an uncertain foundation. So it fell, and great was its fall. But when the flood came against the house built on the rock, it could not be shaken. You know that picture. But what you may not know is the context.

Why did Jesus use that picture? Jesus says the man who builds his house on the rock is a picture of one who hears the words of Jesus and does them, who practices them. The wise man has built his house on the solid foundation of God’s Word. But the man who builds his house on the sand is a picture of one who hears the words of Jesus yet does not do them. The foolish man hears what Jesus says, but then builds his life on the shifting sand of his own fallen reason. Even more, related to this illustration, Luke records Jesus saying these words: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”

What if you approached the rest of your life that way? What would happen if you treated everything your doctor said that way? Or if you needed a lawyer? Why don’t you take the medicine that will help you? Why don’t you do the exercises that will help you thrive? Why do you ignore good legal counsel?

Or, more theological: Why do you come to Jesus with your troubles and griefs, but then you don’t receive the gifts He has to give you? Why do you come to Jesus for counsel or help or advice if you’re just going to ignore what He says? Conversely, why do you say that you need Jesus and want to receive His gifts, but then never do what He says? Why do you want what He gives, but only on your own terms? In John 14, Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

In today’s Old Testament, we hear how God speaks and makes things so. Everything depends on His Word. He sets things into proper order. When the things God created act according to His Word, they are blessed. And so it is for us. By His Word, God created us and set us into order. When we act according to the Word God has given us — when we are ordered according to God’s Word — we are blessed.

The challenge appears, though, when it’s hard for us to see how an instruction from God is good. In our sinful nature, we don’t trust God. We ignore God’s warnings about future pain if we follow a certain path. We heard in Genesis how God created the order between man and woman. He created them in His image and blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28). Saying, “Be fruitful and multiply,” is how He blessed man.

But when we hear that blessing-command, instead of paying attention to what God intends to give, we want instead to focus on what following His Word will cost us. How much money will it cost? How much strength will it take? What other opportunities will I miss out on? Because of our sin, we question God’s order. We assert that we know better than God. We conclude that it’d be better if our bodies didn’t work the way He designed them to work. Then we lose out on His blessing.

God’s basic unit for society is the family. The family is established as a father and mother and the children that come from their one-flesh union. “It is not good for man to be alone” (Gen. 2). That’s why we understand society to grow out of the Fourth Commandment. Honor your father and your mother. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.

It’s from the Fourth Commandment that God builds the whole society. It’s in the home that husband and wife engage in the procreative act. They engage in this act privately, but it’s a public matter because it's where the public comes from. That’s why the state has an interest in marriage. In this way, Adam wasn’t only the first father, he was the first ruler — the first king.

It’s also within the family that God has given the command to teach the faith. Parents have the responsibility of teaching their children the faith. That means, even if public Christianity is declining, the truth faith will still be preserved by godly fathers within the home. And this is true even when churches are departing from the truth: the family is the place where Christians grow up into Christ.

That’s why Luther was so insistent that teaching the Small Catechism belongs in the home. He says, “As the head of the family should teach it in a simple way to his household.” It’s also from this family order that God establishes the church. Adam wasn’t only the first father and the first king. He was the first preacher. He was to instruct his wife and children in the Christian faith. This is God’s good and godly order.

But Satan despises this order. He hates the one-flesh union and the procreative act and the family and God’s order for society. He hates that God uses the family as the place for nourishment and growth of the faith. Satan wants this order destroyed. Satan also has a basic unit for society. But instead of the family, his basic unit is the individual. He wants each person to be independent, autonomous, and self-serving. Then, by dividing the members of the family from the natural relationships God has given, Satan can then bring them together into a collective mob.

In the fall, Satan despised God’s order. He knew that God has commanded him to be a creature. He knew that man is to rule over the earth and subdue it. He knew that husband is the head of his wife. But he hated God’s command. He wanted something different. So he worked to subvert all that God had commanded. As a result, he is cursed and not blessed. Even what he had was taken away.

In the Scriptures, we read all kinds of instructions from God. Sometimes it’s hard to make sense of them. Sometimes we don’t want to do what He instructs. But the question we must always ask is this: who gave me these instructions? Who told me to do this? If they’re instructions from your Lord, then they’re for your good, and to your benefit.

This is what we see in today’s Gospel. First, Jesus speaks about reality, and His Words don’t seem comforting. Then, He gives instructions that seem difficult to follow. But there is great benefit in holding onto His Word.

An official, probably belonging to King Herod’s court, comes to Jesus, seeking help for his son. He wants to tell Jesus how to do the miracle. The nobleman wants a performance, a magic show. His faith led him to Jesus, but it’s incomplete faith. What does Jesus do with this weak and errant faith? He subjects it to severe trial and rebuke. “Unless you people see signs and wonders you will never believe.” He speaks with the strongest negation: y’all will never believe. He diagnoses the kind of faith that this man has: a faith that only looks for and responds to signs and wonders.

What Jesus says to this man, He also says to you. How often do you find yourself with this kind of faith? With a faith that demands evidence from God. If only God would do this or that, then I’ll believe His Word. If only things would turn out this way, then I’ll trust in Him. And if He acts according to my reason and desires, then I might do what He asks — but not before. I plan to obey in the future, but right now I want to have my fun. I’ll repent later.