“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” Luke 6:46-49
I had the great privilege to travel yesterday to Talkeetna with Anne and Nancy from St. David's who were going to a house church. Along with Bishop Lattime and Bishop Lambert, we had a wonderful experience in Eleanor's home surrounded by many friends. It has been raining a lot in their part of the world, and as we travel, we passed over river after river, swollen by the storms. They told of structures and homes being lost due to the rising water. The water was high and dark, moving with ominous power and great intent. I came home grateful, even more, to be living up the hill from our harbor, thanking God for sound structures and wise builders.
Jesus is telling his disciples of the challenges of living faithfully in the world. They want rules and regulations and he wants them to be guided by wisdom, compassion and relationship. He desires for all of us to care for one another with tenderness and thoughtfulness, with deep wisdom and patience in all circumstances. He calls us to have a rock solid faith in him, not wavering and following the changing winds of style and fashion, but rather, being moved at all times, by love and compassion.
Today, I ask God to help me live by a deep founded wisdom, the wisdom passed to me by my elders and my ancestors, by my parents and my children. May our lives be rocks of love, solid forces of compassion and patience. May we build for the long haul, may we love eternally, and all for the sake of increasing God's love in the world.
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