The Path to Being Built Different | Matthew 7:24-27

Good morning, Watermark family. My name is Jermaine Harrison, if we have not met, and I'm the students director here at Watermark. I've been on staff at Watermark for the past eight years with the Students Team, and I've been a member of our church for the last 11 years. My life has been transformed, shaped, encouraged, and my faith has been strengthened getting to be a part of this Watermark family.

I was born in the Caribbean, and I moved to Dallas in 2010 to attend seminary. Along the way, the Lord has been faithful and kind in so many ways, one of which is providing me with my wonderful wife, Hannah, and our two young children, Winslow and Darcy. It is my joy and privilege to be their dad. I just want to take this moment to once again acknowledge all of the fathers in the room. Thank you so much for the ways you love, lead, and care for your families, and those of you dads watching online, I hope you feel celebrated and thanked today.

All right. We're going to continue on in our Parable series that we've been working our way through the last couple of weeks of the summer. To set up where we're going, I'm going to start by asking you a question. I need some audience participation. Raise your hand if you are familiar with the term built different. There we go. Some of you are. Some of you aren't.

Okay. Just so we can catch everyone up, being built different is the idea of being best in class, unusually talented or gifted. In fact, up on the screen we'll have a few photos of some people who our culture would consider built different. I made sure to put M.J. and LeBron on there, just so you don't have too much of a debate in the audience while we're trying to go through this message.

Someone who's built different is more talented, maybe; more gifted; has produced more or has accomplished more in their area of expertise in athletics or business or music or whatever else it might be. Someone who is built different is best in class, if you will, in our culture. But in God's kingdom, being built different is about something way more important than the accolades or accomplishments we can receive in this world.

In God's kingdom, to be built different is to walk in obedience to the words of Jesus while being held securely by the work of Jesus. Let me say that again. In God's kingdom, to be built different is to walk in obedience to the words of Jesus while being held securely by the work of Jesus. We're going to see this point made clear and evident in our parable today. So, if you have your Bible, I want to invite you to turn with me to Matthew, chapter 7. We're going to read verses 24-27.

"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."

Jesus gives this parable, this story, if you will, and he starts it out with the phrase "Everyone who hears these words of mine…" Your first response should be, "What words is Jesus referencing when he says, 'Everyone who hears these words of mine'?" In a general sense, he's talking about every word of God revealed to us in Scripture. All Scripture is God-breathed, and it is profitable for instruction, godliness, and training in righteousness.

So, in one sense, Jesus is saying all of his words are important to be listened to and to be followed and obeyed. In another sense, very specific to the text, he's referencing the words he had just spoken to a crowd of thousands of people. If you're not familiar, Matthew 7, this parable, is at the end of one of the greatest sermons ever given.

Jesus gives the Sermon on the Mount to thousands of people, and he talks about issues like anger, purity, generosity, worry, anxiety, prayer, and conflict resolution. There are so many issues Jesus addresses in the Sermon on the Mount, yet he tells this parable at the end of this sermon because Jesus knows something that's true about you and me. It's easy for us to hear his words and not apply them to our lives.

In fact, I heard this quote as I was preparing for this message that says, "Hearing sermons is a dangerous business if one does not put them into practice." Obviously, it expands beyond just hearing a sermon, whether it might be reading a book or reading God's Word or a spiritual conversation with another follower of Jesus. "Hearing sermons is a dangerous business if one does not put them into practice."

So, Jesus tells the parable we just read because he is for you. He is for us. He wants us to be built different. He wants us to walk in obedience to his words while being held securely by his work, so he shows us in this parable the path to being built different. That's what we're going to spend our time exploring for the rest of the morning.

If you've been around here and been a part of this sermon series, you've heard the words in the bumper, or maybe in some of the sermons, of a picture, a window, and a mirror. Any parable that you read that's a story of Jesus in the New Testament, that's a helpful framework for you to put that parable in.

First, it's a picture. In other words, it gives you insight. There's this presentation of truth. Then it's a mirror. It's an opportunity for you and me to stop and reflect on the truth being presented in the parable. Then, thirdly, it's a window, a vision of the future of a preferred reality if you put into practice the application from that parable. So, we're going to use that framework as we observe Matthew 7:24-27 for the rest of the morning.

Let's start with the picture, the revelation of truth, that we see in the parable. The picture is this. Someone who is built different has their life built on the rock. Notice in the parable, again, there are two men, two builders, and they have a lot in common. Both of these builders hear the words of Jesus. That's one thing they have in common. The second thing both builders have in common is that they both build a house. Thirdly, both builders experience a violent storm. They have a ton in common.

However, one of the builders is described as being wise, and the other is described as being foolish. So, what made the difference? What's the difference between being wise and being foolish according to Jesus' parable, this picture? The one difference was that one man not only heard the words of Jesus but actually applied the words of Jesus to his life, and by doing so was firmly planting himself, being held securely by the work of Jesus…that is, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus from the dead to offer you and me a reconciled relationship with God.

The person who is wise not only hears the words of Jesus but applies the words of Jesus. Again, to be built different is to walk in obedience to the words of Jesus while being held securely by the work of Jesus. Here's a question for you: When do we find out the wise builder is actually wise? How is he proven to be wise? Answer: after the storm.

They had so much in common. Everything seemed to be the same. They heard the words of Jesus, they built a great house, and this violent storm comes, and then we see a difference. One is wise and one is foolish, because a storm is a great revealer. The storms we experience reveal what is true about us. Let me give you an example.

I grew up in the Caribbean, like I mentioned before, and I got to experience several very powerful and dangerous hurricanes during my upbringing. I'm talking 150-mile-an-hour winds, torrential rain, flooding, danger and destruction all around. I've gotten to witness it firsthand. Here's what we do in the Caribbean or in other places where hurricanes are normal.

When the storm is about to come, you go to the store and buy all of the nonperishable goods, because you don't know when you're going to be able to go back to the grocery store or when electricity is going to be back on. You stock up on water. You stock up on other necessities. You get up on the roof of your house. You make sure everything is in order, that all of the nails are in the right place, because you don't want the winds that come to rip your roof off.

You put up plywood on your windows or maybe you have shutters. You do all of these things in preparation for the storm. Then the storm comes, and you wait. Usually, a hurricane lasts for a couple of hours, and sometimes it lasts for a few days. You're sitting in your home, in the dark usually, without any Internet or Instagram or social media, and you actually have to play cards and talk to the people in your house, and you wait for the storm to pass.

Then once the storm passes, what does everyone do? You go outside to assess the damage. You go outside to see what houses have survived. How did the houses do? What houses were proven to be not structurally sound because of the wind and the rain, and it exposed that house or home was not built different?

In the same way, storms come our way into our lives, some major and some minor, almost every single day. Some of you right now, as you're sitting in this room, are experiencing the storm of stress and anxiety at work, or maybe it's long-term sickness or conflict in your family or a miscarriage you just experienced or unemployment that seems to have no end. Maybe you're stressed and worried about your children's health or their social development.

Maybe it's a season of doubting your faith or financial hardship or being ridiculed for your faith at work or in your family. Maybe it's the death of a family member or a loved one, disappointment in dating, or maybe it's caring for your aging parents. Maybe on a day like today, Father's Day, you have mixed emotions because of a complicated relationship with your dad.

I can relate to that because of my own experience. My biological father passed away in 2018, and we never had a relationship. There are moments where I wonder, "Man! Could things have been different?" or "Why weren't they different?" So, I understand and know there are so many of you in this room experiencing some level of storm, if you will.

Here's what's true. Everyone experiences storms. Every single one of us experiences storms, but not everyone endures with hope. Every one of us experiences storms, but not everyone endures with hope. Why? Because Jesus gives us the ability to endure with hope because of his words and because of his work.

Jesus died on the cross and rose again to provide a firm foundation for you and me when the storms of life come our way. When our life isn't founded on him, we will experience that great fall Jesus talks about in this parable. Everyone experiences storms, but not everyone endures with hope. When you're built different, your life stands strong when the storms of life come, when life gets shaky.

I have a feeling that every single one of you wants to be built different. Every one of you wants to stand strong when life is shaky. So, on the path to being built different, we just saw the picture. The picture is that someone who is built different has their life built on the rock. That's the idea, the principle, Jesus wants us to understand. If you're going to be built different, your life should be built on the Rock that is Jesus.

Next, let's look at the mirror. The mirror asks a question of every single one of us, and here it is. The question is…What is the foundation of your life? This question about the foundation of your life is extremely important. It is the difference between your life standing strong when life gets shaky and your life crumbling when life gets hard. So, the question of the foundation is extremely important for every single one of us to reflect on and think through.

It's not just a question for those of us who may not be followers of Jesus. Yes, if you are not a follower of Jesus, your life is on a sandy and shaky foundation that will not last the tests of this life and the one to come. Additionally, though, even if you are a follower of Jesus and your life has been genuinely placed on the firm foundation that is Jesus, we're still tempted every day to run to sandy foundations.

Let me know if you find yourself in this list of foundations of sand. Maybe your sandy foundation is wanting or seeking to be well liked by others, so you buy a certain car or live in a certain neighborhood. You dress a certain way or speak a certain way in a group of people because you want them to like you. Maybe it's your finances, and your trust and rest and peace come from the number in your bank account. I know how easily I can be tempted to that.

Or maybe you compare your marriage or your dating relationship to the marriage of someone else, and if theirs is a little bit worse, if maybe they need to go to re|engage and you don't, you feel a little bit better, and that's your foundation. Maybe your sandy foundation is your physical health or it's the identity you get from your kids' academics and athletics or your physical attractiveness or your career aspirations.

I could go on and on giving you example after example of sandy, shaky foundations we are so easily tempted to want to find meaning, hope, satisfaction, and purpose in. But here's the truth: every foundation that is not Jesus is a foundation that can be taken away. Your finances can be taken away. Your physical health can be taken away. The idea of being well liked by others can be taken away. Your kids' skill in academics or athletics can be taken away. Whatever your foundation might be that you're running toward that isn't Jesus can easily be taken away, and then what?

Another helpful question for us all to reflect on as we consider this idea of "What is the foundation of the house of my life?" is this: "When storms come, where do I run?" In other words, when the finances aren't the way they used to be or your relationship isn't what it used to be or your health is declining or there's some sort of challenge at work, or whatever the storm might be, where do you run?

Is it to an old addiction, a past relationship, to your finances, to a distraction, binging or eating, or to some other bad habit? Where you run is a good indicator of your foundation, that you think whatever that thing you're running to is going to bring you safety, security, peace, and rest. If it's not Jesus, it won't. That's what Jesus is trying to illustrate in this parable. When the storms come, where do I run?

I've been so encouraged to think about, in preparation for this message, a ministry we have around here at Watermark called re:generation for students. Re:generation for students is a seven-step biblical recovery program for students in grades 6-12. We launched it back in 2019 because we realized that the storms of life don't wait until you turn 25 and that there's brokenness, pain, difficulty, and hurt that young people also experience.

Praise God that over the last eight semesters, we've had over 600 teenagers who have gone through re:generation for students and have gotten to experience the meaning and hope that can be found in Christ. When their life got shaky, when the storms of life came, they got the opportunity to be presented with the truth that Christ is a firm foundation in the midst of whatever they might be going through. So, 600 students over the last four years have been led by 100 young adult volunteers to build the foundation of their lives on Jesus.

When you look at the mirror of this parable, when you get that chance to reflect, some of you should be really, really encouraged right now. As you reflect on your life, you go, "Man! I am in no way perfect, but as I look at the general direction and trajectory of my life, my life is marked by humble obedience and surrender to Jesus. His Spirit leads me and guides me, and I am yielded to him." You should be really, really encouraged if you honestly assess your life and that's true.

Some of you, as you look into the mirror of this parable, should be very concerned, because your life is on a sandy foundation, and it's either crumbling or about to crumble, because any foundation that is not Jesus is bound to fail. If you want to be built different, Jesus is your foundation. So, on the path to being built different, we just looked at the mirror and asked ourselves a question: "What is the foundation of the house of my life?"

Lastly, we're going to look at the window, a vision of the future, a vision for the possibilities that can be true of every single person in this room and listening online. A window. Knowing the possible outcomes, am I willing to do what it takes to be built different? Let me remind you again of the two possible outcomes in Matthew 7.

"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."

The reminder is there are two options. You can have a life that stands firm when life gets shaky or you can have a life that is bound to crumble because it is not built on the firm foundation that is Jesus. Those are the options. So, with those possible outcomes, the question still remains. "Am I willing to do what it takes to be built different?" If you are, then these few points of application I'll share with you will be really helpful toward that end.

The first point of application if, knowing the possible outcomes, you're willing to do what it takes to be built different is to let Jesus into your life. Revelation 3:20 is such an incredible picture of the potential relationship with Jesus that is available to every single one of us. Jesus, in speaking to one of the churches the letters in Revelation are written to… He says this in Revelation 3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door [of your life] and knock."

I love that imagery. Jesus isn't forcing himself upon us. Jesus isn't making us love him. Jesus isn't making us follow him. He's not forcing us to be in a relationship with him. Instead, he stands at the door of every single one of our lives and knocks, waiting for the invitation to be let in. The rest of the verse says, "If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." Jesus waits for the invitation to be made the foundation of your life. He doesn't force himself in. Let Jesus come into your life.

Let me say this. Apart from Christ, every single one of us was headed for one storm. We all experience different difficulties and challenges in life, but there's one storm that, apart from Jesus, every one of us was headed toward. Because all of us like sheep have gone astray and have gone to our own way… We've said, "God, thanks, but no thanks. I'm going to do my own thing." Because that is true, because we've rebelled against a good, righteous, and holy God… The wages of sin is death, so the storm of God's wrath and judgment was headed our way.

Praise God that Jesus made the powerful statement and decision to stand in front of that storm, to have God's wrath poured out upon his shoulders as he hung on the cross for you and me. He said, "I'm going to take their place. I'm going to take their pain. I'm going to take the punishment and the storm of God's wrath upon myself, and I'll give them an exchange so they can have my life, so they can have new life, new hope, new meaning, and new purpose."

Because of Jesus, we have the ability to live built different. Let Jesus into your life. Remember what made the wise man wise is that he heard the words of Jesus and obeyed the words of Jesus, founding his life on the firm foundation that is Jesus. So, knowing the possible outcomes, am I willing to do what it takes to be built different? If so, let Jesus into your life.

Secondly, if so, listen to the words of Jesus. Another way of saying that is get where you can hear the words of Jesus. A couple of weeks ago, one of the couples in our Community Group put on and hosted a backyard vacation Bible school. Basically, what it was is they invited all of the families in our group and all of the young children and other friends and family members and their kids to come to their backyard for a couple of hours each day for one week to study God's Word.

My 2-year-old son got to be a part of that, and unbeknownst to me, I was learning a memory verse that I had never tried to commit to memory, but he had at this vacation Bible school, Psalm 86:15. It says, "But you, O Lord, are compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love and faithfulness." That's how he says it when he's quoting it at home.

It has been so incredible to see his hunger for God's Word. He'll ask us if he can quote the memory verse we got to hear over and over for just a couple of hours a few weeks ago. He got somewhere where he could hear the words of Jesus. If a 2-year-old can, you can too. So, my encouragement to you is to get where you can hear the words of Jesus.

Our church has a Bible reading plan called Join the Journey. If you don't have a time, place, and plan for spending time in God's Word, I would encourage you to join us. We just started reading through the book of Joshua, so you can dive on in with us in Joshua, chapter 7, tomorrow. There are accompanying devotionals and a podcast as well. You can find more information at jointhejourney.com. So, get to where you can listen to the words of Jesus.

Last but not least, if you know the possible outcomes and are willing to do what it takes to be built different, do it. Live like Jesus. Every single gathering of the corporate body at Watermark for the entire existence of Watermark has ended the exact same way: "Have a great week of worship." That's not just a commission to say, "We hope you find some good worship songs this week." No.

In another way, what we're saying is "Go live like Jesus. You just sat in a worship service where you encountered God through song, where you were encouraged by other believers worshiping God together. You were taught and trained and equipped from God's Word, and now we are commissioning you to go out, to go back to your homes, to your families, to your jobs, to the difficulties, to the storms, to whatever you might be experiencing, and live it in full dependence and full devotion, humbly walking with Jesus, obeying his words, held securely by his work." That's what we mean by "Have a great week of worship."

So, the encouragement to us, if we want to live built different and are willing to do what it takes, is to live like Jesus. So, as we wrap up, in a sermon that drives toward application, there can be that temptation for those of you who are like me to maybe feel more burdened or to feel a legalistic impulse to achieve and perform. I love that what is clear in this parable and elsewhere in Scripture is that Jesus knows you can't follow him, you can't obey him, on your own.

In another place in John, chapter 14, right before Jesus was crucified, he's giving a last word of encouragement to his disciples that I think is so important and relevant for us today. Here's what he says: "If you love me, you keep my commandments." In other words, "You obey me." I just love the tenderness, the comfort, and hope that comes next, because Jesus knows and assumes that our response will be, "I can't do it. I can't make it on my own. I can't obey you on my own." That's precisely the point.

In verse 16, Jesus says, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you." Friends, we can't do it on our own. We were never meant to do it on our own. Jesus, the Savior of the world, asked his Father to give us another helper, and God said, "I've got you."

We have the most amazing gift of all. The God of the universe, for those who have placed their faith and trust in Jesus, indwells us, and he's with us. He's with you wherever you're going to right after this, whatever hurt or heartache or challenge or joy or exciting thing awaits you. The God of the universe is with you to offer you hope, peace, guidance, direction, comfort, and whatever you need. I love the words of that verse, that he will be with you forever.

You have what it takes to be built different if you have Jesus. It's not you. It's not your own strength. It's not your own doing. To be built different is to walk in obedience to the words of Jesus while being held securely by the work of Jesus…his death, his burial, his resurrection, his Spirit at work in your heart and your life.

So, some of you, as you were listening to this message, maybe have come to the realization, "My house is falling apart." Maybe you saw the illustration onscreen and went, "Man! That's me. I'm crumbling." If that's you, there's hope today. Jesus is ready, willing, powerful, and available to rescue you from the depths of despair and to place you on the firm foundation that is a relationship with him.

So, one last time: "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." Let me pray that every single one of us would found our lives, build our lives, on Jesus.

God, we love you, and we're so grateful for your kindness, your goodness, and your grace and that you do not leave us on our own to figure out obedience to you but that you've given us your Word, you've given us guidance, you've given us clarity, you've given us principles to live by, but most importantly, you've given us yourself in the sacrifice of your Son Jesus and the person and work of your Holy Spirit in our lives.

God, I pray that wherever the individuals hearing my voice find themselves right now, they would do what it takes to be built different, that they would look to you, they would run to you, and they would build their lives on you. We love you. We praise you. In Jesus' name, amen.