TOOLS TO KEEP BUILDING - June 29, 2008
Matthew 10:40-42
We started this June series on building on June 1, with the story of the two men who built houses, one on the sand, and his house was washed away in the flood waters. The other man built his house on the rock, and it stood firm when the flood waters washed over his house.
On June 15 it was "Building Character" and we found out that the qualities that we need to build lives of character are built on the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So the apostle Paul states that he boasts even in his sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
And today, we're going to talk about "Tools to Keep Building."
When I was a little girl I grew up in what is now a suburb of Muskegon, Michigan, in an area called Rudemont. On one end of my street, about a mile from my house, was a small airport. I know because one day when I was about six I took off from the backyard where I was playing and walked there all by myself. Eventually the airport staff, which was about 3 people back then, figured out that I was by myself and drove me home.
At the other end of my street was a small lake, that was really a part of Lake Michigan. The lake was always cold, and my parents would only take my brother a me to Lake Michigan in the summer when the water warmed up to about 65 degrees.
This neighborhood, where I lived until I was 9 years old, was a new neighborhood; a new subdivision. There were plenty of vacant lots to play in, and plenty of new houses being built where we could go and watch.
We watched men mixing cement, putting in small rock, cement and water into a small cement mixer. This small amount of cement was to build a brick wall. We watched the men put a string to line up the bricks, and then take the cement mixture, put it on a board, take a trowel and with one expert "plop" put just enough in just the right place to glue the next brick, tap it straight, and do another brick. One by one, brick by brick, the wall took shape.
We could watch the men put together the frame of the house with real wood, and real hammers and nails. Then, after the men went home, we could explore the inside and guess what the rooms would be.
We watched the electrician string wire, twist it together, tape it, and secure it in a grey box and use screws and a huge automatic screwdriver to tighten it down.
At home, I watched my Dad lay out newspaper, open a new can of paint, take a paint brush and put new paint over an old table.
I watched my Dad use a plane to shave off the edges of a wooden door. He had a neat set of planes, all sizes.
I watched my Grandfather crack walnuts in the basement. The walnuts came from a tree in his yard. They fell to the ground covered with a thick outer shell that was green. He had to dry them, remove the outer shell, and then would sit for hours with a hammer to hit the walnuts just right and crack open the tough inner shell. Then, unless he hit the nut just right, he might have to use a nut pick to get out the sweet nutmeat.
Wherever we go, we find tools. From large cement mixers to kitchen mixers, from automatic screwdrivers to small nut picks. From cement trowels to garden trowels, tools are everywhere. They make it possible to do more, and make our life easier.
We need tools, and having the right tool for the job makes life even easier and more fun.
When I was little, I didn't live in that house long enough for it to need major repairs, but my Dad was always doing something. He had to stop a leak. He had to repair a screen. He had to paint. He seeded the lawn, and then had to mow it, and he mowed it with a hand push lawnmower.
But then we moved, and we moved to an old house. We were renting, and didn't stay there very long. I wasn't very old, but even I could tell that house needed a lot of work. Whoever would do the repairs would need a lot of tools.
Most of us aren't very old, really. Even the oldest of us is just a few seconds old in comparison to eternity. And all of us deserve the best tools to find God's grace, so that we can repair our houses or build new ones. We need the best tools so that our houses, built on the rock of Jesus Christ, will withstand the flood waters of life.
Matthew gives us some tools. Very simple tools, and not very many, so we don't need very many.
Jesus says, "Anyone who welcomes you, welcomes me."
What are the tools of welcoming?
Jesus says, "Anyone who give even a cup of cold water to one these little ones, in the name of a disciple -- I'm telling you the truth, they won't go short of their reward!"
The tools are a sink with a faucet, perhaps a refrigerator for cold water, or an ice tray for ice cubes, and then a cup or glass. Or a bottle of water.
What are the tools of welcoming? It might be pencils and paper and crayons.
What are the tools of welcoming? It might be inviting the neighbor down the street in for a cup of coffee and a listening ear.
What are the tools of welcoming? It might be blessing the pre-school children, or Vacation Bible School, or giving a smile to one of the Aged to Perfection clients.
What are the tools of welcoming? It might be, if our house is shaky, going and borrowing some tools from a Christian friend, for it is when we share our tools that we can help one another build and repair our houses.
I want to share another story from Rev. Fred Craddock:
Fred and his wife have a friend who is a nurse in a tuberculosis hospital. She resigned the other day. She has fellows in there with one lung, half of one lung, or less; little bitty guys lying up in bed. At night, sometimes with nothing but pajamas and robes on, they tie sheets together and sneak out through a window, door, or any way; go to a liquor store; get all liquored up; and come back in the chill of the night, wheezing and coughing. She gets the oxygen, she nurses them, she goes over another eight-hour shift. She's a beautiful woman, but her legs have those big knotted veins from standing sixteen hours to bring this little frail fellow back to breathing again. Finally it clears up. He's breathing again; she takes away the oxygen; and he ties the sheets together and goes out the window to the liquor store.
And she quit. Why should I care? He doesn't care! Let him die.
The next day she goes to work.
To be strong, our houses need constant repair, constant shoring up. Jesus provides us with tools to use every day, and to share. And if we borrow these tools, they are returned every time, and returned 100-fold.
These tools, the tools of a cup of cold water that are offered in Jesus' name, and a word of welcome, are "Tools to Keep Building."
"Anyone who gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, in the name of a disciple-I'm telling you the truth, they won't go short of their reward!"
Amen
Pastor Fran
