Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Matthew 7:24-27
Perhaps it is this way throughout the world, but the West carries a long history and
culture of seeking and embracing a firm foundation. Already in 1500s at the time of the
Reformation and even before that time there emerged a new generation of people
challenging the accepted ideas of the day. The church, the foundation of Christian
as a firm foundation. The growing unrest increased until people like Martin Luther
rejected the idea that Church leaders and doctrines alone held supreme authority and was
the foundation for all of life and truth. Luther decided to base his work instead on the
foundation of interpreting the Bible and not simply what the church told him. This led to
charges of heresy and he was taken before a type of jury where he told them, “I am bound
by the texts of the Bible, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Here I stand;
I can do nothing else.” Luther had lifted his feet off of the assumed foundation of the
church and accepted the authority of the Bible alone. It was not only in the church that
people were questioning the foundational truths of that time. Some people set sail with
the crazy idea that the earth was round. Others went further saying that not only is the
earth round but that it is not even fixed or stationary. They said that perhaps it is the Sun
that is fixed and the world is actually moving as we speak, spinning around. Imagine
having been nurtured on the Bible that tells us that yes the sea can be chaotic and
unstable but the ground, the ground was sure and stable, fixed by God at creation.
Imagine having to overcome what must have been basic common sense to people as they
1
And so over time a massive shift in the culture’s sense of foundation began to occur. At
one time authority was placed in the hands of religious leaders who were supposed to be
inspired by God. Now, authority was placed in the ability of the individual’s mind to
reason and make sense of observable nature. The individual mind had the right to
This movement inspired philosophers to rethink just what truth was. It is little publicized
that around 1640 Rene Descartes, who is often viewed as the father of western
philosophy, wrote his most famous piece, at least in part, to prove the existence of God.
I can think there can be no more useful service to be rendered in philosophy than to
conduct a careful search, once and for all, for the best of these arguments, and to set
them out so precisely and clearly as to produce for the future a general agreement that
I should mention that he was quite hopeful and ambitious in this pursuit adding “that
these proofs are of such a kind that I reckon they leave no room for the possibility that the
human mind will ever discover better ones.” So Descartes set out to prove God, the
ultimate foundation. And how did Descartes begin? Listen to the words of his opening
meditation,
Some years ago I was struck by the large number of falsehoods that I accepted as true in
my childhood, and by the highly doubtful nature of the whole foundation that I had
subsequently based on them. I realized that it was necessary, once in the course of my
life, to demolish everything completely and start again right from the foundations if I
2
As I said, he was ambitious. And so Descartes set about the task of distrusting and
rejecting everything that could possibly be doubted. And what was at the bottom of it
all? He secluded himself in a small cabin and thought and thought and thought. He
decided that he could not trust his feelings or his senses and eventually came to the
conclusion that the one thing he could never doubt or deny was that he was thinking.
And so the famous line, I think therefore I am. Descartes’ work concluded that the
individual self and more specifically the mind was the foundation of all truth and reality.
And so the West began to build. The foundation of reason through individual ability was
trusted as secure. Some wrote histories that traced and forecasted the evolution and
triumph of the human spirit. Others boldly crossed the ocean to establish a new society
Many announced science as the saviour of our society. Sigmund Freud wrote powerfully
that religion was no foundation, it was in fact an illusion. Science he believed exposed
religion’s contradictions and superstitions. To him religion was infantile, childish, and
one of his books saying, “No, our science is no illusion. But an illusion it would be to
suppose that what science cannot give us we can get elsewhere.” Science will save.
3
Descartes and those in his wake believed that this foundation was accessible to them.
They believed that at some point they could peel away all the superstitions and illusions
that the world and especially the church used to believe and establish their thought and
life on unmovable bedrock. But what happened to their project, to their quest for
foundations? People simply continued to peel back the layers. They continued, like
that claimed to be true not just religion. We cannot agree on what is proper ethical
behaviour in our community and in our country or what is important in our school
systems. Our families seem to be becoming more fractured and divided in our beliefs and
And so we hear phrases like postmodern. This tends to be characteristic of people who
say that perhaps there is no foundation, no common ground from which we all stand.
They are beginning to see that perhaps much of what the West was building on was not
Where does this leave us? Like Luther we desire to make our sure confession, “Here I
stand.” But we feel pushed and pulled in our lives, the ground beneath us begins to shift
I have been told that Jesus is the only way of salvation but my coworker is Muslim and he
is so gracious. I feel like he is more a follower of Christ than I am.
The Bible seems to be pretty clear about same-sex relationships but look at the love and
commitment those two have for each other. My husband and I could really learn a lot
from them.
Technology was supposed to improve my life but now the gap between the rich and poor
is growing and look at the price the environment is paying.
4
What would it mean if we did actually evolve from another life form? Or if Moses, Noah
or Adam never existed?
Why does it seem like there were so many miracles in the Bible and today it does not
seem like there are any? When Frank came home from seminary he said that miracles
were just they way that culture described things they didn’t understand.
I am NOT trying to imply or assume any sort of answers or responses to those thoughts.
What I am sure most of us experience at one time or another is a threat to what we hold to
What is the foundation that the church has tried to lay? Most churches attempt to teach
its members the right beliefs. The basis of my Sunday School experience was trying to
memorize the Catechism of the General Conference of Mennonites. It was laid out in a
question and answer format. Now some of these answers are wonderful statements of
faith.
A. To live in God’s fellowship, enjoy God’s favour, and receive eternal happiness
hereafter.
However, most of the Catechism is simply turning biblical statements into questions.
Q. What is the duty of Christians in all they do, in word and deed?
A. Col 3.17 “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
5
And so forth. We would do well to reflect on many of the statements in this Catechism.
However, approaching life in this way creates the illusion that there are clear answers to
every situation that we face when in reality neither the 199 answers in the Catechism nor
the Bible for that matter offer us an exhaustive list of specific answers for all of life’s
questions. Despite this most of us try to formulate our own personal Catechism in our
minds.
How should I respond to my child who seems to have left the faith?
How should I view the Bible when it seems that at times it is irrelevant if not wrong?
Really why should I believe in a God that I can’t hear and that let’s so many bad things
We look for answers that we can stand on when we feel the earth move below us. When
I served in the inner-city I always wrestled with how to respond to people asking for
money. Every time I thought I had the answer I would face someone who would come
up to me and say or do something I had never thought of and it would dismiss my whole
strategy. I felt secure on my foundation as long my answer satisfied the questions and
challenges that I faced. The problem, as modern philosophers found out, and as we all
find out is that there are simply not enough answers to the questions and challenges that
we face. Answers and stated beliefs are good but they are not foundational.
6
So how then are we to approach our text when Jesus says at the end of the Sermon on the
Mount, Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is
Doesn’t this lead us to view the Sermon on the Mount as another type of Catechism or
answer book?
This approach to Scripture has supported much of the Mennonite view on non-violence.
Is this not what Jesus means when he says for us to hear his words and do them? We are
taught to know the rules and follow them. Know what Jesus taught us and do it. The
problem of course is the problem we always have with God. God is not asking us simply
to hear new laws and do them. As helpful as a catechism may be this is not what God
gave us a foundation. The Sermon the Mount and the New Testament itself is not a new
law and our foundation does not depend on our ability to fulfill it.
who believed that he could reason his way to the foundation. We often believe that what
7
lay our own foundation. It is like the Lego many of us played with as children. I quickly
learned that overlapping the blocks made my house much stronger than if built the blocks
straight up. So I overlap my walls and press down hard on the bricks hearing them
This was my image of strength, to be firm and fixed. However, what this image assumes
is that things around me are ultimately passive and that I can control them. This is most
often how philosophers approached truth and how we have approached life.
Centuries after Descartes’ attempt to offer foundational proofs for God and truth
Nietzsche asked the question, “Suppose truth were a woman, what then?” Nietzsche goes
on to say that most philosophers and especially theologians are like little children playing
with Lego thinking that they can understand something as complex as another human
being. We know how well our children, parents and spouses react to be treating like
So what if our foundation, the rock that we build on is actually relationship, something
dynamic and living, what then? What if having a firm foundation does NOT mean
having the right answers and being in a fixed rigid place, as the image of the rock often
leads us to think. What if the image of foundation that we often assume is actually more
about our desire for control? Jesus is not unaware of the tendency to misunderstand
foundation in this way. Think of how he began the Sermon on the Mount.
8
Blessed are those who mourn.
This is the tone Jesus sets in his vision of foundation. These are not images of a rigid
position. Rather, these images point to our ability to relate intimately and vulnerably, to
relate well. These words are a call to step out of our fortress of well overlapped bricks
and move beyond our fixed beliefs. If our foundation is a relationship then it is only as
good our ability to be open and trusting in that space between God and ourselves.
In an anonymous short story I came across this image that I think touches on what is for
John and Mary had been married for a few years. Not a long time but long enough for
some clear and distinct patterns to have emerged. In the early years the experienced the
exhilaration of many highs and lows as their lives were brought closer for better or for
worse but lately, well for months now, the fighting had taken center stage and dug itself
deeply into how they were relating to one another. Their picket fence looked more like a
cage and the walls became tighter with every fight. The arguments were never resolved,
only exhausted. That afternoon, the weekend they planned to spend together, a switch
was flipped a wrong word, a wrong action (Mary couldn’t remember now anyway) and
the thin veneer of peace they were treading on broke beneath them and as they sunk into
anxiety, insecurity and anger they dug their hands deep into the mud and started slinging
it. In the midst of traded accusations and attacks Mary began to grow tired, the word
weary that she had always associated with people going through the Great Depression
9
now came to mind. She was still yelling but there was nothing behind her words. Any
possible meaning or hope in them trickled over her lips and fell flat on the floor.
She knew she had nothing that would heal the hemorrhage between them. Her hands
were too small the wound too large. And then it came, a strange but soft presence. Her
words began to trail off and his words faded into a light buzzing. And then a third voice
emerged. The words were not thrust forward rather they came like seeds carried on the
wind, patient but sure. The words came, ‘Grace and Peace.’
They offered no answers and preached no sermons but they came and were fully present.
They did not counsel her but they continued all the same, ‘Grace and Peace. . . Grace
and Peace.’ After months of fighting she had no place to hide or rest every place they
took cover in was attacked in their shared anger and frustration. She was laid bare,
exposed, vulnerable but instead of receiving a devastating final blow she was touched
instead by something tender but altogether more powerful. It was as though she had
Eventually John’s deluge of words also began to subside and with it Mary’s words of
comfort also seemed to quiet. And as the words stopped it was as though she awoke not
to a perfect world or even to world that was better than it was before. Rather she awoke
to a world where a rainbow, of all things, watched over their storm below.
Mary discovered that beneath it all there was a foundation she did not create. Paul tells
us “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus
Christ.”
10
Matthew 7:25.
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house;
yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
1 Corinthians 3:16
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s Temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in
your midst?
Amen.
11