“Knowing Where The Rocks Are”
(Luke 6:46-49)
I. Introduction.
A. Our purpose, today, is really twofold; first to honor our
graduates, those of the class of 2007, who have reached an
important milestone in their lives, and second, to speak to
all of the young people, and us as adults, about the true
meaning of such events as a graduation.
1. I can think of fewer happier times than that of
graduation. Along with the sense of achievement
comes relief. “We’ve made it! All the years, all the
work, everything, has led up to this time.” You
walk along a stage, you shake hands with some
school authorities, you receive their congratulations
as they hand you that diploma, you hear the
applause of family and friends who’ve come to be a
part of this occasion.
2. Graduation ranks up there with births, baptisms, and
weddings as especially joyous times.
3. You’ve made it. But, what now? Where does your
life go from here? The excitement, and happiness,
of graduation time, like all things in life, is fleeting.
It’s not just an end, but a beginning. You’ve
completed another stage of preparation for the rest
of your lives, but where does your life go from
where you are now?
B. Have you planned for the future? Charles F. Kettering, the
engineer and inventor, and very successful businessman,
said: “My interest is in the future, because I am going to
spend the rest of my life there.”
1. Planning for the future is necessary – because that’s
where you’ll live. The essentials of that planning
are courage, and direction. And, the one certainty
you can rely upon about the future is its uncertainty.
No matter how well you’ve planned, no matter how
sure you are about the direction you want your life
to go, you can never, ever, be certain that it will go
that way, or stick to the plan. That’s the uncertainty
of it.
2. Graduates are much like the Israelites, camped upon
the edge of the “Promised Land.”
a. You’re prepared to begin your journey into
that land, you think you know which way
you’re going, but, as God told Joshua:
“. . . you have not passed this way before.”
(Joshua 3:4).
b. How modern, and meaningful are these
words, spoken thousands of years ago. You,
too, are about to go a way you’ve never been
before, the way called the “future.”
c. Don’t feel unique in this; don’t feel that you
are bearing a special burden that others have
not shared. Everyone faces the uncertainties
of the future.
C. So, what are the keys to a successful future? Two things:
knowing where the rocks are, and knowing where to build.
II. Building On The Rock.
A. (Illust.) Three fishermen were anchored about a football
field’s distance off shore and were catching only a few fish.
One of the anglers decided that he would go ashore. He
stepped over the side and walked across the water to the
beach. No sooner had his feet touched the sand when
another of the men announced that he, too, would go
ashore. As the third man looked on with astonishment, his
companion duplicated the performance of the first man.
“Well,” thought the man who remained in the boat, “if they
can do it, so can I.” And over the side he went and straight
to the bottom he plunged. He came splashing back to the
surface and climbed back into the boat. But he was not one
to give up too quickly. Again he tried but with the same
results.
The two men standing on the shore had been observing the
futile efforts of their friend and were so weak from laughter
they could hardly stand. Finally, one managed to say to the
other, “He’ll drown himself if we don’t hurry and tell him
where the rocks are!”
B. The wisest planning for the future comes from knowing
where the rocks are. But, what are these “rocks”? They’re
the principles of a meaningful, effective, creative life.
1. You don’t have to have perfect “vision” to realize
how very often people “miss” the rocks in their
lives. But, you do have to have a clear
understanding of what the solid rocks upon which to
build a meaningful, effective, and creative, life are.
2. Contemporary standards are not “rocks.” What
people believe makes for success, or what society
accepts as codes of conduct, “standing” for nothing
and “falling” for everything, is like constructing
sand castles on a beach. When the cultural tide
comes in , when standards change as they
inevitably do, everything gets washed away because
it has no foundation.
C. Wasn’t a big fan of Ann Landers, but she said in her
column once: “The answer to every problem can be found
between the covers of the Bible.” Not sure I’d make such a
broad statement, but, do heartily agree with the principle
that it reflects.
1. The educator William Lyon Phelps, who for many
years was a professor of English at Yale, used to tell
his students: “I would rather have a knowledge of
the Bible without a college education than a college
education without a knowledge of the Bible.”
2. That education, no matter how thorough or how
good, cannot give you the “rocks” for making your
way successfully through life the way the Bible can.
a. The eternal promises and principles in God’s
Word will guide you safely into the future.
b. The Bible gives us the course approved by
God – and the Divine Guide has pointed out
to us “Where the rocks are.” Our choice is
whether we will build our lives on the
“rock” of God, or the “sand” of
contemporary values.
D. One of the great attractions to people who travel in western
Europe are the magnificent cathedrals that were built
centuries ago, and have managed to withstand the tests of
war and nature. Try as they might, people could not
destroy these great structures of stone. They are so well-
built, so solidly built that not even time has diminished
their beauty or their durability. But, today, they are
almost empty of people.
1. While the structures were built on rocks, the faith of
succeeding generations was not.
2. That contrast between the cathedrals and the people
who used them – or use them today – is like the
contrast Jesus draws in His parable of the builders,
in Luke 6.
3. This story represents the conclusion of Luke’s
recounting of Jesus’ teaching in His “Sermon On
The Mount.” Matthew records it in his gospel as
well (Matthew 7:24-27).
E. There is, as with all the parables, a central thought: Having
heard the words of God, we must put them to use.
1. Jesus uses images familiar to His hearers. No
doubt, they were well-acquainted with the illusions
of Palestinian geography.
a. What might appear to be a dry plain, one
that was level, perfect for constructing a new
house, might be a dry river bed.
b. Sudden cloudbursts could turn that dry river
bed into a raging torrent of water.
c. Such a house, built upon such a foundation
and with little care given to where – and
how- it was built, could easily be destroyed
and swept away.
2. Both builders were “hearers” of the word; only one
built successfully.
3. Three elements appear in verse 47 (RE-READ)
a. First, there is seeking, and finding, Jesus.
(“Whoever comes to Me . . . “).
b. Second, there is hearing His words.
(. . . and hears My sayings . . .”).
c. Third, there’s doing His commands.
(. . .and does them. . .”).
d. Hearing is only part of the process – to build
on the rock means to apply what we hear; to
do what is commanded. It’s a positive
response.
4. Notice, also what Jesus did not say. The wise
builder did not put his house in a safe, sheltered
place. He built it to withstand what nature would
bring upon it. That’s realistic. Real life takes place
in a difficult environment. (Paul Harvey in one of
his commentaries: “Storms are a part of the normal
climate of life.”).
5. What, then, is the critical difference in these two
builders? What distinguishes one from the other?
Only the deep, sturdy foundation upon which one
built and the other did not.
a. If our faith goes deep, and our life reflects
our faith, that which is most important in our
lives will stand. We will succeed, in spite of
the worst that may come.
b. The second builder, who constructed his
“house” on weak, shifting earth, saw his
house come crashing down – its “ruin” was
“great.” The language here means
irreparable destruction. It’s both immediate,
and eternal.
6. This parable, like all of Jesus’ stories, demands self-
examination. Will the future be built on rock or
sand? Will we build for the moment, or for
eternity?
III. Conclusion.
A. Can, do doubt, say you have received a good education.
But, are some things you may not have learned in school.
(Speech by Bill Gates at Mt. Whitney H.S., Visalia,
California.)
1. Life is not fair – get used to it.
2. The world won’t care about your self-esteem.
The world will expect you to accomplish
something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
3. You will NOT make $40,000 a year right out of
high school. You won’t be a vice-president with
a car phone until you earn both.
4. If you think your teacher is tough, with till you get
a boss.
5. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your
grandparents had a different word for burger
flipping—they called it opportunity.
6. If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t
whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
7. Before you were born, your parents weren’t as
boring as they are now. They got that way from
paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and
listening to you talk about how cool you are. So
before you save the rain forest from the parasites
of your parents’ generation, try delousing the
closet in your own room.
8. Your school may have done away with winners
and losers, but life has not. In some schools they
have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you
the test as many times as you want to get the right
answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest
resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
9. Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get
summers off and very few employers are interested
in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own
time.
10. Television is NOT real life. In real life people
actually have to leave the coffee shop and get
to jobs.
11. Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up
working for one.
B. Life and its trials will crush flimsy, shallow building.
Doing the word of God gives stability now, and insures life
forever. It allows us to take the next step into the future
with a rock underfoot.