Constructing Your Life Around Jesus Christ

Newsletter Article for August 1998

© 1998 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

(Since Construction is scheduled to take place at St. Timothy at about the time you will be receiving this newsletter, I thought I would share the following story I wrote about 7 years ago under somewhat similar circumstances. This story is not even a little bit about poor building maintenance, except superficially. It is about our spiritual life, and growth in our faith in Jesus, our savior.)

There once was a house not very far from here. It could be yours, or even mine. When it was new it was the owner’s pride and joy. It may have lacked a certain amount of character, it may have lacked many of the luxuries that one might wish for, but it was well built and functional, and to its owner it represented independence, freedom, and success.

It was a dream come true, but along with the trappings of success come responsibilities. It ought to be unavoidable, but somewhere down the line the owner of this house began to neglect his responsibilities. It started off small, and it didn’t seem too bad until it rained, and the house began to leak. The owner was terrified about this and he pleaded with God to save his house. He swore up and down that he would fix the leaks and maintain the house properly so that it would never leak again. But then it stopped raining and the owner saw that his house did not fall over immediately and he reasoned that a couple small leaks wouldn’t hurt because “this house was built to last forever.” Besides, as long as the sun shone there were no leaks, and so he quickly forgot about them, and he forgot about his promises to properly maintain his house.

As time went by and the owner of the house did nothing to stop the leaks, more and more water leaked into the house and began to weaken the wooden beams which supported it. The damage didn’t happen all at once, but over time what was once good, strong wooden beams rotted away to dust. Even then, the house remained standing and did not fall over, but it stood without any support, and it was extremely vulnerable. One good strong breeze could have come and flattened that house and crushed its occupants.

Then one day a carpenter stopped by to see his friend, the owner of the house. As the friends talked inside the house, the carpenter began to notice that not everything was well with the house. As he began to poke around and ask questions he realized that this house was in serious trouble, and if something wasn’t done soon, the whole thing would collapse and his friend would die.

The carpenter convinced his friend of the urgency of the situation and he quickly went about repairing the house. First he tore out all the rotten support beams, and replaced them with new ones, then he covered them and sealed them tight so that the rain could not come in and rot them away. The carpenter fixed that house so that it was as good as new, and he even paid for the repairs out of his own pocket. The carpenter didn’t do this because he had to. He wasn’t responsible for the decay of the house, his friend had brought this on himself. He did it because his friend was in danger and needed help, and he was the only one who could help.

The homeowner was so grateful to the carpenter for saving his life and fixing his house, that he asked how he could repay him for all he had done. The carpenter smiled and said that there was no need to repay him, and that such a thing was impossible, anyway. But if he wanted to show his gratitude he should go and help save and restore other people’s houses in the name of God, our Heavenly Carpenter, and Savior.

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If you stop by the Church in the first few weeks of August you will likely be reminded that no building lasts forever. At some point in the future our Church will be torn down and replaced. Hopefully our current repairs will help delay that event, and will halt any deterioration around the edges. But just as buildings need regular maintenance and repairs, so do our souls.

Our souls need to be taken care of just as our bodies do, and just as our houses and apartments do, and just as our Church does. You could not survive a week without food and water, and even if you could, you wouldn’t want to try it. Your house needs to be cleaned regularly, and every now and then it requires a fresh coat of paint or other work to keep it sturdy and strong. Our souls need regular maintenance too in order that they remain healthy and strong.

It is not wind and rain which attack our souls to weaken their supports and rot them out from the inside. It is sin which weakens our souls and undermines their foundations, and if nothing is done to protect the soul, it dies. Sin enters our lives through even the smallest cracks which we have left uncovered, and once it gets in it begins to eat away at our support and foundation, which is our faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The sinister part of this process is that it doesn't happen overnight. Instead, it is often a gradual process where sin weakens your defenses then works to slowly rot away the strong support which you have as you trust in Jesus. If you take sin lightly and don't recognize it for the danger it is then you may not realize until it is too late that you are not being supported by anything. The house may still be standing, but it may have no means of support. Then when the storms of life hit, it all comes crashing down. These storms may come in the form of a personal tragedy, the illness or death of a loved one, or even your own imminent or impending death. If your faith is dead at this point it is almost (but not completely) too late to rebuild a faith that can save you.

The point of this story is that we cannot build a faith that can survive the storms which constantly batter against us. The good news is that we don't have to. Jesus can and does do it all, and not by virtue of the fact that he was the stepson of a carpenter, but by virtue of the fact that he is the Son of God, and he rescued us from sin through his suffering and death on the cross. His love is pure and strong, and can support us through even the fiercest storms. Our salvation is 100% sure as long as we trust in Jesus, but we still must struggle against temptation and against sin.