The Wise House Builder

The Wise House Builder Jody Winston May 29, 2005

Children’s Sermon Once upon a time, there was a mother pig who had three little pigs. The three little pigs grew so big that their mother said to them, “You are too big to live here any longer. You must go and build houses for yourselves. So the three little pigs set off. Soon they met a man who was carrying some straw. “Please will you give me some straw?” asked the first little pig. “I want to build a house for myself.” “Yes,” said the man and he gave the first little pig some straw. Then the first little pig built himself a house of straw. He was very pleased with his house. The second little pig and the third little pig went on along the road. Soon they met a man who was carrying some sticks. “Please will you give me some sticks?” asked the second little pig. “I want to build a house for myself.” “Yes,” said the man and he gave the second little pig some sticks. Then the second little pig built himself a house of sticks. It was stronger than the house of straw. The second little pig was very pleased with his house. The third little pig walked on, along the road, by himself. Soon he met a man carrying some bricks. “Please will you give me some bricks?” asked the third little pig. “I want to build a house for myself.” ‘Yes,” said the man and he gave the third little pig some bricks. Then the third little pig built himself a house of bricks. It took him a long time to build it, for it was a very strong house. 1

The third little pig was very pleased with his house. The next day the wolf came along the road. He came to the house of straw, which the first little pig had built. When the first little pig saw the wolf coming, he ran inside his house and shut the door. The wolf knocked on the door and said, “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” “No, no,” said the little pig. “By the hair of my chinny chin chin, I will not let you come in.” “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in,” said the wolf. So he huffed and he puffed and he huffed and he puffed. That was the end of the straw house. The next day the wolf walked further along the road. He came to the house of sticks, which the second little pig had built. When the second little pig saw the wolf coming, he ran inside his house and shut the door. The wolf knocked on the door and said, “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” “No, no,” said the little pig. “By the hair of my chinny chin chin, I will not let you come in.” “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in,” said the wolf. So he huffed and he puffed and he huffed and he puffed. That was the end of the house built of sticks. The next day the wolf walked further along the road. He came to the house of bricks, which the third little pig had built. When the third little pig saw the wolf coming, he ran inside his house and shut the door. The wolf knocked on the door and said, “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” “No, no,” said the little pig. “By the hair of my chinny chin chin, I will not let you come in.” “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in,” said the wolf. So he huffed and he puffed and he huffed and he puffed. But the house of bricks did not fall down. When the house did not fall down, the wolf was very, very, very angry indeed. He said, “Little pig, I am going to eat you up. I am going to climb down your chimney to get you.” The little pig was very frightened, but he said nothing. He put a big pot of water on the fire, to boil. The wolf climbed on the roof. Then he began to come down the chimney.

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The little pig took off the lid from the pot. Into the pot fell the wolf, with a big splash. And that was the end of the wolf.

Questions Before asking the questions, tell the congregation that some of the questions may be too hard for them, so I will ask the children to answer them. • Who is the devil? • Who is God? • Who are we? • Who is Jesus?

Sermon Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1 When we hear phrases like “Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away,” “Once upon a time,” or “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like,” we know that we will be hearing a special type of story, a story that will be trying to teach us something about survival. The forms of these stories are all different. “Star Wars” is an epic tale that deals with the themes of good and evil. Stories that begin with “Once upon a time” are known as folk tales, which all have a recognition of a problem along with the problem’s solution. And the words of Jesus indicate a story told in the form of a parable that will make a comparison between God or His kingdom and something found in this world.2 Despite the different forms, all of these stories contain important wisdom. They all tell us about survival. The story might be trying to teach us how to recognize and battle evil as it does in the “Star Wars” series, it could be about how to live as this is the teaching of most folk tales, or it might be a story that tells us about the consequences of making choices as today’s Gospel reading tells us. 1

Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians 1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3. 2 Arland J. Hultgren, Chap. Parables of Wisdom In “The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary”, (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000), p. 3.

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It is our job to evaluate all the stories that we hear by comparing them with the greatest story of all time, the unchanging story of God’s love for creation. Both the Three Little Pigs and the parable about the Wise House Builder found in the Gospel according to St. Matthew contain important words of wisdom that we need to hear. Both stories tell us how to survive life’s trials and it would be hard to find anyone who would disagree with that because the Three Little Pigs tells us to stay away from evil and the parable tells us to carefully choose our foundation. However, we should only listen to the author of the Three Little Pigs if this story agrees with what we, as Christians, teach and believe. It seems to me that we should hear the story of the pigs because this children’s folk tale is almost identical to the parable of the house built on the rock. On one level, these two stories tell us of the importance of construction techniques. In the Three Little Pigs, we hear how the pigs choose their materials of straw, stick, and brick and then build their houses. The selection of straw and stick allows the wolf to blow the house down while the choice of brick frustrates the wolf’s advances. And in today’s Gospel reading, we hear about two identically constructed houses with one vital exception: the building’s foundation. The house built on the rock survives the bad weather whereas the same house built on sand does not. And on another level, these stories tell us that choices can be life changing. The pigs who built with straw and stick lost at least their houses because in the older versions of this story, the wolf eats up the foolish pigs. Loosing a house or dieing is life changing. The foolish builder who had his house destroyed by the rains, the floods, and the winds also had a life changing event. No one who has talked with anyone whose home has been destroyed for any reason would disagree with the fact that loosing a house for any reason scars one for life. The concepts on the importance of house building technique along with the consequences of our choices can be fully expressed in the single idea that every decision that we make has some influence on the life we live both here on earth and in eternity. On the one hand, God has given us the freedom of selecting the road that leads away from God. If we do this and follow our own wishes, we then will literally end up dead. On the other hand, we can, by the power of the Holy Spirit, follow God’s will and thus live with Him forever. Using our God given ability to make decisions, we can choose to make foolish choices with our building materials and building locations. In other words, we can ignore God’s Law. We can build with straw and stick. We can place our trust

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in sand rather than in the teachings of Jesus, who is the rock.3 We know from the story of the Three Little Pigs that the wolf will one day come to our door and blow our house down. We know from Christ’s parable that our house will be tested and if we choose to follow our own desires and build on the beach, our house will be destroyed. In the remains of our houses, we can continue to make bad decisions. We can stay in the ruins and refuse to see the house that does not fall: the house built with bricks, the house built on the rock. We could also build using the same old materials that failed us the first time or we could choose to construct another house in the same bad location with the same disastrous results. Every one of these bad decisions could be fatal. We could be like the first and second pig and be eaten alive by the wolf. Satan sometimes eats us alive if we are foolish and refuse to follow God’s Law. The technical name for following our own wishes instead of God’s will is sin and we see this type of sin in both stories. God gives us our choice of building materials and we can choose any one that pleases us. That is what both stories tell us. But we also must remember that God has given everyone the ability to see what will work and what will not. There are no excuses for ignorance. This knowledge of right and wrong is often referred to as our conscience. Luther writes in the Large Catechism that the Ten Commandments are given to everyone, Christian or not. Because God’s Word is written on our hearts, we all have the ability to use and understand this natural Law. That is why even as children we can recognize the pigs’ foolish behavior. That is part of the story’s humor. Everyone knows that the house of staw or stick will never stand up to the wolf. Unfortunately, this knowledge does not always protect us from being foolish because we do not listen to our conscience or as Christians we do not hear Christ’s words. After our poorly built houses come crashing down, we should move on to something that works. Unfortunately, some of us would rather stay in our broken down buildings and not move into the one house that stands all of the tests, the Lord’s House. Others of us are in love with our buildings. We choose to get all wrapped in our straw or stick house that we have built or perhaps, we like the fine house that we built on the beach. These too are sin because we have placed something before our love of God and our neighbor. 3

S.J. Daniel J. Harrington; Idem, ed., The Gospel of Matthew, Vol. 1, Sacra Pagina Series, (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1991), p. 110.

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Jesus is the only one who has ever built a house that is pleasing to God. He is the only human that has ever picked the bricks over the straw or the sticks. Jesus is the only one who built His house on God’s promise instead of shifting sand. The strength of His House is amazing. Not only did Christ’s House stand up to the huffing and the puffing of the wolf but it also destroyed the wolf and the wolf’s power over us.4 The Rock House’s power is remarkable. Not only has it stood up to all of the bad weather that has ever been thrown at it but it is also so strong that it will be able to follow Christ everywhere that He goes.5 Jesus Himself promised that this Rock House will be able to storm hell’s gates.6 And we know that one day, His Church will be with Him in Heaven. We can, by the power of the Holy Spirit, go to God’s House, go to that Rock House and be safe from the wolf and the weather. But the Good News does not end there. Everyone who comes to the Lord’s House is welcome. It does not matter what kind of house you have built in the past nor does it matter how many times your house has come crashing to the ground around your ears, Jesus wants you to come home. He wants to give you safety and security from the world’s trials and tribulations. He wants to wash you and for you to eat from His Table. All of this comes at no cost to you even though it cost Jesus His life.7 Survival literally means knowing the difference between life and death and then choosing life over death. The two stories that we have heard here today try to tell us how to survive in the real world. The story of the Three Little Pigs tells us that we need to look for the one house in all of creation that was not destroyed by the wolf. The house that stood up to the worst that the wolf had to offer and then destroyed the wolf is Jesus Himself. The parable of the Wise House Builder asks us to find that one house built on God’s Word, which stands up to the worst storms. The only house that meets this description is Christ’s Church. So when we find our houses crashing down around us, we need to look for the brick house built on the rock, the house that the Lord has built to keep us safe and we need to go home to God. “The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” 4

In other words, Christ’s House of bricks is His body that lived as God wanted every human to

live. 5

In other words, the Rock House is Christ’s Church. Matthew 16:18. 7 Romans 1:22b-24. 6

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References Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.; Idem, ed.. The Gospel of Matthew. Vol. 1, Sacra Pagina Series. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1991. ISBN 0-81465803-2. Hultgren, Arland J.. Chap. Parables of Wisdom In “The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary”. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000, pp. 129– 179. ISBN 0-8028-4475-8.

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