Psalm 127:1
“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.”
Matthew 7:24-29
“‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall!’ Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus upends centuries of religious convictions with a few sayings and some deceptively simple instructions, including: “Blessed are the poor, the meek, the peacemakers, those who mourn. Do not come to worship until you have reconciled with the person with whom you are angry. Turn the other cheek. Give to everyone who begs from you. Love your enemies. You cannot serve God and wealth. Do to others as you would have them do to you.” It all concludes with this passage about building a house on sand or on rock. The only way to discern the truth and sincerity in a person’s heart is to look at the foundation upon which their lives are built and from which their actions flow.
In Edgar Allen Poe’s story The Fall of the House of Usher, the house in the title refers both to an actual structure in which people live and a family with the last name of Usher. The house is the first character the narrator introduces to the reader; when he arrives to visit his childhood friend Roderick Usher, he describes the “eye-like” windows as well as a thin but visible crack extending from the roof of the house, down the front of it, and into the adjacent lake. Like the house, the inhabitants inside reveal signs of distress and disease. Roderick and his sister Madeline are the last of the Usher family line, and they are deeply unwell, physically and emotionally. While the narrator is visiting, Roderick reports that Madeline has died, and the two men bury her in the family tomb in the house’s basement. But unbeknownst to the narrator, Madeline isn’t yet dead; she digs her way out of the tomb and reappears to the men, scaring first her brother and then herself to death. The narrator runs from the house, then turns back to see the moon shining through the crack which has widened dramatically. As he watches, the house of Usher splits in two and sinks into the lake.
Last week, we reached the end of an election season which had already revealed some ugly cracks in our country’s foundation, cracks dividing communities and families and churches. Like The Fall of the House of Usher, in a season of such political upheaval it can be hard to discern what can be healed and what is dead enough to place in the tomb of history. In the face of a house so compromised, what are we to do as disciples of Jesus?
In Scripture we read stories of God’s people from the Israelites to the prophets to Jesus and His followers, all of whom faced unjust political regimes from the Pharaohs of Egypt to the conquering Babylonians to the Roman Empire. And what do the law and the prophets and the words and actions of Jesus himself teach us to do in the face of this recurring pattern? They teach us to bless those who have been cast aside and labeled worthless, because they too are made in God’s image. They teach us to resist labels that paint individuals with a broad brush because we all contain multitudes. They teach us to keep our hearts open even when it hurts, and to extend hospitality to all people, especially the stranger and the enemy. And Scripture teaches us to do this not by aligning ourselves with the power of politicians or earthly rulers, but by standing in solidarity with all God’s people.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock,” Jesus says.
This work as Christ’s disciples cannot be finished in a month or a year or four years; it is the work of a lifetime, of many lifetimes. It is the work of being human, of discovering and living into our capacity for love and compassion and self-sacrifice. It is not the work of scapegoating groups or individuals, or feeding our own or each other’s rage, or exacerbating division.
As Jesus says in Matthew chapter 6, “strive first for the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness… do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” We do this trusting that our work and our world is in God’s hands, and that together — with those who came before us and those who will come after us — and with God’s guidance and grace, we can build, on a solid foundation, a world of peace and justice for all.
Amy Starr Redwine, Pastor and Head of Staff, First Presbyterian Church Richmond, Richmond, VA
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