Evangelische Gemeinde deutscher Sprache in Äthiopien
"House on the rock" -
(Drama "Arafat and Desta", played by five young Ethiopians)
Is the young man with his career now a happy and content man? Will Arafat and Girma be happy with their life? I want to read a chapter from the Bible, words from Jesus. Words with which he finishes his famous sermon on the mount.
Reading of Mt.7,24-27: "House on rock and house of sand"
1) "My Home is my Castle"
Addis is a modern and growing city. In no other place I have seen so many new buildings being built at the same time. And in no other place I have seen so many new roads being built at the same time. A lot of effort is being taken to finish all this. I really hope that every house will be finished one day.
Who would not like to own his or her own house? In Germany all people wish to have their own house. In Britain there is a saying: "My home is my castle." And look around: How happy people are in Addis when they achieve to get a condominium. If you have your own house you start to care for it and have it nice and pretty looking. You will invest all your money so that your home will be very pleasant and nice looking. Because it will be your house, your dwelling, your condominium.
Now, Jesus is also talking about people and their houses. There are two different sort of people. On the one hand there is the wise man who builds his house on rock. Even if storms come it will be stable and rest. The other man however builds his house on sand: it looks also nice, but when Keremt (= rain time) comes, it will be pushed down by the floods of rain.
You probably noticed that Jesus is not an architect or contractor. He is not talking about how to build a hotel in Addis. But he is talking about something far more important. He is talking about your life. He is talking about our life house. Jesus asks each of you: On which foundation do you build your house of life?
2) What about your "House of Life"?
Which foundation do you choose for your life? Is it your career? Is it to learn and to earn? Of course, learning is very important. For that reason we have the German Church School. And for that reason students are supported so that they can visit other schools afterwards. But if learning and earning becomes the only objective of your life then something has gone wrong. Look at the young man from the little drama which we just saw: he has a nice car (may be a Toyota Corolla) and he has workers who serve him - but he neglects his wife and children and despises the beggar in the street. His heart is with his money and he is not really happy.
Or look at Arafat and Desta: They enjoy life with the girls (nothing against girls!) but their relation is not deep. It is superficial and in the end they have to obey to the rules of their boss.
Jesus praises the man who hears his words and who obeys them. His life is like a house which is built on rock. If the storms of life come his house will be stable. I must think of two men. One I heard about, the other I knew personally. The which I didn´t know personally was one of the richest Germans. Last Christmas, about 10 weeks ago, he committed suicide. The economic crises had forced him to sell most of his property. Still he kept one million but he was so unhappy that he made an end to his life.
The other man I knew personally. He was an old man sitting in a wheel chair. He had lost his two legs. They were amputated. Every week two other pastors and I went to see him and we were praying together. He always told us some words from the Bible. Whenever we said good bye he blessed us. He was not a pastor but he said the blessing. His face was bright and reflected the love of Jesus. He was full of faith and love and hope. He even said: "God took my legs away so that I come closer to him." When he died after some years we sang hymns of faith and praise. We all knew that he was now with Jesus. His funeral was like an Easter celebration. Even death could not destroy his "house of faith".
Did you ever think about the question what will be the outcome of your life? Will it be desperation or hope and joy? You will find the foundation for your life when you decide to follow Jesus.
Two days ago my home country Germany has been haunted by a great tragedy. A 17 years old boy has killed 15 other people, most of them fellow students, and then shot himself. He took a gun and went to his former school to start a massacre. Nobody knows why he started all these killings. He suffered from depressions but this may not explain why he became a mass murderer. May be he had no friends. Had he known Jesus he would not have destroyed his life and the life of others. Let us just have a short time of silence to remember and bring before God all these young people who died and their families who are mourning.
…
(time of silence)
3) Jesus says: Hear and obey!
Now Jesus says: Anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man. It is not enough just to go to church and listen to a sermon. Jesus does not want us as "head nodders". He wants us to become his followers. May be you have seen pictures of these orthodox Jews who carry small boxes around their forehead. There is a commandment in the Old Testament saying that you should bear the law of God day and night. So they take it literally and carry the Ten Commandments in these small boxes. May be that seems a bit funny to us, and it is not our tradition. Yet they can be a challenge for us. So let us look to Jesus´ commands in the Sermon on the Mount:
(I build up some brick stones with labels in front of the altar)
Forgiveness
Reconciliation
Charity
Love for the enemies
Loyalty to your wife and husband
Honesty
Integrity
…and so on!
