Armodoxy for Today: The Advent Series – Winding up Advent/House Building

You have journeyed through the Advent season feasting on the Essentials Teachings of Jesus Christ as expressed through the Sermon on the Mount. We have reached the last verses of His address. He concludes by expressing that His Teachings are the foundation upon which to build your life.

“Therefore,” Jesus concludes, “Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

Even in his concluding remarks, Jesus’ emphasis is on doing the work of God – doing the message He preached. There is no escaping the practicality of Christianity when you read the Sermon on the Mount. The words you heard throughout Advent are the starting point of Christianity and appropriately, we read and studied it as the preface to the great Theophany, what we refer to as Asdvadzahaydnutiun, the Revelation of God.

Now, in these last few days of Advent in preparation for the Feast of Theophany, as promised, I will tie it all together, so we understand it is much more than a Merry Christmas, but a time to be in awe at the Wonder of God. For today, we conclude with the final words of narration following the Sermon on the Mount and an opportunity for you to reflect on the entire discourse. Given options, where do you build your house?

And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. (Matthew 7:28)