Having once literally painted myself into a corner on a rooftop while on a mission trip to Appalachia, I feel a certain affinity with this awful pun. For those who have heard it before my apologies; for those who have not heard it before my apologies: "A house painter had taken to cutting corners so that he could improve his income. He rarely primed the bare spots and he always thinned his paint to make it go further. After all, he reasoned, 'No one will ever notice.' One day though, after painting furiously all day, dark thunderclouds approached rapidly. He watched in horror as the pouring rain washed his new paint job off the shingles and onto the grass. As he was wondering what he could do, a voice from heaven boomed out, 'Re-paint and THIN no more."
Again, with apologies for that awful pun….it does nonetheless remind us of our tendency to cut corners, expend the least amount of energy for the most gain and to save as much as we can in all that. Think of the countless number of commercials promising quick results with no work; fast weight loss without going on a diet. The short cut syndrome is a constant in our lives.
This morning we look at our Psalm and gospel lesson as they weave together a theme of judgment and promise. In the Psalm we hear of the refuge that is found in God….how nothing, even the most power forces of nature can break that strength and refuge. It is a Psalm that has struck a chord in many….our hymnody contains many reference to this Psalm, two of which we sing this morning. There is some evidence that this Psalm was written after the fall of Jerusalem in the times of the exile. A time when people needed a reminder of the presence of God…of the power of God. It is written to a people whose security was shaken; whose hopes were lost. After watching their great city destroyed, the psalm is a remembrance of the inviolable city where God lives that cannot be defeated or conquered even when all the powers of the universe are thrown against it. People who have been shaken to the core of their being need such words. Their foundation is to be found in God, a very present help in trouble. The promise is found in this psalm of power and comfort. Here we know we are named and claimed by God.
The judgment is found in the gospel. We are warned here of the dangers of forgetting the power found in God; of forgetting we are God's people. We are warned about taking shortcuts and the emptiness that ensues from taking them. The people of Israel liven in part by the call of the Shema: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. The people were required to make an outer show of obedience to this commandment, as well as treasuring this message in their hearts and souls. They were to carry this commandment on their hands, on their foreheads, on their doorposts, and on their gates for others to see. It was a constant reminder of God's presence in their lives. In time people became very good at the outward trappings of religion, without doing anything much about the way they lived their lives. They no longer took the time, thinking that as long as the words were evident, they'd eventually get around to living them. The warning found in this morning's gospel lesson calling the community to remember who and what it is that really defines them. The whole of Matthew 7 is a warning against those who would judge others and ignore their own sin; against those who would puff up their own importance and forget God, those who would refuse to help another, those who would take advantage of God's name without truly obeying God's will. The consequences for this: "Then I will declare to them, I never knew you; go away from me, you evil doers."
How terrifying a thought…to be, in effect "un-named" by God. They very opposite of the Psalm. We live in a time when identity is very important. The crime of identity theft is rising…along with that comes the demand to have better and better ways to prove ourselves. Passports will soon be required to get back into the country from Canada; over the next few years we will all make a trip to Motor Vehicles to have our driver's licenses changed. More and more we are asked to prove our identities in multiple ways. Matthew warns us there are no short cuts about our relationship with God. Our "house" has to be built with a firm foundation. Just as in buildings there is not substitute for solid construction, so it is with us as God's people. We all know the stories of builders who have cut corners in construction, stretching their resources too thinly. When such things catch up with them, it is too late. It is the same with our relationship with God. We cannot simply put our name on the church rolls and expect that to be enough. The trappings of religion will get us nowhere if there is no foundation. Our foundation is to be broad and firm. We need to live prepared. In 1997 I traveled to Israel. Our very wise tour guide told us not to allow the Israeli customs officials to stamp our passports with an Israeli visa, and instead have it place on a piece of paper to keep with our passports. Otherwise, he said, if we ever traveled to countries such as Qatar, or Yemen, or Saudi Arabia, or the Arab Emirates we would not be allowed in. At the time I thought, what are the chances, but for some reason took his advice. Who knew that several years later I'd be entering two countries that would have not allowed my passport with if I had an Israeli visa. Without pushing that issue to far, it is a reminder that we never know what is coming; and we are to lay the foundations of our lives as firmly and as broadly as we can as we live in God's presence. We are live as those who know the refuge that is God. Otherwise, no amount of yelling on our part is going to get God's attention…we will be like a sand castle on the beach, eroded by the incoming tide and winds. Even perfect attendance at church won't be enough in the end. (Not that it would hurt!) In the end what gets God's attention is in walking the way of Jesus who first knew deeply the love of God; and then followed faithfully the love of God. We are called to be imitators of Christ.
As a child I spent countless hours walking up and down the shoreline in Manasquan searching for shells. Piles of scallop shells, moon snails, angel wings and periwinkles soon found there way to the collection at our shore house. There was always some treasure to be found. Now it seems there are far fewer shells to be found. Rarely do I pick up a shell when walking the beach. Is it because the treasures are no longer there? The more practical side of me says that there are truly less shells. Pollution, changing shore lines and dredging have changed the make up of ocean and the shells are simply not there any more. But the deeper part of my soul tells me I've simply stopped taking the time to look and see what is still there. And if I took that time and bent close to the sand there would still be the treasures.
So it is with our spiritual selves. The presence of God is always with us. But do we take the time to deepen our walk with God, to discover new every day the ways in which God is present to us. Our texts today are of great promise and great judgment. We are to live firmly in those truths. And know that when we give ourselves, heart, body, mind and soul…we will know ourselves kept in the safety of God's refuge that knows to limits. Live deeply in the shelter of God.