Once upon a time there were three little pigs whose time had come to make their fortune in the world. Their mother sent them out, saying: "Whatever you do, do the best you can because that's the way to get along in the world." Well, as is often the case, not all of the little pigs listened well to their mother. The first pig built a house of straw because it was the easiest thing to do; the second one built a house of sticks – a bit more sturdy, but not by much. The third pig to the time to build a strong, sturdy house of bricks. You can take the story from here. When the wolf came he went to the straw house: "Little pig, little pig, let me come in." "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin." "Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in." And he did. Same results at the second house built of sticks. The third house was a whole different matter – built of brick and mortar, no matter how hard the wolf huffed and puffed, he couldn't blow that house down. He tried the chimney route, but the pig was ready for that as well. My favorite version of the story has the first two pigs escaping and ending up at their sibling's home of brick and mortar where "all lived happily ever after."

This is the fairy tale I think of when reading this morning's gospel text. "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on a rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on the house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock." The words of Jesus that speak of foundation read right along with the Psalm for this morning. The Psalmist reminds us of the strong, secure foundation of God … a foundation so sure it can not be moved. Our texts are a mixture of great promise and great warning. The Psalm provides the promise. It is one of the Psalms we go to when needing a reminder that no matter what life throws at us, God is greater: "God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved … the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."

It is, then of course, the gospel that provides the warning. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." It's a frightening text, for in it Jesus raises the possibility of being "un-named," unknown by God. The Gospel is first a warning to the religious scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' time – the people who could cite Torah and Law front-wards and backwards and paraded their religious knowledge. Their behavior was limited to the careful following of every provision of Torah at the expense of others … their job, they felt was to protect the Law, to fence in the Torah. They had become obedient to law and not the love and will of God. Jesus is speaking to the religious authorities – don't assume because you have the knowledge or the heritage you are automatically part of the family. It's not enough.

The words of promise and warning are not only for the ancient hearers of the words … they are for us. We do all we can to create safe and secure places … we need to make sure that our safety and security are based on solid foundations. The Psalmist tells us what that strong foundation is. The gospel is our call to build on that foundation. No houses of straw and sticks will do – for they will soon collapse under the weight of the world. Claiming the heritage of the church is not strong enough, even right belief isn't enough … even doing good deeds doesn't get us the house of brick and mortar. The sting of Jesus' words to the Pharisees was his telling them – it doesn't matter that you know the Law and follow it to the letter – not good enough. They didn't appreciate his telling them that, any more than we appreciate hearing that it doesn't matter how long you've been in this church, or how many years your family has been members – not good enough.

What is "good enough," what makes the house of brick and mortar are our actions done in the love of God. It is about how we follow the living of Jesus the Christ. All of our "right believing" isn't going to be enough of a foundation to join in the kingdom of heaven. The mother pig was right – whatever you do, do the best you can – for that is how we find our way in God's love.

There is a reason we do not sing: "They'll know we are Christians by our beliefs." More than the fact it doesn't fit the rhythm. Instead we sing of course that we will be known by how we love. And not just the touchy-feely kind of love, but how we extend God's love – a love based not on feelings, but on loving because we are loved by God. John Wesley capture that sense of living in many of his admonitions to the people called Methodist. He extended his hand to others, saying if your heart is as my heart take my hand." The General Rules of our church aren't about what we believe, they are about how we are to act. First, do no harm … do all the good you can do, attend to the ordinances of God."

There are no shortcuts to being included in the family of God. Shortcuts leave us to the wolves of the world and we will be shaken by every wind that blows. Our foundation is not built upon doctrine alone … our foundation is not built upon making sure our name is on the rolls of the church … even perfect church attendance isn't enough. All those things are parts of the whole, but our foundation is something more. Our foundation is to be built on the deep abiding love of God, and how we act in response to that great love.

Again, my favorite version of the fairy tale is the one in which the third little pig invites the other two pigs in to share a home. The third pig doesn't offer judgment to the first two, doesn't say, you shouldn't have listened – the third pig says, come on in, get out of the wind and storm. The third pig extends the refuge of a firm foundation in the action of inviting love. And that my friends is how we live "happily ever after."

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