Still Standing

 

T

he morning mist hung heavily in the air, obscuring our view from what is arguably one of the most spectacular sites on earth!  We had described the place to our students, we had told them of its history, and we had promised them they would be awestruck when they caught a glimpse of the city from a distance.  But alas, it was not to be this morning.  The place was veiled in a thick fog and although it could be seen from several miles away on a normal day, this morning we had to take it on faith that the monument would be there for it was nowhere in sight. 

 

After several minutes of waiting in line behind other cars and buses, we pulled into the parking lot and exited the tour bus.  As if on cue, the sun broke through the dense clouds and the fog and mist began to dissipate.  Like the folds of a heavy stage curtain, the fog rolled back ever so slowly and there, still standing as it has for centuries, was Mont St. Michel, the city built on a rock, standing guard over the coastlines of both Normandy and Brittany in northern France. 

 

I never tire of that view and on this particular morning Mont St. Michel did not disappoint.  The other salient feature of this site is that Mont St. Michel is cut off from the French mainland.  When the tides are in, the entire city is an island and when the tide is out, it is surrounded by wet sand with several pockets of quicksand all around its base.  No one is allowed to walk around the monument without supervision for fear of falling into quicksand.  The only safe place to be is in the city which is built on a rock. 

 

Jesus told a very famous story about two houses.  One built on a rock and the other built on sand.  When the rains and storms came the one built on the rock survived and the one built on sand collapsed.  Although the parable is recorded several times in the gospel accounts, Luke 6:48 gives us our text today. “He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.” 

 

Luke records that this man dug deep until he hit solid rock and used that rock to build the foundation for his home.  Jesus then proceeds to remind us that storms and floods in life do come our way.  Notice he said “when a flood came“ not “if a flood came!”  This is very important to understand.  Nowhere in the Scriptures are we promised or told that our lives will be storm-free, it just doesn’t happen.  What we are told is that if our lives are built on Jesus Christ, the solid rock, we will be able to weather life’s storms because we have built our lives on the solid foundation found in Jesus. 

 

There is an old hymn I remember singing as a boy.  The title of the hymn is The Solid Rock   Mont St. Michel is a perfect picture of this hymn’s chorus, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand!  All other ground is sinking sand!”  On the northern coast of France sits this wonderful city built on a rock.  The winds blow, the tides rush in, the storms rain down on and around it, and yet it is still standing.  Even when the waters surround it and cut it off from the mainland, they do not subdue it.  It stands, safe and secure on that rock.  

 

Let this be the testimony of your life today!  You can remain standing through all the storms of life if you build on the one foundation found in Jesus Christ.  Are you still standing today?