“The acid test”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Friday, May 27, 2022
Matthew 7:22-27 (Forward, p. 29) CEV p. 990
Back in the gold rushes of the mid 1800’s many people were led astray by what they ‘thought’ was gold but wasn’t. Displaying a glossy and attractive gold colour, fool’s gold or iron pyrite, certainly ‘looked the part.’ And, to make matters worse, it was sometimes found in the same deposit as real gold. So, how was one to know? Well, a quick and relatively ‘accessible’ way of telling was to test the particular specimen with a dab of acid, nitric acid in fact (hence, the term ‘the acid test’). Gold reacts in an entirely different way to the acid than does the pyrite and so it was easy to tell. Hence, the term ‘acid test’ was coined to denote some decisive test that would demonstrate, once and for all, the worth, value or quality of a particular person or thing.
Here, in today’s passage, Jesus comes up with a very simple and straight-forward test as to whether a person qualifies for the kingdom of God (the kingdom of heaven) or not. It is simply whether the person obeys God’s Word or not, whether he or she does what the Father orders. That’s it: period. Nothing else matters.
In saying this, Jesus rules out a whole bunch of other possibilities:
a) It is not enough to hear what God says. Rather, it has to be obeyed, that is, put into practice.
b) It is not enough to call Jesus Lord. Without action, mere words, mere acknowledgments, mean nothing. It’s easy to maintain ‘lip service’, real discipleship is something quite different.
c) It is not enough to accomplish all sorts of things, in and through Christ’s name, things like preaching, casting out demons or working miracles. Now, that is nothing less than incredible. Presumably, we may infer this exorcism and miracle working did take place—that Jesus honoured the use of His name. And presumably the preaching as well. It would seem that things happened, even carried out from less than honourable or fully committed motives, even if not really obeying God. (This says something about Christ’s commitment to His name!)
With all these fore-mentioned things, Jesus is even more than scathing. He calls those who do them ‘evil doers’. That’s a pretty terrible thing to say about people who still use Christ’s name and seemingly do Christ’s work, but aren’t really being obedient to Him. This really makes me think carefully about myself and others who work within the church: I would hate to be in any of these categories.
Jesus finishes this little vignette two stark and arresting word pictures. These are the familiar stories about two builders, the one who built on a convenient and easy place, a sandy alluvial plain, and the one who built on a less accessible rocky outcrop. Both ‘looked’ good in the short run, but when the ‘acid test’ came, only the one built solidly, that is, on obedience to God’s word, actually stood the test. So, then, this poses the question, ‘what about us? Are we, you and I, building solidly, building on the solid rock of God’s word, hearing it and obeying it and putting it into practice? Will our lives stand the ‘acid test’, the test of time, the test of obedience, or will they be found lacking? These are fearful and arresting questions, but well worth taking seriously. I know where Jesus would want us to be in this equation, so let us strive to be faithful to Him, no matter what the cost or circumstance. I would hate for any of us to fail this ‘acid test.’ Amen.
Forward notes: “And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!” (verses 26-27)
“The footings for an elevator addition to the city hall were five feet below the existing foundation. After inspecting the forms, I looked up at the black storm clouds and then asked the construction superintendent, ‘When are you pouring the concrete?’ He replied, ‘Tomorrow.’ I told him, in that case, he might want to cover the excavation and keep the water away from the existing footings.
“Later, his boss brought a change order for the extra protection. I told him about a two-story masonry house just a few blocks away. To meet the building code, the builder had excavated several feet below the existing shallow footing. The night that the elevator footings had been protected, the masonry house had split in two, and half the house slid into the adjacent hole during the rainstorm. His face turned white; he put the change order in his pocket. He had not recognized the risks. So often, we have no idea either.”
Moving Forward: How firm is your foundation?
A concluding thought: mostly about the designers of the lectionary and why they made the choices they made. Were they made simply to keep the length of the passage down, or were there other reasons? So, why was verse 21 eliminated?
“Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in”.
The next verse mentions calling Jesus Lord, but leaves out the obedience part, obedience is mentioned in verses 24 & 26. So, why leave it out, in just the once verse? And why leave out verses 28-29?
“When Jesus finished speaking, the crowds were surprised at his teaching. He taught them like someone with authority, and not like their teachers of the Law of Moses.”
So why leave this out? Is there a problem with Jesus speaking with authority and being recognized for such? To my mind, this gives an even great clout and impact to what He has just said about the necessity of obedience if we are to belong in the kingdom of heaven.