A few years ago a friend of mine bought a home.  Approaching retirement, he and his wife wanted a place that would be worry free - minimal maintenance, no upgrades, one level.  They ended up on a quiet street with a wonderfully decorated, small, rather new bungalow.  Perfect place - laid out just nice for two people, with enough room in a finished basement for when the kids came home.
 It all seemed perfect..... till the day he noticed the concrete cracking in a corner of the garage wall.  Some investigation and 2 contractors later, he faced a huge repair bill.  Turns out the poured foundation was crumbling away and the garage faced the real prospect of collapsing into a heap of siding, drywall and 2x4's.  Without the repair all the decorating and nice layouts and landscaping in the world wouldn't matter a bit.

 We're at the end of the line for 1998.  Our chance to look back at the accomplishments of 12 months past:

• what we built in our lives: new additions, renovations, new looks
• what we contributed to the lives of others.

If 1998 hadn't happened at all would it have mattered?
Was it a worthwhile year.......... or not?

Was it a solid year, or set to crumble into dust and rubble like that garage?

Think of that as we read our last scripture lesson for the year:

MATTHEW 7: 15-29

We just read one of the most well known parables Jesus ever taught.  Many of us learned the Sunday school song about the wise and foolish men.

Think of them again for a moment, if you would.
There's really only one area where a significant difference shows up between these 2.  For the rest they could be building identical homes in some riverside subdivision anywhere in Ontario.  Maybe even same layout   and if built in Kanata, using the same external colouring.

Only one difference   and that difference makes all the difference.
It's the crucial variable.
 Colour of the siding really doesn't matter.
 Number of rooms is of no concern.
 2 story or bungalow - same difference.]

But what you can't see.  What's underneath the whole thing, holding it up
   that's the pivotal point for the long term success of this housing endeavour.
  Will it be a place where the kids can be raised?
  Where grandkids can be welcomed?
  Where hobbies can be pursued?
  Where quiet space can be found after a hard work week?
 All depends on what's holding it up.

Earl Palmer in his book The Enormous Exception wrote the following about the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which is built directly upon the San Andreas fault:
The secret to its durability is its (foundation). By design, all the parts of the bridge -- its concrete roadway, its steel railings, its cross beams -- are inevitably related from one welded joint to the other up through the vast cable system to two great towers ... The towers bear most of the weight, and they are deeply imbedded into the rock foundation beneath the sea. In other words, the bridge is totally preoccupied with its foundation.
 This is its secret!
 Its foundation.
 

Now we've gathered as Christians, ready to wave out 1998.
Remember the questions we asked a minute ago:
 If 1998 hadn't happened at all would it have mattered?
 Was it a worthwhile year.......... or not?
 Was it a solid year,
  or set to crumble into dust and rubble like my friend's garage?
 

Rather than examining the cosmetics, the Bible would have us go straight to the foundation.  If we're going to do any poking or prodding to see the shape of things, that's where we've got to look.  That's where things have to be solid.  Where we can't afford to take any shortcuts.

1998 in retrospect
 What was the foundation of your life?
 What did you make it out of?
 Where did you lay it?

The quick impulse is for us to say   "My foundation is Jesus.  I'm a Christian."
And that's a great beginning.  That's where St. Paul began, too, when he said,
 "Each one should be careful how he builds.  For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ."

Great beginning......
 but if that's what you find yourself saying as you're sitting here tonight, I'd have to ask you to tell me a little more.  Dig a little deeper.
 See   people can claim the name of Jesus, paste on the label "Christian", but use it for nothing more than window dressing or wall paper on the life they're building.

Window dressing, wallpaper Christianity
 What I mean by that is a faith that doesn't go much farther than is visible at first glance.  It's a faith that can take in Sunday services, sit on the church board or committees, attend membership meetings, sing in a choir or play on a band.  It's a faith that looks really good.

But now start digging.
Or give it a shove here and there   how solid is it?  When you put a bit of stress on it, can you feel the walls begin to give a bit?  If the wind blows does it start to shake?  And if something really profound happened, would it continue to stand?
  Would it?

The two homes in the parable   as we said, they could well have looked an awful lot alike.  Identical, perhaps.  But when it came down to the crunch, one held out.  The other disappeared.

What makes our lives as Christians stand up?
 What would keep them from getting swept away in the swirl of time and history as 1999 descends on us?

Hear the word of God
 Mt 7.21:  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven......."  (that's the wallpaper, looks good from the outside stuff we were just talking about.  Now pay careful attention to what Jesus says next!)
    ".... but only he who does the WILL of my Father who is in heaven."

 Mt 7.24-6  "Everyone who hears these words of mine AND PUTS THEM INTO PRACTICE is like a wise man who built his house on the rock...... Everyone who hears these words of mine AND DOES NOT PUT THEM INTO PRACTICE is like a foolish man who built his house on sand."

In the world of business or government it's fine to develop good plans and make speeches.  But what investors or citizens are ultimately looking for is whether or not these plans and speeches actually make a difference.
 Do better products come out of the plant?
 Is the nation better served?

No different in the world of faith.  All the talkin', all the strutin', all the looks and all the words don't amount to much unless something concrete comes out of it.

 And what comes of it results in a faith with a higher tensile strength. When the heart and the hands are connected, it's like laying rebar in concrete.  When we as believers take what the Word of God says, and begin to apply it to our lives without hesitation, letting it apply wherever it claims authority, changing wherever it demands conformation,
 - when we do that -
 the Lord is please
 and faith is actually strengthened!
  It is shored up.
  And will be able to withstand challenges that are sure to come.
  It'll withstand the ravages of time.
  We'll be able to look back at year end and say, "YES!!"  Thumbs up.
   Because it's become more than mere words and looks.

Putting it into practice.
Or - as 7.20 says, "By their fruit you will recognize them."

As you look back I'd invite you to ask yourself about the concrete difference that your Christian faith has made in 1998
 In the sort of job you held, in the way you spent leisure time, in how you spent your money, in the way you treated your parents or spouse, in your attitude towards co-workers, in the language that came out of your mouth, your respect for teachers and attitude at school.

In industry, where ongoing Quality Assurance is a big thing, one method used is something called "random sampling."  You pull out sample product willy nilly from different points and times along the production line and check the quality.
 I suggest you can do the same thing spiritually.  Take some element of your life   doesn't matter what   and test it.  Does being a christian make a difference there?  How?
 If not, why not?  Remember, there isn't a single corner of creation over which the reign of King Jesus doesn't extend;  no part of your life is exempt.

I could carry on with examples.  I could belabour the discussion.
But we'll leave it here   between you and the Lord.
As we prepare to come to communion, let me invite you to go back to basics, down to the foundation.

Look back at the year past.
Look forward at the unknown future.
And build -
   wisely.