Jesus & the Three Little Pigs
Jesus said to his disciples:
“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.
“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
Everyone remembers the childhood story of the three little pigs. Three houses built by three different personalities with very different results. When the wolf “huffed and puffed” two houses were destroyed and one remained to protect them all. Cute story that is repeated over and over again as a way of entertaining our small ones but within the pretty exterior hides a tremendously valuable lesson. One that Jesus offers in our Gospel today from the work of St. Matthew (7:21, 24-27) and continues the challenges of our Advent journey.
The first pig was incredibly lazy. His motto would have been do only the bear essentials today so that you 
can relax, play and have your way the rest of your life. Now in truth, there are those who get away with this kind of a lifestyle. Who knows what really is going on in their lives that they are just ignoring or numbing themselves with an agent of choice (drugs, alcohol, TV…). These individuals treat life either as an eternal recess taking on no to little responsibility and expecting all around to (who often do) take care of them. Or, they are incredible maniacs who treat life like they are gods and believe they can create peace and prosperity for themselves if they can only control the world (i.e. people) around them. Either way a good “huff and puff” from life and their house of cards falls. A loved one dies or leaves them; loose their meal ticket; child rebels in a dangerous way;… you get the picture.
The second pig had a little more going for them but not much. They realized that life does take some work
and that the best way to get through it is by hedging their bets with their fingers in a number of pies. Whether it be trying to please everyone, including God, or protecting themselves from pain by not getting too close, or acting the role without investing… they all do just enough to get by with out completing the journey. Now they are at least a little further along the process so when that “huff & puff” from life comes it takes a little more to force destruction but eventually their life comes down. They are diagnosed with cancer, loose their job, loose their dream… you get the picture.
The third pig is who Jesus is talking about in our gospel today, the one who builds their house on firm 
foundation, out of brick. No matter what life “huffs & puffs” at it; although the windows might shake and the walls tremble the person is able to stand firm. The trick is knowing how to get here. The first and second pig would simply add more of what has already failed. Their thought is the problem is not in THEIR design but in the strength of the storm. So, they just repeat but lather on more believing that they know better than everyone else. The third pig is the smart one because the third pig realizes that their trust and faith can not only be in themselves but in a higher power. One who can lead to the perfect place to call home — high above the swamp lands of despair; not to close to the rivers of selfishness that could sweep it away; and not too far from family so that it provides shelter when needed. The third pig put their trust and faith in a higher power to provide a plan with a firm foundation of Scripture, and strong walls of Tradition and roof of love, forgiveness and light. And the pig was open to allowing God to guided; humble enough to follow, and strong & courageous enough to do the work required.
My question today is: Which pig are we? Do we totally ignore God only showing up for Christmas and Easter not because we believe but because of guilt from family or friends? Or do we create a house of sticks by putting in an occasional appearance at church, basically believing the “stuff” that is taught but 
unwilling to invest ourselves enough to become uncomfortable or to change our present life. God challenge is to call us to task and to let today be the day we change; today be the day we work on a house of stone so that when the Christ child comes at Christmas we can welcome the holy family into a warm, secure and loving home — just like we want to come home to. I remain, your servant in Christ,
Theresa
The picture at the beginning of this blog was drawn by one of the children in the Sunday School program at St. Luke with St. Bartholomew, Church of England, Oxford Diocese. The three illustrations of the of the pigs houses is done by Ken Brockschmidt.
Tags: Advent, choices, house on rock, house on sand, Mathew 7:21; 24-27, prepare
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