Matthew 5-7. The Sermon on the Mount. Jesus’ most famous teaching. It is our curriculum for Christlikeness. He’s teaching us how to be like him, how to live life as God designed us to live it, a life with no anger, hate, insecurity, worrying, or judgment. So, do you believe that it is possible to live your life with no anger, no hate, no insecurity, no worrying, and no judging of others?
Jesus does.
Through the centuries, the church has wrestled with what we are supposed to actually do with the Sermon. Is it a straightforward teaching that we are meant to put into practice? Or is Jesus intentionally setting the bar so high that we will realize our inability to keep the teachings of the Sermon and then fall upon his grace that much more willingly. After all, is it really possible to live life with no anger and no worry? It’s a high bar indeed.
But the simple fact is that Jesus ends the sermon with a word of doing. “Whoever hears these words and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. And to hear these words and not do them is to be like a foolish man who built his house on sand (Matthew 7:24-27).” Harsh rain and wind come, and the wise man’s house stays put while the fool’s house falls with a spectacular crash. The first ever reaction to the Sermon (Mt 7:28-29) is a feeling that someone unique and authoritative has just opened us up to eternal life in a way no one else can. Yes, Jesus is the authority on what our lives should actually look like and the Sermon on the Mount is our blueprint.
The storm is coming. In this little tale of two builders, the storm comes either way. The questions is not can we stop the storm from coming? or can we avoid the storm? If anything, Jesus promises throughout Matthew’s Gospel that following him closely and faithfully will increase the likelihood of struggle. So, when the storm inevitably comes, the real question is, how well did we build our house?
The good news is, Jesus is showing us exactly how to build it. He’s giving us the blueprint, but he’s also showing up with his own tools and lumber. He’s equipping us with everything needed to withstand the rain and floods and winds. Clearly Peter took the Sermon to heart, since he goes on to write, “His divine power has given us everything needed to live a Godly life (2 Peter 1:3).”
Now, imagine the storm comes and then… nothing changes. Imagine (and I bet it’s not too hard) your life struck by tragedy, or illness. Imagine a faith crisis or unemployment. The loss of relationships or the loss of faith in one of your heroes. Imagine the most embarrassing failure or the most ego-swelling success. Then, imagine that these scary things have come and done their worst and – nothing about your life has actually changed. That’s what Jesus is showing us how to build.
And he’s not giving us an instruction manual and sending us off to do this on our own. He wants to build it with us. He is present every step of the way. As he says himself, “I am with you always, to the end of the age (Mt 28:20).” Will we build our lives the way he teaches us to? Will we make ourselves dedicated students of his teaching and wisdom? Are we willing to actually do what Jesus says?