The Sermon on the Mount

There have been two main trains of thought going through my mind lately…

The first is my fear of the Bible Belt… I love where I live, and honestly, I do feel the Lord’s protection over me here. I love that He has placed me at The Village, I love working on staff there, and I love the community I have at that place. But there is this thought in the back of my mind that makes me wonder if my faith is genuine and deeply rooted, or is it just easy to live out because i am smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt? Would my faith stick if I moved somewhere else, somewhere where a church wasnt on every corner and where it wasnt so easy to be a Christian?

The second permeating thought is that I feel as though the Lord is preparing me for suffering. I have been feeling this preparation since January. Rather than sitting in fear, I have a sense of peace that comes from knowing that it is the Lord’s will that His children suffer and that He uses it for their good and for His glory, and to sanctify them and mold them into Christ-likeness. And so, knowing that suffering is coming (whether sooner or later) my main prayer has been that when that day comes, that I would prove to be faithful. Let’s face it… my life has been easy, and my faith has never truly been tested. And so my prayer is that of 1st Peter 1:6-9 that in a time of trial, my faith would be tested by the fire and result in praise, glory, and honor and that the outcome of my faith would prove to be the salvation of my soul. My prayer is that I would stand firm on solid ground and that in that day my faith would not crumble.

Both trains of thought have lead me to spend significant time in the Sermon on the Mount, both in Matthew 5-7 and in Luke 6. What beautiful, challenging, and profound passages these are and both have been great at helping me to examine my heart and look at the genuineness of my faith. Both passages end with Jesus saying that whoever hears and does His words will be like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock; when a flood arose, the stream broke against the house and could not shake it because it had been built well. but the one who hears and does not do what Jesus says is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; when the stream broke against it, the house immediately fell and the ruin of the house was great. Obviously, what Jesus has to say in these passages is great… and whether we listen or not determines what kind of ground we stand on and what will result in the day of trial.

And so, wanting to be built on solid ground, I have written out questions based on these passages that will help me to examine my faith. At first I felt like it seemed like a religious check list of do’s and don’t's… but it’s not that at all. Rather, it is a gauging of the heart to see where we put our hope, love, faith, and trust. It’s a list that helps us to see if we are following the world, or following Christ. I definitely don’t have this all figured and I am still working through this on my own. I am not perfect and will never reach perfection this side of heaven. But regardless, these questions are helping me to gauge my heart and to see where my hope is found. I hope it is helpful to you as well.

What are Jesus’ words that I am called to hear and do?

• Matthew 5:13- Do I blend in with the world? Can others tell by my life that I love the Lord?
• Matthew 5:14-16- Am I light to others, or is my lamp hidden under a basket so that others cannot see? Are people drawn to Christ in me or do they even know I am a believer?
• Matthew 5:19- Do I encourage others in their sin or do I lovingly correct them with truth?
• Matthew 5:22- Am I easily angered? Do I insult others?
• Matthew 5:24- Do I make amends and strive for reconciliation, or do I hold on to bitterness and refuse to extend the forgiveness to others that Christ has extended to me?
• Matthew 5:9 and 25- Am I a peacemaker?
• Matthew 5:38-41- Do I desire retaliation? Do I trust that God is the one true judge and that He will execute justice in His time or do I live as though vengeance is mine? Do I seek personal revenge or do I respond to hatred with love?
• Matthew 5:42 and Luke 6:30- Do I withhold from others? Do I hoard my earthly possessions? Do I give to those in need, remembering that nothing I have is my own, but given to me by God? Am I willing to use my blessings to bless others? Do I feel entitled to what I think is mine?
• Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:27-29- Do I love my enemies? Do I do good to those who hate me? Do I bless those who curse me? Do I pray for those who insult me?
• Matthew 5:48- Do I strive to be perfect like my heavenly father is perfect? Do I desire righteousness and Christ-likeness?
• Matthew 6:1- Do I practice righteousness out of a desire to be seen by others? Is my walk with the Lord driven by pride or humility?
• Matthew 6:5- Do I pray using lofty words, seeking the approval of man? Or are my conversations with the Lord produced from a sincere heart? Do I do things to be seen and accepted/approved by others or do I do things from a humility of heart?
• Matthew 6:19- Is my treasure found in earthly possessions that moth and rust can destroy, that man can steal, and that will not last? Or is my treasure found in heaven, which is perfect, eternal, unchanging, and everlasting?
• Matthew 6:24- Do I love God or money? Where is my hope found?
• Matthew 6:25- What am I anxious about? Do I trust the Lord to provide for me? Is my life more about food and clothing or do I only care about the trivial things of this world?
• Matthew 6:33- Do I seek worldly things or do I strive for righteousness?
• Matthew 7:1-3 and Luke 6:37-42- Do I judge others? Do I condemn others? Do I consider my own heart and remove the speck from my own eye before pointing out the speck in anothers eye? Do I have a forgiving heart and am I willing to forgive others like Christ has forgiven me?
• Matthew 7 :12 and Luke 6:31- Do I treat others the way I want to be treated?
• Matthew 7:13- Am I on the path of destruction or the path of life?
• Matthew 7:15 and Luke 6:43-45- Do I bear good fruit? Am I known by my fruit and what does it reveal about me? What do others see in me based on the fruit that I produce? Am I a wolf posing in sheep’s clothing?
• Matthew 7: 21 and Luke 6:46- Do I call Jesus “Lord” but not do what He commands? Do I claim to know Him but don’t know Him at all?
• Luke 6:21- Am I grieved over my sin? Do I hate the things in my life that are offensive to God? Do I despise the sin of this world and long for Christ to return and make all things new?
• Luke 6:22- Am I willing to be hated, excluded, reviled, and spurned for my faith? Do I love myself more than I love Christ? Is man’s opinion and approval of me greater than my desire to stand firm in what I believe?
• Luke 6:24- Am I too eager to find my consolation, trust, comfort, and satisfaction in the things God has created instead of find them in the Creator Himself? Is my hope in worldly things that do not satisfy?
• Luke 6: 26- Do I desire man’s approval over the Lord’s?  Do I love men, who are evil and wicked, more than my God who is perfectly good and loving and unchanging?
• Luke 6:32-33- Do I only love those who love me? Do I only love those who are easy to love? Do I only do good to those who do good to me first? Am I willing to love like Christ? To love those who are unlovable? To extend love and grace and forgiveness to those it is hard to extend such things to?
• Luke 6:34- Do I lend with the expectation of getting something in return? Or do I hold loosely the things of this world, knowing that they will rust and destroy and will not last with time?
• Luke 6:36- Am I merciful?

These are definitely difficult things to think through. They are hard and weighty and they reveal the truth about our hearts. May Christ’s words permeate my heart and may I prove to be faithful in the end.

xoxo