Last weekend I attended the women’s retreat of my church, which was a wonderful couple of days—far beyond my expectations. The fellowship with other women was amazing, the food was delicious and the worship of God was some of the best I have ever experienced. The theme for the weekend was the Sermon on the Mount, the words spoken by Jesus that long-ago day when He gathered His disciples close so He might speak to them about living life. The crowds came too, for they were hungry to hear Him. For, you see, ever since He had arrived—claiming to be the anointed one of God—the world had been turned upside down. So to hear Him speak was something many wanted to do. His words that day were kind, yet firm, explaining what God expects of the one who chooses to follow Him.
But back to the retreat. Before we left home, we were given the assignment to read His words from the Bible at Matthew 5-7. When we first arrived, we listened as they were read aloud, and Saturday morning we read them on our own as we spread out around the beautiful conference grounds. We also listened as several women shared their thoughts about those words of Jesus—what it was like to leave home and go to the mountainside to hear Him speak, what it was like to sit at His feet and listen, and finally, what it was like to go back home, taking Him back into the crowds where they lived.
My assignment was to end our time by sharing how we can take Jesus back into the crowds of our lives—back into our homes, our workplaces, our churches, and to wherever we find ourselves as we come and go. In preparation for that talk, I read and re-read the Sermon on the Mount, and one morning as I was reading it aloud to my husband, suddenly five truths bounced off the page—truths we must know if we are going to take Jesus back into the crowds where we live.
1. We must know our IDENTITY. As a culture we put so much importance on our identity—our families, our education, our accomplishments, etc. But Jesus made it clear that day on the mountain that our identity must first and foremost be in Him.
2. We must know our MISSION. We are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. As salt we are a flavoring to the world as well as a preservative of the truth. As light we are to refrain from hiding ourselves and instead, shine brightly for Jesus.
3. We must know our RESPONSIBILITY. We are to live the way God commands us to live, which Jesus taught throughout His sermon and summarized when He said to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves.
4. We must know our PATHWAY. It’s narrow. We as followers of Jesus are not to walk on the wide pathway where everyone else walks, for that one leads to destruction. But we are to stay on the narrow pathway, which only a few find. Often that means walking alone as we follow Jesus when those around us choose to walk the wide path where everyone else walks.
5. We must know our FOUNDATION. The illustration Jesus gave that day is that there are two possible foundations upon which to build a life, rock or sand. The rock is Jesus. The sand is the world. The house on the sand will one day be swept away. The house on the rock, however, will stand—even throughout eternity.
The Sermon on the Mount: It’s time to begin living it!
Blessings to all,
Judy Rose Grubaugh