Doing Beyond Thinking About It

Jesus' Conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount

The story has been told of the father who was going on a trip and told his daughter to clean her bedroom before he got home.¹ She agreed. Upon returning, the father asked her if she had cleaned her room.

She replied, “Well, Dad, I thought really hard about cleaning my room. I imagined what it might be like, in different scenarios, if I were to clean my room. I considered how it would be different if I did it alone versus with others. I read an ancient book about cleaning one’s room. I even memorized some of it in the original Greek.”

The father asked, “But have you cleaned your room?”

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The Sermon on the Mount is an incredibly important part of the heart of Jesus’ teaching. We need to study it and understand its implications. We should read it, even memorize it if we can. But all this is nothing if we do not do what Jesus said. We can say this of all of Jesus’ story, teaching, and example.

Jesus ends his greatest corps of kingdom teaching with a sober image: a storm. The difference between collapse and stability is not whether we’ve heard his words, but whether we’ve lived them.

Christ is not just calling for admiration, but application.

His way is not simply to be studied. It is to be trusted. And lived.

Matthew 7:24-27

Everybody who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise builder who built a house on bedrock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the wind blew and beat against that house. It didn’t fall because it was firmly set on bedrock. But everybody who hears these words of mine and doesn’t put them into practice will be like a fool who built a house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the wind blew and beat against that house. It fell and was completely destroyed.”

Psalm 18:1-2

He said: I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my solid rock, my fortress, my rescuer. My God is my rock—I take refuge in him!—he’s my shield, my salvation’s strength, my place of safety.

Prayer

God,

As my rock and refuge, let your words not just enter my ears, but shape my steps.
Give me strength to build on solid ground—with trust, obedience, and love.

By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.

1. This is adapted from an illustration I first heard from Francis Chan.