One recent Harvard study found that one of the most asked questions in new social interactions is: What do you do?” The study found that “What do you do” has become synonymous with “Who are you?” Without thinking about it, many of us can attempt to find our identity through our work, relationships, productivity, and achievements. If we do well, or at least make it look as if we’re doing well, we receive a healthy identity as someone whom others recognize is successful, and that will make us feel good about ourselves. But if we do badly, that identity can come crashing down and be replaced by an identity of someone who is a failure. Our work and our achievements are good things, but they are a poor foundation for our self worth & self understanding. We need to rediscover th truth that you are not what you do because what you do can always be taken away or lost. But who you are is the source of all you do. When what we do becomes an expression of who we are, not an effort to secure who we are, we find a new level of freedom and confidence. After completing the work of creating the heavens and earth, God rested on the seventh day, and tells his image bearers to do the same. In the Sabbath, God is calling us out of a world trying to prove its worth and value by what it does or possesses. We are deeply loved by God for who we are, not for what we do.

In our consumeristic age, is it any surprise that we try to build our identity through our possessions? “I am what I have”is a central statement of our consumeristic society.  We have been shaped to be consumers and to consume. Each one of us is told through thousands of daily advertisements that self worth and self understanding are found at end of the checkout aisle. This has led us to often measuring significance and social standing based on ability to acquire stuff. But the truth is that no product or material possession can make us feel secure in our identity. The things we buy make great tools but terrible masters. Our possessions and wealth are a poor container for the ache of identity because it is not a firm foundation for our identity. We can easily lose our wealth and possessions in the next recession or loss of employment. This is why the Apostle Paul tells us not to “set our hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God” (1 Tim 6:18a) When we pursue security and identity in a product, we’ll always end up disappointed. Instead, we need a fresh reminder that who God says we are is the truest thing about us—- and the greatest gift you can receive too. We are loved by God regardless of what we have! 

Who am I? It seems that we all are seeking the answer to this question. We are all trying to find security and worth. There are some who find their identity from the outward opinions of others. Some search for their identity by searching inwardly and deciding for themselves who they are. We often find our identities from what we do, what we have, what we want, or even what others think about us. These approaches tend to leave us either crushed by other’s expectations, or endlessly searching within ourselves. But unlike these other approaches, the unique Christian claim is that our identity is not achieved but received. We see this most clearly in Jesus’ own understanding of his identity. In his baptism, Jesus’ identity is received from the Father in the announcement that “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’. In the same way, we receive our identity from God “when we believe in him.” Our identity rooted in Jesus and what He did on the Cross, but it is also rooted in our future with Him, rather than our past or present reality. And as we discover who we are in Jesus — we discover an unchanging firm foundation that is true of us beyond the shifting sands of circumstance and culture. 

So often people think the important thing is to have the right ideas about Jesus. Jesus flips the script on this sort of thinking when he closes his Sermon on the Mount with the parable of the wise and foolish builders. Jesus says, “Anyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” The central question of this parable is this; what kind of foundation are we building our lives on? Is it shifting sand? Is it the rock of Jesus’ teaching? The answer to this question determines if our house stands when the storm comes. One thing is sure, Jesus’ own brother challenges those who thought they could have the right beliefs without the right actions when he writes, “faith without works is dead”.

In our day, we sometimes conflate appearance and reality. If someone tweets the right things, or has the right appearance on Instagram— we might assume a reality that is true of that person. But curiously Jesus says, ““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 who is in heaven.” Jesus is saying that faithfulness is about more than words or mere appearances. Instead we will recognized falseness by the fruit it produces. True followers must not be like those who give lip service to God (saying “Lord, Lord”). Even doing great deeds of power guarantees nothing. What matters is hearing and acting upon the message Jesus proclaims (“these words of mine”); anything less is foolish—building a house on shifting sand. In an age of disinformation, we need to understand that Jesus warned of false prophets, but also gave us some tools to discern the truth. 

Jesus is nearing the end of his Sermon on the Mount. And as all good preachers do— Jesus begins to describe what is at stake if we choose to not to put into practice his teaching. There are two paths, one that is wide and easy and the other difficult. The narrow way is the way of walking with the person of Jesus. Jesus is the only way, truth and life. However, if all other roads lead to destruction, then this sounds profoundly unfair and unloving. What is important to note is that Jesus is primarily talking about how we live in the here and now to emphasize the gravity of our consequences. Jesus is saying the way to find eternal life, here and now, is narrow and hard because it involves following Jesus and striving to develop a Christ-like character. The golden rule is the narrow way. But most people, would rather live life with the goal of having their best and most convenient life, rather than arduously striving to develop a loving character. This road leads to destruction because whatever about us that is inconsistent with God’s love and truth has got to be destroyed so that we can live for Christ and reflect his love in the eternal Kingdom. 

The Golden Rule sums up the whole ethic of Jesus: our calling as followers of Jesus, from morning to night, is to do to others what you would have them do to you. Jesus tells us that this sums up— it fulfills— the purpose and intention of the Law & Prophets. Jesus does not abolish the law, but establishes it: loving God and loving others. But how do we we do this well? Though it may seem odd, we actually need to listen to ourselves in order do unto others well. All of us need things like food, water, shelter, and security. (Eg. Maslow’s Hierarchy) But it goes deeper than that. We need love, friendship, care, hope, justice, and vision to sustain us in life. As we begin to name what we personally need, Jesus then invites us to do that to others. Which begs the question, are we actually doing that? 

In the Gentile world, the gods were seen as distant and indifferent to the needs of humanity. Pagan practices of prayer largely centred around a quid pro quo approach to deity management. The thought was if you said enough words or did the right ritual the gods would be appeased and compelled to move on your behalf. Jesus has previously said, “do not keep on babbling like pagans”. But now Jesus is talking again about asking in prayer through a positive framework. Jesus wants us to imagine our asking in the context of a good Heavenly Father who desires to give us good things. Our vision of what God is like is really important! Unlike the pagan gods, our Heavenly Father is near, cares about our needs, and desires to give us good things. The point of our asking is not to inform or persuade God to do what we think God should do. Nor is this a formula to get what we want. Prayer is more about cultivating our relationship with God as God’s own children. We need to learn to pray and ask from the perspective of children who understand the goodness of God, our Heavenly Father. And once we understand the goodness of God, we know better to ask for the right things, with the right heart.

We tend to think that if we have life changing information, it should be shouted from the rooftops or be trending on Twitter. This is especially the case when have formed a judgement about an issue or topic. But curiously, Jesus says “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” What does he mean by this? Firstly, Jesus assumes that there are things that are “sacred” or holy. “Do not give dogs what is sacred” had an original connection to sacrificial meat or to leaven. Thus, Leviticus reads: “No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering.” The later rabbis said something quite like this statement by Jesus: “For they do not redeem Holy Things to feed them to the dogs”. Jesus has obviously adapted a typical expression and applied it to his own sense of the sacred. Secondly, the animals chosen by Jesus were among the most despised, and historically connected with the Gentile world. Dogs and pigs have no sense of value, so dogs will rip apart a precious item and pigs will trample on items of immense worth. So what is Jesus teaching us in this passage? Firstly, in connection the previous section on judgement, we understand Jesus teaching us to not engage in a plank eye process of moral discernment with those who are not ready to hear. We should refrain from forcing sacred Kingdom treasure onto the wider culture. Secondly, we need practice discernment about whether people are ready to hear to the Gospel. We should not assume that everyone is listening with ears to hear. Finally, we need to hold sacred things with care. In the same way that we value a fine wine, or fine china, we need to hold a reverence about the things of God. We seek to hold the Kingdom message with honour so that our witness brings glory to Jesus. Ultimately, we need to remember that how the Kingdom comes is what the Kingdom is.

If there is one thing we do as humans, it is judge others. Research tells us that it takes just one-tenth of a second for people to judge someone and make a first impression. We then use our judgements to form how we engage a person. We live in a system in which everyone judges themselves and each other and creates a hierarchy of those above and below them. To judge another person is to ascribe worth to yourself at the expense of others. This minimizes your sins and faults, while maximizing the sins and faults of others. If you’ve ever said to yourself, “At least, I’m not as bad as that person (or group)” then you were likely playing the judgement game. Jesus says to us, “ ‘Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.”(7:1) Jesus is not talking about moral discernment of behaviours, but about how we view other people. As John Wesley said of this text, “The judging that Jesus condemns here is thinking about another person in a way that is contrary to love.” Ultimately, Jesus is inviting us to see people the way God’s sees people: with infinite love. This doesn’t mean we don’t discern behaviours as good or bad. It means we learn to go through the “plank-eye process” in which we view our own sin and failings as worse than others, which creates a humility that treats other sinners with mercy (cf. Gal. 6:1; Jas 2:13). Jesus is inviting his followers to quit the judgement game and live into a Kingdom society shaped not by condemnation but humility, love, and forgiveness.