Today's reading is taken from the Gospel according
to Matthew chapter 7 verses 13 to 29. Matthew
chapter 7 verses 13 to 29. Enter through the
narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad
is the road that leads to destruction, and many
enter through it. But small is the gate, and
narrow is the road that leads to life. and only
a few find it. Watch out for false prophets.
They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly,
they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit, you
will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from
thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Likewise,
every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree
bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad
fruit. and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their
fruit you will recognize them. 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. Many will say
to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy
in your name? and in your name drive out demons,
and in your name perform many miracles, then
I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away
from me, you evildoers. Therefore, everyone who
hears these words of mine and puts them into
practice is like a wise man who built his house
on the rock. The rain came down, the streams
rose, and the wind blew. and beat against that
house, yet it did not fall because it had its
foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears
these words of mine and does not put them into
practice is like a foolish man who built his
house on sand. The rain came down, the streams
rose, and the winds blew and beat against that
house, and it fell with a great crash. When Jesus
had finished saying these things, the crowds
were amazed at his teaching because he taught
as one who had authority and not as their teachers
of the law. The word of the Lord. Good morning,
church. How are you this morning? Good. Before
I get into my sermon, I just want you to turn
to your neighbor and answer this question. Where
have you been amazed by God this week? Give yourself
30 seconds. Where have you been amazed by God?
At the end of the passage, it said they were
amazed by his teaching. Where have you been amazed
by God this week? All right, is anybody brave
enough to tell me where they were amazed by God
this week? Anyone brave to? Yes. Having great
sons and grandsons. A blessing, a blessing. And
hopefully you even saw them this week, maybe.
You did. Okay, not only do you have them, but
you actually physically were able to spend time
with them. Anywhere else people were amazed by
God this week? That may be a miracle. You should
maybe think about that. It's been a tough road.
That's been a tough road, yeah, or tough flight,
yes. Any other ways people have been amazed by
God this week? Yeah, over here. Having a moment
with God among seniors, did you say? Wonderful.
Yeah. You could see God at work in those conversations
and with those people, with elders. Excellent.
And one more, yeah? Your niece found a full -time
job. Praise God for that. Amen. That can change
a life right there. Getting a full -time job
changes your life. Well, this morning... we are
gathered to listen to the last section of the
Sermon on the Mount. And you're going to have
one more sermon on it next week, which is on
the Lord's Prayer. But this section that we heard
today kind of wraps up what people usually understand,
sort of Matthew 5 to Matthew 7, as the Sermon
on the Mount. And like any good wrap -up of a
sermon, what we've got in this section is a call
to action. And Jesus uses in this wrap -up and
his call to action three classic images. They're
images that we see in other parts of scripture.
And we're going to walk through those three images.
It's a gate, it's a tree, and it's a house. But
we're going to look at that in the context of
this title, which is Choosing the Jesus Way.
And I want to just flag what you see on the screen
here. You're going to see little drawings periodically.
I did not make them. I did not get AI to make
them. I did try AI. They were not as good. So
what you see on the screen all comes from the
Bible Project. They have a really excellent visual
commentary on the Sermon on the Mount. So if
you missed any of the sermons, if you want to
go deeper on anything about Sermon on the Mount,
I do recommend it. It's a free online resource
from the Bible Commentary, and all the little
drawings that you have on the screen today come
from them. So my gratitude to them. Okay, there
is a lot of content because it is a wrap -up,
but Jesus, like, throws three very distinct images
at us, so we're going to do that, and then I'll
wrap with a story. So what is the first one?
Let me just see if I can use this properly. I
can, yay. Okay, so like I said, these are the
sections. We've got the gate, the tree, and the
house, and I look at those three things, and
in addition to those images, what we have is
that the gate is really asking us what are the
choices that it takes in our following Jesus.
The second is what is the impact if we follow
this new way, and then the third section is what
is the outcome. So we've got, I did this this
morning because there was no visuals, and so
we had a very interactive sermon. So we're going
to try it again. The first picture is, you've
got a cheat sheet above you. So the first one
is the? Gate. The second one is the? And the
third one is the? Okay, so this is the only time
you're going to see all three at the same time.
So next time I ask you, one will be missing.
Just so you know, stay awake. Okay, what is the
choice? What is the choice, otherwise known as
the gate? So up until now in the Sermon on the
Mount, what has been happening is that Jesus
has been talking to his disciples who've been
listening with lots of extra people, the crowds
around there too, and they've been listening
to how to be with God and how to be with neighbor
in this new way of kingdom living. He's even
spent a whole section talking about religious
practices, and he's sort of wrapped up. The Sermon
on the Mount, before this section we hear, verse
12, which precedes this one, is one that people
are very familiar with, even if you're not in
the church, because it goes like this. Do unto
others as you would have them do to you. That's
right. So that's what comes just before this.
He's summarized the law and the prophets with
that statement, and then he goes into this. section
that we read as chapter 7, which is why people
call this kind of the wrap -up, because that
was sort of a summary statement of kind of everything,
and now there's three little pictures to help
us. So what is the first picture? It is of a
gate or door and a road or way. And this imagery
of a road going through a door or a way going
through a gate, those are the different words
saying the same thing, is all about the choices
that need to be made. Following me, Jesus is
saying, following the way is going to be an intentional
act. You have got to choose to enter through
the narrow gate. You have to choose to enter
through the narrow gate. It just doesn't happen
automatically. It is not the path of least resistance.
As one commentator writes, the many and the few
are not... They are oratory. They function not
to give a doctrinal statement about how many
will be saved, but rather to exhort and admonish
the lagging disciples of the urgency of the decision
which must be made new every day. I'm going to
read that last part again because I really like
it. The urgency of the decision that must be
made new every day. Now some of you who are sitting
here, may recall the time when you made a decision
that you would follow Jesus. Some of you may
not remember that time because your eye just
grew up this way. And I embraced it. I didn't
have a moment. What this passage is saying is
that it is not just a moment. It is something
that must be ongoing. That's why I love how he
blends the gate and the road. There is a decision
of a moment. You walk through the gate. But you
are walking on a... road or away, because you
have to keep making the decision to follow Jesus
every day. The urgency of the decision, which
must be made new every day. Now, I wonder how
many of you have ever walked on a cobbled stone
road where it had one of these big gates. They're
not... common. In fact, I'm not sure I know of
a place in Toronto, but a couple years ago, I
did go to Quebec City, and it's an old fortified
city, so there's several places where you can
walk through what I imagine these sort of gates
might have looked like in the cities of old.
And on those gates and around them, there's the
cobblestone street, and there's usually fortifications,
and so you just kind of have to follow the path.
Like, if you go with the crowd, you are going
to go through the wide You are not going to find
the small door on the side. You're not going
to know the entrance that is more narrow unless
you are deliberate and looking for it. And Jesus
says that's what we actually have to do. In our
life of following him, we need to take that intentional
pause and not follow with the crowd, not go to
the widest gate, the most open door, but make
that deliberate choice. And sometimes it makes
you feel constricted and narrow. You might notice
that there are fewer people going the way you're
choosing. And Jesus says, don't worry about all
that. Don't worry if there's fewer people or
it's a narrow road. Because ultimately, that
pathway is going to lead you to life. Now, life
here in Greek... is the word zoe, which is, there's
sort of two words that are most commonly used,
bios, which is just physical life, and zoe, which
is like a full life, or abundant life, or like
soul life. And it actually means life that includes
and starts with salvation, right? So the wholeness
of life is zoe in here. Now when I said that
this is a very common imagery, this image of
the gate, This image of the way. I want to compare
what we heard this morning in Matthew, which
you see on the screen, with what we hear in John's
Gospel. So John's another writer who tells the
life of Jesus. And this is how John quotes Jesus,
using these same images. In John's Gospel, we
hear Jesus say, I am the way, the truth, and
the life. John 14. We also hear Jesus say, I
am. The gate. So here we have that we're supposed
to go through the gate and walk the narrow path,
and there we have Jesus as both the gate and
the path. These are not conflicting. They are
to be merged as one big image. In other words,
Jesus is saying, I am your gate and I am your
way. The life you seek is possible through me
and in me, and I will be with you. That just
takes it up a notch. Just takes it up a notch.
Now, I'm not sure how you were feeling this morning
when you walked into this space. Perhaps you
were feeling that you were on a narrow way. Narrow,
maybe constricted. Maybe there was a struggle.
And if that's you this morning, then this word
is an encouragement to you. This word is an encouragement
to you because Jesus does not promise that the
narrow way will be easy to walk on. He just promises
that it brings life. And there's a difference.
So this is an encouragement if you've come in
feeling the struggle or the narrowness this morning.
If you came in this morning and you're like,
I am good. Maybe it's the grandchildren. Maybe
it's just that your life is full and you had
a wonderful devotional moment this morning. So
you're like, I got this Zoe life. I'm experiencing
that. Then praise be. My question to you is,
how are you sharing that with others? If that's
where you are, then how is it overflowing into
others around you? And maybe, maybe you came
this morning and you're not even sure what path
your feet are on. And if that's you, then let's
just keep listening as we go through the other
images that we've got here. And Jesus keeps drawing
us and inviting us into what it means to live
this new kingdom way and calls us into action.
So from the choice, He starts to show us what
the impact is. Some know of this as the tree,
but what is the impact of following Jesus? What
Jesus says, and this one's a two -parter because
there's quite a lot. So there'll be two screens.
You can read if you want. I'm not going to actually
read the text, but I know some people like to
listen and see the text and see how it aligns.
So that's up there for you, for those who want
to do that. But what he says here is the impact
of following me and making that daily choice
is that there will be alignment with your outer
and your inner life. You are going to be an integrated
person if you are following the way. So what
does that look like? It means that if you were
a tree, you would have good fruit. That's the
picture he's giving us. But what that means is
you can't... always know right away. And if you're
looking at someone else, you can't tell right
away because it takes a while for fruit to ripen.
And because of that, and using this image, there's
actually warnings embedded here. You can see
it in the first line on the screen. Watch out,
Jesus says. Watch out. Because if you're choosing
to walk the way and there's other people around
you, there's going to be some things where they
are not aligned. There's going to be some places
where the outer and the inner is not aligning,
and the only way you're going to know that is
by looking at the fruit. So he gives us three
warnings. He says, watch out for the sharply
dressed person who also has a sharp cutting tongue.
That's the wolves in sheep's clothing, right?
The wolves in sheep's clothing. He says, watch
out for the public speakers, or we could say
faith influencers, whose screen life may be as
sweet as grapes. but whose life off the screen
is more like a thorn bush. And watch out. Watch
out for the charismatic, name -dropping leader
who has power, maybe power to bring about change,
maybe even performing miracles. But if their
impact does not align with my teachings, they
aren't with me. They aren't with me. Now this
is a tricky one. Because sometimes we think if
somebody says Lord, Lord, then they must be with
Jesus. And he calls to our attention that we
need to look at the fruit. Need to look at the
fruit. And so when it says that in this passage,
it would be easy to say it's always in someone
else's court. But I wouldn't be a good preacher
if I let you just look at this in someone else's
court. Because the word for others is the word
for us. And so I want you to take a moment now
and think about what your screen time was like
last week. Maybe your phone tells you, mine does.
If you look hard enough, it'll tell you how many
hours a day, how many texts you touched, what
platforms you looked at. Maybe you watch on TV.
Were any of those three warning groups, those
three watch out groups, was any of that in the
content that you saw last week? And did you keep
watching? This hits all of us. This is a word
from 2 ,000 years ago, and I'm telling you, this
is a solid word for today. It is a timely word
for today. When we live in a culture where we
have single perspective news channels, we have
misinformation and disinformation campaigns,
doesn't matter what political aisle you sit on,
where we have influencers who are thought to
be more trustworthy than institutions, God says,
look at the fruit. Look at the fruit. How do
we know who we can trust? We look at the fruit.
And how do we become people who others can trust?
We must bear fruit. Because they're going to
look at our fruit, too. And the fruit we're talking
about here is the fruit of the Spirit, right?
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness. gentleness and self -control. Galatians
5 tells us that against such things there is
no law. So at the end of this Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus tells us first there's going to be a choice
and you have to choose the gate and the narrow
path. And then he says the impact of that choice
is that over time we're going to see this good
fruit, right? Over time good fruit is going to
come. So what happens after that? Well, then
we get to the outcome, which is the house. This
is probably the most familiar of the three little
parables. It's a micro parable. Two houses are
built. They look the same until the storm, but
because they have different foundations, the
one on the rock survives, the one on the sand
collapses. Now, interpretation seems to be built
into the story, right? Right there in the words,
he's like, well, the wise one built it on the
rock, the foolish one built it on the sand. The
moral interpretation is very clear, right? Like
it's right there in the scriptures. And that
why I think this is a very favorite Sunday school
story because kids can kind of picture it. We
might even know songs about it. And probably
you think of Jesus as the rock. And none of that
is wrong. But what Sunday school didn't explore
is that there are, in every parable, but in this
one specifically, there's some symbolic meanings
around the scriptures connected to the phrase,
the house, that I'm pretty sure didn't get touched
on in Sunday school. Certainly didn't when I
went through, and I haven't seen it in any Sunday
school curriculum. See, the house, In scripture,
that phrase often denotes the dwelling place
of God. The dwelling place of God. So when it
says to build our house on the rock, and the
rock we think of as Jesus, it's not just that
Jesus is under us. But if the house itself is
the dwelling place of God, that means that God
is present. in the house with us, not just under
us, but with us. So in the Old Testament, the
most common way of describing the temple, you
know, the one that sits on the rocky hill in
Jerusalem, house of the Lord, the house of the
Lord. And then after this time, this imagery
keeps going. We see in the New Testament that
the church is described as the household of God.
1 Timothy, and that our own bodies are called
the dwelling or the house of the Holy Spirit.
So in this passage, if we assume that the house
being referred to that is being built on which
the rock stands is a little bit broader than
our individualistic Western culture might hear
it. So I want to push our interpretation of this
passage just a little bit. This isn't just about
me and my stuff or me and my life. If this is
the dwelling place of God, the dwelling place
of God is a place of community. It is not an
individual, lone place. Here's how the Bible
Project Visual Commentary puts it. Jesus is describing
a new humanity who lives together with God's
wisdom and love, creating communities of peace
and justice even while violence and death surround
us. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us
a bold vision for what this can look like. And
his life and ministry on earth carry out this
vision. He continues to offer his followers the
choice to do the same. And now that choice is
ours. So if your house on the rock and your house
on the rock and your house on the rock, if we
put all those together, what does it become?
The dwelling place of God or the city on a hill?
Back right at the beginning of the Sermon on
the Mount, chapter 5, verse 14. This is what
Jesus, near the beginning of his sermon, says.
be hidden. You are the light of the world. Let
your light shine before others that they may
see your good deeds and glorify your Father in
heaven. He's wrapping it up, right? What do you
do as a good wrap -up? You give a call to action
and you echo what you started with, right? We
are being called to become houses of God on rocks,
but not just with Jesus supporting us with Jesus
in us so that our light can shine. In other words,
what this is a promise of presence for a missional
purpose. A promise of presence for a missional
purpose. All right. I'm going to close with a
story that puts a little bit of these things
in context, I hope. Take it out of our heads
and into our hearts. if you want to put it that
way. On Friday, I was invited to a bridal shower.
Now, I don't get to attend those too often, just
given my current demographic, so it's kind of
exciting. It was a super fun and happy occasion,
despite the fact it took me two and a half hours
to get there because of Toronto traffic. But
there were 100 people present, and they were
all women. And there were little girls in those
like A -line dresses with like covered in flowers
and pastel colors with running shoes running
around like crazy. And then there were grandmothers
who were wearing their very practical shoes but
still there and present. And then everything
in between. And except for about 15 minutes of
this occasion, the only males present were babies.
They couldn't walk or talk. I realized there
were no even little boys there. And the only
male that we saw for the whole event was the
groom. And he dropped off the bride -to -be,
and he dropped her off and also gifted her signs
of the engagement as sort of the one sort of
ceremonial ritual part of this event. So she
was given a necklace and rings and bracelets
as a token of this engagement. And that is actually
my connection to this family because I know the
mother of the groom. I know the mother of the
groom. And I'm going to call her Rachel. I've
known her on and off for about nine years. I
haven't seen her much in the last three years
because they moved out to Oshawa. They started
in Toronto. But she is the matriarch of a family
that was sponsored through St. Paul's Bloor Street,
Church's refugee program, when all the Syrian
families arrived in the 2015 -2016 time period.
So a shout out, if you are part of the sponsorship
or refugee sponsorship here at this church, I'm
going to give a shout out to you. It is great
work. And this is a family though that I've now
known for nine years. So there I am invited to
this beautiful bridal shower and I found myself
as one of only three non -Syrian Canadians present.
And none of us had ever been to an event like
this before, so we did not know what to expect.
And it really felt like I was stepping into a
way of life. That was completely foreign to me.
A way of life that was completely foreign to
me. The language was not the language that I
speak. English was not spoken in the room other
than between the three of us. The food was different.
The music was different. Couldn't tell you any
of the artists. So it was completely new. It
was like invited into glimpse a different way
of life. And what became quickly apparent after
the small ritual around the gold was that music
and dancing were the main activities of the evening.
And much of it was communal. And there was a
circle of women that would form and reform and
they would hold hands and they were dancing around
the bride. But it wasn't really obvious to any,
the three of us who were not familiar with this
world, whether or not we were allowed to join
in. It wasn't really clear. So we were sort of
sitting on the side just observing and waiting,
wondering about what this way of life might be,
what this party might be. And then a beautiful
moment happened about 45 minutes into the event
when despite our outsider status and the dancing
is going on, Rachel, the mother of the groom,
walks over to us and she extends her hand. She
extends her hand and she drew us to the dance
floor. And as she drew us to the dance floor,
she then handed my hand to the woman who was
next to her. And my other hand to another person.
And then she did the same to the other two women
that were there who were outsiders. And the circle
got bigger. The circle got bigger. And next to
each one of us was somebody who knew the steps.
And next to each one of us, they were trying
to teach us the steps so that we wouldn't wreck
the circle, right? Like, I got to tell you, I'm
a beginner dancer at best. And in this context,
I was about as successful as the 10 -year -olds.
So there was a lot of patience on those women's
part to include me in the circle even while I
was learning what it meant to dance. Friends,
I'd like us to think about the Sermon on the
Mount, and particularly this section that we've
heard at the end, as an invitation to a new way
of living. A new dance, if you will, with God
and with neighbor. A way of living in right relationships
with neighbors where we are hand in hand with
them, where God takes priority as we walk, and
learn together what it means to walk and dance
the narrow path and bear good fruit and build
houses that stand as a witness of God's presence.
And if you are already in the dance, which I
know many of you are, I wonder if you are helping
other people to learn the steps. And if you are
already in the dance, As you are dancing, are
you making sure that the circle gets bigger and
there is space for people who want to join in?
If you are still finding yourself sitting by
the side of the dance floor, Jesus is holding
out his hand. He's inviting you to choose to
join the dance and then choose to learn the dance.
And not because you have the right clothes or
the language or the lineage or the bank account
or the brand or whatever the outside thing is.
But because Jesus. Jesus is the way into this
dance and he is the way of the dance. And he
invites us all to join in. Will you take his
hand today? Amen.