Matthew
5:1
Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount
New International Version
(NIV)
5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,
In 1896 Charles Sheldon published
a novel entitled In His Steps in
which he proposed that great good would come if we asked “What would Jesus do?”
before making decisions in our lives. The question is a great one, and we would
find a better life if we, too, asked the same question before proceeding.
The question is also a puzzling
one. How do we determine what Jesus would do if he were in our shoes?
Many years ago we were young
missionaries in the newly independent Republic of Tanzania. We were favored to
have the president of the republic, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, visit a nearby
school. The large crowd stood expectantly under spreading shade trees and out
in the tropical sun. The president came out of a nearby school block, preceded
by a couple men carrying a table and a chair. Nyerere sat down on the chair and
spoke eloquently about his vision for the country, for peace, and for
prosperity.
We all listened appreciatively,
standing quietly and respectfully. Afterwards I went up and greeted the
president and thanked him for his kind words.
But what I remember most about
this presentation is this: the president came out and sat down in front of a
table. He spoke eloquently, and the people stood and hung on his every word. I
couldn’t help but draw a comparison to this experience and that of Christ’s
followers at the sermon on the mount. Mwalimu Nyerere evidently got his idea of
leadership from that of Christ.
What would happen if our churches
removed the pews and placed a simple table and chair on the platform? Then the
pastor would come in quietly, sit down, and humbly present his message. No one
would fall asleep in the audience because they would be standing throughout.
When I asked Google to show me a picture of a standing audience, it apparently
had none. It finally told me, “Skip the standing!”
It’s just a thought. The pastors
I’ve mentioned this to have looked on me as a starry eyed radical and given it
no serious thought. What would Jesus
do? What did Jesus do? Every time the text mentions what Jesus did when
He was speaking, it indicates He was sitting, and the crowd was standing.
Help us, Lord, to contemplate Jesus and His life seriously and
radically!
