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This Sunday,
we begin our fall journey through the Sermon on the Mount. As I
mentioned a couple of weeks ago, God keeps bringing me back to a
crucial progression at the center of Matthew’s Gospel:
Jesus
teaches the way of the Kingdom (Matthew 5–7).
Jesus demonstrates the Kingdom (Matthew 8–9).
Jesus sends His disciples to do the same (Matthew 10).
In the Sermon
on the Mount, Jesus teaches us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be
done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10 KJV). Then He shows us
what that looks like.
Jesus
teaches; we listen.
Jesus demonstrates; we watch.
Jesus sends; we go.
But there is
an important order here. Before Jesus sends His disciples out,
He forms something within them.
C.S. Lewis
makes a similar point in Mere Christianity when
considering what a truly Christian society would require:
“A Christian
society is not going to arrive until most of us really want it: and we
are not going to want it until we become fully Christian. I may repeat "Do
as you would be done by" till I am black in the fact, but I cannot
really carry it out till I love my neighbour as myself: and I cannot
learn to love my neighbour as myself till I learn to love God: and I
cannot learn to love God except by learning to obey Him. And so, as I warned
you, we are driven on to something more inward -
driven on from social matters to religious matters.”
― C.S. Lewis,
Mere Christianity
(Side note:
apparently in 1940s England, “till I am black in the fact,” meant what
we mean by, “till I am blue in the face.” Who knew?)
Lewis’
progression is crucial. The change we long to see out there—in our
world, our community, and our families—must first take root in here.
Isaiah
experiences the same movement. Before he ever says, “Send me,” he
beholds God. He sees the Lord, is changed in His presence, hears His
voice, and only then responds:
“Here
am I. Send me!”
That is the
rhythm of discipleship. We behold Jesus. We are formed in His way. And
then we are sent to embody His Kingdom in the world.
May we learn
to hear and obey the way of Jesus—and when He asks, “Whom shall I
send?” may we increasingly become the kind of people ready to answer:
Here
am I. Send me.
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