The King's Speech

It is a muggy day in late June, typical for BC's Lower Mainland. It is on the most ordinary days, it seems, that the Holy Spirit appears. It was a normal day at the summer school, and we chatted with each other before chapel. The service is held each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and it is held in a classroom: two classrooms, rather, with the wall between them removed for the occasion. It is not mandatory to attend chapel, but most students do- this is, after all, what one friend calls 'missionary school.' The worship team, led by the lovable tech expert Doug on guitar, plays a few songs, and we sing along, raising our hands in worship. Then it is time for the sermon: a video is played showing a village in Africa who got the Bible in their language. Then, a middle-aged woman, one who works in the administration offices upstairs, comes to the front of the room. She instructs us to imagine we are on a grassy hill. Then she says "In the words of Eugene Peterson...." It is at this moment that Kent comes to the front of the classroom. I remember him- he also works upstairs, humbly, in an office with cartoons pinned to the bulletin board. He is a quiet, unremarkable middle-aged man with glasses and salt-and-pepper hair. To my surprise, Kent begins reciting the Sermon on the Mount from memory. But this is not recitation: it is preaching. He is saying each phrase as if he means it. And I, like the others in the room, am captivated. Never have I heard the Gospel told this way: in the original fashion. It is fresh, new, and though I have read it dozens of times before, radical. I think back two millenia to the people, sitting on the hillside in the hot sun, just to listen to this Teacher. They must have had other things to do, the business of life, but instead they lay that aside for a while to listen to this new Teacher. Listening to it on this muggy June day, I realize that Jesus was not kidding about what he said- and what he said was radical. It is radical, even two thousand years on.

So often we read the Bible, and it just seems like another book, or we listen to a preacher read it out loud, but the preacher drowns out the Scripture with his own sermon. What if, like Kent, we just said the Scripture, said the Word of God, and let the Holy Spirit do its thing? The Word of God is still relevant today- Jesus' words are revolutionary. Listening to the Sermon on the Mount and letting the truths soak in, letting it affect your life, that could lead to a radical life. Things Jesus said like:
"Love your enemies."
"When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks. Just do it- quietly and unobtrusively."
"Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."
"Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them."

There are millions of people in the world who may never get a chance to hear the life-changing words that are found in the Scripture. I think the most selfish thing is just to stay home and have Bible studies and potlucks when there are so many who do not know Jesus. As much as I would love a comfortable life, I do not think it is worth it if I do not lead anyone to know the Son of God.