The Word is Out

The Back Story to Following the Call

Following the Call, Sept. 15

It’s official. Years in the making. An invitation. Your turn.

As I read this collection, I tried to imagine the authors of the various reflections in conversation. What would Leo Tolstoy say to Karl Barth, or Francis of Assisi to Wendell Berry? The more I read, though, the more I started to imagine all of them in one place—listening to Jesus give the Sermon on the Mount. And, before long, I found myself blending into the crowd with them, hearing these strange, arresting, upending words of life. Following the Call will prompt you to surprise, to delight, to melancholy, to argument, and, at every turn, will lead you back to Jesus.

—     Russell Moore, Christianity Today

It’s Official

For those of you who may not already be in the loop, my book Following the Call: Living the Sermon on the Mount Together just came out. Last night we had a wonderful book launch event with Philip Yancey in Denver. Next week we’ll be doing an event in L.A. and in October we’ll be doing one with author Greg Boyd in Minneapolis. If you or anyone you know would like to come to either of these events go to www.plough.com and click on “events”. You’ll find out more specifics there.

My previous posts have been a kind of warm-up to the book, but now that the book is out in the weeks to come I will interact with one specific chapter at a time.

So what is unique about Following the Call? First, it consists of a variety of voices from various traditions and time periods. In this way one can glean wisdom from outside one’s own tribe. Second, this book is quite different than most in its presentation: it’s neither a commentary nor a devotional nor a handbook. It’s thrust is prophetic and personal, propelling us in a certain trajectory of praxis that will come to expression in varied ways but always within parameters that Jesus clearly marked out for us. Following the Call is less instructional and more existential. Its aim is to help us respond to Jesus’ message. Finally, my book is designed to be read together with others. The selections have been chosen to engage and inspire communities of faith to practice Jesus’ message together. Toward that end there are several reflection questions at the end of each chapter.

If you get anything out of reading my book I hope it is this: The Sermon on the Mount is (or should be) the Christian’s guide for discipleship. It is Christ’s manifesto and, as such, it is good news about life in his kingdom – within every command of Jesus lies a promise. The Sermon on the Mount is the hands and feet of the gospel. It should be the centerpiece of our personal lives and our life together as the church. And, as Russell Moore says above, it should lead us back to Jesus.

Years in the Making

I read the Sermon on the Mount for the first time when I was eighteen. At that time, I felt baffled, frustrated, curious, and confused. What did these three chapters in Matthew mean for my life? What did it mean to actually make God’s kingdom the most important priority in life?

My frustration lay not only in my failure to measure up to Jesus’ words, but in having no clear picture of how the church was taking Jesus’ teachings seriously. In fact, in subsequent years I hardly ever heard a sermon on the Sermon on the Mount, and every time I brought it up for discussion I experienced outright resistance. “Whatever Jesus meant,” I was told, “you mustn’t take him literally.” I found this especially infuriating in light of Bonhoeffer’s book, The Cost of Discipleship. It’s not surprising that when people think of church today, the Sermon on the Mount rarely comes to mind.

As a Christian ethicist by training, I became increasingly convinced that Jesus was at the center of what Christian ethics should be about. Apart from Christ, notions of peace, love, justice, and the like were nebulous at best and vacuous at worse. Unfortunately, much of what I read regarding Christian ethics had little to do with Christ or the Sermon on the Mount. All this drove me to read more about the Sermon on the Mount, and as I did I began to collect the insights of others.

Providentially, my wife and I eventually joined a church community, the Bruderhof, which from its inception has been inspired by the Sermon on the Mount. Beyond books, I began to experience the implications of what putting Jesus’ words into practice meant. Thirty-five years later we now have Following the Call.

I seriously considered writing a book of my own on the Sermon on the Mount. But I mainly felt compelled to let the insights of others speak, people who have helped me on my own walk of discipleship. Throughout church history there have been believers who, like us, have struggled to understand and put Jesus’ words into practice. I trust that you will find solace and courage as you read the selections contained in this book. I certainly have, and still do!

An Invitation

The Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) is one among five teaching sections in Matthew’s Gospel. Believe it or not, it was originally meant to be memorized. No wonder James makes over twenty-four references to it in the Letter of James and why we find so much of it being quoted in the Didache, one of the earliest church documents we have outside the New Testament. Following the Call consists of fifty-two chapters—a chapter a week. Each chapter begins with a quote from the Sermon on the Mount. I invite you to memorize the Sermon on the Mount over the next year. Who knows what this might do and the effect it may have?

In the meantime, I invite you to purchase a copy of Following the Call. Better yet, consider getting several copies and reading it with others. Plough Publishing offers a good discount on bulk orders, and may be able to connect you with others in your town or city.

Your Turn

How has the Sermon on the Mount been important in your life? I welcome your comments, opinions, questions, and personal experiences. Please click the little comment bubble below to leave a comment or see what others are saying.