I grew up Mennonite, as did my wife Lise. (Our two churches were separated by a half a mile.) This meant we often heard from the Sermon on the Mount, which many have said is the central text of the Mennonite faith. You might immediately think of the “turn the other cheek” teaching found there (Matt. 5:39), and the importance of pacifism in Mennonite circles. But actually it’s more than that. From the beginning of the Anabaptist movement in the 16th century, from which the Mennonite church emerged, these believers displayed a signature emphasis in their intent to be obedient to all of Christ’s commands, including the hardest ones. And as you probably know, the Sermon on the Mount has many difficult commands.
Then something happened in my early 20’s. I heard an adult from our church tell me honestly, “I don’t like the Sermon on the Mount. It’s too hard.” I was startled. I was an eager new believer at this time, and I didn’t know what to say. I nearly retorted “You’re taking the sermon too seriously!” — but I stopped myself. Inside my head the wheels turned vigorously. Can you take the words of Jesus too seriously? Perhaps I was watering down the faith. After all, he is Lord!
At New Life, we just finished two weeks on the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6), which has much of the same content as the Sermon on the Mount. Love your enemies. Give to all who beg of you. Forgive each other. Do to others what you would have them do to you. These are hard commands! And the truth is that any sincere believer who is zealous to obey our Lord might feel discouraged (even crushed!) by the Lord’s commands.
But Jesus’ own obedience to these commands is one crucial thing for you, as a believer, to keep in mind. Love your enemies? He did that (Rom 5:10), and exactly because of this, you are saved. For you were his enemy. Give to all who beg of you? He does that, and because of that, he assures you of the salvation you have asked for. Forgive each other? His bitter cross is his act of forgiving you. Do unto others what you would have them do to you? Jesus did exactly this, giving you everything (1 Cor. 3:21).
Does this allow us to take his commands less seriously? I still wouldn’t put it that way. But the fact that Jesus secured our salvation by obeying his own commands does change the picture, does it not? First, he himself knows how difficult these commands are! But more importantly, he has established us firmly in the Father’s loving care by his own obedience. Knowing exactly this, we can now do two things: (1) rest on Him, and (2) eagerly obey these same commands, since they reflect His own goodness!
