"Seeing the crowds,
he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
And he opened his mouth and taught them.”
I
remember the first time I sat down to teach. It was at a college Bible study in
my hometown university. The normal teacher was away, and being one of the
ministers on campus he asked me to fill in for him. I obliged, although it was
during our college gospel choir’s rehearsal. After a day filled with work and
study, I had to conduct rehearsal for about an hour, and then rush across
campus to the science building where my friends were already sitting; waiting
for things to get started. Exhausted and voice hoarse from frantic scurrying,
something in me would not let me remain on my feet. As soon as I hit the door,
I headed toward the first chair and stayed in it until my lesson was over.
Of
all my professors that had the habit of sitting when they taught Dr. Eric
Nisula comes to mind the most. Dr. E was the professor of music and director of
choirs at Saginaw Valley State University. He was an older gentleman who always
wore t-shirts. One most notable was a black t-shirt with the words “don’t
dither, do” written in bright red across the chest.
Whether
he was sitting at the piano hashing out our notes or sitting in front of us
annotating the choir score with us, Dr. E was always sitting. He only stood to
conduct what he was satisfied to call a finished product. The voice and
conducting students hated it, not to mention the aspiring educators. He sat in
the middle of the floor, in front of students who sat in risers elevated over
him. Not only that, but he was known to slouch a little, which made him the
lowest person in the room and set a horrible example for young musicians always
trained to be mindful of posture.
However,
it never ceased to amaze us how awesome we sounded. There was never a flat note
that he couldn’t catch, nor was there ever a dissonant sound that he couldn’t
fix. We sounded good: from Louis Armstrong’s jazz to the Beatles’ rock, from
Bach’s oratorios to Mozart’s Requiem,
we always sounded good. I think we sounded so good, because he was never too
proud to sit, or even slouch a little. In sitting, he could treat the musical
score like a blueprint and all of us like a design team. He explained every
dynamic mark and was unashamedly particular about how everybody breathed. So,
he sat down and, with pencils in hand, explained everything to us; leaving no
stone unturned. The results were always amazing.
As
for my college Bible study, I prepared to teach John 1 from a scattered
outline. When I sat down, finding rest from a day filled with rushing, I took a
deep breath and it was like everything I studied flowed naturally from my mind.
Never before was I so comfortable nor had I felt so competent. Liberated from
the formalities that make up effective homiletic practices, I was free to be in
conversation with a community of believers; being formed right along with them
as we studied the Word of God. That experience continues to shape the way I
teach, preach and relate to people. It continues to form my concept of ministry
and illuminate my imagination when it comes to pastoring. Instead of addressing
God’s people with lofty monologues, I’d rather grow and be formed with His
people in humble dialogue: so I sit when I teach.
Dr.
E and I are in good company, because when Jesus began to give what would become
the most influential speech in history, He “sat down and taught them”. In so doing
He gives us a clue into who is best equipped to deliver the kind of profundity
that lasts throughout the ages. Such profundity needs the intuition of the
prophet, the mind of the genius, the eloquence of the poet and the vision of
the statesman. But, all of the above are too lofty and distant; too deep and
cerebral, too prolific to come to our street and descend to our level. It is
when all of these together find themselves taking the posture of the teacher,
who sits beside us as one on the journey toward wisdom with us, that the
profound is chiefly delivered.
Therefore,
when Jesus began to teach us about true blessedness, He sat down. He sat before
us when summing up the Law with Himself. When He taught us how to pray, He was
sitting down. He sat down while explaining to us the power of a turned cheek
and the awesome witness of forgiveness. He was sitting when He called us salt
and light, but He takes that same choice posture beside the Father as He
intercedes for us in His glorious victory.
Perhaps
you will never sit when you teach; I’m not trying to convince you to do so. I
do, however, hope you see the importance of the humility that our Lord
displayed in this informal posture; modeling it in your own way as a Christian
teacher. If Christ’s example shows us anything, it should show us one whose ministry
of revealing God to us was presented in humility and brotherly patience: so
much so that he gave the most influential speech of history sitting down.
____________________________________________________________________
Samuel
J. Doyle is a teacher–preacher, and currently serves as the Executive Pastor at
the Greater New Light Baptist Church of Waco, TX
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