The Fun of Being a Preacher

There are times when preaching is hard. Sermon preparation isn't always easy; sometimes a message just falls together, but most times, preparation is long and difficult. Prayer (it's hard waiting long enough to listen to God - that's why prayer has to to come first... and second... and third...), Bible study (you wouldn't believe how many things from my personal Bible study seem to apply 100% to what I'm going to preach), research (commentaries, other authors, etc) all go into sermon preparation. Then I shape the message, cutting material, re-organizing (over and over again), reading through it to make sure it's cohesive, and preparing a powerpoint presentation to go along with the message.

But there are just some things that one can't prepare for.

For example, this week during the message, I realized that a scripture I was going to read contained the word "hate."

We don't use that word in our house.

And my kids know it. And they know that rule well enough to correct other adults.

I approached the scripture, realizing that I was going to have to do something, because my kids were sitting in the front row. And they listen. And the scripture (John 15:18-21) contained the word "hate" multiple times.

I started reading the scripture, and I watched Andrew's eyes get big. "We don't say 'hate'!" he exclaimed. So I stopped and explained to him that he's right, we don't say "hate" but this was a case where it was in the Bible because Jesus knew how much people would dislike him. I was ready to give myself a "great dad/preacher" pat on the back, but then Andrew piped up in the kind of voice that only a preschooler would use during a church service.

"We don't say "stupid""

I continued in the message, somewhat embarrassed, trying to just go on with my thought. But Andrew wasn't finished yet.

"We don't say poopiehead!"

Yes, he managed to include all of his "bad words" in front of the whole 9:00 church service. At this, I couldn't contain the laugh. I busted out laughing and said, "I love being a dad." Everyone who heard him was laughing, too. He loved it. I did, too. Yes, it was distracting. No, he doesn't do that every week. Yes, Tara quieted him down quickly and I continued with the message.

The kid is definitely my son, isn't he?

When the Holy Spirit Shows Up

I love it when the Holy Spirit shows up in worship. Just this week, He showed up in a really special and unique way, and He "invited" me to ditch the sermon I'd planned and go in a different direction. It was exciting and made me think a lot.

One enticing thought was "wouldn't it be great to do this all the time?" Meaning - if the Holy Spirit wants to speak spontaneously through me, couldn't I spend my time during the week differently? Think of all the time I usually spend studying and writing a sermon that could be freed up to do other things!

But I don't believe for a minute that the Holy Spirit plans to work like that all the time. In fact, the Holy Spirit most often "shows up" through the study time and reflection time and prayer time that I regularly put into the week's sermon.

There are times when people have mentioned to me, "You must have been in our house this week, because you spoke exactly to the situation that's been going on." - whenever that happens, it's because the Holy Spirit has directed me to write that part of the sermon directly to you. (as an aside, every time I've written a point in a sermon directly to one person, that person just never seems to show up that Sunday - or that person shows up and has no idea that I'm talking to them. And that's a good thing, because when I do that, it's by *my own* authority, and really, I don't have any authority on my own; it's God's authority, and I'd prefer to let Him speak)

There are some people who believe that He only shows up spontaneously, but how limiting is that to GOD? Seriously, do you believe God can speak through me on Sunday morning if I throw out my manuscript, but you don't believe He will speak through me if I'm spending my time in prayer, Bible study, and reflection? That's awfully limiting of the God of the Universe!

And our God is not a God of chaos, but a God of order. That's why I take as long as I do preparing a sermon.

Wondering What to Say?

I had one of those nights last night.  One where I woke up in the middle of the night, stressed about getting everything that's on my plate done.  I won't bore you with all of the details of things I need to do, because I'm sure most of you are or have been in the same boat.  But one detail is pertinent: I'd been struggling with what to preach on Christmas Eve.

I'm sure I'm not the only one; many (if not most?) pastors struggle to say something unique and relevant on Christmas Eve and Easter.  We want to figure out new and fresh ways at Christmas to tell of the birth of Jesus Christ and at Easter to tell of His resurrection.

Yesterday I was puzzling over a sermon that just would not write itself.  I had come up with what I thought was a really good idea (which I'm still going to stick into my "idea bank" to preach another time) but it just wasn't coming along at all. 

This morning in my prayers, I asked God to help me know what I should preach.  As I prayed, the sermon idea immediately came into my head.  Of course, about 180 degrees away from what I'd already been struggling to write.

Then when I opened my igoogle homepage this morning (that's a page that has all of my Google applications all in one place; my Google Reader (blog reader), my gmail, weather, news, etc), the first item on my reader was a blog post by Perry Noble.

In it, he was talking about how his little daughter repeats everything he says.  Then he wrote this:

Hey pastor…are you stressing out about what you are going to say for your upcoming Christmas service?

Why not just do what my little girl does…just listen to your Father and then repeat what He says!

What a great reminder. 

Successful Preaching

In a post called "Things I Wonder" MDiv student Jenny Smith ponders what makes for successful preaching. Her "gut" says "transformation."

I have to admit, that's when I feel most successful; when I hear or see the stories of transformation that have flowed from the sermons. I don't feel all that successful when all I get are lackluster "nice sermon, pastor" responses from the congregation.

Transformation is indeed one of our goals; we recognize our mission as a United Methodist Church is making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. If the things we do aren't transformative, then we're missing the boat. If we don't offer people the opportunity to meet Jesus or to hear from the Holy Spirit, then we might as well close up shop.

The difficulty with basing success on transformation, however, is the fickleness of human nature. If I am obedient to God and preach the Word of God in a relevant and well-prepared way and nobody responds, am I unsuccessful? I'm not talking about shooting up a Saturday Night Special Sermon and hoping that it strikes the mark or pulling an "oldie" out of the sermon barrel and hoping it hits home.

Here's the deal: in the Old Testament, we read from many prophets. Were they successful? It seems that maybe only Jonah was; he was the only prophet who saw instantaneous life change and transformation following his proclamation of the Word of God. Yet he became depressed (to the point of becoming suicidal) on the "success" of his message.

Other prophets faithfully proclaimed the Word of the LORD to hardened hearts and unlistening ears. Were they successful?

I hold that they were successful; they were obedient. Success is not based on us transforming the world, because plain and simply, we cannot do it. Transformation is the Holy Spirit's job, and when we base our success on how well we do the Holy Spirit's job, then we are in trouble.

One of the difficulties is that we don't preach in a vacuum. We preach to humans, who have the freedom to accept or reject the Word. We preach to humans who are at all stages on the journey, and it's all but impossible to judge "transformation" based on one little slice. Sure, there are the remarkable transformations, when we see someone delivered from bondage right here and now, but often that deliverance comes through obedience for a long time (12 step groups, as one example).

If we base our preaching success on the immediate stories of transformation, we also risk a shallow transformation. I know I have been convicted by sermons and then have gone and done absolutely nothing about that conviction. That I wasn't transformed (in the long run) should not be blamed on the preacher. I should shoulder that blame myself for being stubborn and hard-hearted.

So I base my preaching success on my obedience. Did I preach the Word of God? Did I bathe the whole process in prayer? Did I listen to the Holy Spirit as I was studying? Preparing the message? Developing the Power Point? Choosing hymns? Was I willing to change what I wanted to say in favor of what God might want to say? Am I dealing with personal preferences, or am I dealing with God's Truth? Do I get the two confused? When I say "thus says the LORD" (I don't really ever say those words) is it really something God is saying?

What do you think? Upon what criteria would you base preaching success?