A few days ago I picked up an old book for another read. I feel like I have been visiting with an old friend. I cannot begin to remember the number of times I have spent time with Wendell Berry's literary character named Jayber Crow. One of the things which grabbed my attention in the midst of this read was something my old friend said about sermons. As he talked about the young preachers who came and went in Port William, he said, "In general, I weathered even the worst sermons pretty well. They had the great virtue of causing my mind to wander. Some of the best things I have ever thought of I have thought of during bad sermons."
Now, some preachers may have preached mind boggling sermons, but I suspect I have preached more of the mind wandering kind. When I was preaching every Sunday, I would often wonder what the pew sitters were thinking in the midst of the sermon. There were more than a few times when it seemed to me that I knew I no longer had control of the room, that is, if I ever did! In those kind of moments I probably should have just closed the Book, prayed the benediction, and spared me and everyone else the suffering that is endured during bad sermons preached by hopelessly lost preachers.
Of course, I always hoped and prayed often that God would be able to put something I said in the sermon to good use. When it happened and I was made aware of it, it was truly a blessing. I remember more than my share of bad sermons, but I also have recollections of a few that were keepers, sermons that the Spirit used for purposes beyond the hope of the preacher. Old Jayber set me to thinking about all this when he confessed to the good thoughts generated by mind wandering sermons. What has always been a surprise to me is not the fact that I preached a good sermon every now and again, but that God dared to call me, the most unlikely of all possible preachers, to preach His Word to His people and allowed me to do it for a life time.
Now, some preachers may have preached mind boggling sermons, but I suspect I have preached more of the mind wandering kind. When I was preaching every Sunday, I would often wonder what the pew sitters were thinking in the midst of the sermon. There were more than a few times when it seemed to me that I knew I no longer had control of the room, that is, if I ever did! In those kind of moments I probably should have just closed the Book, prayed the benediction, and spared me and everyone else the suffering that is endured during bad sermons preached by hopelessly lost preachers.
Of course, I always hoped and prayed often that God would be able to put something I said in the sermon to good use. When it happened and I was made aware of it, it was truly a blessing. I remember more than my share of bad sermons, but I also have recollections of a few that were keepers, sermons that the Spirit used for purposes beyond the hope of the preacher. Old Jayber set me to thinking about all this when he confessed to the good thoughts generated by mind wandering sermons. What has always been a surprise to me is not the fact that I preached a good sermon every now and again, but that God dared to call me, the most unlikely of all possible preachers, to preach His Word to His people and allowed me to do it for a life time.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment